1 September 2008
analysis
Ajibola Emmanuel Olayinka was born in Ile-Ife, Osun State, the cradle of the Yoruba race in Nigeria.
He grew up in his own town but his upbringing was never a smooth story. He lost his father when he was just five and growing up in a polygamous home was not tea party. Whatever the mother could raise then was hardly enough to feed the home not to talk of sending Ajibola to school. "So more or less, I had to fend for myself and struggle through schools," Bola as he is fondly called said.
He was quite good academically. But because there was no guardian, so to speak, there was no mentor, so to speak, after the primary school, he had to veer off and learn bricklaying. That was a good point for the not serious minded to stray away from their destinies. But Bola knew where his destiny lies and would not allow the set back to blur his vision.
He did the bricklaying job for about a year but then he got convinced that he needed to go to school, within the limit of his resources, he enrolled in a Modern School. Modern school in those days was a step above the elementary school but not up to a secondary school.
His humble background and the determination to be educated pushed him through the three years he spent at the Modern School. "For me, it tells the complete story of my life because the three years were spent basically on the basis of what I already learnt. For example, I was already a bricklayer so every weekend I had to work, Saturday and Sunday. I also learnt two additional trades; I was a baker, so I could work in the bakery.
I was doing baking over night and going to school during the day. I was also a log wood cutter. So the combination of the three jobs was what I applied for, not just for myself but for my mother and my siblings to ensure some level of existence and survival. Those were very rough days," he said.
In this interview conducted by Lucky Fiakpa in his office in Lagos, Bola spoke on how his qualification as a chartered accountant launched him into his dream life. He also spoke of the challenges faced in the paint industry, the incidence of fake producers of paints and the quality of the DN Meyer's products. Excerpts:
Early Life
It was very tough completing the school but because he was consistently the best in the class, the teachers saw that he completed the studies because what he was making from those menial jobs was hardly sufficient to see him through. Immediately after the Modern School education, he moved to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to stay with his uncle who was working with Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria and he was later employed as a labourer at the Institute, cleaning toilets and cleaning the premises.
He was on this job until one day a very concerned senior staff of the Institute advised him very strongly to proceed for further education. "I think he is late now. He was reasonably elderly at the time he intervened in my life. His name is Mr. Makanjuola. He actually bought the form for me when I could not raise the money for the form. He encouraged me to attend Wesley College Ibadan. I attended the interview and was successful. That was the beginning of my sojourn of another three years as a teacher trainee."
He spent three years but was lucky because it was during the first era of late Bola Ige as governor of Oyo State and education was one of his cardinal programme so he had very strong support from the government. Those three years really prepared him for the future because, according to him, "the basic training from a teachers training institution is to be self dependent."
As he was concluding the teachers training education, he also had the privilege of an individual who bought the General Certificate of Education, GCE, ordinary level, form for him. He is the son of his brother's landlord. He raised N35 to buy the forms for him. "That was big money then and I will forever be grateful to him."
The N35 was only enough to pay for five papers. Bola sat for the GCE exams and with God on his side, he had very good result with the five papers while he was teaching, because he taught for about three years. Spurred by this result, he enrolled for the GCE advanced level and again, he passed with flying colours. "So I had very solid GCE ordinary level and GCE advanced level. With that, I proceeded to take the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, examinations and was admitted as an accounting undergraduate at the University of Ilorin. When they saw my GCE advanced level certificate, they wanted to consider me for a direct entry but I resisted it because that was a new life and level for me and I needed sufficient time to prepare me for it. And with the benefit of hindsight, I can say it was a good decision for me."
He spent four glorious years at Ilorin. One he was able to actualize his self academically because he graduated as the best graduating student. He was also privileged to be elected as the president of the Nigerian University Accounting Students Association. So he had some dose of leadership and was also lucky to meet the girl that was to end up as his wife in that university premises.
Because of his determination, self discipline and self dependency, during his National Youth Service year, which took place in Lagos at the Ministry of Finance, he enrolled for the professional exams in Accounting and became qualified as a chartered accountant. "I was one of the few lucky ones who qualified at the first attempt and that changed the scenario of my life," Bola stated.
Career Path
As a young chartered accountant he was able to get quality jobs. He started off with Peat Marwick Ani Ogunde & Co because "I said I needed a solid foundation to prepare for corporate leadership. After some months, I told myself that I wasn't getting the best in terms of preparation for the future so I moved on to Arthur Anderson where I spent about three years and I think that was the biggest break through in terms of exposure, in terms of training, in terms of opportunity to link with the top and get involved with a lot of activities not just related to accounting but related to business, related to leadership, related to life and with that I had sufficient intellectual capacity to begin the journey of my career."
Now well equipped with the various trainings at Arthur Anderson, he moved on to Ecobank Nigeria Plc as the head of control. "That was my first stint in the bank, very tough one, starting at the top, so to speak. But again because everything was dazzling in those days, you know when you are young and the world is philosophically at your feet, you felt you can touch the sky. I didn't stay too long and I moved on to join a company called Cashlink Finance and Investment Plc."
It was the first finance house to become a public limited company, Plc but like someone in haste to catch up with lost time, Bola had to move on again from there after spending about 18 months. He joined Esso Nigeria, a full subsidiary of Exxon US, when Esso came to Nigeria as the pioneer Financial Controller. He stayed there for about three years and had the privilege of preparing the ground for the drilling exploration of Esso, which today is a huge success.
He left Esso and had the privilege of working with one of the most astute entrepreneurs in the country, Dr. Oba Otudeko, (OFR). He was employed as the chief operating officer for the Honeywell Group. Along the line, he had the opportunity of managing one of the subsidiaries as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. "In all, I spent six years in Honeywell and I also developed enduring relationships not just within the Honeywell Group but within the corporate sector. Honeywell was the stepping stone for DN Meyer Plc where I am today."
Given the path he charted, it would have been safe to say that he is a self made man but he decided to ascribe it to God. "I would say God made man," he said.
Arthur Anderson Experience
At Arthur Anderson, Bola had the privilege of having Remi Babalola, the Minister of State for Finance as a colleague. "I met him but he was slightly ahead of me. He has always been a brilliant and well focussed person. He is a team player and never self assuming. He is one person even though he made most contributions to a project, would want the credit to be given to the team. I'm not surprised at the progress he has made in life. I believe that with people like him, the country still has a future and should continue to believe in the capacity of our youths to rise up to the challenges, which are quite peculiar of our country and make a difference out of it."
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