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The Lessons Learnt in 2020 Will Add Value to 2021 – Mahmood Ahmadu

Published

3 years ago

January 27, 2021

Eric

By Charles Khiran

Leadership expert and professional speaker, Charles Khiran, engages his business mentor and super entrepreneur, Mahmood Ahmadu, who is also the chairman of OIS, and one of Africa’s greatest entrepreneurs, on a one to one in Dubai, on behalf of the global community.

May I begin by congratulating you on your Forbes award and your Euro-knowledge humanitarian award in 2020, very well deserved sir!

Yes, it was a bright spark in what was a turbulent and challenging year for all of us. The Forbes Africa award was a big surprise, and a high privilege to be selected from a line-up of super achievers and some of Africa’s biggest names was a thing of great joy.

I was also particularly pleased to have received the Euro-knowledge awards as well the second year in a row. However, of greater value to me was the important Euro-knowledge category of ‘leading personality on humanitarian response to COVID-19 crisis’, because as you clearly know, so many lives were adversely affected by this dreaded disease. We had to mount a massive response to the COVID-19 crisis all through the year to alleviate the suffering of so many. I was glad it was recognized by Euro-knowledge. It also encourages us to do much more.

Everything that could be shaken was shaken last year, especially in the business world; many household names from around the world disappeared or were badly affected. You have your business footprints in over 52 countries; how have you and your various companies managed to weather the storm and keep afloat?

Truthfully, I couldn’t really sit here and tell you our genius got us through! Just like every other business owner out there, this thing caught us all by surprise. I will have to give thanks to God above all else for seeing us through what was an extremely challenging year. I have been in business for over 30 years, and I can honestly say I have never seen or experienced anything like what we experienced last year in business!

Speaking to my various friends from around the world, many were in very bad shape and some unfortunately are still not sure whether they will pull through.

Clearly, we as a business, sustained losses, and we equally embarked on strict streamlining of our operations, and pragmatism in terms of leadership was required with regards to our strategic response to the pandemic.

However, uppermost on my mind was how to sustain and retain our staff, especially our top staff. It has taken a lot for us to attract, train, develop and retain some of the sharpest minds out there in terms of our employee pool, and I did not want to lose these talents. There is a grave gravity of responsibility in running multiple profitable businesses and championing the careers of thousands of employees, and it is something I take very seriously.

Furthermore, just like every other global business, we had to look at our overall operations and see which ones we can transition online with the enablement of dynamic technology, and which ones we would have to shut down in the short term. We had always ensured we maintained a lean and agile operation over the years and that has been one of the biggest blessings.

Tell me a bit about the importance of leadership in times of crisis, especially in the past year of the pandemic in steering the ships with thousands of employees?

Well, as the great leadership guru, John Maxwell said – “Everything rises and falls on leadership” my first priority is providing direction with respect to vision of how we are going to navigate in an unprecedented time. So I and the other leaders have had to dig deep and raise our games a notch, for example I have had to increase the rate and regularity of my communication with the team. I have had to be more visible and present than usual; many of our employees in other markets around the world are working from home because of the lockdowns so communication has been more critical than normal.

Therefore, it became absolutely critical to provide virtual platforms that allow for groups as well as two way dialogues. These have been important in settling the angst, and quashing unfounded rumors company wide.

I began hosting weekly and monthly webinars where I spoke face to face with the team, answering questions of what we know, providing hope and inspiration helping to alleviate fears. The other thing is the value of authenticity, transparency and empathy by speaking candidly to the team and letting them know what is going on, sharing brutal truths. These are solid leadership qualities, but I can tell you it has been amplified even more in these times of unprecedented turbulence.

Finally, it has also been all hands on deck with everyone rolling up their sleeves including me. So I have paid more forensic attention to some details than usual after months of immense financial pressure on businesses everywhere including ours, we have learnt the importance of collaborative support from our partners and tighter cost controls in other to maintain strong balance sheets.

What would you say are some of the biggest lessons you learnt in 2020?

In truth, 2020 has been a year of immense education like no other, even for one as pragmatic and visionary like I believe myself to be. There have been so many learning opportunities in the midst of the chaos.

1. You have to know that time is finite, do not waste time

2. I learnt to make important decisions at speed while leading multiple business organizations remotely, even with some feelings of anxiety as we were not sure what was happening.

3. I learnt the importance of constantly being prepared for any eventuality, and the need for more stress testing

4. I learnt not to sacrifice the future based on the current year’s problems. We were still innovating and planning for bigger visions while people were focusing only on the current problems.

I personally believe my own equity as a leader has gone up exponentially because of what I went through and survived in 2020

You are the brain behind probably the largest, innovative and exciting technology companies out of Africa. How has technology helped you in this past year?

There are certain things that technology cannot change, like the human to human experience which we miss terribly in many of our locations experiencing lockdowns. However, for everything else technology is what we know and what we do, so as compared to many, technology has been a life saver as this is our normal terrain.

We have been developing breakthrough technology for governments and large scale institutions in Africa and around the world for the delivery of financial solutions, streamlining the ease of payments and transaction processing through our unique and intuitive platforms for many years now.

So we have built and deployed technology in some areas to quickly plug holes and bridge gaps to stop the hemorrhaging of money where expedient. Our central focus is to never stop innovating, and we are responding to this crisis with even more innovation!

I know you do not have a crystal ball, but what do you see ahead in this new year, 2021, especially in the business environment?

In truth, for anybody to say they know what is ahead of us this year will probably be purely guessing. I don’t believe anyone has a clear picture for what lies ahead. Governments around the world are responding as best as they can to an unprecedented situation, so all we have is faith and hope.

My faith in God helps me to believe that we will be out of this situation soon, but I am not convinced that it will be business as usual anymore. One thing I am completely persuaded about is the ingenuity and the indefatigability of the human spirit. Humans will always find a way!

When I reflect all through history and some of the battles and challenges that have confronted humans, from the great depression, the Second World War, civil wars, Stock market crashes, Black Monday and so many others, I realise that humans found a way, rebuilt and have always came through. I am persuaded we will bounce back and bounce higher after this dreaded pandemic, but there are still many tough months ahead for all of us.

My hope is by the third quarter of this year, we should begin to see the shoots of recovery and the enabling environment from the regulations standpoint to enable high flight again.

What final words of wisdom do you have for other leaders in difficult situations?

I believe leaders, who have had to navigate through a devastating year like 2020 and survived it will definitely be worth their weight in gold. So many have witnessed enviable businesses that built fold up or crumple before their eyes through no fault of their own.

I would like to encourage them that the lessons learnt from this period whether good or bad, will definitely add to their overall value going forward. The best business schools could not have taught many of the valuable lessons learnt last year. I would like to encourage them to lift their sights above the temporary failures, and instead focus on what educational good they can glean from the situation.

Remember that adversity and crisis reveal your foundation and your build quality. When crisis comes unannounced like we all experienced last year, all we can do is control some of the details even though we could not stop it.

Finally, guard your mind and your thoughts and discipline it! Do not let fear take you captive, and make a decision not to speak words of fear out of your mouth. Besides the fact that you are listening to yourself, your people are also seeing the world through your eyes and words! May God help us all!

Charles Khiran is an Afro-European professional speaker and corporate trainer based in the United Kingdom. He provides bespoke and customized training to governments and business organisations. For more information please visit www.charleskhiran.com

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Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Prioritize Existing Unfinished Projects, Peter Obi Tells FG

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

Eric

Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has advised the federal government to prioritize existing unfinished projects spread across the country instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

Obi, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, stated that the project was a misplaced priority given the numerous unfinished roads throughout the country.

The former governor of Anambra State mentioned that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Works is insufficient for significant progress on the country’s various unfinished roads, much less their completion.

Obi therefore, advised that the government prioritize the existing infrastructural projects in the country before embarking on any new and colossal projects like the Lagos-Calabar super highway project.

“The Federal Ministry of Works 2024 capital budget of N892,461,262,656.00, additional funding from multilateral loan projects of N94,828,535,243.00, alongside other expected contributions from sources like the China-Exim Bank and the World Bank, will not be enough for serious work on all the critical roads, some of which I enumerated above, let alone their completion.

So, why embark on another huge project that will not be completed in the next 20 or 30 years?

“To do so will only exacerbate the problem of abandoned, uncompleted projects that are not contributing to economic growth and overall development.

“Therefore, while acknowledging the potential benefits of coastal superhighway infrastructure, I urge prioritization of our existing uncompleted projects. We must allocate resources towards repairing and completing existing infrastructure.

“In any development formula, the primary focus should be on completing and rehabilitating existing infrastructure rather than embarking on colossal new projects that may never reach completion within the next 30 years,” Obi said.

Back in March, the Federal Government began constructing the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, designed to extend through 9 states with two spurs leading to the Northern States.

Recall that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had earlier described the project as a fraud.

“Umahi had announced that Hitech would fully fund the project, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then said that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit,” Atiku said.

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2027 Presidential Race: Opposition Parties Under Attack

Published

5 days ago

April 21, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

While it is still a whole three years before the next general election in 2027, The Boss has learnt that opposition parties in the countries are being muffled to pave the way for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to, and retain power.

From the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the Labour Party (LP), and down to the New Nigerian Peoples Paty (NNPP), crises have engulfed the rank and files, in what a source told this paper was the attempt and making of the ruling party, APC, to decimate, destabilize and make redundant the machineries of the opposition parties.

It is believed that by 2027, the apparatuses holding together the various opposition parties would have weakened irredeemably to the extent the country would seemingly nosedive into the inglorious one party state that every civil right advocate and democrats abhor.

It is alleged that all the crises in all the opposition parties are being engineered by the President Bola Tinubu-led ruling APC, with the hope of getting the fibres of their system weakened, thereby luring the members of the crisis-ridden parties into the APC.

Slightly one year after the last presidential election, the two major opposition platforms, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, have separately been embroiled in a crisis of confidence which has diminished their capacity to provide viable opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The crises in both opposition parties got to a head. The Labour Party led by its national chairman Julius Abure held its much-opposed national convention which was boycotted by its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi; its only governor, Alex Otti of Abia State; federal and state lawmakers elected on its platform, and the organised Labour.

In the Labour Labour, members have been embroiled in endless battle of supremacy with a faction led by Mr. Apapa steadily contesting the leadership of Julius Abure.

Consequently, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, reverence as a leader in the fold, noting that whatever the party faces presently, that Nigeria’s problems are far bigger than the crises in his party.

The LP has been embroiled in crises — ranging from allegations of misappropriation of funds, and leadership tussle, to calls for the resignation of the party’s national chairman.

TheCable reported that “On March 27, the LP conducted a national convention in Anambra state where Julius Abure was re-elected as its national chairman.

Obi did not attend the convention, fuelling speculations that he may be mulling over ditching the LP for another platform.

Speaking during an appearance on HaveYourSay247, an interactive online session hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo over the weekend, Obi said he is confident that the crises rocking the LP will soon be resolved amicably.

“Whatever is happening in the Labour Party is so minute compared to what is happening in the country,” Obi said.

“So, for me, it is something we will resolve amicably, and it is not anything to worry about. Let us worry about the country.

“Let us worry about how the average Nigerian would be able to have a means of livelihood to be able to eat, that should be our worry.”

Obi said he has no interest in being the party’s leader but only to make sure things are done properly.

“I don’t see what I do in politics as being the leader of any place or not. My position is that just like I always say, I am not desperate to be president of Nigeria, I am desperate to see Nigeria work because I know it can work,” he added.

“We have a more desperate situation. Parties are just a means to be able to contest elections. What is important is that being a leader of a party does not reduce the price of food.

In the PDP, the shenanigans of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has practically kept the party in constant crisis with many observers concluding that the now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is working for the APC, and is just a mole in the PDP. Wike has denied the allegation, however,

But news filtered in last week as that the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NEC meeting on Thursday was not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

While political stakeholders concluded that the outcome of the Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan; every page of what finally transpired at the meeting pointed to the fact.

The much touted removal of the party chairman, who is believed to be a crony of the Abuja minister, Damagum, retained his seat, with his executives.

“It is very clear to everyone that a lot of money politics is being played to cajole many loyal members of the party, forcing them into frustration, and eventually it of the party. The option afterwards, will be the APC. This, will for all intent and purpose actualize the intended one party state as an APC agenda.

The Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso-led NNPP is not faring better either. The only governor under their ticket, Abba Kabir Yusuf, just had the confidence of their party on him withdrawn. He was fighting for his political life until suddenly it was announced the the APC in Kano has collapsed its structure into the NNPP.

“This is just another APC strategy to actualize their hidden intentions. Time will reveal the very sinister agenda they harboring,” an analyst said.

Much as 2027 is still three years away, but intrigues are in play to render Nigeria a one party state, and perpetuate the APC in power. The three other opposition parties are basically under attack to bring to pass this unpopular agenda.

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Akwa Ibom Government, Governor Umo Eno Receive Top Honors at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos

Published

5 days ago

April 21, 2024

Admin

The Akwa Ibom State Government and Governor Pastor Umo Eno were recognized with Travellers Awards at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos for their sustained enhancement of infrastructure, support for local talent, and dedication to investment in the tourism sector. The ceremony took place at the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos.

While Akwa Ibom won the Most Active Tourism State of the Year, Governor Eno was adjudged the most Tourism-Friendly Governor of the Year at the event that had Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade John in attendance.

According to Amb. Ikechi Uko, Founder/Publisher of ATQ Magazine, the organizers of the event which is in its tenth edition, Akwa Ibom State won the top prize “in recognition of its valiant and resourceful efforts to drive and sustain domestic tourism by promoting the industry.

‘In 2023, Akwa Ibom was one of the states that hosted World Tourism Day (WTD ) events. The state also organized the famous Christmas Unplugged, which featured music, food, and cultures from all 31 LGAs as well as ensured friendly policies.”

While hoping that the Travellers Awards would spur Akwa Ibom to do more to dominate the domestic tourism industry, the organizers hoped that the state would gradually evolve into one of Nigeria’s top international tourism destinations.

That was not all, the state Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Sir Charles Udoh was also recognized as one of the Top 100 Tourism Personalities in Nigeria for demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovation in the travel and tourism industry, while other Akwa Ibom indigenes and entity were also celebrated: Mrs. Ime Udo, Honorary Special Adviser to the Governor( Tourism) won Tourism Promoter of the Year, Favour Udo won Tourism Photographer of the Year, Loretta Effiong and Prince Uduak Sunday (Qua Tours) were listed among the Tourism Personalities of the Year and Ibom Air won Airline of the Year International.

In his remarks, Sir Charles Udoh, who represented the Governor at the event, thanked the organizers for the awards and noted that Akwa Ibom is certainly enjoying the golden era when it comes to tourism development. He stated that Governor Umo Eno is very keen on making Akwa Ibom a leading tourism destination with his programmes and policies.

He revealed that with the new Victor Attah International Airport nearing completion, the purchase of a ferry for the Oron-Calabar route, new developments along its coastline and the restoration work that will be done at all its major tourism sites, Akwa Ibom is well on the way to becoming the number one destination for all domestic and foreign tourists.

In her speech, Tourism Minister, Mrs. Ade John hailed the organizers for hosting the Expo, where practitioners were lectured by top experts while also rewarding those who have excelled in the past year.

She affirmed that her ministry is open to partnership with public and private sector operators, adding that tourism development can only be successful through collaborative efforts.

The event, which attracted leading and budding tourism professionals, also featured interactive and entertainment sessions.

Apart from Sir Charles Udoh and Mrs. Ime Udo, the Akwa Ibom State delegation, also included: Mr. Michael Effiong James, Senior Special Assistant (Lagos Liaison) to Governor, Mrs. Eme Bassey, Special Assistant to Governor (Lagos Liaison) and Akparawa John Offiong, Deputy Director ( Culture) Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

More photos below: