Boss Of The Week
Osagie Alfred: Indefatigable Achiever
By Eric Elezuo
When diligence, focus, commitment to duty, painstaking attitude and goal getting is put on a scale, only those who are determined to succeed, those who have burnt the bridges of ineptitude will willingly step forward. They are the bourgeoises in the land of never-say-never. They are men like Osagie Alfred, the ebullient and indefatigable Senior Partner at West Norwood Realty, a professional services firm established to be the most preferred ethical and enterprising real estate firm in its chosen markets. The man, whose indefatigable achievements, is a toast of many, had also spent quality time at Northcourt Valuers, a real estate valuation services company underpinned by a strong real estate research, advisory and transaction structuring component. His movements in the professional fields are characterised by greatness.
Without mincing words, Osagie Alfred is a typical example of the I came, I saw and I conquered stock, having taking by storm the business of real estate and valuation to a level and height never imagined. And of course, he is still conquering. He has practically become a reference point in the business he found himself in today, and many other endeavours, his quick discerning acumen has laid hold of.
A native of Ovia South West of Edo State, Osagie was born in Lagos to Mr. Daniel and Mrs. Abosede Alfred on April 18 many years ago. He grew up on Lagos Island where he also kick started his early education at Ireti Primary School, Ikoyi. In 2004, after his secondary school education, he proceeded to Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State, where he obtained a Higher Diploma i Estate Management.
Still pursuing his dreams, he enrolled in the prestigious University of Lagos, and graduated with Bachelors degree in Estate Management before attending the University College of Estate Management (UCEM), Reading, United Kingdom, where he is expecting to obtain an M.Sc on graduation. Osagie’s love for education truly paid off as he has remained a force to reckon in the field of estate, where he devoted his time to.
A distinguished religious person, who has absolute reverence for God, Osagie serves as a choir master and Sunday School superintendent in his local church, in addition to mentoring teenagers and young adults in every area of life as part of his huge social corporate programme. Those who knows him have confessed variously that he is an unrepentant giver, and hardly allows anyone he comes across to go empty handed.
Shortly after graduation from school, Osagie kicked off his professional career, berthing at ZS Associates where he functioned as Assistant Surveyor between 2004 and 2005. Having shown the mettle he is made of, exceling in functions such as conducting lettings and sales inspections; and, negotiating rent and sale values, in addition to preparing and administering management routine correspondences as well as taking inventory for fittings of various properties during pre-occupation exercises among others. he was lifted to the Assistant Head, Valuation and Investment at John Zedomi & Associates where he did periodic valuation of assets belonging to oil servicing companies and manufacturing companies for insurance and mortgage purposes and valued assets belonging to Nigerian Intelligence Agency, Abuja in excess of many other job descriptions. He left the desk in 2008, having spent three years on the job.
In April 2008, Osagie relocated to the academia, and was employed as Ad-hoc Teaching Assistant at the Department of Estate Management, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State. He tutored students on
Feasibility and Viability Studies (ESM 507, and ESM 508) and Investment Analysis (ESM 705) and Introduction to Property Valuation (ESM 201) before leaving in February 2009.
He actually returned to the estate industry in September 2009, and became Head, Property Investment Research and Valuation at John Zedomi & Associates, and was saddled among others with the responsibility of reviewing contract documents concerning properties being transacted, and conducting property audit and portfolio analysis on residential properties. He was in that position till November 2011, when he was elevated to the office of Head, Property Marketing and Advisory, By February 2012, he climbed yet another ladder as he was grabbed by Propertygate Development & Investment Plc. as the Real Estate Advisor, completing in January 2013, and leaving the company much better than he met it.
As all round professional, Osagie’s next port of career call was Mama Cass Restaurants Limited, Nigeria, where he became the Corporate Facilities & Project Manager with the wholesome responsibility of coordinating new constructions, refurbishment, maintenance and repair services including electrical systems, machines and equipment, HVAC systems, alarm systems, CCTV systems, intercom, gas systems, stand-by power generating sets, water treatment, motor vehicles and other services for the corporate offices, two production plants, 12 cafeterias, Bake Off shops and several outdoor canteens and parties nation-wide. He was more of a superman, coordinating his functions effortlessly.
In October 2013, Osagie relocated to the banking sector, and was at the Asset & Leasing Management of
Stanbic IBTC Holding Company, a position he held till August 2015. While at the bank, he was responsible for over 250 commercial leases comprising bank locations, locations occupied by subsidiaries of the bank, car park leases and ATM locations. In addition, he supervised purchase transactions for bank owned locations; disposal of surplus real estate assets, service charge liaison services at multi-tenanted commercial properties; investment properties owned by the bank and the pension subsidiary, and many more.
He proceeded to be the Director, Real Estate Services at Northcourt Limited, Nigeria , immediately after leaving Stanbic IBTC Bank creating and supervising real estate management & valuation divisions of the company, and overseeing the branch operations in two major locations of Abuja and Port Harcourt.
By sheer dint of hard work, he was moved to become Director, Valuation, Asset Management & Advisory
in January 2020 bore the company’s burden of Valuation (investment value, market value& forced sale condition) for a financial institution and Advisory service on asset disposal options for a financial institution among others. His performance took him up within a space of four months to much higher position, and so in June 2020, he moved to Senior Partner (Consultant) position of West Norwood Realty, where he meticulously oversee the development of strategic business operations and sales strategy, consulting on real estate services and the facilities management of a large residential estate in Lagos as well as establishing a sustainable strategy for a real estate services subsidiary firm.
A solid believer in ethics, expertise and excellence, Osagie has created his own, living in fullness and drawing with him a long list of adherents and disciples who have splendid stories to tell. He is not one to be bamboozled into subjection, as he relishes the fact that ‘a good reason cannot make an unethical decision ethical’.
Apart from his graduate degree in Estate Management, Osagie also holds the Facility Management Professional (FMP) credential with International Facility Management Association (IFMA) USA, a member of the Certified Institute of Auctioneers of Nigeria and a Member of the African Real Estate Society.
Other professional Certifications, Affiliations, Trainings and accreditations attached to his growing profile include
Accredited Mediator – Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS – UK, Coach and Assessor – Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS mediation training, and Registered Surveyor & Valuer with the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria [ESVARBON]
He is also a Chartered Commercial Surveyor, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS – UK, Associate Member, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers [NIESV], Facility Management Professional (FMP) – International Facility Management Association, Accredited Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors ACRETM Mediator, Health, Safety and Environment 1, 2 & 3 Certifications and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), UK – Level 2 Award Professional Development (Formal & Informal) and a host of others. He is also proficient in Financial Modelling & Advanced Excel and has excellent numeric and analytical skills.
He is highly creative, a quick learner, and possess a good interpersonal and communication skills, which has seen him conquer his field of endeavours. This is not forgetting that self-motivated and also a good team player with Integrity and proven strength of character.
Osagie is not done, his catalogue of achievements notwithstanding as he constantly in the business of exploring new knowledge, coaching, mentoring, solving problems and and above networking perfectly.
He is happily married to his heartthrob, and together, they are blessed with a wonderful family.
Sir, for your knack for success and the ability to hold your own and be the best you can be, you are our Boss of the Week. Congratulations!
By Eric Elezuo
It was a gathering of distinguished egg heads, prolific intellectuals and ardent academics at the Adeline Hall of the Lead City University, Ibadan, when notable and celebrated Chairman of Council and Pro-Chancellor of the Institution, Professor Jide Owoeye, marked his entry into the septugenarian circle.
The event, a multiple-in-1 classic, featured tribute session, a panel session, books presentation and reading as a well as a defined colloquium. Among topnotch individuals that graced the event were delectable heads of higher institutions of learning including the Vice Chancellor, Edo State University, Uzairue, Sheldrake O. Akindele; the Vice Chancellor, Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Oyedunni S. Arulogun; Vice Chancellor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ibrahim Gbajabiamila, and the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Muyiwa Popoola, who were members of the panel session that discussed critical mechanisms that enhance and safeguard the future of education in the country.
The panelists leveraged on the theme, Nigeria Higher Education and Private Sector Involvement: Navigating the Path, Confronting the Challenges, Exploring Opportunities for the Future. The lead discussant was the Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Katherine, Gombe State, Umaru Pate.
Speaker after speaker, the academic giants celebrated the unequaled legacies of Prof Owoeye’s 70 years of impressive existence, especially his scholarly contributions to the standardization of not only learning, but also academic environment in Nigeria with the establishment of Lead City University in 2005.
The ceremony was punctuated with various genres of entertainment including cultural dances, touch of saxophone, talking drum display, drama presentation by students of the institution, and a host of others.
Among the books presented at the ceremony were Asia in World Politics and Knowledge in the Emerging Global Order.
The highpoint of the gathering was the cutting of the birthday cake with various presentations of full size portraits and other gifts items from colleagues, students and staff.
Othe dignitaries who graced the occasion were Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu, General Secretary, Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), Wale Okediran, Oyo State Commissioner of Lagos among others.
Speaking on his achievements, a long time friend from the University of Ife days, Chief Momodu, noted that Prof Owoeye has always been a man of letters, who has carved a niche for himself, adding that Nigeria and Africa are proud of him.
Distinguished in every ramifications, and an authority in International politics and relations, with bias to Asia, Owoeye has transverse all areas and degrees of the academic environment, terminating at the professorial level, and capping it all with the establishment of topnotch private university as the icing on the cake of his academic pursuit and inclination. He boasts of bachelor’s, masters and doctorate degrees in different fields of international studies.
For Owoeye, reaching the peak of his profession was when he became a professor of International Relations at OAU in the year 2000.
Born on March 1, 1956, Prof. Jide Owoeye is a teacher, and a very proud one at that, who would not miss any opportunity to introduce learning and exchange of knowledge. That practically explains why his 70th birthday celebration was tailored towards a colloquium and book presentation status.
Owoeye began his schooling at the OLMC Demonstration School, Ibadan, where he spent the period between 1962 and 1967 acquiring elementary or foundational knowledge of education.
Afterwards in 1968, he attended Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, for his school certificate, and left in 1972 before attending Government College Ibadan, for his Higher School Certificate, from 1973 to 1974.
He was admitted into the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, for his first degree.
On graduation, he was employed as Insurance Officer at Akin George & Company, Lagos, as he decided to try his hands in circular career. His stint at the firm lasted between 1979 and 1980.
Thereafter, he made a daring turn into the word of teaching, becoming Lecturer II at the Department of Government, OSCAS, Ile-Ife, from 1980 to 1982. He briefly worked as Administrative Officer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, afterwards in 1983 before landing the position of Senior Lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University.
Then, there was no turning back from the academic world. He was made a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, from 1992 to 1993, and then, Associate Lecturer, Foreign Policy Academy, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Centre for Asian Studies.
In a 2019 interview he granted The Punch, Owoeye noted as follows as to what propelled his desire to establish his own university: “I have been in the university system for almost 37 years and 24 of those years were spent in the public university system. I was a professor at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, and I noticed then that if one has passion for education, one should have seen some of the lapses (in the system), and some of those lapses one discovered can only be corrected if one is the head of the institution. I believe if you aspire to have a better university system, it is either you head the institution or you look for avenues to help create one where you can impact upon. That was what brought about the passion to work towards establishing a private university where the quest for excellence can actually be attained.”
Owoeye’s rich trajectory in the world of education is common knowledge, leading to his hold several high-profile positions in Obafemi Awolowo University.
Owoeye is married to his lovely wife, Emuleomo, whom he wedded in 1982, and they are blessed with three children; a son and two daughters.
Meanwhile, a special birthday soiree has been scheduled for March 1, his day of turning 70 proper, at Adeline Hall of the university. It promises to be the mother of all celebrations.
Having spent a lot of energy paying attention to education, Owoeye would love to be remembered as somebody who contributed to quality education (at the tertiary and non-tertiary levels) in this country.
Happy 70th birthday sir!
Photos: Tunde Bolarinwa
Schooled in varioius areas of human endeavour and administration, Mr Kojo Bonsu is an asset, not only to the Republic of Ghana, but the world in general. He has by every standard paid his dues to the development of his country, serving as the current Ambassador to the Peoples Republic of China, and having served in many other diverse areas including sports administration and entrepreneurship.
Presently, the face of the Republic in China has taken it upon himself to recreate the investment platform of Ghana in China, mandating the media to begin as a matter of urgency, to make Ghana the subject of focus in their reporting.
In other words, the Ambassador has appealed to the Chinese media to use their medium to promote Ghana. A call that resonate the general mantra of the government of President John Dramani Mahama
According to Bonsu, Ghana boasts of several business opportunities, therefore if the Chinese media take keen interest in Ghanaian issues, it would help attract investors from China to Ghana.
He insisted that the door of the Ghana Embassy in China is wide open to Chinese journalists, especially those who want to positively project Ghana.
Bonsu made the remarks while hosting a press soiree in Beijing, on behalf of the Ghana Embassy, which was graced by a number of prominent media institutions in China.
The programme was mainly used to promote Ghana’s upcoming 69th independence anniversary celebrations and also highlight investent opportunities in the country.
Kojo Bonsu, who is a former Kumasi Mayor, said Ghana is the safest, friendly and best country for any investor to do business, urging Chinese businessmen to heed his advice.
“The Chinese media institutions should henceforth partner with the Ghana Embassy in promoting trade and investment opportunities in both of our sister countries for growth.
According to him, Ghana is a democratic nation, which has conducive atmosphere for businesses to flourish, stressing his desire to work and improve Ghana-China relations.
“Ghana is committed to strengthening ties with China. My country is a stable democracy, has business-friendly environment and rich cultural heritage,” Kojo Bonsu stated.
A native of Offinso, a town in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, Michael Kojo (Mensa) Bonsu, thoroughbred professional, both in politics and administration, was born to a respected Offinso Queen Mother and a military officer, among eight other siblings.
He had his Ordinary Level education at the Tamale Secondary School, between 1974 and 1979, where he developed the knack, desire and dream of becoming a football administrator.
Thereafter, he was admitted into the Drayton School in London, but could not immediately assume studies because of the several businesses he was handling at the time. However, between 1985 and 1990, when Bonsu joined giant sports kit manufacturers, Adidas, he enrolled into their football Business Unit at Herzogenaurach, Germany, and in the process obtained a Diploma in Sports Business and Marketing. Presently, he holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations.
After completing his training in sports Business and marketing, Bonsu worked with Adidas and became their first representative in West Africa and served as an Assistant Marketing Officer. He rose to become the kit maker’s manager in Ghana and the whole of West Africa. Within which period he brokered deals between the company and the Ghana football Association specifically the Ghana football national team.
Bonsu’s dexterity in all the things he has laid his hands, including the oil sector, on earned him a citation of honour in 2015 by Managing Director of GOIL, Mr Patrick A.K. Akorli as follows; “You were the key advocate on the board when the monumental decision to rebrand GOIL was taken – the results of which have seen GOIL being propelled to the number one position (retail) among oil marketing companies in Ghana”.
He served as the Managing Director of GOIL from July 2011 to February 2012.
In addition to his legacy of achievements, Bonsu is a director of Tamale-based club Real Tamale United. He was also an executive member of Asante Kotoko.
In 2003, he launched a bid to be the Ghana Football Association’s President. He went against former president of the GFA Kwesi Nyantakyi, politician and executive member of Accra Hearts of Oak, Vincent Odotei Sowah, a former FA vice-chairman, Joseph Ade Coker and former executive council chairman, Y.A Ibrahim. He subsequently lost to Kwesi Nyantakyi in the elections in December 2005.
An ardent supporter of Asante Kotoko and Premier side Tottenham Hotspur, in 2001, he founded and published Agoo Magazine, an African lifestyle magazine.
In January 2010, Bonsu was appointed board chairman of the National Sports Authority then a council under the Ministry of Youth and Sports. He is known and respected for spearheading the re-branding of the sports council until it subsequently became a sports authority.
In 2013, President Mahama nominated him for the position of Metropolitan Chief Executive for the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. He resigned in July 2016, following an issue with the Kumasi Traditional Council.
Among many other landmarks, Bonsu would be remembered building the first ever recreational facility, the Kumasi Rattray Park, and organizing the second largest event as part of the celebration of Ghana at 50, dubbed “Ghana As One Gala Night” at Ghana’s Black Star Square with International artists including The Whispers, Shalamar, Pat Thomas, AB Cresntil, Gyedu Blay Amboley, Paapa Yankson and Ola Williams.
It is also on record that in 2014, he secured a loan facility from the Deutsche Bank UAE through parliamentary approval to build the largest modern market in West Africa, the Kejetia Market, called the “Kejetia Dubai,” completed in 2017. He also built the Asawase market, Tafo market, and Atonsu-Agogo market. He renovated the Kumasi Prempeh Assembly Hall. Bonsu’s strides speak volumes.
Bonsu tried his hands at the presidency of Ghana in 2024, but could not win the ticket of his party as Mahama was the preferred choice.
Bonsu continues to exhibit great strides as a distinguished administrator, businessman and political juggernaut.
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