By Amaechi Ogbonna
Born into the royal family of Chief and Chief Mrs. Charles Odii of Delta North senatorial district in Delta State, Charles O. Odii, Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), grew up with a strong character and commitment to excellence in all areas of human endeavours.
Armed with a BSc degree in Management Information Systems from Covenant University and an MSc in Marketing and Communication from Pan-Atlantic University, Odii started his career in business development at Rocket Internet before becoming the Chief Operating Officer of Red Media Africa.
He, along with others, co-founded Bilateral Data & Communications, which focused on marketing and providing services like advertising, research, public relations and marketing to investment, finance, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, manufacturing, aviation, distribution, fashion, and technology companies. He later founded SME100 Africa, a special organisation with a mission to assist entrepreneurs in Africa, including those already in business and operators desiring to start to find their rhythm in the market place. This, he did by giving such organisations access to money, markets, mentors, teaching and useful information needed to grow their brands.
Through SME100 Africa, Odii trained over 10,000 young people in Nigeria, equipping them the skills they needed to start and run their businesses profitably. He had also helped to bring many small-scale Nigerian businesses to global limelight, through partnering with big international organisations, like the US State Government and Google.
Following his outstanding dexterity in empowering young Nigerians through hands on training, coupled with his marketing and communications skills across government and private sector, President Bola Tinubu last year appointed him as Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
Unlike several youths of his age who are always looking to the government for survival and sustenance, Odii is passionate about helping others explore and pursue entrepreneurship. He’s always curious and daring in his work as a media and fashion entrepreneur.
Much of his career has been dedicated to understanding how to make a positive impact in the Nigerian society and the world at large. Whether it’s coming up with new tools and resources, studying competency-based learning, devising online education strategies, or aiding in business development, he’s skilled at creating business and marketing plans and offering innovative, technology-driven solutions.
Odii is not only commercially smart but also knows how to motivate and inspire various groups of people to achieve groundbreaking goals. He is a winner of The Sun Public Service Award for 2023.