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By Christy Anyanwu
Rev. Nicodemus Olorunsola Odolo, is a man of many hats – an ordained reverend, President of NICSON Worldwide Investments Limited, and current President of Shippers Association, Lagos State. In this interview at the Shippers Day Celebration 2025, Odolo shares his thoughts on corruption, leadership, and the power of doing things right.
You’re referred to as Reverend. Are you an ordained Reverend?
Yes, I’m an ordained Reverend. I’m the presiding Pastor of Covenant Keeping Friends of Jesus Christ Mission. Also, I’m the president of NICSON Worldwide Investments Limited and the current President, Shippers Association, Lagos State.
What is the Shippers Day Celebration 2025 about?
The gathering, I would say, is to celebrate. When we say celebration, you may ask what are we celebrating.
Lagos State Shippers Association is the first Shippers Association in Nigeria. And we have been making waves. But it came at a time that devil struck, that our enemy went down but God gave us victory. Coming out of those stormy situations, victoriously, deserves thanksgiving and celebration with people. So, that is one.
Two, we are celebrating life. Those who have died can’t celebrate but we are living. It is the living that celebrate.
And also, this Shippers Day is a conventional programme we started some years ago. But for the crisis, we couldn’t have the Shippers Day. The last one was, I think, in 2016.
You see the gap? 2016. So, we went through the wilderness and every sort of storms, but God brought us victorious, finally.
So, that is why we are celebrating. And also, this Shippers Day is a forum to discuss issues, challenging issues that relate to how we do business at the port, and the cost of doing business, and government policies as it relates to our businesses. So, we are coming out to celebrate and want to make it known to the government that there is a chicken that usually lays the golden egg. This chicken needs to be taken good care of so that it can continue to lay the golden egg, which is revenue to the nation. It is Nigeria here. I see anyone that is doing something bringing revenue or bringing good name, honour to the government, it is Nigeria. I know that they suffer. So, we want to change the scenario. We want to change the game this time around.
Anyone that is doing things right should be recognized and be honoured. And that’s how we can drive away this monster called corruption. By appreciating people who are doing good, who are doing the right thing.
You heard me when I said I’m one of the wounded shippers. I know the volume of my imports before. But for the situation in the country, the volume has reduced drastically.
So, we discovered that in Nigeria those who are willing to do things right are the ones that are suffering. But those that are doing things wrong, sharp, sharp, they have settled their way. You will be surprised, two days, their cargoes are out. And I don’t belong to that class. And by the grace of God, God has called me to the work of the ministry.
I cannot be doing what others are doing. And that’s why, if they are ready to do it right, yes, God has brought me to this stage now. I’m that kind of person who believes in dying for what you believe.
I believe things must be done right. And I’m trying to push. As I come now, that’s why in my address, I said I need the cooperation of all the stakeholders and users of the port.
Until we get to the level where people are owing up to their responsibility and to their mistakes, and stand up to pay for whatever cost, then we can get things right in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, nobody wants to accept responsibility. But the human being on the ground, we need proper orientation to do things right. Like Custom is saying and everybody is saying, to do things right. And people that are in this system, the authority, needs to encourage us to do things right.
Because some people that are in this system, that are in the authority, they are the ones that are encouraging the people that are doing things wrong. Because when you do things right, they have nothing for their personal pocket. So, they will intentionally call you, no, no, no, you are fooling yourself.
You don’t do it that way, do it this way, so that we can have something in your pocket. We want to drive out all these monsters, these middlemen, these interactions between people. That’s why we embrace the digital system.
But the digital system is supposed to fast-track all this, to make things work fast. But because this digital system has to be operated by human beings, that’s why we are having delays in clients.
Let it not be operated by anybody. On your phone, you can press button, do your assessment, pay your duty, and send your truck to the port and pick your cargo without the attention of anybody. That is the right way to go.
That is your desire?
This single window, we are talking questions. They may say that I’m the organiser, am I for trouble? I’m not for trouble. But the trouble that I see, I must say it. If it is done right, it will work for the betterment of everybody. Like I was telling the other colleagues that I’m anointed to provide solutions to problems, to solve problems. I’m an ambassador of Christ. I’m out to solve problems. And in one of the dealings, in solving problems, some of these bottlenecks or the problem we’re having, the way to deal with it is, first of all, we have to deal with those who are benefitting from the system, those wrong things. If we didn’t deal with them, the system would not work.
Do you know those that are selling in traffic, in traffic jams? If there’s no traffic, would they get places to sell? So, what they will do, they themselves will go and cause something that will cause traffic to happen, so that there will be a queue of vehicles so that they can be selling. So, if you want to deal with them, deal with those hawkers.
When you take them away from there, you discover that there’s no traffic again. Some traffic warders are monsters, creating the traffic. When the road is free, they could not beg for something.
So for them to get it out there, they will cause traffic. They will be sweating. We are controlling traffic, remove them from the spot, traffic will move.
How do you combine being a businessman and a pastor, two different worlds?
Thank you. That’s why I’m telling you, by the grace of God. You see, that’s one of the things. The truth is, my calling, I would say, is a peculiar one. As you see, one of my call areas is to minister to the ministers. That means training the trainers.
That is one. And also another call area is showing them the missing link between the present ministers of the gospel and the days of the apostles.
We are to show them that if you are for the gospel, this is not the gospel of Christ. What Christ was preaching was the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of prosperity, the gospel of miracles, signs and wonders, he doesn’t preach that.
Signs and wonders, miracles will happen in his name for sure. But that is not the gospel. The gospel he preached was the gospel of the kingdom of God.
So that’s what I was called to do. And like I said, the question you ask, how do you cope in these three areas? Like I told you, I suffer in business because I want to do it right. And as for me, I have the understanding and the belief that in doing it right, you can even make more money.
You get my point? You can make more money. But the people in the world that are doing it the other way, they believe that when you do crooked ways, you can make money. They are making money, but the money they make, how do they live by it? This is one of the things.
How long do they enjoy the money? So that is the gospel given to me. In business, as a child of God, show them that things could be done right, and you can make headway, you can make money. You know, there are a lot of slogans in Nigeria, in the defunct National Party of Nigeria NPN regime, they said, if you can’t beat them, join them. As for you, you are standing for the truth, and they are packaging lies. And you can’t beat the lies.
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If you are bad, don’t do it. If you are good, don’t lie. That’s what I refuse to join.
The place I am today, where I got to today, becoming the president of my association, is by standing for the truth and what is right. It may take time, but you will get there. And when you get there, people will rejoice. It’s the Lord’s doing. In your work, stand for the truth in everything. They may call you a fool. Like I mentioned to the people, I have come to demonstrate that servanthood leadership.
You are a leader, but Jesus said, if you will be the one that will be chief leader among them, you should be the chief servant. That’s servanthood leadership. And that is what is expected, indeed. From the presidency to the local government, they ought to live as servants of the people. The civil servants in Nigeria, they are living as Lords. See, we’ve already titled them civil servants, but now we are having civil Lords. That is why Nigeria is not prospering.
We must change the scenario. The president of the country is the chief servant. He is to serve the nation. Not to serve himself. When you come to all these positions of authority, you are to serve, not to be served. God came in human flesh in the name of Jesus Christ.
He said, I have come to serve, not to be served. This is God that died for you and me. Are you with me? So what do you want God to do?
Prayer is good, but your prayer needs to be followed with action. The step you need to take, you don’t take it. Prayer could be answered, it is hanging there because you don’t take the action.
You were saying something about corruption in Nigeria, about the civil service. What’s your take on the allegations against the head of an agency accused of paying millions of dollars for his children education abroad?
I agree totally with my friend, Aliko Dangote. When a man is spending more than his income, that means he’s corrupt. You can’t spend what you don’t have. So in Nigeria, that’s the life majority of them are living.
Our politicians are living beyond their income. And that is why they tell lies, they forged documents, contracts not executed, they will award the contract and say it’s executed, to make more money. So people that are doing that should be probed.
As a citizen, you don’t need to own more than one house. If you are permitted to own two houses, that is one in the city where you are living, and one in your village.
When you begin to build houses here and there, we need to ask you, what is the source of your income to build a house? If you look at the estate business in Nigeria today, go and find out who’s behind it. These are the people who have stolen money, they don’t know where to invest the money. There are genuine estate investments, which you can get funding from banks.
Like Dangote. The money Dangote is spending, it’s not Dangote’s money, he borrowed the money to do the business, and the business pays off the loan, and Dangote becomes rich. That’s how business is done.
You remember, in the days of the late Tunde Idiagbon, the late Muhammadu Buhari military regime, you will be driving a car on the road, they will stop you, excuse me sir, please park, you park. What’s your name, where do you work, what is your status, what is your salary, and when they look at you, the salary you are earning and the car you are driving, you know you are in trouble. That’s why many people ran. They went to park and cover their car up because we will ask, how do you get the money to buy the car? Like I told you, any problem we have, and there are some people that are benefitting from the problems, we need to deal with the people that are benefitting from that problem, to solve the problem. I am a man who has come with the vision and solution to the Nigerian problem.
But you have to contest election…
Everything is not by election. And if it is by election, one day the politicians will call for me and say I should come for the ticket of their party.
That’s how it is done. Ernest Shonekan, he never contested election. The late MKO Abiola contested, spent billions on the campaign and did not make it. He won, they didn’t allow him to be. They came for Shonekan and begged him, you are the one who can do it. And he became president.
So, God has his own way of doing things. One of the challenges we are having is that, all these caucus system, cliques, if armed robbers in Nigeria will cooperate and come together, they will win the Nigerian election, because they have the money to spend. Everything should not be by all these political systems.
There is still a lot of corruption in it. That’s the way we can do it. A republican system, you don’t need to spend money. If you are interested in a position, file your paper. Let the Independent National Electoral Commission screen you.
If they screen you and say you are a good independent candidate, yes, I can win the election. Anybody can win. That’s how people will begin to think on how to live right.
Because you don’t know what tomorrow will hold for you. Because when you are running such a republican system, any position you are going for, they will publicize your name. And people will get to know you that you have done one bad thing or the other. They will come up and say it and you know you can’t go.
So because of that, the fear of tomorrow, people rising to contradict you, what you are saying, it will help people to begin to live right. That’s true. That is one of the solutions.
Earlier, you said ‘shippers are bleeding.’ Is it in terms of delays or multiple levies or taxes?
In multiple levies. That’s why I said I’m one of them. I’m one of the wounded shippers. If I give you my record in 2001, 2002 to 2010, I was even the biggest shipper in Nigeria. But now, where am I? Because I’m also involved in clearing and forwarding too.
I have a company like that. So, we have the license, and I can only fight with my own cargo. Other clients are always worried about delivering of their goods, but I don’t want to agree to anything that is wrong.
I will take my cargo. I can be in the port for three months, because I want to do it right. So, we are still having problems. Whosoever wants to do things right here in Nigeria, will suffer.
Those who want to do it wrong, fast, if it is envelope or button they are pressing, they do it quickly, and me, I cannot do that. I want to belong to those who want to do it right. This is why I suffer. You look at the data now, the number of Nigerians that are into import and export has reduced.
That’s the encouragement we are giving to exporters, otherwise they wouldn’t do it because there are a lot of bottlenecks. How do you narrow these bottlenecks? Do you understand what I’m saying? The standardisation, maybe every country in Europe that wants to export from Nigeria, they have their standard.
It gives a standard to a particular organisation that will specifically issue the document for the standardisation of every export, after it has gone through normal testing. So, when you approach the port, within a day, your cargo is on board the ship to go.
So the bureaucracy is too much, and too many people are doing the same thing. That’s another thing. Too many people doing the same thing. Just imagine, police will stop your container on the highway, asking for the duties you paid. What is the police business with duties? These are the problems.
What’s the message as you celebrate your anniversary?
The message is, help me to deal with the devil. Dealing with the devil is this. Any problem, anywhere in the world, where some people are benefitting from the problem, the problem will not end. To end the problem is to deal with the devil, the people that are benefitting from that problem.
So deal with the devil. Any system that people are benefitting from, you can’t end it. And that’s why corruption has become a monster.
People are benefitting from all this shady and crooked system. And that is why we are having ourselves in a mess.
Look at Boko Haram – a small unit of bandits terrorising the whole nation. It is corruption. If it is not corruption, what does it take? It is just one bomb dropped there, they are gone.
But some people are saying, don’t kill them. Somebody that is killing others, you don’t kill them. Where is justice?
