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Hospitality Personality Of The Year
Augustine Okoro
Chairman/CEO, Corinthia Villa Hotel
By Uche Usim
When the story of Chief Augustine Okoro, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Corinthia Villa Hotel, Abuja, is told, it would be inspirational and quite revealing. His story teaches hard work, perseverance, humility and patience.
Okoro, popularly called ‘Zillion Zillion’ in the business arena, hails from Amichi Ukpor, in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State. A man from a humble background, he did not have his kernel cracked for him by benevolent spirits. He worked hard to climb the ladder of success.
Okoro came to Lagos in 1993 for apprenticeship in the electrical/electronics segment of the popular Alaba International Market, Lagos. As it is with the Igbo entrepreneurial
incubation, he served his master for five uninterrupted years and was settled in 1998 with N15,000 as his seed capital. With the settlement fund and his N8, 525 savings from farming, he started from a quarter selling electrical materials. In 1998, he travelled to China to buy ICT products in small quantities. After attending the Chinese Trade Fair in 2002, he got inspired to begin importation of electrical materials – lightning and cables.
Okoro’s business blossomed and he veered into security doors dealership in 2007 with an outlet at the Coker area of Lagos. From there, he forayed into real estate. According to him, “the first house I sold was N205 million, while the capital cost was N108 million. With the profit, I bought two plots of land that were worth N45 million and N30 million. In 2012, I sold another piece of land for N350 million.”
With the money realized from sales of the land, Okoro started dreaming big. He bought a piece of land in Garki, Abuja, started construction of the hotel
and completed work in 2018. With infectious enthusiasm and dedication, Okoro is currently building the second largest hotel in Abuja, with 225 rooms and 14 halls under the basement.
Declaring that the need to create jobs, add value to the economy and touch humanity in many positive ways remain his success drivers, Okoro stands tall as The Sun Hospitality Icon.
