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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
The Chief Executive Officer of Jezco Group of Companies, West Africa Limited, Sir Joseph Ebere Ezeokafor has attributed his success in business to truth, devotion to God and contentment.
Sir Ezeokafor who just bagged the Lifetime Achievement Award in this year’s edition of The Sun Awards, also spoke on the need for political leaders in Nigeria and in the South East to eschew nepotism in the interest of peace and lasting development across the country.
You are a successful man in every sense of it. What is the secret of your success and those things that could guide the younger generations?
What I would say is that JEZCO Oil was established by God. He is the reason why we are where we are today. We follow the leading and direction of God. That is the reason for what you are seeing today. Our motto is truth is a way of success. It wasn’t given to us by man, it is a divine inspiration. When you hold on to the truth, you will have success. We have practiced it and have seen that it is a sure way for success. That is our secret. In whatever we do, we try our best to ensure that we tell the truth.
How long has JEZCO Oil been in existence?
We started JEZCO in 1980, but got licensed in 1982. That’s more than 40 years now. We were in the North then. It was during the height of insurgency in the North that we decided to come down to the East. Outside that, I was very comfortable in the North.
How vast is your clientele base?
We are in Lagos; we are in Abuja; we are in Yola, in Maiduguri, Jos, Kano, Abuja and different other parts. In the EaEasterRegion, we are everywhere. In Enugu here, we don’t have competition. Even in Port Harcourt and other places. If you go to Yola, we are the most talked about brand. We are also in Taraba and in Benue State. We are almost everywhere in Nigeria.
How strong is your management team to handle all these branches?
Our team is very strong. We have competent Nigerians and expatriates working with us. There are Chinese, Turks and Egyptians who come to help us with some machines.
As a businessman who is involved in different sectors of the economy, what would you say is the best business decision you had taken and which business decision anytime you look back do you always regret?
The best decision I took is contentment. What I have is enough for me. That is why we don’t hike our prices. Our prices are very moderate, so are our expenditures. We don’t spend frivolously. It is when you spend unnecessarily that you begin to nurse the urge to get more, then you begin to cheat people.
I started as a poor man so I believe that whatever I gain as long as I am feeding well is enough for me. That is why we say that truth is a way to success. That is because once you cheat someone today and tomorrow, then the person would be a fool to come back next time. But if you buy today and you like what you bought, you will come back tomorrow and next.
We don’t go on road shows to draw people to our products. One major point is that we were able to get experts from India, China and Egypt and then Nigerians. We started with AP style and added our own ingenuity and the result is what you have today. I can’t recall any business decision I’ve taken that I regret. This is because I base all my decisions on God.
As I told you, I’m going for prayers now. I will be there for three days. When I’m done, God will give me insight. He will tell me what to do and when I do those things they work like magic. When you take decisions carnally, then you will run into problems. But when you take them spiritually it will end well because God doesn’t fail.
It’s confirmed that you do philanthropy and also support God’s work. What is the place of God in your life?
I have so many people who have passed through me. I have trained a lot of people. Once you train someone from childhood, the person won’t change both in life, in behaviour, in spending and otherwise. Our branch in Yola is managed by someone I trained and he is doing well. But if it was someone who is not a true Christian, he will do whatever pleases him even against your instructions.
The secret of progress is truth just as I have said before. If you understand that early enough, you will succeed. We have not experienced a situation where a worker runs away with company funds. We do thorough checks on our workers, including the cashiers. Again God gave me a discerning spirit. I can tell you the kind of person you are just by spending a few minutes with you. If you have that spirit of discernment, you will know who to employ.
There are so many people that I have helped. I can’t put an exact figure on it but they cut across Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and almost every ethnic group in Nigeria. These are people I helped and they are doing very well on their own. The other day, we had an end of the year mass in my house. That day we got 180 cows as support to the church. These people gave cows in my name. When this year’s Cathedraticum comes, our parish will definitely win because of this. The people who brought these are those I have helped in life and who are doing very well in their respective businesses.
You told us how you struggled so much to be where you are today. Are you concerned that youths of this generation are not towing the same path of hard work?
The set of youths we have these days are complicated. If you have 100 youths and you are able to pick 10 good ones that believe in God, then there is no problem. It is rare to find youths who do not want to associate themselves with fraud and deceit but I still believe that God is able to change the situation. There is so much greed in the society. During our time, you won’t eat meat in your master’s house throughout your years of apprenticeship. Once you eat and are satisfied, you are okay.
If you are given soup and you ask for meat, then they will know that you are greedy and you will be sent home. But now, no one gets sent home because of meat. The major cause of this problem is social media. You see people post their breakfast on social media for people to see. This is a big problem destroying our youths. What I’m saying is for Ndigbo to go back to the drawing board. Once someone grows up, his community should find a way to get to him. The village heads and the PGs should devise a mechanism to help our youths.
We did it in my community in Ekwulobia and it was a huge success. I was in the government of that community for over 13 years. Within that period, we trained so many people. So those who are well to do should go back home, join the leadership of their communities, help the young and donate something that people can look up to. God blessed us with everything good including good land and environment. So we don’t have any reason to fail. Government should also eschew nepotism in recruiting workers. Don’t say you won’t employ someone because he is not related to you. You have to elevate competence over nepotism. Look for someone who knows what he is doing.
Chukwuma Soludo’s government is good in this area. Once they start a project, they don’t stop because the persons he recruits know their onions. He didn’t hire them because they were the ones who fought the most or because they could beat people. Some people bring fighters into government so they can harass everyone into submission. Such spirit is what is killing Igbo land. Give positions to people who know what they are doing so that things will be alright. We have enough resources to make things work well.
Ehat is your candid assessment of security situation in Anambra state?
I am from Ekwulobia town. I have my businesses there too, and I can confidently say that there is security out there. During the just concluded Christmas period, the policemen on duty did a good job; there were no lapses, everywhere was calm and secured.
What of the ongoing massive road project at Ekwulobia roundabout, the fly-over bridge?
In as much as the road project is yet to be concluded, Ekwulobia is already enjoying good economic impact. Apart from the flyover bridge, the dualization of the road will ease traffic gridlock, thereby making trips to nearby town easy and enjoyable. What that means is that you can live in Ekwulobia and work in Awka, the state capital.
