By Agatha Emeadi
In just 16 years, Buduka Addey-Johnson has built EPSS Private Security Company Limited into a distinguished security firm, after graduating from the University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, where she studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering for her Bachelor’s degree and capped it with a Master’s degree in Information Technology (IT).
In this interview with Sunday Sun, Addey-Johnson gives an insight into the new vista opening up for EPSS and new course it is charting, to retain its position among the leading private security firms in the country.
You have made a mark in private security business, which is considered more like a male-dominated industry. How did you achieve it?
I am a business woman who looks for opportunities where I can excel. In 2003, while leaving school in London, I set up an IT company known as Injaz Limited because I knew I would focus on taking a journey in entrepreneurship. We started in the United Kingdom, but one year later, we came into Nigeria and set up the same IT firm. We continued to operate the IT firm until we established another company, Water-Info and Lamarc Marine Services, which was followed by EPSS Private Security Limited.
What informed the decision to set up EPSS?
My journey into the security services revolves around projects that affect the lower cadre and I believe that if 5000 people are my team members, I should be able to impact that sector. From close observation of the security staff working in the places where I was, I became concerned about their welfare. I said to myself that if I had a security firm, it would give me room to lift up some people. I believe in human capital development and security is one of the avenues that I have been able to use to pursue that purpose. Besides being in business, which is not so busy due to all the other irregular or oversight regulations that we don’t have, generally, it has been wholesome with people in my team over the years who have grown in blue chip companies like Agip and Shell.
How did it take off and what were the initial challenges?
First, the license took a long while because my credentials in UK were needed for due diligence. I think, it took a little longer because of processes, but those are not the biggest challenges. I did not see such things as challenges, just something I had to deal with or an opportunity to change something. Therefore, being a female in what looks like a male-dominated industry is the least out of it. I do not see myself as a female, rather as a business person who needs to take the decision that I need to take. I have a quote that says success has no gender; but one’s zeal and courage make the difference.
In Nigeria, business owners say personnel issue is a real headache. What is your experience with your team?
The private security industry suffers from lack of recognition. So, people do not pay adequately for services. One actually gets a turnover of people, who are just passing through security just like that because there is no career path, and that is where we are at the moment. Though we are looking forward to the changes that will come from the new training curriculum and the guard licensing that will give people security. But then, we suffer from even double-jobbing. Some security guards work in various companies. When the sector is nurtured in such a way that it accommodates those other lapses, it will have a better chance.
With all these companies under your watch, what do you say about Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Whether we want to believe it or not, technology has gotten a place in the world. Although it will not take the place of humans, I have also listened to some of the interviews from Stephen Pallet talking about AI having to think by itself in the future and would like to cause confusion. But systems are actually what one puts into them. But they have become so intelligent now that they can bring out some other things. So, if negative people feed them with negative stuff, they will also have negative ones on air. The concern now is for AI to be so equipped that it would take initiatives to cancel what one wants it to do at a time. Furthermore, there are speculations and fears about AI but the truth is that it has come to stay. Recently, I do not remember sending letters to my contacts or asked someone to do it for me, I would rather finetune some of them and that is how I have been able to do some of the works.
You have an array of plaques on your shelve. Please talk about them.
The plaques are the activities that I have been through over the years. They are not plaques that were just given to me as an award, rather, these are involvements I participated in through committees where we developed documents in sponsored security forum. Part of our company’s responsibility is to look for avenues to promote issues of the industry, because we believe that if the industry is well defined and recognized, we would have healthier businesses.
Going back 16 years, what memorable moments standout?
It has been beautiful how we have been able to navigate the business itself. I would like to believe that the business might have its challenges, so in my SWOT analysis I identified my strengths, weaknesses, all the opportunities in the business, the threats and my quality management system. We have been in the field and we have other companies who want the same thing that we want. What we do is just to be able to be competitive, put in a bid where others are putting in their bid and make sure we have the right document. But the biggest challenge we have is the Act of the National Assembly that covers the private security sector. If we are able to have the government play that oversight, to look at the sector and regulate the it properly, we would be able to take out those who are not supposed to be in the business, it will become better.
What was your COVID experience, was it a better time for you and your business?
Well, COVID-19 was one of those crises that one could not control. So, during the COVID period, I do not know how God helped us. We had some jobs already done, and they had to stay and we were able to supply food for all our guards in all those locations. We bought foodstuffs and clients did not support in anyway. I can tell you that anyone of them one encounters today, that impression drew them and made them very committed to the organization even as challenging as that moment was for everybody. I believe that we were able to achieve all that because of the kind of empathy within our organizational. It was God’s blessing that we did all that because even the clients were not paying at that time. So, it was God’s blessing really.
Do you have the figure of the female guards in Nigeria?
Some of my location’s request for female security guards and we have been recruiting females in those locations, but there are some jobs at times we do not post females to, especially areas that are vulnerable, because we are quite gender sensitive.
Where do you want to see the organization in the next five years and what are you adding more?
I liken these 16 years to a youth going to Nigerian university. By the time one gets to the university, one would have learnt how to soak the feet in water to read at night. So, in EPSS we believe that diversification of private security sector is key to meeting that need in the nation because right now, there are some traditional licensing that we get just to provide guards services. So, our aspiration as a company is to be able to have this sector, not just traditional man-guarding, but to have the land, maritime and cyberspace all licensed because right now, there are no licenses for these areas. One can run a security business in electronics, but if one is providing human guards, this is the only time one needs license, and that is part of the push-up we want to achieve in the coming years. Then our business should be able to gain more recognition in those areas. For the past nine years, we have been conducting port facility security assessment on behalf of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Administration (NIMASA) for IOCs (international oil companies) or any company that has ports. So, the marine aspect of it needs to come into the private security sector.
Do you have young mentees?
Right now, I am the chairman, Mentor cCommittee of ASSIS International. Whrmen we had mentor cruise webinar, we brought the mentors and mentees together and it was such a huge success. It was a career programme to bring in young people because we need them from all fields knowing that security encompasses various aspects. We need the young people to be interested in security and make it one of the social subjects in schools so they can start developing things about security.
Cyber-stalking is becoming worrisome as everybody online. As a security expert what are your thoughts on this?
With a Master’s degree in Information Technology, (IT) cyber security is one of the educational aspects we have developed to promote. Cyber, as long as one has username and password to any system, then that person is a threat to that system because people see cyber security as IT people alone; no, as long as there is username and password, the lines are there when people send email and expect a button to be pressed. The moment that button is pressed or link clicked, the system is vulnerable. So, people with username and passwords in an organization, must be educated on accessing and protecting the system and thereby securing it.