Dr Babatope Agbeyo, Chairman, Gem Giant Limited, shared the story of his life with SEGUN KASALI.
Despite many challenges encountered growing up, you still became a billionaire. How did you brave the odds?
I am not, in any way, different from other children who came from a challenging background. I may be able to say a few things, today, because God has crowned my efforts, but not because I am better than others. It was a very tough journey, but perseverance saw me through. During my university days, I can tell you that I wore my father's clothes. Fortunately for me, we had the same height and body shape. So, I was prepared for a tough life since I was born. My mum was just a kolanut trader, while my father was a cocoa farmer. Many times, people would even come and buy kolanut from my mum on credit, but would fail to pay at the end of the day, and this naturally put pressure on my family. They still managed to sponsor my education through university. When I left the university, it became tougher. I didn't have a television set until five years after leaving university. I left the university in 1995 and I bought my first TV set, a Sharp TV, in 2000. When it was tough for us, my wife thought of working in a company that cleans and recycles plastics. She was about to take the job when God turned things around for us.
When did the breakthrough become evident?
Whatever I am doing today started a long time ago. I was determined not to look for a white-collar job when I left the university. I had it in mind to be an employer of labour. So, I put a lot of documentaries together, and submitted proposals to companies even right from the university. My first proposal was approved by Femi Soyinka, the younger brother of Professor Wole Soyinka. It was on HIV/AIDS. That was about 26 years ago when I was in my final year. So, I prepared for that morally, because I knew any derailment would destroy the bigger picture in the future. I didn't go the way of committing fraud or whatever that will tarnish my image today. I prepared for today yesterday. When God wants to rewrite your story, He will inject something that will change your story. I struck the blessing at the time I started warehousing examination ethics for Nigerian students in a compact disk. I realised that the only medium, then, between the examination bodies and the candidates was the newspapers. What you see is 'WAEC, release my English,' 'WAEC, release my Mathematics,' 'WAEC, what did I do that made you not release my result?' and so many other examination complaints. It could take months before the letters would be attended to just because the candidates didn't know what constituted examination malpractices and the penalties.
Not only that, some didn't know why they must use '2B' pencil and not 'HB' pencil. They didn't know then that instructions were part of examinations. You start examinations from the day you are registering for the examinations and your examination ends the day you get your certificate. If you write your exam and you don't get your certificate, then you haven't written examinations. So, I came up with the compilation of the do's and don'ts, from the point of registration to the point of certificate collection. And I gave it to NECO, JAMB, WAEC and it was approved. So, financing this project was the next question.
Is there anything you would have loved to do differently?
I can't think of any. God has been so good to me. And you know I grew up as an adult with no youthful experience. This means that I had my first son at age 20. So, I have been handling such responsibilities since I was born. When my friends were growing 10 miles, I was growing 1,000 miles. So, if I wanted to do anything then, it must be what I wanted to do. I didn't have time to frolic about. Even up till now, it is from my house to the office and vice versa. You can't see me in any social gathering.
Then, what is your best mode of relaxation?
Sometimes I go to the cinema. I am not used to social life and that is why it is not painful because we have not tasted that other side of life. That is exactly the way we brought ourselves up. I think that is one of the reasons I jumped into adulthood without latching upon youthful exuberance.
Youths nowadays don't want to get married until they have achieved a lot, but you did married early in life and still made it. How were you able to do that?
No man or woman has security in his or her life until he or she is married. Either rich or poor, there will be no security in your life when there is no woman. Same applies to women too. For example, if you are a bachelor and you have a 10-bedroom duplex and you have friends, your friends can come straight into your bedroom without any excuse. But, if he gets married, his friends will take caution. When you go out, your wife will call you to ask for your whereabouts if you are not back. So, you will be conscious of the fact that you are not alone. You will save every kobo you make for your future if you are responsible. You will channel it into what will put your life in progress. Likewise a responsible young woman, she would look around for something in the market to buy for the house if she makes one naira. Same applies to the man too. But, if a man is not married, he would rather go to Dominos or Sweet Sensation instead of buying banana for the house. Marriage is important because it makes you struggle more unless your partner is not responsible. These were some of the virtues we learnt while growing up in Aba-Ijesha and Usi-Ekiti area of Ekiti State.
What are the fond memories you still have about those communities?
They were both agrarian communities and that no social activities except for students unionism. They were both places where African values were inculcated, especially the part of being responsible in the civic way. Everybody knew everyone. If you were two meters away from your house and you do something wrong, the man there could beat you and bring you home. But, all these values are nowhere to be found now. In the village, you are very careful and conscious of the fact that everybody there was village police. And if you do anything wrong, the children there would name and shame you. And everyone ate communally. Then, we had only one fear and that was fear of the community. We didn't know anything about the law. When you saw a policeman then, you would run away. You would run to the bush because you would not even want to face a policeman.
So, we had thorough moral upbringing and fear of the law that we didn't even know. It was a thing of shame to see police come into anyone's house to make arrest. So, you were conscious of whatever you were doing. That is why even up till now, people like us run from anything that will spoil our name. Everyone in the village, then, was your parent. People feared teachers then because they moved around with long canes but you dared not do that now. I remember we had a Hausa man living in our house in the village. If I did anything wrong, the Hausa man would bring his koboko to beat me. These values greatly contributed to who I am today. My mum would even add to it if such bad thing was brought to her knowledge.
Was there any nickname you were known with while growing up?
I had many nicknames. When I was in Aba-Ijesha and Usi, one of our teachers, Mr Adeleye whose own nickname was Kalakuta, gave me a nickname. How did he come about the name? He asked me where I lived and I told him "Maforisha" but he said "Maforija". From there, my classmates started calling me that. And I was so lucky that the name stopped immediately I graduated from primary six.
What are your unforgettable moments?
I have a plethora of unforgettable moments. One was my first day at the University of Ife. We were on a queue and I was carrying my x-ray file so I could register. Mistakenly, My x-ray file touched the lady at my back and you needed to see the way the lady clean my hand on her body as if I was a leper just because I was wearing "buba' and 'shoro' which was expected because the way I dressed was different from those who came from Lagos. Then, you would see people coming from overseas to study in Nigeria. You would see white men and women in your class, unlike now. So, she cleaned my hand off her body. I never forgot. Funny enough, few years later after university, we met and she apologised to me because I reminded her though she had forgotten. She is happily married.
The most shocking moment was when I met the corpse of my younger brother when I returned home for Christmas. I would never forget that event in my life. I had started working in Abuja then and I went to his place to appreciate him for being there for me. But death took him. He was not sick at all.
Another one was a female friend of mine. Everyone knew we were so close but not to the extent of relationship or dating. She said she was going to greet her boyfriend in Lagos. I tried everything possible to make sure that she did not go. I told her I was afraid an accident could occur on the way and she said 'okay, Tope! I am not going.' You won't believe she went to Lagos without informing me but she never came back. She had brought food to me and we ate together. In fact, the plate was still on my table when the news broke that she was no more. I don't like remembering those two events.
What gives you so much joy?
When I am able to solve the problems of people around me. When I see them happy, I am happy. Another one is whenever I do great things for my parents. I was so happy my dad was alive to witness my success story before he later passed on. Another is when I have been able to appreciate everyone that had been there for me, especially when I had nothing. Some of them don't even need my money, hence, they say 'Tope! I am proud of you'. I want God to give me the power to be able to touch more lives. I am not after having billions in my account. I am not after having houses I can't live in. I am after making people glorify God through the impact I make in their lives.
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What about your philosophy of life?
Nothing positive is impossible for you to achieve.
Where do you see your company, Cornfield in the next five years?
To be more global than we are now. I want people to see my staff anywhere in the world and respect them, not because it is a rich company, but because it is solving societal problems.
How did you meet your wife?
She was my mother's best friend's daughter. She came from Kano to the village for holiday and that was how we became friends for a long time before marriage.
What would you say drew her to you?
Her submissiveness and quietness (Laughs). I recall her saying she wouldn't have been mine if I had studied another course.
Why?
If you remember vividly, Ogunde was the thing then and she loved his dramatic display. When I got admission to read Dramatic Arts, I filled Law as my first choice and my third choice was Dramatic Arts. You know it was like destiny and fate. The person who did my registration now made Law (my first choice), the third choice, and Dramatic Arts (my third choice), the first choice. So, I was left with no option but to study Dramatic Arts. My wife and I were still young when she said she wanted her future husband to do Dramatic Arts. I think she must have been dreaming seeing her husband in the field of Arts.
What is that thing she wants you to stop?
Hmmm! She wants me to reduce the pace at which I work now. Most importantly, what she wants me to stop really is my temperament, and I have been giving glory to God for it because He is taking control. By the grace of God, none of my children is taking after me, in terms of temperament. They are wonderful children and I pray to God for longevity to take care of them. They are calmer. I can see that they are more focused because they have all the resources.