Jason Maduka is a Nigerian professional Pharmacist resident in the United States of America where he practices. He is the president and chief executive officer of Natures Rejuvenate Nigeria Ltd, an international trading company that specializes in health-related products. His company has just launched its first line of products into the Nigerian market called Real Time Pain Relief. In this interview with The Top10 team, he shares his plans for the Nigerian market and what the Real Time Pain Relief product is all about.
Can we meet you, who is Pharmacist Jason Maduka?
My name is Jason Maduka, President and the CEO of Natures Rejuvenate Nigeria Ltd, a product line company. We just had an initial launch of our first product called Real Time Pain Relief product into the Nigerian market.
As a Nigerian professional in Diaspora, what is your motivation for coming to invest in Nigeria?
Thank you for the question. Richard Branson once said that ‘business is a simple idea that one creates to make other peoples’ lives better.’ That is the first thing that actually arose my interest in coming back home to invest in Nigeria. Based on that notion, I don’t just see this as business as usual, but an idea backed by different line of products made with natures ingredients that will make a great difference in peoples’ lives. Pain is a common phenomenon that we all go through every day. There are different kinds of pain such as sharp, dull, needle-like pains that we experience every day on our kneels, neck, foot and back. Over the years, we have used oral and injectable medications that are synthetically made, and which have so many side effects to cope with the pain. I use this product every day because I deal with pain every day. All my family members use this product to address their pain situations. The benefits of this products are great and impressive. The proof is in the pudding and that’s the reason why our business model calls for free sampling of our great products before you buy, because with our products Pain Relief is real Time. Real Time has proven to be one of the products that stands out, not only because of the pain that it relieves but because it is made with all natures ingredients that are not harmful to the body and is not taken by mouth, but applied topically, and you experience relief in real time.
There are so many areas you may decide to go into, but why did you decide to go into health sector in particular and why emphasis on pain relieve products?
Thank you for the question. Like I stated earlier, I am a pharmacist by profession and have been practicing for over 30 years. I have a firsthand knowledge and experience as someone who have lived with pain and have been involved in pain management. My experiences span through many years of working in many health institutions such as National Naval Medical Center, GeorgeTown University Hospital in America helping patients reclaim their lifestyles by managing their pain differently. There are so many tropical pain products in the market, but none can be compared to the Real Time Pain Relief Products. It has over 18 natures ingredients put together in a very unique way. The proof is in the pudding, that is why we have a business model of sampling, before you buy, because we are proud of the benefits of this great product. The developers of this product, Tim Flatt and Ron Snodgrass have done a wonderful job. This is a family owned business that was started in 1998 in America by these two gentlemen. The products are manufactured and used in America. Every ingredient is sourced in America. Nigeria is the first country to have this great opportunity outside of America, courtesy of Natures Rejuvenate LTD of Nigeria. The product is in the process of being registered in U.K. and other European countries as we speak. With my experience in pain management, I knew right from the moment that I tried this product, that this product is going to benefit our people that have been in pain because of the inaccessibility of health care in Nigeria. We all have pain and live with pain every day. Some have arthritic pain, neck pain, back, knee pain, shoulder pain, sports injury pain, elbow pain, carpal tunnel pain etc. There are so many benefits of this products for the fact it doesn’t have any harmful ingredient. It smells great, it does not burn, no artificial dyes, no non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDS), ingredient-based therapy and it is FDA registered product. When applied, it penetrates the body without leaving any residue on the body. The benefits are many.
The Nigerian business environment is very complex, how prepared are you to surmount our complex business environment?
That is a good question. That is the same question that was asked by one of the doctors present during the product launch at the Radisson Blue Hotel, Ikeja, because of their past experience on great products such as ours facing the same faith of adulteration. It is a very challenging task and everybody knows it. Unfortunately, you cannot stop people from committing crimes, but you can take some steps to avoid being a victim. Our own marketing strategy is different from the norm and we have taken a different route of distribution. We are creating a different kind of distribution network and we have adopted a system which is called direct branding and direct response advertising, meaning the product belongs to the consumers. Who is the best person to ask about the products that you have? It is the person using it. We want our end users to use this product and continue to use the product that the quality will be guaranteed. One of the ways we intend to protect this product is to have a direct relationship with all the health institutions and establishments that attend to needs of the end users and have them buy directly from us. In doing so, we are partnering with so many hospitals, clinics, so they are buying this product directly from us. That is to ensure people are convinced at any point of purchase that the product is the same product they have been relying upon. Also, this product is made and used in America. If there is any product recall, the affected batch or batches will be collected and replaced. Customers are always to be engaged to be able to get a feedback from them. To succeed in any business, you must be able to engage and create that customer-based business relationship that can help you monitor some parameters and deal with issues before they get out of hand. This business is personal to me and I do have a great passion for these products, hence we will do everything we humanly can to protect the brand. We have so many other steps we are going to adopt in building this brand of product that we have. This is not just like every other product that you see in the market. So, these steps are the unique selling propositions that we are implementing and also creating a name and market position for our brand in business and also the delivery. We are here not to over promise, we are trying to under promise and over deliver. You don’t tell somebody that the product is going to cure the pain they have. The product is to relieve the pain they have, to enable them have a better use of their body. When they apply the product and the pain is gone at that moment, that is under promising and over delivering.
We have to listen to our customers to develop a world class customer service whereby, we depend on testimonials. We want to hear from people we distribute these products to 24/7. If there is any issue, we will work with them to resolve it in a timely manner and to the client satisfaction. We are not here to dump these products and go. We have a team of vendors who will be attending to the needs of these people. I have also talked about the best approach to reach the small businesses which is direct branding. We will partner with them in delivering these products to the customers.
This particular product you are talking about has specific target market and the target is somehow very narrow. What strategy are you using to identify a specific market in various states of the country?
I am glad you ask that question. There is nobody that doesn’t have pain. This product is actually for all age groups. It has a very small amount of menthol, hence very ideal for children. I use this on children. When, they come home from a soccer game or practice or basketball game or any sports, I massage the pain product to areas that they have pain, muscle strains or soreness and swelling due to injury.
This product is for all age group because, it is not harmful to the body and smells great. It is a product that is infused with more than 18 natures ingredients that does the body some good. These ingredients have great anti-inflammatory properties. From children to young adults and adults, men and women, this is a great product just like what we heard from the presentation by the orthopedic surgeon, Dr Elumelu, Kolinz during the product launch. This product is great for people with diabetes who suffer neurological pain due to neuropathy. They use this particular product called foot cream to massage those areas of the feet to increase the blood flow and relieve pain and discomfort. There are certain medications children cannot take orally or applied topically for pain, but this product is very good for both children and adult alike. Everybody is embracing this product because it is something that works in real time. We have since the launch taken our campaign to National Theatre, Churches in Lekki and the testimonies are great and if you were there, you would have been blown away. We will be uploading the events of the product launch and other events and testimonials soon to our website.
In that case, the product needs a lot of publicity and publicity is not just about product news in the media. The kind of publicity that you can control and dictate is full commercial in form of product advertisement. How ready are you for this?
We are already doing that. You yourself conducting this very interview, you are an advertiser, we reached out to you and that is why we are doing this interview. We are not going to dump these products on the distributors for them to decide the faith of these products like some businesses do. They have the money and they just throw the products and it doesn’t necessarily mean the product introduced that way do better than other products. We are just trying to use a different model of doing business. What is the best way to introduce a product than letting people to use the product and give you instant feedback? Not everybody does that. This is an innovation whereby; we are branding this product, we going to the public staking our neck, sample the product because we are proud of the product, what it can do, and we are doing everything nobody has done before.
Yes, advertising is a challenge and the approach that we have including social media and other avenues we are advertising through to reach out to people. And even you right here with your magazine, The Top10 Magazine that reaches various level, we are very excited and we know it is going to take sometimes but the product is worth being patient with and we are going to do everything possible to give it the best exposure that it deserves.
In Nigeria, a lot of things depend on government patronage and support. What is your strategy of getting the government backing at all levels for this brand?
Yes, we are seeing that already. I am very proud of the team that we have, and they have been doing excellent job. We started this journey here in Lagos, with just about two to three days in the making. As we speak now, we are communicating with some people in the Lagos health institutions. Basically, we don’t want to engage distributors that don’t care about the people using the product. We are giving the people opportunity to test the product to know that it is entirely different from other product they use to know. We have spoken with so many people which I cannot mention now because a lot of things are still in the works. We are trying to reach out to the commissioner of health and all the medical departments and their directors in all the hospitals in Lagos state. They are very much excited because everywhere we have gone, we have been doing presentations, inviting the doctors. Who is the best person to make decision if not the people that prescribe these products? We invite them to try it and most of them if not all, have been very impressed by the quality of what this product can do. So, in doing such, that is the best advertisement and awareness any one can create. We are taking this fight to the place where it is supposed to be.
This is the first product being introduced to Nigerian market by Nature Rejuvenate Nigeria Ltd, do you have plans to introduce other products or just Real Time Pain Relief?
Oh, I am glad you asked this question. You know, there are so many huddles you have to go through to bring a product into the market. The long process of product registration takes through securing contractual agreement to authentication of documents by State Department of America, the County, the States Department of Commerce and finally to the Nigeria Consulate office in the Washington DC for the final verification and authentication. Thereafter, the documents are sent to NAFDAC office in Lagos for the registration process to formally start. The documents then goes to the legal department and other departments for scrutiny., and if all is well, you will be granted a temporary registration which will grant you the permission to make the necessary payments and to bring in some of the approved products for the analysis in their laboratory. After the analysis, and other deliberation, if they approve the product, a NAFDAC number will generated and issued to enable you bring the product to the market. Indeed, it is a lengthy process, but a great process that I will encourage NAFDAC not relent on and to require that all products go through same processes of products registration before they are brought into the market. As we speak, we have registered three products with NAFDAC and there are many more products that are going through same processes of product registration and hopefully before the end of the year those products will be registered as well. It is what noting that all Natures Rejuvenate Ltd products are manufactured in America, using all nature’s ingredients and are sold and consumed in America by their citizens. The standard and quality of the product is same and is guaranteed, and should there be any reason for a recall of any batch of the products by the company, all the products involved will also be pulled from our shelves and replaced. We have a great business relationship with Real Time Pain Relief and also with Natures Truth that manufactures the best health supplements in the world. As we speak today, we have about 22 products that are going through the process of registration at NAFDAC. Hopefully, as soon as we get the green light from NAFDAC, those products will be launched in Nigeria.
We have many other lines of products; we’re just taking baby steps but being steadfast in building a brand that we will be very proud of and one that the consumers will associate with and appreciate as well. The Real Time Pain Relief Products are great products wildly used in America, especially by Texas Bull Riders, people that run marathons and even the greatest boxer of all time, the one and only George Foreman, who is the Brand Ambassador of this great product. We are very proud and very excited about this product that we will not let you buy it without sampling it free on any part of the body that you feel pain, soreness, spasm or strain. It has been working for my family and I, and I believe it will work for you too. Give it a try and you will be blown away by the immediate response and continued Relief that you will experience.
Finally, for you to achieve all the things you have listed, especially bringing these products on board requires a lot of funding. How is the financial capacity of Natures Rejuvenate Nigeria Ltd to be able to achieve all the things you have listed?
That is a good question. You know, we are not branding this product to create sales, we sell to create a brand.’ Our business model of direct branding and direct customer response marketing with our free sampling is revolutionary and has been making waves. It has been only a few days now since the product launch at the Radisson Hotel, GRA Ikeja and the demand for the product has been on the rise. We’re just in Lagos at the moment and we intend to take this campaign to every part of Nigeria until every family member anywhere in the country can have access to this product so that they can reclaim their lives from this debilitating sickness called pain which we all experience one way or another. We’re confident and comfortable in our business approach and model and believe strongly that it’s a winning strategy. This will definitely help us generate the funding that we may need. We’re currently fully funded and have enough inventory to service our orders.
