#Biz-Idol Challenge (29)
Topic: Why I would like to choose Mr. Obi Ezeude as my Business Idol.
The Winning Entry
By: Okonjo Victor
It is always a moment of delight and splendor to identify with personalities of great minds, who have shown unalloyed dedication and commitment to the development of the business ecosystem in Nigeria and the world at large. The business personage in focus is the Man of the moment, Mr. Obi Ezeude, the President/CEO of Belloxxi Industries Limited. He is a man of good legacy, whose fundamental ideology is driven by right principles. Mr. Obi Ezeude as a young graduate of banking and finance embraced the world of business. He founded Beloxxi and Company Limited as an importer of internationally branded biscuit. His reason for venturing into the business of import and sales of biscuit was affordability. He was able to look inward to discover a business path that his financial strength could handle. This has enlightened me to know that it is one thing to desire and start-up a particular business career, while it is another stage to sustain that business life. Mr. Obi Ezeude has shown us that it is more favorable to pursue a business career that the economy of our pocket can sustain at the basic level. There is a common quote that goes thus “Necessity is the mother of innovation”.
The ban on the importation of biscuit in 2003 necessitated Mr. Obi Ezeude to upgrade fully into manufacturing of biscuit. While some of his contemporaries then may have found the ban unpleasant, Mr. Obi Ezeude saw an opportunity for innovation. Although, he witnessed series of hurdles and challenges in materializing his innovative idea in manufacturing of biscuit, he was ever determined to make it possible. The business life story of Mr. Obi Ezeude makes me remember the words of a wise friend which says “It may be difficult but, it is possible”. Today, Mr. Obi Ezeude is the proud owner of the most technologically modernized indigenous biscuit production factory. His works now contributes immensely to the growth of the Nigerian economy and have paved way for an appreciable level of employment generation. All thanks to his assiduity, consistent principles and of course, divine guidance. Indeed, I have been greatly inspired by the antecedence of a great icon like Mr. Obi Ezeude. My injunction from the life story of Mr. Obi Ezeude is that we should never be discouraged by the challenges of society rather; we should see it as an opportunity to be more innovative in our ideas and take courageous steps to actualize those ideas while been disposed to the dynamics of life. This is a positive example evident in the life of Mr. Obi Ezeude thus, the reason why I would like to choose him as my business idol and role model.
