An Interview with Mr Valentine Chineto Ozigbo (BSc, MBA, MSc, FCA, FCIT, FICA, FITP, JP)......FOSSSA Compendium Magazine

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2280180712281460&id=100008686594510

Compendium: Good Afternoon sir

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: Good Afternoon

Compendium: Sir, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Mr Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: My name is Valentine Ozigbo, I consider myself a child of grace and a product of hard work. I spent my early years in the village and not just one village, but several, by virtue of being the last child of a village headmaster and catechist who was posted to several villages during his active years, so it is safe to call me a village boy. These movements around different communities, culture and people helped me understand the uniqueness of different people and cultures and helped shape my behaviour and discipline. Also, being the child of a catechist and headmaster, schooling in the same school where your father is teaching actually meant that I needed to live above board because whatever I did, people were watching and were ready to point fingers at the “Headmaster and catechists son”. So, that put a lot of pressure on me and expectedly informed my behaviour. I had to imbibe the culture of excellence early in life, making me one of the best students in primary and secondary school.

I was a science student who wanted to study Medicine but my eldest brother whom I respected so much, asked me why? I really could not answer to why I wanted to be a doctor, all that I knew was that I liked the prefix-Dr, before my name. He went further to ask what I loved doing and I said business, then he encouraged me to take a business course. Hence, why I ended up studying accounting at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). I also made the best result in the department and faculty. I made the best result in the Department and Faculty and went further to get my Masters degree at the same school. After that, I won the British Chevening Scholarship to do my second Masters in England where I also graduated with a distinction.

I worked for 17 years in the Banking industry, ended up in the field of international Banking and global transaction banking and helped open banks in many parts of the world which exposed me to various international cultures around the world. I took over the reins at Transcorp Hotels Plc as the first CEO for 7 years and handled its transformation into the Transcorp Hilton Abuja that we all know today. To this effect, we won various awards including the best business hotel in Africa and as a result of that too, I am one of the most decorated men in Nigeria today in the hospitality industry. I am also the only black man to win the “CEO of the year” and the “Hospitality man of the year” award in the Industry by the Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards.
In 2019, I was promoted to the position of Group President and CEO of Transcorp Group that covers hospitality, Power and the Oil and Gas.

Beyond the professional side of me, there is also the philanthropy side; I have chaired and been actively involved in “Unusual Praise,” the largest Catholic Gospel Concert in Nigeria and its sub-division, Unusual Entrepreneurs for 2 years now and counting. Both programs serve as an avenue to empower men and women in the church, so they not only gain the spiritual benefits but also the economic empowerment. Just last year, Unusual entrepreneurs empowered 251 men and women of the church with about 40 million naira.

Also, beyond the spiritual, I am interested in helping the talented grassroot of Nigeria through a sport known as Freestyle Football. I am the Chairman of “Feet ‘n’ Tricks International Limited” which is a Platform I set up to promote freestyle football by way of empowering youths and basically providing employment as required. In 2018, during the African Championship, an Anambra indigene emerged as the Nigerian champion and got the opportunity to go to Poland and represent Nigeria in the global competition. I have done a lot of other things using my foundation, Chineto Ozigbo Foundation in Mentorship, Leadership training, Talent hunting and Business funding. I see myself as someone whose life is about impacting other lives; who derives joy in seeing that the society gets better and that is why there was unanimous clamour from my people to come out for the governorship of Anambra State. This is why I have been in various consultations and will be making a formal declaration soon. I have also chaired a lot of Leadership Programmes in some tertiary institutions in Nigeria because I am interested in practical education not just theoretical education.

Im a fellow of many Professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Institute of Tourism Professionals, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and Institute of Credit Administration.

Compendium: You had BSc Accountancy and an MBA in Banking and Finance from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and later MSc in Finance from the Lancaster University in England. Did you also study Hotel Management?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: My role as a CEO is administrative, management, visioning, strategy, leveraging people and the team to achieve optimum result. Am I well-schooled in those? absolutely yes. Having a hotel management degree is not necessary to carry out the above stated roles but I have, however, taken various professional courses in that regard, including hotel development that I have now become an expert in and became a fellow of the Institute of Tourism Professionals. I was able to easily adapt to hotel management because I took over the management at the top-most level, where what is needed is the skill of managing people and getting the best out of them to serve your customers and other key stakeholders for optimum result.
Compendium: You have been succeeding in Business for years now, what keeps you going?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: Challenges keep me going. They give me the fuel to want to succeed and if I dont at first, I take the lessons and try again. As we know, there is always a new challenge if you are seeking growth or expansion in business or life, so, this has been my motivation. Even as I move into politics, it is this same drive that will see me transforming various aspects of Anambra state and ensuring that its light blossoms.

Compendium: You taught Mathematics and Physics in secondary school while waiting for admission to the university, did you actually love teaching?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: I am a born teacher; as a matter of fact, I succeeded in school because I taught my fellow students and, in the process, taught myself too. I believe that in teaching, we learn better. Teaching is natural to me, not just because I am the son of a headmaster. I learnt very early the importance of giving back through teaching and it was later in life I started to hear people call it mentorship.

Compendium: So far you have won many awards, what will you say is the reason behind your success?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: There are many reasons. Success doesnt come that easy. The greatest way to succeed is to surround yourself with competent people, a vibrant and competent team to work with. As I am here, guests and customers at Transcorp hotels are making use of our facilities and hotel, the only reason I sit here comfortably is because I believe someone there is doing the right thing; is capable and competent to serve the customers and guests. I preach competence and capacity building because human resource is the single greatest asset that any organization can have. Beyond people, there is also the governance, if you want to build any Institution to last, you must have strong governing principles. Make sure there are processes and structures to guide people and ensure work/the institution can function without you being there. Managing all the ecosystems in the workplace and in business effectively will help you achieve the desired success.

There are other reasons but more lately and by far the most instructive is having the culture of continuous improvement, which drives me to want to do better in anything I do, how I do them and the experience from people I engage with.

In order to ensure that all three factors are always at work in me, I always want to ensure that I leave whoever I meet with very positive impression. And it really doesnt matter too much if I dont succeed always as much as it is important to me to try.

Compendium: In your opinion, what is your biggest challenge working as the President and CEO of Transcorp?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: The challenge for me is moving to the next level and searching for better ways to do things. This is a challenge because I desire growth for my companies and in my personal life and because of that I am always challenged with how to move to the next level.

Compendium: Sir, how do you overcome these challenges when you face them?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: Mastering a culture of continuous improvement has kept me going; This is a principle I hold dear in life and one that has helped me overcome the challenge I have just mentioned. I learn every day, wherever I am, I learn new things that will help me be as effective as I should be in my workplace. For example, as you are here today, think about yesterday, what did you do, how you spent your day, then write it down, check in all those times spent, how much was useful. If you find out that in these times, only 40% was useful move it to 50% and watch improvement take place. Taking personal steps to improvement will help you a lot, you must not wait till you do big things, do little things, and from there you grow big. So, finding a way to minimise waste in all I do is one way of conquering these challenges.

Compendium: In terms of leadership style, how will you describe yourself?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: I like a balanced leadership style, one person can have multiple leadership styles. There is a time to be empathetic and a time to be firm. It is applying the right principles at the right time that really matters. For me, it is always about emotional intelligence. Once you have the right emotional intelligence, you will excel. Mastering your emotions and using it right. You know leadership is the ability to improve others to make them do things even in your absence. When you can inspire people to do the right thing without your presence, then you know you are on the right track. Inspirational leadership is what I advocate for - getting people to do the right things not because you are around. Leadership is the ability to get the best out of your people and that is what I stand for.

Compendium: Sir, in your opinion, what is the most singular concern of your employees?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: I do not know if there is any singular concern, but I know that people always clamour for respect, recognition, elevation, appreciation and welfare improvement. Some of the companies under me are very unionised and they come together to make demands as far as conditions of service is concerned and it yields fruit because I stand for a favourable working environment, which is part of the gospel I preach for my people. Now, one of the things that will help an employee is to put their best in a performance-driven environment where their performance will account for their level of growth and development in life.

Compendium: What do you expect from your employees, what pleases you the most and what irritates you the most?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: Every employer must always seek for high performance and proactive performance and on the flip side, it is quite displeasing to see an employee that is not delivering in his or her duties.

Compendium: If you were to choose between fame, wealth and wisdom, which will you choose?

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: I need a combination of the three. I need the three of them in this phase of my life. If you have all the money and you are stupid, its not enough. If you are wise and you still dont have money, it still won’t be enough. For those of us in politics, fame is needed, though a lot of things I have done in life, I have not done them for fame but at this moment in life, politically, fame is needed. I feel when you get successful in wealth creation and you have sufficient wisdom, fame will follow automatically. A balance of the three is the best.

Compendium: We will love you to offer advice to the younger generation.

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: Three things basically, one, strive for excellence, do not settle for less, and do not be a mediocre. Go for the best and be satisfied with the best alone. It is more important to make all the effots to be the best than in actually becoming the best. Secondly, your happiness depends on you not on others, figure out what happiness means and decide to be happy. It doesnt matter what people do or what people say, ignore who wants to get you upset and be happy. Finally, look for the better way of doing things, always challenge the status quo. Try and continuously improve in your interpersonal engagements, at work, at home and in everything you do. Thank you.

Compendium: Thank you sir

Mr. Valentine Chineto Ozigbo: You are welcome