Kenneth Udeh, Abuja


Neya Kalu ,Daughter of eminent Nigerian businessman Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has revealed that she was never desperate to take over her father's business establishments.

The Founder/CEO of BaseCoat a chain of Nail Salons in Nigeria narrated how she worked in the banking and other sectors years after her graduation before taking over her father's business establishments.

Ironically the United Kingdom trained business executive, lawyer, entrepreneur and philanthropist disclosed that she earned the confidence of her father to entrust her with his business empire as a result of her initial lack of interest towards his business dealings.

She stated that her lack of interest motivated her father to draw her closer towards his businesses.

Currently sitting as the chairman Sun Newspapers publishing Limited,Neya who was a guest on Womanity Africa podcast chat with Osasu spoke on the challenges of Female Children Carrying Family Legacies.

According to the excerpts of the interview which was released on 1st of February Neya who is also Chairman of Sun Heaven Hotels and Resorts highlighted the challenges of taking over business enterprises established by her father.

Speaking on how she's been coping with the pressures of emulating her father who became a successful business entrepreneur before venturing into Politics, Neya said that she had always harboured a childhood interest of preserving and developing heritages, a talent she said made her qualified to step into her father's king-size shoes.


"I enjoy not only the opportunity to prove people wrong but I truly enjoy the opportunity of taking care of what has been years and generations of building and growing and if I am the best person for the job then why not? Neya said.

Neya who holds a law degree and MSc in Financial Services Management from the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom


Asked on how she deals with the Nigerian/African Mentality preference for male children taking over their parental investments , Neya acknowledged her father's belief for gender balance.


Neya spoke of her burning passion to sustain her father's legacies after he stepped down as the Chairman of the Sun Publishing Limited, publishers of Daily Sun, Saturday Sun, Sunday Sun and Sporting Sun.


She shared her experiences on career, family, running multiple businesses and empowering lives. She unveiled;


Describing herself as her father's Personal Assistant she spoke;

"I do wear many hats and I do head a lot of his businesses and I do handle maybe 90% of things that he has built for himself, the Sun Newspapers publishing limited being the most pronounced I guess while other establishments are quiet.

"I think it's unusual for a female especially in this part of the world to be in such a position and I don't take it for granted, I do get tongues wagging and necks turning but I think it's all part of the journey.


The Trust came much from him because I wasn't so much interested, I will always be around but because I wasn't interested I think that also drove him to shake me up a little bit and made me want this for myself.

"But in terms of trust I think my rebellion was what enticed him a little bit , I was eager to let me see, let me earn I wasn't eager to do anything, in fact for the longest time I was working in the bank

"I was working for other people and in between me trying to decide what I wanted to do for other people and for myself, I'll always go back to the drawing board and the drawing board is our family businesses, I will always go back and quit and come back again and finally I just said to myself what am I doing?

"I enjoy not only the opportunity to prove people wrong but I truly enjoy the opportunity of taking care of what has been years and generations of building and growing and if I am the best person for the job then why not?

"For my father daughter's are very important to him and the woman's race is very important to him and I think that is exemplary in me , there were a lot of talks like ; "why will you put your daughter in charge and my father was like what is the difference between my daughter and my son? They both have one arms , legs and one head , what is the special thing between the boy and the girl? And for me it gave the confidence that I needed because you had to deal with the imposter syndrome.



Senator Orji Kalu is the founder of SLOK Holdings, a conglomerate of successful companies which he started at the age of 19. Kalu later went to become a two time Governor of Abia state and former Chief Whip of the Senate.

Until his resignation he was the founder and CEO of Sun Publishing Limited and First International Bank Limited. He also established the New Telegraph newspaper, aside from his investments in insurance and tourism.


The full interview can be accessed at the following links ;


YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUHUKLMtAXw?si=x7Qc3P_58D1aeLD9


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5CZZNtLIG90EZUB7yLk1NZ?si=HkzpBIORTEya6zLaUdafSQ


Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ng/podcast/womanity-africa-with-osasu/id1723696308#episodeGuid=bb7139ed-de00-43ad-b0ed-72536c495a49

African societies including here in Nigeria have always had women leaders and warriors...everytime "it's not easy for women to thrive in societies like ours"... abeg diam!

Ouk made money at early age
Greatest mistakes was joining politics, funding PDP, allowing his mom and brothers to run Abia state, bringing t.A orji in as a governor

Not withstanding aside for his mom and brothers overpowering him as a young governor in running the state, he was a good governor in Abia and still loved by his people till date
He single handled transform his village, building multiple roads and is still doing same in his senatorial zone,
As a governor back then
It's on record that he didn't owe any civil servants (,the only Abia state governor to achieve that), he paid 13 months far back then, brought school buses, education was free back then reason why Abians are still leading in waec till date, in infrastructure too he tried

Nwa a mụrụ n'ego.

Nigercity:
Ouk made money at early age
Greatest mistakes was joining politics, funding PDP, allowing his mom and brothers to run Abia state, bringing t.A orji in as a governor

Not withstanding aside for his mom and brothers overpowering him as a young governor in running the state, he was a good governor in Abia and still loved by his people till date
He single handled transform his village, building multiple roads as is still doing same in his senatorial zone,
As a governor back then
It's on record that he didn't owe any civil servants (,the only Abia state governor to achieve that), he paid 13 months far back then, brought school buses, education was free back then reason why Abians are still leading in waec till date, in infrastructure too he tried

Yeah
I heard he is loved in Aba
He is the only past Abia governor that can work down the street of Aba without security
He invested well in sports, in fact today enyimba FC is the only club in Nigeria to win the CAF
And the did it back to back, thanks to orji
He constructed a lot of roads and still constructing
Even up to date!
But the problem is his family stoled alot from the state, and after that decided to test run Abia state with t.A orji who later betrayed them and did the grand looting
Which abia is still recovering from

Nigercity:
Ouk made money at early age
Greatest mistakes was joining politics, funding PDP, allowing his mom and brothers to run Abia state, bringing t.A orji in as a governor

Not withstanding aside for his mom and brothers overpowering him as a young governor in running the state, he was a good governor in Abia and still loved by his people till date
He single handled transform his village, building multiple roads and is still doing same in his senatorial zone,
As a governor back then
It's on record that he didn't owe any civil servants (the only Abia state governor to achieve that), he paid 13 months far back then, brought school buses, education was free back then reason why Abians are still leading in waec till date, in infrastructure too he tried

End of story!
His family stoled from the state

Balemall:


End of story!
His family stoled from the state

OUK was stinkingly wealthy before he ventured into politics.

COMRADES, yes you are not because he's still alive, we always see a different scenario anytime a richman is dead

Keep it up, don't turn to a thief later like your father

christejames:







OUK was stinkingly wealthy before he ventured into politics.

When I watch most people make GEST that no IGBO on Forbes list I laugh them,,only Dangote will compete with OUK on that list,and go and make enquiry OUK IS NOT EVEN THE RICHEST IN HIS COMMUNITY

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu is simply making sure his business empire is preserved by putting specific offspring in charge of specific enterprise under Slok Group instead of following typical Igbo Dad mentality of handing over Slok Group entirely to his first son Michael Uzor Kalu.

Dude spent 8 years of Governor of Abia State and nearly crumbled the state and then handed over to another incompetent crony who further the mismanaged state for another 8 years. But here we are, he wants his empire to last and not crumble. Not good!

Well... what do I know.

Africans always hand over their businesses to their children when they step down instead of looking for competent hands to run them.
With the "it's my father's company" mentality, they will run it down in a couple of years.

That's why when CNN ran a documentary of companies that have existed for more than 100 years, you only see First Bank and Union Bank from Nigeria.

The children of all the rich men we used to know in the past (Eleganza, Ojukwu, etc) have mismanaged their businesses.

Parents should let their children find their passion and explore. They must not inherit your business. If your child has no passion in your line of business, they will crumble it in no time.

007kjb:



When I watch most people make GEST that no IGBO on Forbes list I laugh them,,only Dangote will compete with OUK on that list,and go and make enquiry OUK IS NOT EVEN THE RICHEST IN HIS COMMUNITY

Who said igbos are not on Forbes?
According to Forbes
Nnewi is the town with the highest number of billionaires in Naira!
Also Google top 22 richest men in Nigeria
11 of them are Igbos
The Orji uzo kalu himself
Have once been featured on Forbes

Nigercity:
Ouk made money at early age
Greatest mistakes was joining politics, funding PDP, allowing his mom and brothers to run Abia state, bringing t.A orji in as a governor

Not withstanding aside for his mom and brothers overpowering him as a young governor in running the state, he was a good governor in Abia and still loved by his people till date
He single handled transform his village, building multiple roads and is still doing same in his senatorial zone,
As a governor back then
It's on record that he didn't owe any civil servants (,the only Abia state governor to achieve that), he paid 13 months far back then, brought school buses, education was free back then reason why Abians are still leading in waec till date, in infrastructure too he tried

He is not my hero but I respect him.

He conquered Africa twice with Enyimba FC. First Nigerian club side to do so and the only Nigerian team to win CAF.

No one is talking about his time in prison 🤯