₦airaland Forum

kaysco:
Very good. Kindly do justice to the others.

Thanks

GoldNiagara:
Calm down bro! If you ask me those guys are quite industrious, intelligent and are Yoruba, obviously, if you ask me. Since it offends the sensibility of others, I have stopped posting them. So deedeedee!

CeterisXVII:
Good work, sir. It would be nice to add a little historical perspective to this. Bashorun J.K Randle is the son of Joseph Kosoniola Randle MVO MBE, (1909 - 1956) who was a Nigerian businessman and socialite from Lagos.

He was Chief de Mission of the Nigerian Olympic team to Melbourne, and was connected to various public activities in Lagos. Randle was a social crusader and philanthropist, who started the Nigerian arm of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, and a member of the Lagos Town Council. But his politics discouraged extreme nationalism. He was also a sportsman who was a trustee of a proposed National Stadium.

His father, John K. Randle (1855 – 1928) was a West African doctor who was active in politics in Lagos, during the colonial era. Born in Sierra Leone, he was one of the first West Africans to qualify as a doctor in the United Kingdom. On his return, he worked for the Lagos Colony colonial medical service for a while, then left due to discrimination and built up a successful private practice, treating both Europeans and Africans.

Joseph Kosoniola Randle was given the title of Lisa of Lagos by Oba Adeniji Adele. Randle was a founding member (and later Chairman) of the prestigious Island Club. He was also a sports enthusiast, vice president of the Nigerian Olympic Federation, as well as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games Association, and a trustee of the proposed National Stadium. After his death, the J.K Randle Memorial Hall at Onikan, was built in his honour and opened up to the public. Sadly, that historical building was demolished last year, by unknown people who claimed to be acting on the orders of the state govt.

laudate:
Nigerian pilot, Ademilola Odujinrin, makes history as first African to fly the world solo | Punch Newspapers | March 30th 2017 |

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Capt. Ademilola “Lola” Odujinrin is a man who thrives on new challenges and adventure. So he decided to join Project Transcend, a new initiative to inspire children and young people, to strive to achieve their dreams despite daunting obstacles confronting them.

As a fully qualified pilot with Air Djibouti, Odujinrin decided to embark on a trip to fly solo round the whole world. His journey saw him going through more than 15 countries on 5 continents, before finally disembarking at Washington DC, where he had begun his trip, way back in September 2016.

The pilot completed the entire circumnavigation by flying a Cirrus SR22 plane, in his “One Man, One Plane” expedition. Ademilola has logged over 4,000 hours as a commercial Boeing 737 pilot since earning his pilot licence six years ago.

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Tayo Ayeni is a Nigerian businessman with interests in automobile sales and real estates.

Tayo Ayeni was born in Ibadan to the family of Chief Isaiah Sunday Ayeni and Mrs. Mojisola Alice. He hails from Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria. Tayo once described his father as a disciplinarian and his role model. “I was brought up in a polygamous home. It was quite interesting and educative. My father, Chief I.S. Ayeni, popularly known as ‘Baba 10 10’ of blessed memory was fully in charge of his household. He ensured we did family activities together.” Tayo Ayeni attended African Church Grammar School, Ilesa, and later moved to Ilesha Grammar School, Ilesa, Osun State for his A-level. He proceeded to Italy where he studied Electrical Engineering.

Tayo Ayeni is the Chairman/CEO of Skymit Motors Limited. In an interview he granted Lanre Alfred, Society Editor of ThisDay Newspapers, he said he was privy to know about automobile business and European car dealership during his study days in Italy. Returning to Nigeria after his education, his intended to “revolutionalise the way automobile business was being done back home in Nigeria.” He then founded a company he called Skymit Motors Limited, which, according to him, is a contraction of ‘Sky is the limit.’ Information on its website shows that the automobile company was incorporated in 1986 as a Private Limited Company with an initial start-up capital of Five Hundred Thousand Naira N500,000.00, which has a yearly turnover level of five billion Naira today. Its sales are targeted towards “a selected group of Nigeria's corporate organizations and high-net-worth individuals who are in dire need of corporate, sleek but durable cars at affordable prices, packaged and tailored towards their financial status and personality.” Skymit became operation in January 1987 with only two cars; it now has offices/showrooms in Ikeja and Victoria Island. He is also the Chairman of Affordable Cars Limited, a low and medium car sales and service outfit, which is run by his younger brother. He also heads Space Ventures Ltd, which deals in photographic materials; he is chairman of Space Properties, a real estate firm; Moontrends Holdings, a project financing and management firm, and Limoserve among others

Space Online Limited is a leading provider of Construction, Development and Management services in Nigeria. We operate across the full project life cycle with strong expertise in Residential Estate developments.

Our businesses cover design and consultancy services, construction services, estate development and property management. We deliver exceptional quality to our clients and pride ourselves on our attention to detail and understanding the needs of our clients and residents.

Stephen Akintayo is a Nigerian author and Digital Marketing Consultant and the Chief Executive Officer of Gileadbalm Group and Gtext Media and Investment Limited, a firm in Nigeria whose serves span from digital marketing, website design, bulk SMS, e-commerce, and real estate. He is a graduate of Microbiology from Olabisi Onabanjo University and the host of a radio programme, known as CEO Mentorship

He was born In Gonge Area of Maiduguri, Borno State to a family of four children, in a very impoverished environment[4] without electricity. After his father's business crumbled, hunger became biggest challenge of his family, and he started scavenging while in primary school to eat lunch. His mother frequently borrowed money to pay his school fees.

Akintayo obtained bachelor's degree on Microbiology from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria. While in 5th year, he started a Student Trade fair on his campus. He studied Digital Marketing Consultancy by the Digital Marketing Institute and Harvard University.

He started his digital marketing business by doing Bulk SMS for organizations. He later partnered with United Kingdom companies to scale up his business. He subsequently established his GileadBalm group and Gtext Media and Investment limited to serve thousands of clients. He founded Infinity foundation to care for orphans and victims of Boko Haram.

deedeedee1:
My bro, i did not say you should not contribute to this thread oo( afterall we are all Yoruba), but i feel we should leave entertainment for now. Igbos asked us to show them what we produced, and that is what we must do.

Airflow Engineering Works Limited was founded in 1985. The company is divided into three arms
Airflow works, Airflow Services and Airflow Renewable Power Systems.
Airflow Works is responsible for manufacturing and distribution of air conditioning products such as window Air conditioners, Split Air conditioners (floor, high-wall and ceiling) and Free stand/Blow Air conditioners as well as Refrigerators and Freezers

Airflow Works has a manufacturing plant for production of air conditioning products located at the suburb of Ikeja, Lagos State. The plant was bought from Corcho Industries Limited of Spain in 1994 and was mainly used for assembly of refrigeration products. It was overhauled, redesigned and new plants and machinery installed in 1995 for assembly and manufacturing of air conditioning products though still retaining the refrigeration process line.
The manufacturing plant is situated on 3.5 acres of land with all infrastructures adequately provided for.

Airflow Services division handles procurement, supply, installation and maintenance of air conditioning equipment in commercial, residential and industrial buildings such as split units, packaged split system, console increment unit and central air conditioning systems like air cooled condensing units, chillers, cooling towers, air handling unit, fan coils and ventilation equipment. The company is duly registered with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to render service to the oil industry as equipment supply services contractors. In this regard, Exxon-Mobil Oil Producing (Nigeria) has established a Master Purchase Contract (MPC) with us.

Mr. Ade Bajomo, Executive Director of The Nigerian Stock Exchange for Market Operations and Technology, leads the operations and technology transformation of the prime Sub-Sahara Africa exchange.​

With a wealth of experience and track record in the global financial services sector spanning Ba​nking, Capital Markets, Asset Management and Insurance, Mr. Bajomo has been instrumental to enhancing and deepening the technology and operational capabilities of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the wider Nigerian Capital market with the introduction of modern trading infrastructure and the ongoing enhancements to market structure, product development, service automation and mobile trading technologies. ​

Prior to joining The Exchange, he led several business transformation programmes, product development and business growth initiatives for the technology and operations integration of acquired entities primarily in the UK financial services sector, and also in the emerging markets region.​

With over 25 years of professional experience, Bajomo has held several director level positions, leading the Replatforming Programmes for Africa and Indian Ocean region at Barclays Bank PLC., Technology Director at Fortis Bank, Head of Technology Systems and Strategy at Pearl Insuran​ce UK and management roles at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Grenfell Asset Management. He is also a board member of NASD Plc., a leading Nigerian-based OTC platform and currently the Chair of the Market Infrastructure and Technology Committee of the Nigerian Capital Market Committee.

He holds an Executive MBA degree from City University, London, an MSc degree (with distinction) in Information Systems Engineering from South Bank University, London and a B.Sc degree from University of Ife, Nigeria​.

laudate:
God bless you for your words of appreciation. All the thanks goes to God! The truth is that I really didn't do anything.

And to all those unknown people on this thread that contributed towards his education, may Eledumare always overload you all with multiple blessings, and never allow you to lack any good thing in your life! Honestly, your kindness towards this young man is so touching!

OAUTemitayo, am impressed! You are truly one of a kind! You deployed your Sherlock Holmes skills and ensured that everything was above board.

GoldNiagara, honestly you are Godsent to this young man. May Oba awon Oba always give you divine help in your time of need.

The Anonymous Donors, you all know yourselves. My prayer is that God's divine provision and preservation will always be your portion, especially the person who made up the rest of this young man's fees. Wow! What a great deed. Like I said earlier, I am truly touched on his behalf.

And TimJackJsm, please read up the story of Prof. Olutoye on this thread. I pray you will excel in the medical field, just as he has done. And when everything works out well for you, please do some one else a favour and help out, as well. Cheers!

Folake Folarin-Coker first entered the world of fashion in 1996 when she designed a collection for herself upon returning to Nigeria to start Law School.

Born in Lagos, Folake schooled in Switzerland, England and Scotland. Despite qualifying as a lawyer with a Masters degree in Petroleum Law, her love for the world of fashion reigned supreme over all.

In November 1998, Folake launched Tiffany Amber revolutionizing the Nigerian Fashion Industry. Having spent most of her childhood in Europe, Folake successfully translated her passion to a foremost fashion brand in Africa with outstanding global recognition.

In 2008, Folake for the first time showcased at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. The collection was heralded by such rave reviews that she was invited to showcase for the second time, making her the first African based designer to showcase for two consecutive shows at the New York Fashion Week. By 2009, in addition to her main line, Folake extended her creative borders by adding two more lines under Tiffany Amber Nigeria: TAN by Tiffany Amber (a Diffusion line) and Folake Folarin (a Couture line). Each line in distinctive but represents the designers iconic style.

The multi-award winning designer received the Designer of the year at the inaugural African Fashion Week (AFI) in 2009 in Johannesburg. In 2012, Franca Sozzani, Editor of Vogue Italia, met with Folake on her visit to Lagos, and was so impressed with the brand, she invited Folake to be a part of the Fashion for Development Project.

In 2013, Folake became the first African Fashion Designer to make the Forbes Women Power List. Also in 2013, the designer was awarded the Enterprise Award by the Women Inspiration and Enterprise (WIE).

In 2014, Folake launched her home line, Tiffany Amber Living, fortifying Tiffany Amber as a complete lifestyle brand. The home line captures the rich African culture embodied by the brand, and the high sophistication of fine living. In celebration of her brands 15th year anniversary, Folake launched a Women of Vision campaign, in partnership with Diamond Woman as a platform to mentor a younger generation of entrepreneurs.

19 years going, Folake remains one of the strongest forces in the African fashion industry.

Chris Ogunbanjo & Co. is a leading international law firm, with lawyers based around the world who provide a comprehensive global service to national and multi-national corporations, financial institutions and governments. For many years we have been at the forefront of developments in the legal profession. As the twenty-first century begins, we are growing and evolving faster than ever, to satisfy the needs of our clients for top quality advice in an era of globalisation and rapid financial and technological change.

The firm was founded by Chief Christopher Oladipo Ogunbanjo in 1960. Chief Ogunbanjo started Legal Practice in 1950 as a partner in a law firm then known as Michael, Chris & Samuel (made up of Michael Odesanya, now a retired judge, the late Chief Samuel Akintola, former Premier of Western Nigeria and Chief Christopher Ogunbanjo). Their offices were situated at Tinubu Square in the heart of Lagos.

Chris Ogunbanjo & Co. was formed after the dissolution of the partnership in 1960, primarily as a Commercial Law firm and is perhaps the biggest in this field in Nigeria. The firm has been a breeding ground for many successful luminaries in Nigeria legal practice. Chief Ogunbanjo presently acts as the principal consultant of the firm together with The Honourable Dr Olakunle Orojo, a former Chief Judge of the High Court of Justice, Ondo State and former Chairman, Nigerian Law Reform Commission.

hilroy:
Chief Chris Ogunbanjo
Founder, Ogunbanjo and Co. Law firm

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Kehinde Wiley is a New York-based portrait painter who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of black people in heroic poses. The Columbus Museum of Art, which hosted an exhibition of his work in 2007, describes his work with the following: "Kehinde Wiley has gained recent acclaim for his heroic portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture."

New York based visual artist, Kehinde Wiley has firmly situated himself within art history’s portrait painting tradition. As a contemporary descendent of a long line of portraitists, including Reynolds, Gainsborough, Titian, Ingres, among others, Wiley, engages the signs and visual rhetoric of the heroic, powerful, majestic and the sublime in his representation of urban, black and brown men found throughout the world.

By applying the visual vocabulary and conventions of glorification, history, wealth and prestige to the subject matter drawn from the urban fabric, the subjects and stylistic references for his paintings are juxtaposed inversions of each other, forcing ambiguity and provocative perplexity to pervade his imagery.

Wiley’s larger than life figures disturb and interrupt tropes of portrait painting, often blurring the boundaries between traditional and contemporary modes of representation and the critical portrayal of masculinity and physicality as it pertains to the view of black and brown young men.

Initially, Wiley’s portraits were based on photographs taken of young men found on the streets of Harlem. As his practice grew, his eye led him toward an international view, including models found in urban landscapes throughout the world – such as Mumbai, Senegal, Dakar and Rio de Janeiro, among others – accumulating to a vast body of work called, “The World Stage.”

The models, dressed in their everyday clothing most of which are based on the notion of far-reaching Western ideals of style, are asked to assume poses found in paintings or sculptures representative of the history of their surroundings. This juxtaposition of the “old” inherited by the “new” – who often have no visual inheritance of which to speak – immediately provides a discourse that is at once visceral and cerebral in scope.

Without shying away from the complicated socio-political histories relevant to the world, Wiley’s figurative paintings and sculptures “quote historical sources and position young black men within the field of power.” His heroic paintings evoke a modern style instilling a unique and contemporary manner, awakening complex issues that many would prefer remain mute.

(CNN)They started out selling cups of lemonade at their college, but now two brothers have built a company in Nigeria which distributes its juice in over 650 locations in 18 states in Africa's second largest economy.

With just $5, Seun and Seyi Abolaji set up Wilson's Juice company in Lagos, Nigeria in 2010. They say their company is now worth millions.
Their company produces about 24,000 bottles of lemonade daily in a factory they built which employs 30


From college stands to a factory, 2 brothers have built a juice business in Nigeria
The brothers now produce 24,000 bottles of juice daily
Talk to everyone when trying to start, say the duo

(CNN)They started out selling cups of lemonade at their college, but now two brothers have built a company in Nigeria which distributes its juice in over 650 locations in 18 states in Africa's second largest economy.

With just $5, Seun and Seyi Abolaji set up Wilson's Juice company in Lagos, Nigeria in 2010. They say their company is now worth millions.
Their company produces about 24,000 bottles of lemonade daily in a factory they built which employs 30.
Talk to everyone
Since starting the company, the two have raised nearly $200,000 with the help of family and friends and their own savings.
"When we started thinking about Wilsons in Nigeria, there was nobody doing lemonade. We went around to anybody who would let us in their factory, and we just started asking questions," said Seun Abolaji.
The Abolaji brothers are hoping to build a juice empire in Nigeria first.
The Abolaji brothers are hoping to build a juice empire in Nigeria first.
They talked to yogurt and water companies, and big companies that were doing fizzy drinks, and thought: "Hey, why is there nobody doing juice in a bottle?"
The two seized the chance to tap into this new market. "We saw an opportunity with fresh juice and with lemons, it has so many health benefits," said Seun, who added it's a healthy alternative to what's on the market now.
"There are a lot of challenges...but could we have started this company in the United States? I doubt it. We would need $10 million. We started this whole company with 2,000 naira. That's $5 now. And that's the beauty of Nigeria, you can have a naira and a dream," said Seun.
Local first
The pair hope to create a brand that will become a household name, first focusing on making sure they saturate Lagos and Nigeria, but the duo don't see why they can't go further afield.
"We believe there's still a lot of work and a lot of value to add here. But from the very beginning we've seen ourselves as a global brand. We made a product, and we're making products, that can stand on the shelf anywhere in the world," said Seyi.
"At the end of the day, when life gives you lemons, what are you going to do?" added Seun.

My name is Olamide Williams nee Smith. I am the Head Chef of Sweet Indulgence. I also serve as its Chief Executive.

Family background/ marital status

I was born into a family of nine, I am the 8th child, my mum was Miss Animashaun and My Father is from the Smith family. They are both of blessed memory. I recently got married.

Educational and professional background

I attended Ikija Day Nursery & Primary School Lagos. I had my secondary education at Anglican Girls Grammar School also on Lagos. I studied microbiology at Lagos State University and I then got a Masters’ degree in Business Administration with specialization in Marketing at University of Lagos. I am also an Oracle Certified professional (DBA) even though I have not been able to apply that to my line of business. (laughs)

Work experience

My career started briefly in the banking Industry when I worked for about 4 months with a bank. Banking wasn’t really my thing because I wanted more flexibility and time to also hone my baking skills. So I got a job in the telecommunications industry which allowed me work shifts for about 6 years. I worked in the Customer Service departments and back end. While there, I had the flexibility I desired for a long time. But then I was moved to the technical department and didn’t have as much time. I later joined another telecommunications company before I resigned in 2010.

Who taught you how to bake? And how did you discover and develop this passion?

I remember as a kid, we all used to bake in my house. Weekends everyone had a pestle and a bowl to mix the cake batter. And it was a lot of fun checking to see who had the fluffiest mix, etc. It was basically fun with a lot of trial and error, sometimes we got it right some other times we didn’t get it right. But when I graduated from University, I didn’t want to do the trial and error anymore. I wanted to know the fundamentals of baking as well as develop the basic skills and knowledge I had. So I attended a crash programme by Mix and Bake here in Lagos, for a hands on training in baking essentials.

You are one of the lucky ones because you certainly discovered your passion early in life and immediately followed it. How did you develop and invest in your passion and what made you believe so much in it?

Erm…… before baking my passion had always been cooking, trying out new recipes and tweaking existing recipes. I really love to cook. Even during these my catering practical moments in the kitchen people always complimented my cooking. I also used to also write in cursive for free back then for weddings etc. So I thought the best way to combine these two skills which is writing and cooking was to bake. So far I do not have any regrets.



So, tell us the story of sweet indulgence from conception to today. How did you do it? How much did you start with, etc.

Sweet Indulgence was incorporated in 2010 but we did not start operation immediately. Although prior to 2010, I had started baking alongside my job then. I can’t remember how much money I had with me when I started but I cultivated a saving culture while working in the telecoms company. After my resignation, I proceeded to the UK for a culinary course in French Patisserie to add to my homegrown skills.

For the purpose of this interview, a lot of aspiring bakers would be wondering what they need most when they start: marketing or capital? Considering how you started, what would you tell them?

The two go hand in hand really. Capital to some people is 10m while to others it is 10bn. Some want to start a bakery with a duplex or a room. But for me, I’d say it’s not really about your start off capital at all. I always advise budding bakers to start small and grow into the business.

By starting small, just ensure you have the basic equipment, a small oven, mixer and baking accessories. Not necessarily the high end ones because if your products are good, people will find you and ultimately your business will grow and you will be able to expand and invest in bigger equipment. You can even start from home. Sweet Indulgence started from the house. My customers started patronizing me without even knowing the name of the company then because they loved what they tasted and they came all the way to look for me at home.

After that we moved to a small office on Bode Thomas, now we have a bigger office off bode Thomas, Surulere. You do need marketing but then again a good product is the best marketing you can do; if you make good products, they will sell themselves. It is not by making noise at all. Your customers will even make it a point of duty to tell their whole world about your products, if they are that good. We have not had to do much marketing. Our product is the nest in the market and people are quite to recommend us far and wide.

Knowing that you are very experienced in dessert catering, how are you able to blend both arts (i.e) being a confectioner with everyday orders and having to cater for events, etc?

At the moment we have been able to train a lot of people. Also it is important to have a good knowledge in your line of specialization. I like desserts because they appeal to the taste buds. They taste nicer than the regular cakes while the cakes have the fondant parts which enhances creativity. Combining craft and desserts is not an easy job, but with Christ all things are possible. I learnt and perfected the different fields over a period of time and even now I am still learning. We have also trained different staff in different fields of cake making and decoration to ensure we have masters in different fields instead of everyone being jacks of all trades and fluffing all.



Tell us some of the challenges you have faced since the birth of sweet indulgence

We have tried not to let our challenges pull us back despite the fact that challenges are normal. But staffing is a major challenge. So is unstable power and persistent increase in prices of raw materials; no thanks to forex.

There are many upcoming bakers today, how do you deal with the very stiff competition in your profession?

In marketing, there is what we call competitive advantage. We have been able to leverage on our crafts, taste and the fact that we ensure that the cake truly indulges you. We do nothing short of perfection; the cakes have to be neat, the texture must report and the taste must blow the most discerning connoisseur away. We do not compromise on the quality of our ingredients. Our cakes are baked and finished with love. We place strong emphasis on our craft, taste and the “Indulgence factor.

You recently got married and your wedding cakes were drop dead gorgeous and amazing.What do you require to be able to translate these ideas to reality? Do you need to be an artist?

You do not need to be an artist, i do not sketch well, but i am able to get very creative and think outside the box. But attention to details is very key in pulling off show stopper cakes.

Back to your wedding cakes how were you able to pull those off, how long did it take you to make them and what types of cakes were they?

The cakes started like a joke. My event planner said I had to do something out of the norm. SO jokingly I said I was going to make a horse cake and they all just keyed into it. So I said I was going to give it a shot and have the horse stand on two feet. I tried to sketch and it came out very horrible. The cakes were fruit cakes. Let me surprise you, the first horse fell! I almost gave up but I tried again and we were able to pull it off. The cake is what we call a gravity defying cake. We realised that the support structure for the first one wasn’t good enough that was why it fell yakata. We haven’t explored gravity defying cake options very well in Nigeria. The cakes had bling bling details because of my love for bling. The suitcase signifies the wife moving to her hubby’s house and it was an inter-tribal wedding (Yoruba and Akwa ibom wedding) so we used the talking drum popularly used in Yoruba land and the palm wine gourd for Akwa Ibom.

Nari Juice


For the convenience of the consumers who are health conscious; Nari Juice is the new natural, innovative juice drink that receives inspiration from the blessed palm trees of West Africa.

At 21 years of age, I decided to visit the West African country Nigeria for the first time to connect with my roots. It was a spectacular experience and I thoroughly enjoyed life in the capital city Lagos; fresh suya (thinly sliced BBQ Beef skewers) and cold palm juice was my daily ritual. The idea to combine palm juice with a variety of fruit juices was something that once I thought about, became second nature to my consumption of palm juice.

Upon my return to the UK, I woke up one morning and was overcome with a strong desire for the drink I had gotten so adapted to during my stay in Nigeria but was not satisfied with the traditional drinks available in the market. I spent days searching for the taste I had been missing and craving so much that I had no choice but to pursue the initiative to create Nari Palm Juice.

Nari Palm JuiceI travelled to Ghana & Nigeria after co-founding Go-Getters Global (go-getters.co.uk) to seek business opportunities. I wanted to find out which country would be best to launch my start-up. When in Ghana, I made a visit to the HealthiLife Beverage Company factory, it was an amazing experience and quickly became one of my aspirations to own one of my own or at the very least build a partnership. Nevertheless I found myself trying to fit a watermelon into a pinhole realising that at the current stage of my business, in order to work with Healthilife I would have had to make some significant changes to facilitate the partnership.

As an entrepreneur it is very easy to convince yourself that anything is possible, however this can prove less fruitful because it can open doors to irrational decision making. I believe the way to success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge; knowledge is the core, an essential requirement needed to attain success. If you search the depths of the ocean or any textbooks including religious books, the general consensus regarding knowledge is that it is something to either be prayed for or paid for; the divinity of knowledge is unquestionable along with its partners, wisdom and understanding. One of my favourite books by George S. Clason entitled ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ tells a story about bad investment due to lack of knowledge.

As an entrepreneur we hear time and time again that Investors invest in people before the product or service. Breaking into the beverage industry is capital intensive and I am proud to say that I have managed to raise just over £40,000 from current investors and a further £9,500 from a Start Up Loans Company. More capital is needed to equip the start of production and we also need a sustainable PR & Marketing budget to help drive sales. The challenge will be to secure enough finance to create a brand to ensure longevity, however I am very confident that this present challenge will soon be a thing of the past.

Our vision is to be the innovator; to offer the world a tasty portfolio of palm nectar based drinks that focus not only on satisfaction but ‘guilt-free’ satisfaction. Promoting a healthy image all round by also being environmentally friendly. Nari will be the difference by building and supporting sustainable agriculture within West Africa. Read on to know more about this young energetic entrepreneur

Tola James is a 24-year-old Nigerian and British entrepreneur who is the owner and founder of Nari Juice, a drink made from coconut palm sap. He is also co-founder of Go Getters Global, a network for entrepreneurs based in the UK with a passion for Africa and managing partner of investment firm Bridgewater Holdings. He’s raised £60,000 from investors and Nari Juice is stocked in some of the best shops in the UK. He talks about his Nigerian grandfather, his belief in God and what’s next for coconut sap.

Tell us about how you started the juice company.

As a child, I always wanted to be my own boss. Working for people was something that I knew could only be a temporary fix. I’ve always had this ‘larger than life’ mentality and the urge to exceed in life. Flying first class, having meetings in private jets and signing multi-million-pound deals has been a vision that has guided me throughout the years.

I’m always thinking outside the box and if a ‘good’ idea comes to mind then I write it somewhere. After not seeing my father for many years, I took it upon myself to travel to Lagos to see him. It was an exciting time for me; I met cousins, aunties and uncles and I had one of the most memorable Christmas celebrations that I can remember. My father is from a place called Ogun State in Nigeria, he took me on a tour across Lagos and through Ogun State to show me the work of my grandfather (God rest his soul).

As a strong believer in God and a firm believer in faith, I understand the importance of developing yourself from within.

I was inspired to see the houses and apartments that were built by my grandad during his time on earth. I left Nigeria feeling energised, inspired, motivated and my burning desire to succeed was as strong as ever. My grandad left a legacy that I took upon myself to continue the entrepreneurial drive and creativity that was passed down.

After arriving in the UK from Lagos, I laid on my bed reflecting on the direction I wanted my life to go, what I wanted to accomplish but most importantly how I would accomplish it… and then wala! My craving and love for palm juice turned into an idea that gave me sleepless nights. 2015 was an amazing year and I give all glory to God in heaven.

As a strong believer in God and a firm believer in faith, I understand the importance of developing yourself from within: spiritually, physically and mentally. One of my favourite books of all time isThink and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. He informs his readers about the power of auto-suggestion which is the medium for influencing the subconscious mind. I quote ‘Be on the alert for these plans, and when they appear, put them into action immediately. When the plans appear, they will probably “flash” into your mind through the sixth sense, in the form of an “inspiration.” This inspiration may be considered a direct “telegram” or message from Infinite Intelligence. Treat it with respect, and act upon it as soon as you receive it. Failure to do this will be fatal to your success…’

I worked on my idea and three years later Nari Palm Juice was born…

Nari is now sold across 21 outlets after one month of trade within the UK including Selfridges, one of the UK’s most prestigious and premium department stores.

What are you going to remember 2015 for?

2015 was an amazing year and I give all glory to God in heaven. I will remember 2015 for a number of things: I became a Churchill Leadership Fellow by being selected as one of 24 fellows taking part in a leadership development programme in the honour of the 50th anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s death, taught at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Møller Centre at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. The Fellowship is based on the pioneering ethos of ‘Learn to Lead’ and the Moller Centre with the British Council and Churchill 2015. Through being a Churchill Fellow, I was blessed enough to get interviewed by the Financial Times.

However, 2015 will definitely be remembered for finally giving birth to Nari Palm Juice.

What or who do you think is going to blow up in 2016?

I think Nari Palm Juice will blow up and exceed everyone’s expectations in 2016… In fact I don’t think, I know!

What’s keeping you busy in 2016?

2016 will be a very busy year and my sole focus is to continuously build a brand and a team to effectively gain a large market share of the industry. So I will state the obvious: Nari Juice will keep me busy.

deomelo:
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Two brothers have turned $5 into thriving juice business


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AKANBI VENTURES LTD.
Baba Ode Rd. Iju Ota, Ogun State




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deomelo:
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Tola James Founder of Nari Juice

hilroy:
See eyes appealing packages and ingenious ideas. Who won't want to have a taste of these lovely products? I went to our Olori pelebe brothers thread, all I see are inferior, fake and ugly looking products. Very classless people

Getting access to a fast and affordable internet connection in Nigeria is still problematic. To solve this, internet provider Oxygen Broadband is pioneering with affordable and reliable broadband to Nigerians through the deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots. Four months ago, it launched the first metro Wi-Fi hotspot at the Ikeja Computer Village; a popular district for IT-related trade and services in Lagos. How is this initiative helping Nigerian tech-entrepreneurs?

Focusing on densely populated areas, Oxygen Broadband is deploying several Wi-Fi hotspots spread across the Nigerian commercial capital. The company is targeting a country wide expansion by 2014. “Until we have a hotspot 10 to 20 meters from you, that’s the Oxygen dream,” the CEO and co-founder Wale Adalemo (photo above) says.

“Oxygen is Nigeria’s first metro Wi-Fi provider. We have our first hotspot at the Computer Village with 35,000 devices connected. By December we want to be in 20 locations. By June next year we want to be in 200 locations in Lagos. At the end of 2014, we want to have 1000 hotspots across Nigeria. And that’s our dream and passion, getting millions of Nigerians on true broadband using the Wi-Fi technology.”

Imagine you are travelling to Lagos for business. When you reach there you realize you are short of visiting cards in a new city. Or if you are a local, you realize a few days before your wedding that you suddenly need another 100 invitation cards. What do you do? Don’t worry. The founders of Printivo have a solution.

Printivo.com is a Lagos-based DIY (do it yourself) web-to-print-to-doorstep platform. This startup is trying to redefine the digital printing business in Nigeria by offering consumers and SMEs a radically easy and practical model for meeting their printing requirements. The startup helps SMEs by printing and delivering materials such as point-of-sale displays, business cards, letterheads, stickers, handbills, greeting cards, calendars, envelopes, invitation cards and banners, right to the customer’s doorstep.


Serial entrepreneur
Printivo was co-founded in Nigeria by Oluyomi Ojo, Ayodeji Adeogun and Ibukun Oloyede. YourStoryAfrica spoke to the serial entrepreneur Oluyomi Ojo to record his journey leading up to Printivo.

Since he was 18 years old, Ojo has been an entrepreneur. Before founding Printivo.com, he was running a design and branding agency called Urbanbaze in Lagos. He has experience of working with reputable brands like Etisalat, Honda, Pfizer, Kuramo, Alabukun and Asoil energy; helping them with design, branding and marketing communications. The ad agency is still running simultaneously but under a different management.

‘How I met my co-founders’
Ojo met his two co-founders while he was pursuing his previous venture. Ibukun joined him as a graphic design intern at Urbanbaze ad agency in 2009 and grew to be the Art Director in four years. Now Ibukun is his co-founder at Printivo.


Once Ojo needed help in GIS related stuff for Urbanbaze and went to the University of Lagos to meet a professor in the field, and instead bumped into an old acquaintance, Ayodeji Adeogun. They struck a deal then and there and Ayodeji came on board to Urbanbaze. Now he is as a co-founder of Printivo.

“Doing small things in great ways is the only business model that has worked for me,” says Ojo. According to him, “This one-stop online print-shop offers high end personalized products such as calendars, posters, photobook, diaries, large prints on paper and canvas etc. Printivo has a very interactive drag-and-drop online interface where customers can choose and customize from hundreds of templates to create business cards, brochures, posters, personal diaries, photo books and invitations. This personalized product approach helps customers reduce printing time and costs, while increasing choice.”


How did the idea come about?Printivo Bike Delivery
Ojo says he observed a market need that was not served well locally. He saw people ordering cards on Moo.com (UK-based printing service) and wait for 26 days for delivery. Surprisingly, Moo’s Nigerian traffic accounts for 0.8% of their overall site visits.

Printivo founder Ojo feels that the West Africa printing industry is hugely unorganized, and the customer is under-served in terms of quality and reliability. Printivo’s vision is to make printing accessible and hassle free starting from Lagos to other cities and eventually establishing outlets across the West African region.

Services like Printivo which provide a local solution for a local problem are the need of the hour in Africa. Nigeria has a lot of designers who were not accessible to customers before, now thanks to Printivo they have a platform where they can congregate and offer their art to customers. Designers across Nigeria are becoming mini-entrepreneurs, working with the Printivo team to build the largest database of customizable templates of business cards, letterheads and other printing products for customers.

With a modern store design, well trained staff and cutting-edge equipment, Printivo is Nigeria’s number one online print provider. Born out of love for paper and ink, Printivo aims to help Nigerian startups and SMEs print business and marketing materials with ease. They believe your business should not start and end on the internet. According to Ojo, “Printivo has made printing easy for both businesses and individuals. Our templates are free for everyone to customize and use. We are empowering people to create their own marketing materials, this is our contribution to the Nigerian entrepreneurial drive.”

Printivo handles its own logistics and delivery for Lagos. For out station cities, it has local partners. Its consumer-driven experience comes as a novel concept in the Nigerian printing industry.

Challenges to overcome
The challenge for Printivo is to prove product-market fit very quickly then achieve scalability and efficiency without any compromise on their quality of services.
Raise funds from people who not only bring in money but also human capital with right connections for expansion.
Decrease the delivery time from maximum three days in Lagos and five days outside Lagos, to one day in Lagos and three days for outstation.

Mr. Femi Adeyemo and Mr. Kunle Odebunni are the CEO and Co-Founder respectively of Arnergy, a non-profit, mini utility social enterprise that leverages on credit analytics and prepaid metering technology to deploy solar energy solution to homes and businesses in Nigeria. They hope to power 1million homes in 2-years!

Journey So Far: We started in 2014. Before now, what we had was people needing to buy solar solutions outright and there were a lot of complains about the cost being too high, and people not being able to maintain them. What we have been able to do is to innovate and come up with a solution that you just have to rent and pay daily or monthly.
We started with rural areas where we now have what we call Arnergy 60. This is a new system that people can rent and pay as little as N50 per day and have uninterrupted power. With this, they are able to power three LED bulbs, DC fan, DC television, charge their phones and even it comes with radio and Mp3.

For the city, we are back because we have had requests from Nigerians here. That is why we came up with Arnergy 500, which has higher capacity and is designed to suit life in the city. When you look at the average home in Lagos for instance, it is 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom flat, or an office with printers, fans and other little equipment, we came up with the Arnergy 500 solution that has five lighting bulbs and can power printers, blenders, fans, televisions small refrigerators and other equipment. Most of the Small and Medium Scale Businesses in Nigeria can actually run their business with the solution. For instance, a barber, hairdresser, law firm, accounting firm and so on, and when you consider what they would have to pay per day, which is N200, it is little compared to what they normally spend on fuel or electricity bill. Again, with this, you are guaranteed 24-hours power supply.

How you can power high capacity equipment: For those who want to power air conditioners or electric irons, it means that they have enough money to buy outright and do not need to rent. For those people, we have a solution that they can buy outright at N1.2million. We have had hotels, hospital, homes with five or more air conditioners that we have powered with this system. However, why we resorted to the solution that we rent out is that we learnt from feedback that 90 percent of Nigerians do not have the capital to buy outright.

How estates can tap into the solution: For Estates, we have a system where facility managers can discuss with us and with their banks such that we can come to the estate and install a sustainable solution. This way, they would have no need for fuelling generators. We can install solar panels on the roof of every apartment and run a centralized grid. When this is done, people in the estate can have uninterrupted power for 24-hours and the cost the facility manager would have incurred in providing power and managing power facilities would be taken care of as we would be the ones to manage the facility.

Cost of providing the service: Per home, you should be talking about N1million or N2million, which in the long run, is going to be cheaper because solar panels has more than 50 years lifetime. They are very efficient and adaptable to varying weather conditions.

How communities can benefit: Individual homes can have this solution (Anergy 500) and we can run a kind of centralized system for them, which would ensure that they would never be out of power even when there is a problem with the centralized system. Of course, most estates in Lagos and Abuja do not have 24-hour power supply, but with this solution, it is guaranteed and they would have to pay as little as N200 per day, that is for those paying for a whole month, which is N600, but for those who wish to pay daily, it is N300 per day.

Why it is affordable: We are a social enterprise; we are passionate Nigerians who are angry that as a country, Nigeria is still struggling to provide power to its people. That is why we have come up with this, and made it affordable for people. We have a target to cover 1million housing units in the next 24 months.

How to assess the solution: We have a registration process; you simply log on to our website and answer the basic questions because we just wish to know who you are, your phone number, email and residential addresses and so on. After that, you will be expected to pay a sign on fee of N25, 000 which is actually a promo for the first 1,000 people, after that it would be N30, 000.

Ayoola Foods Limited was incorporated in September, 1991 with the initial focus of exporting Nigerian products to meet the yearning desire of Nigerians and Africans in the Diaspora for African Foods.

The company in 2004 shifted its focus to the Nigerian market with the introduction and aggressive promotion of Ayoola Poundo Yam, the flagship product of the company which today is the market leader among other brands in the country. http://www.ayoolafoodsng.com/index.php/about-us/who-we-are

Solid Foundation Estates Limited (SFEL) is a unique and dynamic firm of multi-disciplinary Real Estate Consultants, comprising young and talented Professionals. in Solid Foundation Estates Ltd, Lagos.We commenced full practice on the 1st of September 1997.
OUR VISION
The Quest to create wealth for our clients through Real Estate Investment.

OUR MISSION
Our Mission is to be committed to providing qualitative, timely and high yielding investment opportunities for our clients and constantly grow profit for all stakeholders. We are equally committed to a conducive working environment and employees welfare.

EXCELLENCE being our watch word, we shall uphold the ethics of Estate Management profession by practicing with HONESTY and DEVOTION.

Currently, there are many challenges to manufacturing in Africa as a whole and Nigeria in particular. Despite this, we at Deebee continuously push to set new standards in terms of the quality of our products and the efficiency in the processes by which they are manufactured. The importance of manufacturing to the African economy cannot be over-emphasized as it is critical for real economic growth and development. All Deebee products carry the ‘Made in Nigeria’ label with pride.” https://www.africa.com/entrepreneur-showcase-nigerias-first-commercial-wine-producers/