Oluwole Adeyemi has had a good run in the corporate world. His story is actually what could be referred to as ‘the Nigerian dream’. Born in Ilesha, Osun state, is a past president of Lions Club International and a fulfilled freight forwarder. He grew up under stern Christian religious background, which taught him modesty. And though he strove for success, he didn’t realise it will come early. But then, fate had to play a major role in his path to success. He spoke to Paul Ukpabio on factors that eventually shape a Lagos socialite’s lifestyle.
Can you tell us a little about your early life?
My early life was interesting. I grew up in Ilesha in Osun state and in a family house where music, church activities and discipline were entrenched. The skill I learnt in music then will soon be useful. That is why I said that if I hadn’t been a freight forwarder, I would have ended up being a pastor. My father is a lay reader in the Anglican Church. He is the head of lay readers in the whole of the diocese where I come from in Ilesha. Immediately after me are twins, both of them are pastors. One is with the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the US and the second one in Abuja. When you are in an atmosphere where the things of God are being done, you would naturally key into it.
What prompted into freight forwarding business?
I’m the Managing Director of Broadline Services Limited. Coincidentally my first job after university education was a marketing job. Not too long, I got a job with International Messengers Limited which became United Parcel Services (UPS); after a stint of about four years, I moved to DHL International. There I rose to become a divisional manager in charge of the most profitable centre in Nigeria, which is on Awolowo Road, Ikeja. After some time, I was posted to Kaduna to become the divisional manager there in control of eight states. At a stage in Nigeria, we were 14 divisional managers with each of us being in a position to become the Managing Director of the company.
I knew that DHL would not make a Nigerian a Managing Director in Nigeria. So I opted out to start Broadline Services. What prompted me was the fact that all my post-university life, I had been in freight forwarding-courier related services. It was the only thing I could do well. So I had to set up a company that does what DHL does in Nigeria. I did and 16 years on now, I have no regrets in that area.
What can you say about the shipping business in Nigeria?
The shipping business worldwide is an interesting business to go into, shipping maritime and related services. For example, freight forwarding is so big and all encompassing; nearly everything we do revolves around it. When you buy a car for instance abroad, you need a freight forwarder to move it from the point that you purchased it. In between the shipment and the delivery, you need a freight forwarder or maritime person to take charge. It is a business where I hope that one of my children will go into, because it is though tasking, one is fulfilled doing it.
What else would you have loved to do if you were not into freight forwarding business?
Maybe I would have been a pastor. Spiritual things are things after my mind. When you are brought up in a family where spiritual things are the order of the day, where you are taught and groomed to know that you are to do to others just as you want others to do to you, it is likely that you may end up in the line of the ministry work for Christ. That is why I find a passion for what the Lion Club preaches. When you have a conflict with somebody, resolve the conflict within yourself first. ‘Lionism’ ethics teaches us that when somebody wrongs you, give the upper hand to the fellow that even wronged you. That is because you want to make peace, because you want to be sure that things go normally between you and your fellow human being. So if I was not doing what I am doing now, I would have been a pastor.
How was the journey to the top?
It has been rough but steady. That much I can say. But then I have had experience which is said to be the best teacher. My kind of person is the type that will not shut up when things are not going well with me. I had impact in my life that made me to rise up quicker than expected. There was a time I travelled abroad for holiday, when I came back, my other colleagues in the sales department called me and told me that when I was away, they had been meeting on some issues and principal of which was that, in DHL, that is our competitor, every person on our level has a car but in UPS when you use it for three days, you hand it over to another colleague to use. They told me that they made a collective decision to go and tell management. But lo and behold, those people who engineered that we should go and tell the management, when it came to the fire front, they went mute. I spearheaded the fight for cars for us, but I realised that other people were not sincere.
So what did you do?
The following week, there was an advertisement in the newspaper that DHL wanted non-commissioned agents. I resigned and applied for it. They thought I was foolish but do you know that few months after I joined, the MD of DHL called me and told me that the company will be making me a manager. So if I had not left UPS, I wouldn’t have moved up in the course of few months. I thank God because when He is with you, things may seem rough but at the end of the day, it will turn out best. The truth now is that, what I was not able to afford in those years when I was working for people then, I now can achieve those things.
Are you a ladies man?
Yes and no. It is yes because, when you are good looking, if you do not talk to ladies, they will talk to you. Even as a pastor of a full fledged church, if you do not know how to counsel people, you won’t know when you will do another man’s wife. One has to be careful because anything that is done in excess is bad.
How do you handle ladies then?
I use wisdom of God; that’s because I know that if I do not have that, I will fall into lots of pitfalls.
What describes your sense of fashion?
I like clothes that present me well, not bogus but makes me look sharp. I am a trendy dresser. I wear English and native dresses. I like to come out looking good.
What fashion accessories do you not do without?
I love using perfumes. I do not do without my wristwatch, perfumes and once in a while after putting my wedding ring, I put another ring in my other finger. Some call it cocktail ring.
How would you describe yourself?
I am a gentleman, progressive in nature, peaceful and I want other people to do to me as I do to them.
What do you value most?
That will be my children.
Are you fulfilled?
Well, things can get better. Though I do not want to go to the graveyard now, because we have longevity in my family lineage, I wish some things had happened to me in life much earlier, so that I would have been able to do the things that I would have loved to do much earlier too. But then, in the days and years to come, I pray to God that I should be able to do those things that I was not able to do earlier in life. One of such is to build a church in my country home and hand it over to a church.
You look sportive, what sport did you grow up with and which are you still active in?
Coincidentally, my first degree in the university was in Physical Education. So I am tutored to teach other people nearly every sport. The only sport I run away from is swimming. I have a phobia for swimming. It almost cost me my degree but I thank God that the year I was to take it, I had an alternative to choose from. I was also good as a referee and had opportunity to continue in that line but the corporate world had its attraction and pull. Right now I play squash and tennis.
How do you spend your holidays?
I wish Nigerians go on holidays regularly. There is a need for holiday after a long time of work. There is no year that I do not travel abroad at least four times because of the nature of my work. And during those trips I take time off to sleep very well. I am even looking forward to the time when I will be about 65, when I would have made so much money that I wouldn’t need to go to the office again, but just travel around at least once every month on holiday to rest well.
Do you have a particular memory of a holiday that you enjoyed well?
Yes, there was this year we went for a conference in Mexico and the room they gave me to sleep was large and all around the room was glass, no wall. And as soon as you get to the resort, they tie a band around your wrist and they tell you that you can drink and eat as you like. If you want to finish bottles of Hennessy or whatever, you can do it. That place thought me new lessons about life. The resort’s location could be likened to a place like Badagry but so developed and beautified to host tourists on luxury vacation. We had real life donkey rides, SUVs to take us anywhere we wanted and when you come back into the room, you will be seeing yourself in the glass all around you. It was a nice experience.
What do you detest?
I detest lies. For instance you tell somebody during an election to vote for you and he agrees that he will vote for you. He even assures you that he will vote for you, even goes ahead and collects goodies from you. But when the election comes up, you find out that such person(s) did not vote for you. Such a thing could be killing because it will demoralise you or put you in a state of shock. Why deceive somebody like that? it is not good.
What readily appeals to you?
I will say that a project that readily benefits others, readily appeals to me. I like to assist people.
How did you meet your wife?
My wife came to do her industrial attachment where I worked at UPS. We got attached, love came from there. we started to court, I knew her house and things moved fast. We got married in 1995, so we have been married for over 20 years now.
How about children?
We have three grown up children, the first one is a graduate, presently serving the country; then the second is in Canada and the last is here with us.
Is your wife working with you?
My wife is stronger than me in character and in managing people. So it is better for her to be doing her own thing. Her personality is very strong, I respect her for that. If not for her, I will be a disorganised person. Though sometimes her corrections could be too many, but we men need them to keep correcting us. For instance there is this women conference that we attended; yes the women were told to attend with their husbands. One of the lessons I learnt there was that our wives have a way of seeing into our future than us.
For instance we were made to know that if a man has three friends and shows them to his wife, if the wife says anyone particularly among them is not a true friend, then watch out because if it doesn’t happen in the next three years, it will happen at some point. That person your wife said is not a true friend will do something bad to the man. So a man’s wife has a spirit that looks out positively for the man. I believe that God gave them that gift. As a matter of fact, if my wife is not happy with me, I usually have problem in the office. So I always make sure that she is happy with me.
What attracted you to your wife?
My wife has a good shape. She has lovely backside. When you see her endowments, you’ll realise that it is not common. And those are my attraction to the female sex. After being attracted to her, I then followed her to her house and found out that she is from a very good home. She is from Edo state but was born and bred in Ibadan. I found out that ladies who grew up in Ibadan always make good wives, they seldom have boyfriends. Ladies who grew up in Ibadan in those days are rarely promiscuous.
Tell us about your managerial style?
The most popular Nigerian style is to do things from the bottom up because if you can move people to key into your vision and they do, the sky is your limit. My managerial style is to involve every other person, let them be open to the focus of the company. There should be no short changing of any body. If you say salary would be on the 26th then let it not extend to the following month. When people are involved like that, when you do your work very well, nobody will ask why somebody is promoted because everybody knows what they are to do and everybody can see what is being done.
In your opinion, what are the basics of leadership?
A leader must be intelligent and knowledgeable. Gone are the days when you want to tap the intellect of others to rise to the top. A leader should be knowledgeable about a vision or plan or programme of action to lead people and share with every other person and you lead them aright. As a leader, you will have a plan of progression for people without favouritism.
Do you have mentors?
I had a general manager while I was at UPS who was a mentor to me in the area of time keeping. When that man says a meeting should take place at 8am for instance, he will ensure that he is there before the time. He never missed it. Such people thrill me.
You have been in The Lion’s Club for quite a while now, how does the club impact on communities here?
I have been a Lion Club member for the last 16 years. I can say that the vision has been fulfilled in many Nigerian communities. You have to agree with me that government cannot do everything. So, clubs like Lions Club International are assisting government in ensuring that things work well through ameliorating people’s living conditions and helping in letting things work well in our communities. At Ikeja general hospital for instance, I am aware that we have built a cancer screening centre there. An eye centre is also there, along with a diabetic centre. If not for the Lions Club, such gigantic projects will not be there. In our little ways, we do these, using our personal money to run such projects. We are thankful to God and also thankful to the international office whereby when we have a project and it’s laid out very well, they ensure that they support with funds within that year of service.
One has to be sociable to be a member of a social club. What prompted you into Lions Club?
I guess it was curiosity. A colleague of mine came into my office to invite people to a Lions Club meeting. I asked him what they do in the club and he sold the idea of the club to me. He came in in the month of June and I joined in August. A lion member is that person who devotes time, though in and out of his office, is ready to give his time, treasure and talent to serve others without asking for personal gain. For instance, I am just coming into my office at noon because I am the chair person for the reception committee to host the All African Lions Conference in Nigeria soon. We were at the airport this morning for three hours and from there to the AVM’s house who is the co-ordinating officer in Nigeria for the event. If you do not have such time to devote to the service of the club, you cannot be successful with your service. If you don’t have the extra money to spend, then the Lions Club is not a place for you. Lions Club is not a place where you drop money and the mopey is frivolously used for things that will not benefit others. We are not a people that collect money and do not account for it. It is a place where we release our treasure to provide services for the less- privileged. I believe that in Nigeria, we are doing our best.
As an individual Lion who has contributed here and there to the club, what legacy do you want to leave behind?
I want to leave a legacy of selfless service that will attract others to that kind of level and let others desire to be what I do. When I was Lion Club president, I was given an opportunity by my club to do something for my immediate community. I realised that the estate where I was staying had no road signage. So I engineered the digging of a road signage for the estate. That was nine years ago. Two years ago, the estate came around to my house. They said that they need a chairman for the estate, and they wanted me to be the chairman: So what I did some years ago spoke well of me. To them, it was a way of compensating me even though they were indirectly giving me additional responsibilities where I will spend more money of my own. And that exactly was what happened.
So if you have a spirit of giving without looking back, Lions Club is for you and you will just be getting better because you will be taught how to conduct meetings and set up reports. Once you join, you will begin the journey of leadership because you will be taught all that. Also public speaking is taught at the Lions Club. The moment you become a president, you will learn how to address people, how to chair a meeting and so on.
