Mr. Victor Eburajolo is the Group Deputy Managing Director, Kewalram-Chanrai Group, one of the few Nigerians occupying high-ranking position in the over 110 years old conglomerate with interests in automobile, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness and agro-allied sectors, to mention just a few. In this interview with IBRAHIM APEKHADE YUSUF, the Warri-born lawyer and human resources expert who landed his first job in 1976 takes us through his career trajectory thus far. Excerpts:
When does your typical day begin?
The first thing is that you have to go by example. Get to the office on time and you’re consistent. One thing we have done here is that if you’re not going to be in the office because you have outside meeting, we have this dashboard where you send all your messages and everybody knows where you’re. I personally believe that to be a good leader, you must lead by example. If you come late to work and you display indiscipline attitude others will follow you. For me, it’s an attitude. Your attitude can keep you or get you out of the office. I have been like this since 1976 when I landed my first job so it’s part of me. Apart from that, you must also be seen to be transparent. Everybody should know that your word is your bond. You don’t say something and you do something otherwise. I also want to emphasis that one of the policies here is that we respect government officials because when you respect them, you respect your country. You might not like what they’re doing but you got to give them that respect as your representative. We follow that here very strictly. Here discipline is the main thing. I have always told people that in my country Nigeria, our problem is not corruption. Our problem is indiscipline. If you’re discipline you’ll go into corruption. That is the truth. If you’re discipline, you’ll obey the law. It was said in this country that you cannot drive and be using your phone. I had to stop a policeman one day. He was driving and was on phone, so I told my driver to cross his way and I walked up to him and said, ‘What do you think you’re doing driving and using your phone at the same time? How can you arrest someone tomorrow using the phone and driving when you’re showing a good example yourself?’ It’s only in this country where somebody has uses his authority unabashedly but fails to uphold the responsibility that comes with such authority.
What’s your management style?
As a company, our management style is people first because we believe the employee who is happy will give his or her best. But people make the mistake to think that once you pay the employee very well, you’ll get the best from him. Let me tell you, whatever you pay the employee, he still believes that he is been shortchanged and the employer believes he is paying too much. So we must strike a balance. When you respect your employees, he in turn respects you and the organisation. I’ll not raise my voice up on any member of staff. Even those that work directly with me, they know me. If I want to correct anything they have done, say for instance, a memo, I’ll say to them, ‘may I suggest so and so…? I think it’ll be fine I we do it that way.’ Many times, I discover that they go and keep a copy of that letter and compare notes with it for other times. But if I shout on them, they’ll walk out. One thing we had to stop here was when suddenly, we just heard workers calling their managers ‘bosses.’ You hear expressions like, ‘Good morning boss!’ and I took it up and said, ‘What is all this boss thing? This is actually nonsense!’ I told them we can’t harbour such mentality here because at Kewalram, we operate like a family but we’re very stern. So you got to treat everybody you’re working with as family. We let everyone know the rules.
What’s your management philosophy?
My management philosophy is to do the best you can for your organisation at all times. Some people may not like what I want to say but what I normally say to people is that the God that created you knows your beginning and end. So whatever your hand find to do, do it well to the best of your knowledge in order to give glory to God because it is only He alone that can reward you. Even if you’re being paid in millions by man, one day he will disappoint you. My son asked me one day and said, ‘you’ve been working all these years, what is your salary? That thing struck me and I didn’t even know what to say to him. But I told him, if you enjoy what you do, you won’t have to work ever in your life.
How do you motivate your staff?
In tough times like this, we go out of our way to assist our staff with all forms of palliatives and welfare packages such as rice, ground nut. We support their cooperatives with products at less down 70 per cent of the price just to assist the staff members.
Do you apply the stick and carrot approach?
Yes, there’re rules and there is a handbook and everyone has it. So that if you commit an offence, the first time, second, third time, we call you to have a chat with you and explain the implication of recording it down is that it’ll affect you; it’s either you’re on your way out or cost your promotion and something else. Like said, we work like a family. So when anything happens, we want to hear from you and let you know before any action is taken against you. Like I said, at the Kewalram Chanrai Group across the world, they have this concept of family.
What motivates you?
Of course, I like what I do and I enjoy doing it and I thank God that one has made some meaningful making impact. And then I have the opportunity to keep myself abreast of business generally. You don’t stop reading because you’re old; you get old once you stop reading.
What was the last book you read and when?
The book I’m reading now focuses on the period of former United States president, Bill Clinton. I also read the Harvard Business, a magazine being published by the IoD. These days, it is a lot easier now through electronic means you can receive tonnes of files and documents on different subject-matter.
How do you unwind?
I used to play tennis before. You know as you grow old, you’re not as agile as you used to be. I went to play at the play court one day and it affected my kneels. Now, I listen to music and I sleep a lot too. But then, I have a mini gym in my bathroom, where I exercise. Yesterday, I recall my wife telling me this is enough that you have aging; you can’t be doing 60 kilometres on the treadmill all the time.
You’re turning 73 years in July. For a man of your age still looking boyish, how do you maintain your looks? Do you follow any regimen of sorts?
I don’t eat that much but I mind what I eat a lot. I have cut off sugar completely now for almost 20years. The thing is once you get to a certain age and you take a particular say for up to three times and it upsets your system, the wisest thing to do is to cut it off.
You talked about food, do you cook?
Yeah, I cook on Sundays. My wife is from the north and on Sundays I prepare the native Itsekiri dishes like banga soup and make starch for them. I’m in charge of the kitchen at the weekends really. (laughs)…
Since you cook, I can only ask you this question, do you do the dishes?
Oh, yes, I do. In our home everyone does the dishes. My wife just retired from the Nigeria Customs. And my children, the last one is going to 24. We are all grownups. In those days when the kids where around, you could quickly call somebody to go do this and that one but not anymore. My wife, she does the dishes, the kids do theirs too. Sometimes when they come into the kitchen and see me doing the dishes they want to help and most times, I decline.
But some other persons may think such things are actually beneath them like doing the dishes and all?
You’re the CEO at your workplace only. As a matter of fact do you know who is the CEO at home? It’s the madam herself. (laughs).
As an Itsekiri boy growing up, how did your background influenced what you’re today? Can you take us through your career trajectory in the last 45 years?
I didn’t grow up with my parents; I grew up with my auntie in Sapele. I was sent there at age 4. The environment then was quite different from what we have today and I’m talking of late 50s. When I finished my primary school, my auntie, told me I should go and be a dock work, which was the job that was common in those days. But I refused. I knew what I wanted in life. I think she was very upset because every other person my age all went to be a dock worker. Then I managed and went to secondary school, that’s Hussey College, in Warri. After that, we had an uncle in Lagos, who could get me into the Customs.
Again, my auntie said I should go and join the Customs. I told her sorry that I wasn’t going to join the Customs. Again, she was very upset. That time in Sapele there I also remembered that there was a light-skinned young man; they used to call him, ‘Yellow Flash.” He was riding Vesper and so every young boy in Sapele said their ambition was to be like him and be driving a vesper and carrying girls around town. Unfortunately for me, I had lost my mum at a very tender age but somehow I just knew what I wanted. I remember my auntie when he got so frustrated with me told me, ‘Let me see what you’ll amount to, you this no-do-well.’ I did not talk back, but I told myself in my mind silently that I’ll become something in life.
Sometime, I’ll stamp my foot on the ground and she (auntie) will say, ‘what are you doing?’ I’ll say nothing. But I was rebelling within myself. (laughs). The day we finished high school, the principal at the time, a reverend, tapped on the window and said, “see me in my office.’ As I was a going, I saw Jackson Gaius Obaseki, who later became the Group Managing Director at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), outside, and he told him Lanky because that is what we used to call then. He said the man can’t expel us again because we have finished our A-levels. We both went to his office and we gave us a letter. We were looking at ourselves. Then the principal said, ‘Open the letters or can’t you boys read again? C’mon get out of this place!’ we went out and open the letters and it turned out that we were to resume on Monday as high school teachers. Unlike Jackson and others who gained admission into the university on time, I stayed back in the school for a while because of what I told you. While they were going to the university, Shell gave me a job. I worked with Shell for 11 years and I saved enough money to send myself to school. In a nutshell, that’s my life story. While at the university, I read law. I was in practice for about nine months then I saw a Daily Times advertisement for a Personnel Manager in 1975. You won’t believe that when they called for that position it was 23 people that came for that job at the Nigerian Textile Mills at the time.
