Benson Ezem, an architect by training is Chairman, Cosmo Base Group, a conglomerate with investment in hotels, furniture, aluminum smelting, and pharmaceuticals among others. In this interview with Grace Obike he shares his experience on running his over three decade’s business empire. Excerpts:
You’re an architect by training but have since branched off into other areas. How did you do it?
I started business quite early in life 1982/83 to be precise in the university before I became qualified as an architect. But naturally, a good architect will have insights into other areas in the course of his practice. For you to come out with a good design you must have an in-depth knowledge of the practice e.g hotel design.
By the grace of God, we have been able to diversify into other areas of business through prudent management of our fund. In this economy, because of the uncertainty you need a basket of investment to take care of your salaries and overheads and to keep your professional staff when the inflow from consultancy is reduced or not available.
Our group this year will be celebrating her 30th year anniversary since Cosmo Base came into existence. The journey has not been easy but thus far God has been our Ebenezer. The group has grown from a home office to what it is today with subsidiaries in all areas of the economy, namely: oil and gas, services industry and manufacturing industry with staff strength of over 400. The joy of it all is that we have today among us some staff that started the race with us from inception. The company’s labour turnover has remained impressive.
Can you tell us about your business?
Cosmo Base Group is made up of six subsidiaries namely: Cosmo Base consortium is the architectural, engineering and project development consultancy, Benaks oil and Allied services is the oil and Gas downstream sector, Prodiv Ltd is the Estate Development investment arm of the group, Jades Hotels is the Hospitality sector of the economy. Benchwood Ltd, a furniture manufacturing company. The newest baby of the group is the Trikord Aluminum company with its factory located at Umuahia Aba express road to serve the Housing Development Sector.
Our vision is to have other industries in the construction sector located together. Cosmo Base industrial city to provide for the housing needs of our people. This will provide employment for the youths. The industrial city will generate 500 employments for the youths when fully completed. Our major handicap is the land acquisition which we are expecting the Abia government to provide to complement our efforts. The only way to reduce unemployment in our nation is for government to encourage genuine entrepreneurs by provision of lands, provision of needed foreign exchange to fund raw materials and equipment to enable them be in business and continue employing our youths. The funds being retrieved could be channeled prudently into massive industrialisation by partnering with the entrepreneurs and other agric business to ensure judicious application of these funds. If such funds are put back into the system to fund infrastructure we can be sure that it will not get back to where they came from, the pockets of individuals.
Are you advocating for the government to partner with entrepreneurs?
Yes the Federal Government should partner with entrepreneurs in the real sense of it, in fact if there is a way to avoid the banks because the banks are not helping. I will let you know that none of my developments have gotten any bank funding, they have always come to take when you finish, the banks will give you all kinds of reasons not to give you a loan. The hotel was built without anything from them, the aluminum industry that we just started, we have invested up to N200m right now, the banks shy away from this things, you will see them coming to me if I was appointed a minister or I was a Director General of an agency, requesting to give me a loan, loans that I will not need.
That is why I am in full support of the TSA that has presently been adopted because the banks are just sitting there doing nothing, they don’t fund businesses, they don’t fund small scale enterprises, they don’t fund anybody, they just come to collect money from you and they don’t want to know how the money is coming, they just want you to deposit money. If you are a genuine businessman how can you make N500m to go and deposit in a bank? There is no idle fund, any genuine business does not have idle fund to go and deposit in a bank because it is like a dead investment.
As a business man are you in support of the present fight against corruption?
Any serious minded business man will definitely be in support of the fight against corruption because it will reduce the stealing in government and such savings applied to improve our infrastructure and into manufacturing and agriculture. The government should focus on reducing unemployment which is a time bomb. I am really scared of the increasing number of unemployed youths in the country which is triggering a lot of crimes and restiveness.
The fight against corruption should be total, attention should be paid to all areas of the economy in contract awards and execution from the project conception stage to design and implementation, due process should be followed. The Ministry should have project implementation team, men/women of integrity and honest disposition drawn from experienced consultant, members of the public, law agents and legal personnel to oversee such projects notwithstanding the existing structures that may be in place now.
Why did you decide to invest in the hospitality industry?
Having experienced the ambience and the treatment from very good hotels that I have the privilege of lodging with, the need to have one that will meet the standard of four star hotel gave rise to the hotel business Jades Hotel. I have stayed in these hotels and seen that we can provide something better with a Nigerian touch, Jade’s hotel has a Nigerian touch to it. The unique thing is that the furnishing was done here after all the foreign furniture companies quoted outrageous sums to produce the furniture’s; we had to go into furniture manufacturing.
Benchwood Ltd is a sister company which came into being as a result of this, Benchwood provided the furnishing for this place, now most people that visit this Jades, ask me to give them the name of the foreign furniture company that furnished the hotel. Do you see that a lot can come out of Nigeria? so I like what is happening now, it is time for reality, it is time for us to tell ourselves the truth the years of eating into our future should be over, now we look inwards. If the Federal Government can come out, put their feet down and ban those products that can be produced in Nigeria, ban, our own internal manufactures will pick up, employment will be greatly generated because a lot of people will go into those areas, that is what we need to learn from what is happening presently.
Jades hotel management is making a change in the industry; our main goal is to build a brand like the big names in the hotel industry. It will take time but we are not in a hurry. We will get there. We are presently learning and improving at same time and ensuring that there is continuous staff training and capacity building. This is not the time for profit; we want to get it right. The next phase is expansion and acquisition which we already have in view. We depend on God to make the right move in the present economic dispensation.
What is your management philosophy?
It is to lead by example, and that strengthens and motivates each individual manager of the team to be productive. Leaders are accountable to their responsibilities and are expected to take the right decisions that are sustainable to the progress of the organisation.
Potential leaders are selected from their level of commitment, dedication to their assignment and are encouraged to maximise their potential by being productive. I often look out for result-oriented managers who are able to work smart and efficiently with no complain when facing challenges. What we have in the marketplace nowadays are young men who are only ready for the spoils of office, not minding who gets hurt, the organisation or even the nation, but are not prepared for the service. Getting efficient managers now is becoming increasingly difficult even with the conducive work environment and emolument.
Every team leader is expected to set achievable goals for their team, avoid time wasting in the process of achieving these goals. Productivity in the group is paramount with effective team participation.
What is your management style?
I do not conform to one particular style in management as it involves different companies and personnel. In the consultancy practice you are dealing with professionals who are highly experienced, so it is a matter of setting the standards and direction of flow which will be adopted to achieve set targets. This way, efficiency and coordination is encouraged, employees are encouraged to develop their strengths and improve their performance. Our organisation pays attention to training both local and international of the employees to develop them professionally and increase their job performance. Training +Retraining + Refocusing +Motivation = Performance.
As a businessman, what’ the toughest decision you have had to take?
That’s when I have to sack a long serving staff for fraud or disloyalty to the organisation. However this does not happen often but when it does happen I ensure that due disciplinary process is followed as laid down in the company policy.
Another difficult decision is when making investment decision, knowing that the success and failure of such decision falls squarely on your shoulder. This is where God factor comes into it, total dependence on God.”Commit thy way unto the lord; trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. Commit thy works unto the lord and thy thoughts shall be established. With these believe all fears are taken captive.
When did you make your first million?
I don’t want to talk about making first millions which will sound like a stereotype question but I know that my business life started quite early in life that by the age 22/23 I already had sizable business coverage and investments. My first residential house was completed at age 25 at Yankaba in Kano and the Office block came two years after on a major highway, Hadejia road. This office block was a mixed development of shops and offices, it was a big fit then.
The beauty of a progressive achievement is that you can put time and year to it. It was not automatic, it is not sudden like you have this days. There is a history to wealth creation, a lot of people will not be able to relate their wealth to any business, and you know what I mean. We need an orientation of our youths to develop in the right direction. They need to know that hard work with honesty on the long run is rewarding.
