Beautiful and industrious Princess Uzamat Folasayo Akinbile, has an exemplary story that will inspire a lot of young women. Her young looks will, no doubt, make not a few to think that she is probably a 20-year-old who inherited a fortune from her parents. But she is 39 today and her riveting story says it all about how she rode her way to success through determination at a time when many of her mates depended on handouts from ‘generous’ men while staying in the citadels.
Garbed in a simple cream lace fabric, she carried no airs while exchanging banters with her aides as she made her way to usher the reporter into her office.
She recalled how, at barely 25, she had plunged into the business world in her undergraduate days at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) where she studied Pharmacy and how she has faired in business.
“I have been in business since my secondary school days when I used to accompany my mother on business trips to various communities where she purchased foodstuffs to sell. I also helped her to sell at the shop. We were then living in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
“I actually started my own business after I left secondary school. I went into buying and selling till I got admission into the University of Ibadan (UI) where I studied Biochemistry for some time. I opened a shop called Princess Ventures at Sango area of Ibadan, Oyo State, because I was already an accredited agent of Procter and Gamble. I was selling some of the company’s products like biscuits and diapers. I later left UI because I did not like Biochemistry. So, I secured another admission into the University of Lagos to study Pharmacy”.
Despite the change of environment because of her studies, she still exhibited her business acumen, albeit, as a foodstuff merchant, not too far from school environment.
“At UNILAG, I was still juggling business with studies and because I lived around Yaba, I got another shop and I continued to trade in foodstuffs like rice, beans, flour and commodities such as flour and sugar in large quantities. Along the line, I established a computer school and a cybercafe that attracted a lot of patronage from residents”.
The final turning point, however, came in year 2000 when she was encouraged to go into oil business by one of her mentors, an opportunity she grabbed with her two hands.
“I went into oil business in 2000 while I was still in school through the encouragement of one of my business mentors, Alhaji Olaoluwa Adeogun, an oil magnate, and I started building a filling station even before I graduated from the university. You see, I have never worked for anyone in my life and I was so sure I could succeed in business against all odds. The start up capital came from personal savings from the foodstuff business.
“Upon graduation, a company offered me a job with a salary of N250, 000 among other perks of office but I declined the offer because I did not want to work for any one”.
She must have had it tough juggling studies with her new-found fame as a business woman? The reporter asked her. She replied: “Ah, combining studies with business wasn’t easy at all. It affected my studies in a way. At a point, I had epyremisis for about five months when I was pregnant. So I had to abandon my studies, hence, I had an extra year and graduated in 2006”.
Akinbile, who now helms a group of businesses spanning oil and gas with a `chain of filling stations, pharmaceutical and information technology, recalled the ebb she experienced in business a few years ago.
“I will never forget 2007 because it was a year my business was dealt a terrible blow as a result of simultaneous fire and robbery incidents. In October 2007, one of my stations was infaded by armed robbers and millions of naira carted away barely a few weeks after the filling station located in Ajasa near Meiran, Lagos State, started operation . As if that was not enough, on November 12 of the same year, a fire incident arising from generator explosion during the discharge of fuel rocked one of my filling stations. Although I lost money and vehicles to the incident but I thank God that five of my employees who were victims of the incident did not die.
“I am relatively successful because I have adhered to certain principles of running medium scale businesses into greater heights. The rules of running a business and making a success out of it are not cast in iron but require a deep understanding and relative financial discipline to apply those rules. My pharmaceutical company(Musaroq Pharmaceuticals) is a sole representative of big overseas-based drug manufacturing companies, while another subsidiary, Musaroq Information Technology Ltd., is growing from leaps and bounds and a new filling station was just opened in Ikorodu”, she added.
The Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State- born business amazon and mother of four who threw her hat into the ring to contest for a seat in the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011, however, did not fail to tell the reporter her reasons for plunging into partisan politics.
“I have been successful in business before I ventured into politics. I had expressed my grievances about the way Nigeria was being administered to my senior brothers in South Africa. But they asked me: ‘If everyone leaves the country on the account of leadership inadequacies and economy, who will salvage it?’ They suggested I should contest for a seat in the legislative house to lend my voice to the quest for change through efficient laws and policy formulation that could guarantee good governance and better life for the people. And I had no choice than to hearken to their call”.
Although, she did not secure the ticket to represent the people of Alimosho Constituency 02 but she was later to be appointed a Supervisor for Agriculture, Rural and Social Development in Agbado/Okeodo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, and she described her acceptance of the appointment as a personal sacrifice.
“I accepted my appointment as Supervisory Councillor because of the love I have for the people of my constituency. The acceptance was a personal sacrifice so that I can continue not only to protect their interest but to further serve them better; otherwise I was comfortable with being a business woman and my salary as councillor is far less than my monthly earnings in business.
“In order to serve my people better and to complement the effort of the Hon. Augustine Arogundade- led administration in Agbado/Oke-Odo LCDA, I am going to inaugurate some projects on June 22, under my pet project called ‘The Goodwill Project’. The projects include a 12-feet culvert in Omoroga/Akintan, Meiran, while about 10 community development associations will be given a N50, 000 grant each. 100 artisans will also be assisted with tools under my ‘Tools for job initiative’.
“This is not my first time of reaching out to my people; many residents have benefited from my charity in the past, especially in the areas of health education and free treatment for infirmed mothers and their children. I have given free medical treatment to people and I have also distributed drugs, mosquito nets and other items to empower indigent residents who don’t have means of livelihood or resources to sponsor their children’s education. I am not tired yet of doing more because it’s a calling to help humanity not to actualise self-seeking goals.”
