The name Modupe Ozolua means different things to different categories of Nigerians. But for the mother of one who derives great happiness in the laughter etched on the faces of the many people she continues to assist, there is more to life than her pioneering efforts in cosmetic and constructive surgery. Her greatest passion, she says, is simply to make people she comes across happy and beautiful. No wonder her philanthropic commitment has taken to all parts of Nigeria and even outside the country. In this interview with the Deputy Editor, Nation’s Capital, YOMI ODUNUGA, and Correspondents, DELE ANOFI and FAITH YAHAYA, she relayed her encounters with displaced Nigerians in various camps. Modupe also shared her thoughts on sundry issues as well as her role in the Stella Obasanjo plastic surgery saga. Excerpts:
Some would say body enhancement and philanthropy do not mix. One is strictly business, while the other requires a passion for giving. In your own case, you seem to be at home with both. How do you cope?
When Body Enhancement Limited started, of course it was cosmetic and constructive surgery for those who could afford our services. When you become synonymous with a service, both the privileged and the under-privileged will come to you and that is what happened. So, a lot of people that could not afford the constructive surgery but had deformities and abnormalities, come into my office and ask me for surgeries but of course they could not afford it and I could not understand why people would see someone obviously deformed and not try to help. For me, it is something that comes naturally, wanting to help is just part of my nature. So, it only made sense to me that I should use the resources that I had, and still have, to help them. So, a lot of my surgeons that come to do the cosmetic surgery, when they finish making men and women beautiful, they volunteer their time.
I don’t pay doctors that come and do this work. They do it for free. They don’t ask for anything. They bring their equipment and in addition, we buy whatever we can buy, we provide their accommodation, we pay for their tickets, take care of their feeding and they in turn sacrifice their time to help people and that is what we have been doing since 2003, It has been a long time coming but that is what we have been doing and we have expanded it and it is now beyond surgeries. Some people are normal physically but they are hungry. We have some that are not deformed but they are sick and just some little medication that costs N200 can restore someone’s sight or save someone from going blind. So, I decided and I spoke with my Board of Trustees and my Patron, Desmond Tutu, and we said we need to do more because the need is so much and rendering help comes to me naturally, it gives me pleasure, so we just merge them as one, and I guess it was meant to be.
Of recent, we have discovered that the philanthropy part of your work takes more of your time, why is it so?
It takes my time because that is the one that makes me happy. Perhaps, people know Body Enhancement Limited but I have so many businesses. Body Enhancement is what people know and it is fine with me. The cosmetic business is done at a particular period of the year, it is usually between March and April and October to November. So, my clients know when to come and meet me and they make their payments and get their surgeries done. So, my time is not necessarily free because I have other things I am doing also but that part is there and these days, people don’t see me advertise anymore because people know. The charity part is taking much more of my time and it is actually what I want to do as long as my other businesses yield the desired profits from wherever I am investing. As long as my businesses are doing fine, I will be able to take from that money and do the work that gives me happiness and that is helping people.
The charity part of your work is taking you around the country and just recently, you were in the North East and we recall that you left a place where you went to donate things and a few hours later, Boko Haram struck. Considering how volatile the North is right now, why did you still venture into that part of the country? Are you not scared?
The fact is, before I do anything, I cross my Ts and dot my Is. We have done programmes in the North before. We were in Baylesa and we were not relaxing in Yenagoa, we were in the creeks of Bayelsa with gunboats, speedboats going for three to four hours into the Atlantic Ocean through the creeks to go and feed poor people. Many people in Bayelsa, including the indigenous staff that I hired, refused to go with us because not everybody will venture into that trip and come back alive. But the reasoning for me which will be the same answer that will cover the reason why we are in the North East, is, because we have decided that we are going to work on rehabilitating internally displaced Nigerians. I don’t call them people or persons, they are human beings, they are boys, girls, mothers, fathers and I feel we should show some level of respect and recognise them as Nigerians, so the whole person thing is so impersonal.
We said we are going to rehabilitate them and that is what we are doing. It is not about going to donate food and all that. Rehabilitation is beyond that; it is helping them get back on their feet to be able to regain their dignity and to be able to have the ability to feed themselves and their families. That is what is taking us there and just as in Baylesa, in the North East and other places, I am not only responsible for the safety of myself, I am also responsible for the safety of my team. If I don’t value my life, I value the lives of those who are ready to follow me to anywhere I want to go and I am very blessed that I have a team that is ready. My team trusts me because they know that I have thought it out carefully and I have complete confidence that we are going in there to do what we are going to do and come out alive and there won’t be any issues. I don’t move stupidly or carelessly, I put into consideration all the things that I need to put into consideration, though things can happen because there is no guarantee that someone who leaves the house in the morning will return to that house safely at night. I make contact with the right people I need to contact when I am going somewhere and the rest, I put into God’s hand.
Does that mean state governments do not provide you security details while in their territories?
We were in Gombe a couple of weeks ago and Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo had offered to give us security and other things but I said no, I don’t want any security, I don’t want any siren, I don’t want any police guard because I don’t want any unnecessary attention to us. We go to where we need to but there are places that require security like when we went to the creeks in Bayelsa State. We went with Naval gunboats, armed Navy officers and when we were around town, we had armed policemen providing security.
What strikes you when you get to the camp, especially what people are not talking about but that you would like to draw the attention of the government to?
It is heart breaking than what people see or talk about in their comfort zones.. When we were in Gombe, everywhere I went to, I was busy crying and I don’t cry easily. It got to a point that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials had to tell me to stop crying if I don’t want to have high blood pressure. We have visited two states where the displaced Nigerians are and I must say that I applaud the Gombe State Government for what it is doing. The government has passed that relief point where all you do is to donate food. It is a huge liability. We had already confirmed the kind of skill the women had, so we went with sewing machines. Those who know how to make groundnut oil, and petty trading, we got their data and we gave them what they wanted and they were surprised because no organisation, not even government, had asked the women what they used to do before they became displaced; no one had ever asked them.
We are helping the women because by so doing, we are helping the children too. We bought cloth fabrics for those who were selling clothes, gave money to those that were doing petty trading. I entered the market to buy them the materials they would need to start and then we put them through on how to sell and how they can grow the business. We will still go back to check on them and those that are doing good, we would be able to put more money into their businesses, God willing. There is nothing like self-esteem if you are not able to feed yourself and the shocking thing is that some of those displaced people are doctors contrary to the notion that most of them are farmers. Even if they are farmers, we have rich people who are farmers in today’s world. Because of their displacement, they have lost all they used to have and now, they just sit from morning to night waiting for people to come and give them small cup of rice to eat. How dehumanising is that? And, as you know, every woman is responsible to feed her children.
There is even a woman in that camp that has 16 children, some 10 and we are talking about women who are below 30 years of age. We see that some of them have even given up hope and we always tell them that our target is to ensure that those of them who have given up hope are not abandoned and that they know that God has not forsaken them. People need to understand that they are not just IDPs, what I saw were faces not the tag IDPs. Immediately I saw them, it reminded me that it could be any of us at any point in time and that we are where we are now is by the grace of God and that is what I want people to realise. To be honest, it is cheaper to rehabilitate them than to keep giving them food.
Tell us about the National Medical Mission.
God willing in June this year, we are going to be having a huge National Medical Mission, we are putting together different medical specialists-plastic surgeons, general surgeons, optometrists, gynaecologists, orthopaedic surgeons, we are all coming together for free work and we are going to be doing a 10-day surgical time. The last time we did it was in 2006 and I love the programme because it is so amazing. We are going to split into two, we will spend five days in the North and we have been speaking with states that would like to partner us with our logistics and we are going to render medical treatment for free. We will also pick a state in the South West or South East. The number of patients is not limited; we are going to treat as many as possible and about 20 international medical personnel will be brought and probably with about 20 indigenous medical personnel too and that is excluding the non-surgical personnel.
There was a time we heard your organisation was considering acquiring two mobile surgical units, how far have you gone with that?
Unfortunately, we have not gone very far. What is sad is that when people hear and see what we do, all I keep hearing is, oh, God bless you Modupe, you are doing such a great job. Yes, I am interested in people’s prayers. But, I also need their financial support. We have not gone far as far as sponsorship is concerned but we got calls for mobile unit and each one is about $800,000 and the quotation and the information about it is on our website and the company name for verification. The mobile unit is equipped with multiple operating room and we can drive it anywhere and do surgery for free which helps because this way, we will not have to rely on states to accommodate us and that is why we have to work with state governments when such programmes come up. So, state governments buffer the logistic aspect of it because we can’t do that alone.
Our food donation programme is also in partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service, they gave us trailer loads of rice and other things that we donate at our discretion during programmes. We also do donations of toys that we give to children and then we give clothes. We were in Yola last week and there, there were 501 children between the ages of one and 14 and they are just sitting at the camp wasting away, no education, nothing. We are going to sponsor their education. They will be enrolling in schools and before they go, the boys will have their haircut and the girls will have their hair done and we will give them uniforms, school books, and other things. And the interesting thing again is that amongst the displaced Nigerians, there are teachers and we have hired them to teach the students, so they are now on our payroll and we will be paying them every month.
Isn’t the charity work eating deep into your pocket?
Of course it is.
Don’t you have corporate sponsors?
Honestly, we don’t. It is not very nice when you write to some banks and some organisations and you say, this is what we have and this is what we are doing. We picked rural schools in very remote places places that people don’t want to go and there are some schools that the children barely have uniforms and there is nothing as uplifting to a child as a nice clean uniform and when you look at how much it costs to sew a new uniform for a child, sewing and the material is about N500 and N1,000 will sew two uniforms for a child and let us say we have about 1,000 children, it is barely anything and then we write to them because we have written to so many people and we give a breakdown of what we want to do and we send lists of options and ask for sponsorship of school uniforms, schools bags and we even suggest that we will brand them.
But they will write back to us commending us to keep up the good work but that they are sorry, they don’t have money. So, it gets to a point that makes me feel like, ‘why waste ink and paper to write to people who would prefer to sponsor beauty pageants and football matches?’ So, we don’t have any sponsor. This says a lot about our culture of giving as a society but maybe I am talking to the wrong people because many organisations also get sponsorship for different things. It is very sad and that is because when they hear we are doing such programmes, they think it is some sort of ulterior personal motive and I hear things like, ‘Do you want to run for any political position?’ I get insulted by such comments. What has giving got to do with politics? I am not interested; and I doing this since 2003. So, why should someone always feel that to help someone, you must get something back? It does not put us as Nigerians in very good light.
Where do you plan to take the philanthropic train to after the North East?
We have not done enough in the North East. We will still have to give the women money and equipment to empower them. We have not gotten land for them to be able to go and farm. We are not yet done and only God knows when we will be done there.
Do you have time to relax considering the fact that the work takes much of your time?
I barely relax, it is work, work, work and it makes me happy.
As a businesswoman, how would you describe the Nigerian business environment?
I left Nigeria when I was 17 and I didn’t return until I was 27 and I came to start my business here. Just like anything, not just Nigeria but the whole world and life in general, things change and times have changed. Some countries for the better, while some for the worse but the truth is, most countries were affected during the global recession and unfortunately for Nigeria, we have additional challenges, but I think no matter what it is we are going through as Nigerians, we will get past it but I don’t know how soon that will be.
Modupe Ozolua means different things to different people. Who is Modupe beyond surgery?
If I were to describe myself, I will just say I am just a simple but complicated person. I am very straightforward and some people might see that as an issue but I don’t. I am as honest as I can be and I try to be happy and try to see good in everything around me until you prove me otherwise. I am easy going and cool until you make me not to be cool with you.
Being in cosmetic surgery is something that some will describe as being scary because of the kind of things you need to see in the surgical rooms and the damaged figures you need to correct, how do you cope?
In line with what I have said about times changing, I as a person have evolved over time because before I got into medicine as a business interest, I used to be very squeamish about the sight of blood, I could not stand it but it has become so much part of my life and I love it and if I am not in the operating room watching surgery, I am not happy. There are two times I am happy the most. When I am in the operating room watching surgeries, I am not a surgeon and when I am doing the outreach programmes by helping people out. These two times are when I am most comfortable. I looked past the obvious, which is the pain they are going through, if it is a constructive surgery and focus on what the result will be. It is all about the control of the mind and for me it comes easy. Looking past the present and seeing something better come out of it.
Sometime ago, there was an unfortunate death of the former First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, and somehow, your name cropped up and we have not seen or heard you defend that anywhere?
Was I involved with Stella Obasanjo’s surgery? No. Did I refer her to a surgeon in Spain? No. Did I discuss cosmetic surgery with her prior to her death? No. Did I advise her? No. Stella Obasanjo and I were not talking long before she passed away. I was in shock to know about her death and it was a horrible time for me because I had friends who were involved in the plane crash earlier and I was also traumatised because my father had just died and we were preparing for his funeral. So, I did not appreciate anybody calling me and telling me something I knew nothing about. So, I am the wrong person to be asked about Stella’s death unless someone has proof to say I am lying, if not, nobody should ask me again.
You are above 40 and we know men disturb you, are you not planning to settle down soon?
When God says yes, then yes, because there is time for everything. The truth is, we all have our own different callings and different purposes in life. I have always known that coming to Nigeria was just because of the foundation, I knew God just deceived me and brought me here, I know my coming is not because of cosmetic surgery, it was because of the foundation and I have come to just accept it that this is it. This is what I am created to do and I have embraced it. The truth is if I had remarried during the course of all this, I don’t think I will be doing what I am doing. I would have been at home worried about my husband and how to take care of the children. I thank God I am blessed and I have a son who is in the university and he is 19. He is my biggest supporter; he supports me in all I do. There is a time for everything and I believe this is the time for me to do what I am supposed to do. Whenever God says He is going to give me a man that will support my calling, that will not be a hindrance to fulfilling my destiny, then I am cool.
What is your philosophy about life?
Let me say the easiest which is simplest in my opinion, I believe we are all here for a purpose, some people will go through life never knowing what their purpose is, while some will. When you are able to identify what your purpose is, it is then you get to enjoy life and live life properly and I use that as a guiding factor for myself. I say that to my son a lot and to people close to me. I think people should remind themselves of it because you never really go through life twice. I am doing what I am supposed to do and that helps.
What is your advice to so many young girls out there who want to be like Modupe?
They should be true to themselves and to God.
Do you get angry?
I have a nasty temper.
What calms you down?
Reminding myself that I am the boss and I have the final say.
Some people say Modupe is a very saucy person and that maybe her beauty has gone into her brain, what do you say to people like that?
Some would say body enhancement and philanthropy do not mix. One is strictly business, while the other requires a passion for giving. In your own case, you seem to be at home with both. How do you cope?
When Body Enhancement Limited started, of course it was cosmetic and constructive surgery for those who could afford our services. When you become synonymous with a service, both the privileged and the under-privileged will come to you and that is what happened. So, a lot of people that could not afford the constructive surgery but had deformities and abnormalities, come into my office and ask me for surgeries but of course they could not afford it and I could not understand why people would see someone obviously deformed and not try to help. For me, it is something that comes naturally, wanting to help is just part of my nature. So, it only made sense to me that I should use the resources that I had, and still have, to help them. So, a lot of my surgeons that come to do the cosmetic surgery, when they finish making men and women beautiful, they volunteer their time.
I don’t pay doctors that come and do this work. They do it for free. They don’t ask for anything. They bring their equipment and in addition, we buy whatever we can buy, we provide their accommodation, we pay for their tickets, take care of their feeding and they in turn sacrifice their time to help people and that is what we have been doing since 2003, It has been a long time coming but that is what we have been doing and we have expanded it and it is now beyond surgeries. Some people are normal physically but they are hungry. We have some that are not deformed but they are sick and just some little medication that costs N200 can restore someone’s sight or save someone from going blind. So, I decided and I spoke with my Board of Trustees and my Patron, Desmond Tutu, and we said we need to do more because the need is so much and rendering help comes to me naturally, it gives me pleasure, so we just merge them as one, and I guess it was meant to be.
Of recent, we have discovered that the philanthropy part of your work takes more of your time, why is it so?
It takes my time because that is the one that makes me happy. Perhaps, people know Body Enhancement Limited but I have so many businesses. Body Enhancement is what people know and it is fine with me. The cosmetic business is done at a particular period of the year, it is usually between March and April and October to November. So, my clients know when to come and meet me and they make their payments and get their surgeries done. So, my time is not necessarily free because I have other things I am doing also but that part is there and these days, people don’t see me advertise anymore because people know. The charity part is taking much more of my time and it is actually what I want to do as long as my other businesses yield the desired profits from wherever I am investing. As long as my businesses are doing fine, I will be able to take from that money and do the work that gives me happiness and that is helping people.
The charity part of your work is taking you around the country and just recently, you were in the North East and we recall that you left a place where you went to donate things and a few hours later, Boko Haram struck. Considering how volatile the North is right now, why did you still venture into that part of the country? Are you not scared?
The fact is, before I do anything, I cross my Ts and dot my Is. We have done programmes in the North before. We were in Baylesa and we were not relaxing in Yenagoa, we were in the creeks of Bayelsa with gunboats, speedboats going for three to four hours into the Atlantic Ocean through the creeks to go and feed poor people. Many people in Bayelsa, including the indigenous staff that I hired, refused to go with us because not everybody will venture into that trip and come back alive. But the reasoning for me which will be the same answer that will cover the reason why we are in the North East, is, because we have decided that we are going to work on rehabilitating internally displaced Nigerians. I don’t call them people or persons, they are human beings, they are boys, girls, mothers, fathers and I feel we should show some level of respect and recognise them as Nigerians, so the whole person thing is so impersonal.
We said we are going to rehabilitate them and that is what we are doing. It is not about going to donate food and all that. Rehabilitation is beyond that; it is helping them get back on their feet to be able to regain their dignity and to be able to have the ability to feed themselves and their families. That is what is taking us there and just as in Baylesa, in the North East and other places, I am not only responsible for the safety of myself, I am also responsible for the safety of my team. If I don’t value my life, I value the lives of those who are ready to follow me to anywhere I want to go and I am very blessed that I have a team that is ready. My team trusts me because they know that I have thought it out carefully and I have complete confidence that we are going in there to do what we are going to do and come out alive and there won’t be any issues. I don’t move stupidly or carelessly, I put into consideration all the things that I need to put into consideration, though things can happen because there is no guarantee that someone who leaves the house in the morning will return to that house safely at night. I make contact with the right people I need to contact when I am going somewhere and the rest, I put into God’s hand.
Does that mean state governments do not provide you security details while in their territories?
We were in Gombe a couple of weeks ago and Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo had offered to give us security and other things but I said no, I don’t want any security, I don’t want any siren, I don’t want any police guard because I don’t want any unnecessary attention to us. We go to where we need to but there are places that require security like when we went to the creeks in Bayelsa State. We went with Naval gunboats, armed Navy officers and when we were around town, we had armed policemen providing security.
What strikes you when you get to the camp, especially what people are not talking about but that you would like to draw the attention of the government to?
It is heart breaking than what people see or talk about in their comfort zones.. When we were in Gombe, everywhere I went to, I was busy crying and I don’t cry easily. It got to a point that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials had to tell me to stop crying if I don’t want to have high blood pressure. We have visited two states where the displaced Nigerians are and I must say that I applaud the Gombe State Government for what it is doing. The government has passed that relief point where all you do is to donate food. It is a huge liability. We had already confirmed the kind of skill the women had, so we went with sewing machines. Those who know how to make groundnut oil, and petty trading, we got their data and we gave them what they wanted and they were surprised because no organisation, not even government, had asked the women what they used to do before they became displaced; no one had ever asked them.
We are helping the women because by so doing, we are helping the children too. We bought cloth fabrics for those who were selling clothes, gave money to those that were doing petty trading. I entered the market to buy them the materials they would need to start and then we put them through on how to sell and how they can grow the business. We will still go back to check on them and those that are doing good, we would be able to put more money into their businesses, God willing. There is nothing like self-esteem if you are not able to feed yourself and the shocking thing is that some of those displaced people are doctors contrary to the notion that most of them are farmers. Even if they are farmers, we have rich people who are farmers in today’s world. Because of their displacement, they have lost all they used to have and now, they just sit from morning to night waiting for people to come and give them small cup of rice to eat. How dehumanising is that? And, as you know, every woman is responsible to feed her children.
There is even a woman in that camp that has 16 children, some 10 and we are talking about women who are below 30 years of age. We see that some of them have even given up hope and we always tell them that our target is to ensure that those of them who have given up hope are not abandoned and that they know that God has not forsaken them. People need to understand that they are not just IDPs, what I saw were faces not the tag IDPs. Immediately I saw them, it reminded me that it could be any of us at any point in time and that we are where we are now is by the grace of God and that is what I want people to realise. To be honest, it is cheaper to rehabilitate them than to keep giving them food.
Tell us about the National Medical Mission.
God willing in June this year, we are going to be having a huge National Medical Mission, we are putting together different medical specialists-plastic surgeons, general surgeons, optometrists, gynaecologists, orthopaedic surgeons, we are all coming together for free work and we are going to be doing a 10-day surgical time. The last time we did it was in 2006 and I love the programme because it is so amazing. We are going to split into two, we will spend five days in the North and we have been speaking with states that would like to partner us with our logistics and we are going to render medical treatment for free. We will also pick a state in the South West or South East. The number of patients is not limited; we are going to treat as many as possible and about 20 international medical personnel will be brought and probably with about 20 indigenous medical personnel too and that is excluding the non-surgical personnel.
There was a time we heard your organisation was considering acquiring two mobile surgical units, how far have you gone with that?
Unfortunately, we have not gone very far. What is sad is that when people hear and see what we do, all I keep hearing is, oh, God bless you Modupe, you are doing such a great job. Yes, I am interested in people’s prayers. But, I also need their financial support. We have not gone far as far as sponsorship is concerned but we got calls for mobile unit and each one is about $800,000 and the quotation and the information about it is on our website and the company name for verification. The mobile unit is equipped with multiple operating room and we can drive it anywhere and do surgery for free which helps because this way, we will not have to rely on states to accommodate us and that is why we have to work with state governments when such programmes come up. So, state governments buffer the logistic aspect of it because we can’t do that alone.
Our food donation programme is also in partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service, they gave us trailer loads of rice and other things that we donate at our discretion during programmes. We also do donations of toys that we give to children and then we give clothes. We were in Yola last week and there, there were 501 children between the ages of one and 14 and they are just sitting at the camp wasting away, no education, nothing. We are going to sponsor their education. They will be enrolling in schools and before they go, the boys will have their haircut and the girls will have their hair done and we will give them uniforms, school books, and other things. And the interesting thing again is that amongst the displaced Nigerians, there are teachers and we have hired them to teach the students, so they are now on our payroll and we will be paying them every month.
Isn’t the charity work eating deep into your pocket?
Of course it is.
Don’t you have corporate sponsors?
Honestly, we don’t. It is not very nice when you write to some banks and some organisations and you say, this is what we have and this is what we are doing. We picked rural schools in very remote places places that people don’t want to go and there are some schools that the children barely have uniforms and there is nothing as uplifting to a child as a nice clean uniform and when you look at how much it costs to sew a new uniform for a child, sewing and the material is about N500 and N1,000 will sew two uniforms for a child and let us say we have about 1,000 children, it is barely anything and then we write to them because we have written to so many people and we give a breakdown of what we want to do and we send lists of options and ask for sponsorship of school uniforms, schools bags and we even suggest that we will brand them.
But they will write back to us commending us to keep up the good work but that they are sorry, they don’t have money. So, it gets to a point that makes me feel like, ‘why waste ink and paper to write to people who would prefer to sponsor beauty pageants and football matches?’ So, we don’t have any sponsor. This says a lot about our culture of giving as a society but maybe I am talking to the wrong people because many organisations also get sponsorship for different things. It is very sad and that is because when they hear we are doing such programmes, they think it is some sort of ulterior personal motive and I hear things like, ‘Do you want to run for any political position?’ I get insulted by such comments. What has giving got to do with politics? I am not interested; and I doing this since 2003. So, why should someone always feel that to help someone, you must get something back? It does not put us as Nigerians in very good light.
Where do you plan to take the philanthropic train to after the North East?
We have not done enough in the North East. We will still have to give the women money and equipment to empower them. We have not gotten land for them to be able to go and farm. We are not yet done and only God knows when we will be done there.
Do you have time to relax considering the fact that the work takes much of your time?
I barely relax, it is work, work, work and it makes me happy.
As a businesswoman, how would you describe the Nigerian business environment?
I left Nigeria when I was 17 and I didn’t return until I was 27 and I came to start my business here. Just like anything, not just Nigeria but the whole world and life in general, things change and times have changed. Some countries for the better, while some for the worse but the truth is, most countries were affected during the global recession and unfortunately for Nigeria, we have additional challenges, but I think no matter what it is we are going through as Nigerians, we will get past it but I don’t know how soon that will be.
Modupe Ozolua means different things to different people. Who is Modupe beyond surgery?
If I were to describe myself, I will just say I am just a simple but complicated person. I am very straightforward and some people might see that as an issue but I don’t. I am as honest as I can be and I try to be happy and try to see good in everything around me until you prove me otherwise. I am easy going and cool until you make me not to be cool with you.
Being in cosmetic surgery is something that some will describe as being scary because of the kind of things you need to see in the surgical rooms and the damaged figures you need to correct, how do you cope?
In line with what I have said about times changing, I as a person have evolved over time because before I got into medicine as a business interest, I used to be very squeamish about the sight of blood, I could not stand it but it has become so much part of my life and I love it and if I am not in the operating room watching surgery, I am not happy. There are two times I am happy the most. When I am in the operating room watching surgeries, I am not a surgeon and when I am doing the outreach programmes by helping people out. These two times are when I am most comfortable. I looked past the obvious, which is the pain they are going through, if it is a constructive surgery and focus on what the result will be. It is all about the control of the mind and for me it comes easy. Looking past the present and seeing something better come out of it.
Sometime ago, there was an unfortunate death of the former First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, and somehow, your name cropped up and we have not seen or heard you defend that anywhere?
Was I involved with Stella Obasanjo’s surgery? No. Did I refer her to a surgeon in Spain? No. Did I discuss cosmetic surgery with her prior to her death? No. Did I advise her? No. Stella Obasanjo and I were not talking long before she passed away. I was in shock to know about her death and it was a horrible time for me because I had friends who were involved in the plane crash earlier and I was also traumatised because my father had just died and we were preparing for his funeral. So, I did not appreciate anybody calling me and telling me something I knew nothing about. So, I am the wrong person to be asked about Stella’s death unless someone has proof to say I am lying, if not, nobody should ask me again.
You are above 40 and we know men disturb you, are you not planning to settle down soon?
When God says yes, then yes, because there is time for everything. The truth is, we all have our own different callings and different purposes in life. I have always known that coming to Nigeria was just because of the foundation, I knew God just deceived me and brought me here, I know my coming is not because of cosmetic surgery, it was because of the foundation and I have come to just accept it that this is it. This is what I am created to do and I have embraced it. The truth is if I had remarried during the course of all this, I don’t think I will be doing what I am doing. I would have been at home worried about my husband and how to take care of the children. I thank God I am blessed and I have a son who is in the university and he is 19. He is my biggest supporter; he supports me in all I do. There is a time for everything and I believe this is the time for me to do what I am supposed to do. Whenever God says He is going to give me a man that will support my calling, that will not be a hindrance to fulfilling my destiny, then I am cool.
What is your philosophy about life?
Let me say the easiest which is simplest in my opinion, I believe we are all here for a purpose, some people will go through life never knowing what their purpose is, while some will. When you are able to identify what your purpose is, it is then you get to enjoy life and live life properly and I use that as a guiding factor for myself. I say that to my son a lot and to people close to me. I think people should remind themselves of it because you never really go through life twice. I am doing what I am supposed to do and that helps.
What is your advice to so many young girls out there who want to be like Modupe?
They should be true to themselves and to God.
Do you get angry?
I have a nasty temper.
What calms you down?
Reminding myself that I am the boss and I have the final say.
Some people say Modupe is a very saucy person and that maybe her beauty has gone into her brain, what do you say to people like that?
Some would say body enhancement and philanthropy do not mix. One is strictly business, while the other requires a passion for giving. In your own case, you seem to be at home with both. How do you cope?
When Body Enhancement Limited started, of course it was cosmetic and constructive surgery for those who could afford our services. When you become synonymous with a service, both the privileged and the under-privileged will come to you and that is what happened. So, a lot of people that could not afford the constructive surgery but had deformities and abnormalities, come into my office and ask me for surgeries but of course they could not afford it and I could not understand why people would see someone obviously deformed and not try to help. For me, it is something that comes naturally, wanting to help is just part of my nature. So, it only made sense to me that I should use the resources that I had, and still have, to help them. So, a lot of my surgeons that come to do the cosmetic surgery, when they finish making men and women beautiful, they volunteer their time.
I don’t pay doctors that come and do this work. They do it for free. They don’t ask for anything. They bring their equipment and in addition, we buy whatever we can buy, we provide their accommodation, we pay for their tickets, take care of their feeding and they in turn sacrifice their time to help people and that is what we have been doing since 2003, It has been a long time coming but that is what we have been doing and we have expanded it and it is now beyond surgeries. Some people are normal physically but they are hungry. We have some that are not deformed but they are sick and just some little medication that costs N200 can restore someone’s sight or save someone from going blind. So, I decided and I spoke with my Board of Trustees and my Patron, Desmond Tutu, and we said we need to do more because the need is so much and rendering help comes to me naturally, it gives me pleasure, so we just merge them as one, and I guess it was meant to be.
Of recent, we have discovered that the philanthropy part of your work takes more of your time, why is it so?
It takes my time because that is the one that makes me happy. Perhaps, people know Body Enhancement Limited but I have so many businesses. Body Enhancement is what people know and it is fine with me. The cosmetic business is done at a particular period of the year, it is usually between March and April and October to November. So, my clients know when to come and meet me and they make their payments and get their surgeries done. So, my time is not necessarily free because I have other things I am doing also but that part is there and these days, people don’t see me advertise anymore because people know. The charity part is taking much more of my time and it is actually what I want to do as long as my other businesses yield the desired profits from wherever I am investing. As long as my businesses are doing fine, I will be able to take from that money and do the work that gives me happiness and that is helping people.
The charity part of your work is taking you around the country and just recently, you were in the North East and we recall that you left a place where you went to donate things and a few hours later, Boko Haram struck. Considering how volatile the North is right now, why did you still venture into that part of the country? Are you not scared?
The fact is, before I do anything, I cross my Ts and dot my Is. We have done programmes in the North before. We were in Baylesa and we were not relaxing in Yenagoa, we were in the creeks of Bayelsa with gunboats, speedboats going for three to four hours into the Atlantic Ocean through the creeks to go and feed poor people. Many people in Bayelsa, including the indigenous staff that I hired, refused to go with us because not everybody will venture into that trip and come back alive. But the reasoning for me which will be the same answer that will cover the reason why we are in the North East, is, because we have decided that we are going to work on rehabilitating internally displaced Nigerians. I don’t call them people or persons, they are human beings, they are boys, girls, mothers, fathers and I feel we should show some level of respect and recognise them as Nigerians, so the whole person thing is so impersonal.
We said we are going to rehabilitate them and that is what we are doing. It is not about going to donate food and all that. Rehabilitation is beyond that; it is helping them get back on their feet to be able to regain their dignity and to be able to have the ability to feed themselves and their families. That is what is taking us there and just as in Baylesa, in the North East and other places, I am not only responsible for the safety of myself, I am also responsible for the safety of my team. If I don’t value my life, I value the lives of those who are ready to follow me to anywhere I want to go and I am very blessed that I have a team that is ready. My team trusts me because they know that I have thought it out carefully and I have complete confidence that we are going in there to do what we are going to do and come out alive and there won’t be any issues. I don’t move stupidly or carelessly, I put into consideration all the things that I need to put into consideration, though things can happen because there is no guarantee that someone who leaves the house in the morning will return to that house safely at night. I make contact with the right people I need to contact when I am going somewhere and the rest, I put into God’s hand.
Does that mean state governments do not provide you security details while in their territories?
We were in Gombe a couple of weeks ago and Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo had offered to give us security and other things but I said no, I don’t want any security, I don’t want any siren, I don’t want any police guard because I don’t want any unnecessary attention to us. We go to where we need to but there are places that require security like when we went to the creeks in Bayelsa State. We went with Naval gunboats, armed Navy officers and when we were around town, we had armed policemen providing security.
What strikes you when you get to the camp, especially what people are not talking about but that you would like to draw the attention of the government to?
It is heart breaking than what people see or talk about in their comfort zones.. When we were in Gombe, everywhere I went to, I was busy crying and I don’t cry easily. It got to a point that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials had to tell me to stop crying if I don’t want to have high blood pressure. We have visited two states where the displaced Nigerians are and I must say that I applaud the Gombe State Government for what it is doing. The government has passed that relief point where all you do is to donate food. It is a huge liability. We had already confirmed the kind of skill the women had, so we went with sewing machines. Those who know how to make groundnut oil, and petty trading, we got their data and we gave them what they wanted and they were surprised because no organisation, not even government, had asked the women what they used to do before they became displaced; no one had ever asked them.
We are helping the women because by so doing, we are helping the children too. We bought cloth fabrics for those who were selling clothes, gave money to those that were doing petty trading. I entered the market to buy them the materials they would need to start and then we put them through on how to sell and how they can grow the business. We will still go back to check on them and those that are doing good, we would be able to put more money into their businesses, God willing. There is nothing like self-esteem if you are not able to feed yourself and the shocking thing is that some of those displaced people are doctors contrary to the notion that most of them are farmers. Even if they are farmers, we have rich people who are farmers in today’s world. Because of their displacement, they have lost all they used to have and now, they just sit from morning to night waiting for people to come and give them small cup of rice to eat. How dehumanising is that? And, as you know, every woman is responsible to feed her children.
There is even a woman in that camp that has 16 children, some 10 and we are talking about women who are below 30 years of age. We see that some of them have even given up hope and we always tell them that our target is to ensure that those of them who have given up hope are not abandoned and that they know that God has not forsaken them. People need to understand that they are not just IDPs, what I saw were faces not the tag IDPs. Immediately I saw them, it reminded me that it could be any of us at any point in time and that we are where we are now is by the grace of God and that is what I want people to realise. To be honest, it is cheaper to rehabilitate them than to keep giving them food.
Tell us about the National Medical Mission.
God willing in June this year, we are going to be having a huge National Medical Mission, we are putting together different medical specialists-plastic surgeons, general surgeons, optometrists, gynaecologists, orthopaedic surgeons, we are all coming together for free work and we are going to be doing a 10-day surgical time. The last time we did it was in 2006 and I love the programme because it is so amazing. We are going to split into two, we will spend five days in the North and we have been speaking with states that would like to partner us with our logistics and we are going to render medical treatment for free. We will also pick a state in the South West or South East. The number of patients is not limited; we are going to treat as many as possible and about 20 international medical personnel will be brought and probably with about 20 indigenous medical personnel too and that is excluding the non-surgical personnel.
There was a time we heard your organisation was considering acquiring two mobile surgical units, how far have you gone with that?
Unfortunately, we have not gone very far. What is sad is that when people hear and see what we do, all I keep hearing is, oh, God bless you Modupe, you are doing such a great job. Yes, I am interested in people’s prayers. But, I also need their financial support. We have not gone far as far as sponsorship is concerned but we got calls for mobile unit and each one is about $800,000 and the quotation and the information about it is on our website and the company name for verification. The mobile unit is equipped with multiple operating room and we can drive it anywhere and do surgery for free which helps because this way, we will not have to rely on states to accommodate us and that is why we have to work with state governments when such programmes come up. So, state governments buffer the logistic aspect of it because we can’t do that alone.
Our food donation programme is also in partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service, they gave us trailer loads of rice and other things that we donate at our discretion during programmes. We also do donations of toys that we give to children and then we give clothes. We were in Yola last week and there, there were 501 children between the ages of one and 14 and they are just sitting at the camp wasting away, no education, nothing. We are going to sponsor their education. They will be enrolling in schools and before they go, the boys will have their haircut and the girls will have their hair done and we will give them uniforms, school books, and other things. And the interesting thing again is that amongst the displaced Nigerians, there are teachers and we have hired them to teach the students, so they are now on our payroll and we will be paying them every month.
Isn’t the charity work eating deep into your pocket?
Of course it is.
Don’t you have corporate sponsors?
Honestly, we don’t. It is not very nice when you write to some banks and some organisations and you say, this is what we have and this is what we are doing. We picked rural schools in very remote places places that people don’t want to go and there are some schools that the children barely have uniforms and there is nothing as uplifting to a child as a nice clean uniform and when you look at how much it costs to sew a new uniform for a child, sewing and the material is about N500 and N1,000 will sew two uniforms for a child and let us say we have about 1,000 children, it is barely anything and then we write to them because we have written to so many people and we give a breakdown of what we want to do and we send lists of options and ask for sponsorship of school uniforms, schools bags and we even suggest that we will brand them.
But they will write back to us commending us to keep up the good work but that they are sorry, they don’t have money. So, it gets to a point that makes me feel like, ‘why waste ink and paper to write to people who would prefer to sponsor beauty pageants and football matches?’ So, we don’t have any sponsor. This says a lot about our culture of giving as a society but maybe I am talking to the wrong people because many organisations also get sponsorship for different things. It is very sad and that is because when they hear we are doing such programmes, they think it is some sort of ulterior personal motive and I hear things like, ‘Do you want to run for any political position?’ I get insulted by such comments. What has giving got to do with politics? I am not interested; and I doing this since 2003. So, why should someone always feel that to help someone, you must get something back? It does not put us as Nigerians in very good light.
Where do you plan to take the philanthropic train to after the North East?
We have not done enough in the North East. We will still have to give the women money and equipment to empower them. We have not gotten land for them to be able to go and farm. We are not yet done and only God knows when we will be done there.
Do you have time to relax considering the fact that the work takes much of your time?
I barely relax, it is work, work, work and it makes me happy.
As a businesswoman, how would you describe the Nigerian business environment?
I left Nigeria when I was 17 and I didn’t return until I was 27 and I came to start my business here. Just like anything, not just Nigeria but the whole world and life in general, things change and times have changed. Some countries for the better, while some for the worse but the truth is, most countries were affected during the global recession and unfortunately for Nigeria, we have additional challenges, but I think no matter what it is we are going through as Nigerians, we will get past it but I don’t know how soon that will be.
Modupe Ozolua means different things to different people. Who is Modupe beyond surgery?
If I were to describe myself, I will just say I am just a simple but complicated person. I am very straightforward and some people might see that as an issue but I don’t. I am as honest as I can be and I try to be happy and try to see good in everything around me until you prove me otherwise. I am easy going and cool until you make me not to be cool with you.
Being in cosmetic surgery is something that some will describe as being scary because of the kind of things you need to see in the surgical rooms and the damaged figures you need to correct, how do you cope?
In line with what I have said about times changing, I as a person have evolved over time because before I got into medicine as a business interest, I used to be very squeamish about the sight of blood, I could not stand it but it has become so much part of my life and I love it and if I am not in the operating room watching surgery, I am not happy. There are two times I am happy the most. When I am in the operating room watching surgeries, I am not a surgeon and when I am doing the outreach programmes by helping people out. These two times are when I am most comfortable. I looked past the obvious, which is the pain they are going through, if it is a constructive surgery and focus on what the result will be. It is all about the control of the mind and for me it comes easy. Looking past the present and seeing something better come out of it.
Sometime ago, there was an unfortunate death of the former First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, and somehow, your name cropped up and we have not seen or heard you defend that anywhere?
Was I involved with Stella Obasanjo’s surgery? No. Did I refer her to a surgeon in Spain? No. Did I discuss cosmetic surgery with her prior to her death? No. Did I advise her? No. Stella Obasanjo and I were not talking long before she passed away. I was in shock to know about her death and it was a horrible time for me because I had friends who were involved in the plane crash earlier and I was also traumatised because my father had just died and we were preparing for his funeral. So, I did not appreciate anybody calling me and telling me something I knew nothing about. So, I am the wrong person to be asked about Stella’s death unless someone has proof to say I am lying, if not, nobody should ask me again.
You are above 40 and we know men disturb you, are you not planning to settle down soon?
When God says yes, then yes, because there is time for everything. The truth is, we all have our own different callings and different purposes in life. I have always known that coming to Nigeria was just because of the foundation, I knew God just deceived me and brought me here, I know my coming is not because of cosmetic surgery, it was because of the foundation and I have come to just accept it that this is it. This is what I am created to do and I have embraced it. The truth is if I had remarried during the course of all this, I don’t think I will be doing what I am doing. I would have been at home worried about my husband and how to take care of the children. I thank God I am blessed and I have a son who is in the university and he is 19. He is my biggest supporter; he supports me in all I do. There is a time for everything and I believe this is the time for me to do what I am supposed to do. Whenever God says He is going to give me a man that will support my calling, that will not be a hindrance to fulfilling my destiny, then I am cool.
What is your philosophy about life?
Let me say the easiest which is simplest in my opinion, I believe we are all here for a purpose, some people will go through life never knowing what their purpose is, while some will. When you are able to identify what your purpose is, it is then you get to enjoy life and live life properly and I use that as a guiding factor for myself. I say that to my son a lot and to people close to me. I think people should remind themselves of it because you never really go through life twice. I am doing what I am supposed to do and that helps.
What is your advice to so many young girls out there who want to be like Modupe?
They should be true to themselves and to God.
Do you get angry?
I have a nasty temper.
What calms you down?
Reminding myself that I am the boss and I have the final say.
Some people say Modupe is a very saucy person and that maybe her beauty has gone into her brain, what do you say to people like that?
