Sola Fajobi, is the CEO of Digital Interactive Media, the producers of Next Movie Star, other reality TV shows and soaps across the country. The young man, who is also a major player in the entertainment distribution sector shared his success story with ADETUTU AUDU as well as how he survived his 10 years of waiting for a child.
HOW does it feel to be championing Nigeria’s Next Movie Star for these years? It feels great. But it is also part of the challenges that we have to face all the time. At the moment, it feels good that a baby you gave birth to is still out there doing well. But on the other hand, very challenging, making sure that we can survive all the challenges of business in this part of the world. There is power issue, finance issues; there are also the people issues; the people you have to work with and all that. Interestingly, there are years that we get rewarded for all our efforts and the years that we will make a whole lot of effort and we do not get a commercial reward for it. But because our focus is not commercial, we easily rise above these challenges. It has been tough putting together a production which involves more than 60 cast and crew. It has been tough putting all the equipment in the house. It has been tough broadcasting the show. Getting airtimes without sponsors is not easy.
Owning a television station is not an easy feat, how has it been running both stations?
It is always the dream of any content producer to have his own platform where he will air his own productions. Thank God for digitalisation and Startimes. There were 74 bidders for just eight licences. We, instead of bidding for one, bided for two. Eventually, we were given the two licences. This is because we were able to convince them that we have the contents. That is one of the things that Next Movie Star has achieved for us. It has opened up the possibility of having a lot of contents. It is through Next Movie Star that we were able to commence Dormitory 8. You know, to own a station, you should at least consider having your own contents; your content should be 40 per cent of what you broadcast. So when we summed everything up, we found out that our own content alone could sustain 70 per cent of our station. I am bold to say that there are not more than one or two other outfits that produce as much content as we do at the moment in Nigeria.
What will you call the high and low points of your business?
The high point is when we get sponsors, finish the audition across all the countries and we select the final housemates and when the show eventually starts and you see it on TV and people are excited. When the winner eventually emerges is also a high point. And the climax is when I present the winners’ prizes to them. The low point is when you are doing production in an environment where you can’t work with well. And you say look, this is my account, these are the things I have done and I need N60 million to pay for TV stations or to handle this production. It’s also a low point when you have to start running around, looking for money everywhere during the production to pay for TV stations because everything is pre-paid in Nigeria. You prepay for equipment, you prepay TV stations and a whole lot of things to make your desired thing happen. But we don’t usually have sponsors who are pre-paying. So, it’s very tasking and challenging.
What lessons have you learnt from doing all these things since six years?
Really, I won’t say it has taught me entirely anything new, but it gives fulfillment to get these people to achieve their objectives. One other lesson it taught me is that for you to achieve success, you are on your own. Any other reality shows that have done in this country and I stand to be corrected, must have been driven by brands. GUS is by Gulder, Amstel Malta Box Office byAmstel Malta, Family Dance is Maltina, Street Dance is Malta Guinness, Project Fame is MTN, just name it.
What excites you most about what you are doing?
Fulfillment. I am fulfilled. Like now that I own a TV station and a good programme just finishes showing and I see joy on the faces of people, I rejoice. The first edition of Next Movie Star; I had done a couple of things on my own before that time. I have been an entrepreneur for so long, but doing a show that the whole of Nigeria was watching and somebody emerged as the winner, everybody was happy. I burst into tears; I started crying. Why? Because oh my God, I discovered someone or some people that’s the set of Tonto Dikeh, Annie Macaulay. So, these people can become true stars? I asked. Nigerians were excited, and it gave me fulfillment. That’s what I enjoy most. Anytime I do a show; the power to convert what’s on paper into reality gives me some form of heartfelt happiness.
The interest in business, what aroused it?
I worked with P & G, I worked with Metro TV in Ghana and I became an entrepreneur at the age of 22. I set up a company with my mentor then. We launched World Space in Ghana, we launched World Space in Senegal and that exposed me to entrepreneurship. But aside from that, I came back after that to go and learn more. When I came back to Nigeria I worked at Cellulant as County Manager for Nigeria and Ghana that is Cellulant Africa. Then, I joined Tevia Technologies from Cellulant, owned by Ayo Olaseju. They are into web development and parallel services for mobile operators. So, it was also a content business. I started with them as the Content Manager and I became Head of Business Development and I said to myself I’m gonna work here for 6 months, because I wanted to learn the Nigerian terrain. So, in between that, I worked for one year. Then, from there, as an entrepreneur, I also didn’t go straight to set up my business. I partnered with an existing agency. That’s the first media independent agency in Nigeria Media Supermart, being run by Sola Odejo then and I also worked with them for a year, understudying and learning the media environment in Nigeria. So, like I always say, young people will come out today and they want to be what you are in one day and they do not understand all the processes that you’ve gone through to achieve what you are. What I know about myself is that when I have a vision, I set goals toward that vision and I identify all the key things I need to do to achieve them and I start doing them one after the other.
A lot of people didn’t know that it took you 10 years to have your first child. How did you cope?
It’s a thing of the mind, and like I always say, I was born by some people; so definitely, I will also have my own children. Over the years, we’ve done almost every test that can be done and we know we are alright; that it’s going to come. Challenges came here and there, but I have this spirit just be happy! Just take life as it comes. If you ask what my most cherished property in this world is, there is nothing. There’s nothing you cannot take away from me, there’s nothing that if I have will make my head blow. I am me, I want to remain me and I enjoy being me.
How did you cope in those 10 years?
My wife, first and foremost, is my friend. We started out as friends, so it was easier for us to relate with our challenges. As a woman, it seemed the challenge was more on her, but I kept backing her up, I kept supporting her and I have this free spirit. You can’t offend me. If you offend me, I will tell you now, now, now or else I cannot sleep carrying it in my mind. So, I must solve it there and then. I’m a free-spirited person and I think it rubbed off on her also, because along the line, I gave her all the support that she required, that she desired and I think God just saw all of that and said look, I have to reward these people. Because then people will say go to so, so church, go to so, so person, and I said me o, I believe I have a fantastic relationship with God, I pray to Him, He answers my prayers and I know He’s going to answer this one. It’s only a matter of time. He’s going to do it at His time and He did it by giving me what I desired a beautiful girl!
What would you say is the secret of your success?
Determination, perseverance, creative imagination and focus. Our guiding motto is to make hay while the sun shines. We are basically a young outfit. But we know that a time will come when we may not be able to achieve all we want to achieve. So we work very hard here. We have the energy, the drive and creative edge to make it. Personally I don’t believe in tomorrow; I believe in achieving all I want today. Anything I can do tomorrow, I prefer to do it today so that I will enjoy myself tomorrow.
How do you juggle all your businesses?
I am young now and this is time to do all this work now. I still have over 70 television show ideas which I am yet to exploit. So, the work is still much for me to do and this is the time in my life to do it. There will be a time that it would be tougher for me to do all the work. When I was young, my dad would tell me that anything that I would enjoy in excess in the future, I should not peek into it now. Meaning that I have a lot of time in the future to relax and enjoy the fruit of my labour. But for now, it is work time.
In all these, would you say you are fulfilled?
I am fulfilled. When you look back and see how many people you have helped to achieve their dreams and the impact you have made in such lives, you will definitely want to do more. I have been an entrepreneur for so long, but doing a show that the whole of Nigeria was watching and somebody emerged as the winner, everybody was happy. So, these people can become true stars? I asked. Nigerians were excited, and it gave me fulfillment. That’s what I enjoy most. Anytime I do.
