His
success in life is no fluke but achieved by virtue of hardwork, diligence and
approaching every task before him innovatively, having at the back of his mind
the belief that success only comes with determination. No doubt, his success
story is that which is built on integrity and honesty, in spite of his
achievements he remains an embodiment of humility.
Charles Nwodo Jr., the Executive Chairman/CEO
of XL Africa Group is one Nigerian
who has distinguished himself as a financial expert and successful
entrepreneur. He has not only carved a niche for himself as a banker, he has
also made name as a businessman with an enviable reputation in Nigeria and
across the globe.
A
proud alumnus of the University of
Nigeria Nsukka, Nwodo Jr. obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the great ivory
tower and he also attended the University
of Lagos, Harvard Business School Boston, USA and The University of Geneva, Switzerland respectively from where he
obtained additional certificates and Masters degrees. Prior to setting up XL Africa Group Limited, Nwodo Jr. was
the Executive Director in charge of Corporate Services at Standard Trust Bank (now UBA Plc) where he was responsible for
setting up and managing the bank’s treasury function, developing and
co-coordinating the bank’s hugely successful public sector banking initiative.
Nwodo Jr. is a Fellow of the Chartered
Institute of Stockbrokers and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
Innovative
and goal-oriented, it is on record that during his tenure as the President of
the UNN Students Union Government
between 1983 and 1984, his leadership was responsible
enough to maintain good relationship with the university authorities, and
ensured that university properties were not destroyed or burnt down
unnecessarily during demonstrations and protests while at the same time
successfully transforming the Students Union into a highly radicalized and
activist affiliate of the National
Association of Nigeria Students (NANS).
Reminiscing
on his journey through his alma mater, he said thus, “At
the time I sat for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam in
1980, there were basically two universities in Nigeria – UNN and others and I
did not want to start my education at any other university besides UNN. As a
student at UNN, my experience was a mixture of fun and excitement, side by side
with a rigorous and extremely competitive academic regimen. The University
values and culture of excellence duly passed into me, just as I was passing
through the University. It was however, not all work and study for me as I was
active in extracurricular activities; starting with membership of Civil
Engineering Students Association Exco, Directorship of the University Bookshop
(representing the Student body), membership of University Senate Committees at
various times, and finally President of the Students Union Government. The most
memorable aspect of my stay at UNN would be the ‘cat and mouse’ relationships
with the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Frank Ndili and others on the University
establishment such as the University Chief Security Officer Mr Ejekam, the
Nigeria Police authorities and the SSS teams that were embedded within the
students community to spy and report on our activities.”
Sharing
his experience further, the astute CEO would not forget those lecturers and
classmates who had great impact on him at the UNN, some of the academics he
mentioned include Prof. Odunukwe who
was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Egbuniwe who was the Head of his department and an Indian
named Dr. Rao who supervised his
final year project.
“My classmates in the Civil Engineering class of 85 were exceedingly
kind and supportive to me while my service to the Students Union lasted. I will
never forget the extra effort they put into taking turns to update me and work
me through various assignments and projects each time I returned to campus from
the numerous NANS meetings, conventions and national assignments that
frequently took me away from the campus. I will remain sincerely indebted to
each one of these classmates of mine, many of who are still very close friends
of mine till date. Some of them are successful businessmen and professors in
various universities across the world today,” he said.
A
manager of resource par excellence, giving an insight into the activities of XL
Africa Group which was founded in 2003, he explained that the company is a
fully integrated diversified services business group with subsidiaries in Outsourcing,
Project and Facilities Management, Oil and Gas Support Services, Courier and
Logistics, Security and Protection Services as well as Cash Management
Services. The company has its headoffice in Nigeria with active operational
footprints across Africa through its fully owned subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra
Leone and Liberia. “The strength of our Group rests on
our well diversified services portfolio powered by a technologically enabled
integrated operational platform. This model offers us outstanding agility and
price competitiveness, but most of all, it provides us a diversified income
structure, which in turn affords us franchise sustainability and long term
corporate structural stability,” he informed.
Proffering
a recipe for the development of the Nigerian economy, the disciplined
investment guru who upholds integrity in his drive for excellence urged the
present administration to fight corruption squarely by empowering the various
anti-graft agencies. In his words: “The Nigerian
economy has been constrained by mismanagement, corruption and policy
inconsistencies. The path way to the revitalization of the economy is to deal
decisively and structurally with corruption in the public and private sectors,
and strengthen institutions that are involved in the anti-corruption campaign.
The process of strengthening these institutions should include appointing
competent people to head or manage these institutions. Simultaneous to these
actions, the Federal Government should set in motion a deliberate effort to galvanize
Nigerians to believe in a new socio-economic and cultural order defined by
merit, hard work, equality before the law and enthronement of competence and
integrity in all levels of national leadership.
“Finally, the federal government should mobilize local and foreign
investments in critical sectors of the economy, in accordance with defined
priorities of the current administration. These solutions will create the
enabling environment to unleash the huge entrepreneurial energy of Nigerians
and take advantage of the enormous favourable ratings which Nigeria currently
enjoys in the global market place as an investment destination. In this way,
the Government will be acting as a catalyst while the private sector will
directly drive the economic revival which Nigeria so badly needs and deserves,” he stressed.
Nwodo
Jr. also urged the government to invest more in the education sector in a bid
to restore the lost glory of the sector. According to him, greater funding
should be allocated to all activities and institutions involved in the pursuit
of knowledge, such as formal education, research, teacher training, school
infrastructure (classrooms, laboratories, computers, internet access),
scholarship schemes, salaries and conditions of service which he explained
would act concertedly to emphasize and raise the importance of education as a
national investment for securing the future greatness and prosperity of
Nigeria. (Guardian)
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