Donald Trump is now the 45th president of the United States..He was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol in Washington today, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017…
The official Twitter page of the President Of The United States, POTUS is now in Donald Trump’s name, and he already has over 3 million followers just few hours after the account was created today.
The chairman of Eleganza Group, Chief Rasak Okoya, 77, tells ‘Nonye Ben-Nwankwo about his life as a young boy and how he rose to become a successful businessman
To you, is age just a number or has anything really changed as you clock 77?
You are still strong and agile even at 77, what is the secret?
To Allah be the Glory.
Did you know when you were growing up, that you would one day become this influential and successful?
In all my growing life to date, I have always given thanks to the almighty Allah for sustaining me, giving me direction and my success
What was your childhood dream?
My childhood dream was like that of any other child of my age and time. However, mine was backed up by the treatment I received from my parents. I was never allowed to play much. I had three sections per day – first section at school, second section at my father’s tailoring shop and third section at the mosque. This gave me the attitude to work hard and also to save all cash that was given to me.
So many people may not know that your story is that of grass to grace, can you tell us how you were able to build your business empire from almost nothing?
It is from the discipline and hard work with no time to play. When I returned from school, I was always with my father in his tailoring shop to assist him in my little way. Thereafter I started sewing torn clothes at little cost for neighbours. As I was able to save up money, I started the business of buying and selling clothing and sewing materials at the front of my father’s shop. I was able to save up some money and I also borrowed from my mother to start importation of tailoring materials.
You only had primary education as your formal training, are there times you feel any regret that you didn’t further your education?
It is true that I had only primary education and immediately after, I went into trading. I don’t feel any regret that I had only primary education. If I had acquired the highest educational qualification, it is still money and wealth that are the bottom line.
Was there any reason why you just had primary education?
As stated earlier, my love for trading made me to drop at primary level.
Was it easy getting to be successful?
The journey wasn’t an easy one; it’s full of ups and downs. But my ‘can do’ attitude kept me moving and in no time, I became real entrepreneur.
Your father was a tailor; did you consider doing his line of business?
I was always with him in his tailoring shop, so I can’t say I never considered tailoring, but as soon as I started making money from the minor works and petty trading of tailoring materials around his shop, I forgot about it.
What has been your greatest challenge since you started running your business?
My challenges in business were not being able to manufacture products in full capacity, due to lack of forex to buy raw materials and electricity to power the factory through the use of generators. Diesel price has always been on the increase and Electricity from power firm is never coming.
You probably have a lot of business you attend to, how have you managed to keep your home and your business afloat at the same time?
I work round the clock and I enjoy working. In spite of my load of work and the associated tight schedule, I make sure that I have time to chat with my family and tell them the story of how I got to my present position.
There was a time Eleganza used to produce virtually all products but there seems to be a decline in the number of products the company produces; what really happened?
Eleganza was producing virtually all house hold products, later we invested in real estate and about three years ago, Eleganza came back to manufacturing big and strong on 35 hectares of land called Eleganza Industrial City, at Ibeju. Today we have larger numbers of house products and more are still coming up.
Was it your personal choice to have just very few expatriates in your company?
Eleganza only keeps expatriates for jobs that the indigenes do not have the technical knowledge. As soon as we discovered the potential of the indigenes to do the expatriate job, we embrace the person without delay.
Do we see you retiring one day?
I have already retired but not tired. I am around the business empire for advisory roles.
What kind of relationship did you have with your father and mother? Were they strict parents?
Embattled out-gone President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has asked a shift in deadline of midday to 4pm to vacate office as ECOWAS soldiers close on him.
Government sources said the request was made when the leaders of Guinea and Mauritania arrived in the capital, Banjul, in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to get him to cede power.
A regional military force that crossed the border in support of his democratically elected successor, Adama Barrow, was awaiting orders on Friday.
Marcel Alain de Souza, chair of the west African union Ecowas, said troops would force Jammeh out if he refused to leave the country.
Jammeh The West African troops entered the Gambia on Thursday night, hours after Barrow was forced to hold his inauguration as president in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
De Souza said the west African force, which includes tanks, has so far met no resistance. Banjul, the capital, was deserted on Friday.
Dozens of vultures spread their wings on the large ground outside State House, and a lone cyclist, perhaps one of the few remaining tourists in the country, made the most of the empty roads.
The country’s chief of defence staff, Ousman Badjie, was seen speeding in the direction of Banjul.
He has switched allegiance several times over the past month, and was celebrating with Barrow supporters in the streets last night.
It is unclear what side he and the military would take in the event of an Ecowas attack on State House, though most sources believed he was no longer with Jammeh.
The twitter handle of Charles Onyango-Obbot @cobbo3 said “ Jammeh asks for deadline extension – from midday (local time) to 4pm! He’s not done packing #Gambia
A rally by Nigerian separatist group – the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) – in support of US in-coming President Donald Trump, has turned violent, BBC reports.
Reports from Port Harcourt say hundreds of people from different states in the south-east marched to the city asking for the creation of Biafra state. Security forces tried to stop them, resulting in clashes. .
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At the moment, it is not clear how many people have been injured in the clashes. Members of the group are alleging that some pro-Biafra supporters have been shot dead by security operatives, something the police in Port Harcourt deny.
A corps member stylishly showed off her cleavage in her uniform and it got people talking.
Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II called on wealthy Northerners to use the wealth Allah has blessed them with, not only in building mosques but to also educate young girls and discourage their early marriage.
The royalty made the call on Thursday in his keynote address at the 3rd international conference on Islamic Banking and Finance, organised by the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, Bayero University, Kano.
He said,
“I’m just tired of people coming to me to say I want to build a new mosque. You know, we keep building mosques and our daughters are illiterates.
“So, my appeal is that if you really want to help Kano, don’t come to me with a request to build a N300m mosque because I have enough mosques everywhere. And if I don’t have a mosque, I’ll build it myself. If you really want to help, go and educate a girl child in the village.”
According to him, over 50 per cent of girls between the age bracket of 18 and 20 were given out in marriage in this part of the country.
He added that the worrisome dimension of it was that 75 per cent of them could neither read nor write. Calling for a review of laws to prevent early marriage and encourage girl-child education, he said,
“It is not a mere coincidence that this is where you have the highest levels of illiteracy, early marriage, divorce and the highest levels of domestic violence…
“People need to understand that the law has to change. If you look at the medical data on maternal health, girls who get pregnant below the age of 15 are five times as likely to die as girls who get pregnant at the age of 20. Those who get pregnant under 18 are twice as likely to die as those who get pregnant at the age of 20. So, it is important that we look at this issue of early
Two private school teachers, Stanley Akanno and Olakunle Hassan, in Amuwo Odofin, were yesterday paraded by Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, AIG Kayode Aderanti, for serially defiling their 6-year-old female pupil.
The teachers, he said, during extra mural classes, showed pornography on their laptop to the pupil and made her practice same on them.
“The pupil has been taken to a government hospital where it was medically established that she had been deflowered. The suspects will soon be charged to court,” Aderanti said.
They were arrested following suspicion by the girl’s mother that her daughter has suddenly become sexually active. The girl’s mother, while narrating how the daughter was defiled, said: “I noticed that my daughter was kissing his brother’s penis.
I called her and interrogated her where she learnt the behaviour and she told me that her lesson teacher plays erotic films on his laptop and forced her to watch it. She added that the teacher will then defile her. We reported the case to the police and from the investigation, it showed that she was defiled.
