My award as 2023 Most Innovative Brand CEO of the Year, a motivation to do more –Chief Onuoha

 

.Commends Champion Newspapers’ Mgt

 

COMFORT EKELEME, Business Editor

 

Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Ailes Group NG, High Chief Micheal Onuoha has again emerged as the winner of 2023 Champion Newspapers’ Most Innovative Brand CEO of the Year’.

Receiving the award nomination letter in his office in Lagos from the management of Champion Newspapers Limited, led by the Group Managing Director Dr. (Mrs) Nwadiuto Iheakanwa, he thanked the leadership of company for the award.

He said, “this is the second year running. I feel very elated and I feel so happy to be a part of Champion family. I want to say thank you to the management of Champion Newspapers for the encouragement, because it goes beyond giving me an award.

“The award is also a source of motivation, I feel very motivated to do more, and I believe that next year, I will also be part of the award,” he added.

Ailes Group is a group of companies with investments in Oil and Gas, Logistics, Real Estate and Manufacturing. It’s mission is to become a world-class service provider with a reputation of excellent delivery anchored on the foundation of a competent workforce, consumer-centric philosophy and modern equipment deployment.

Chief Onuoha who also spoke on the Group’s innovative journey maintained that the company has employment creation as part of its consideration for venturing into anything.

He stated that the Fintech, which is an addition to the Group is a very active sector for people to play, stressing that the Fintech space is very lucrative and the next phase of everything.

According to him, everything is tilting towards Artificial Intelligence (AI), stressing that it makes transacting a lot easier and seamless, as have been experienced with the existing Fintech companies.

 

“The idea is just to make transaction more seamless and above all, to create employment. For everything we do, we always have creating employment as part of our consideration for venturing into anything.

“As it stands now, the Ailes Group has about 147 staff. So by the time we are done with our Four Mill factory in Benue state, that would employ 3,000 people. So we are employment focused entity. It is about creating innovation, seamless services and creating employment also.

“We have a company called Ailes Agro & Flour Mill Limited, the name is very clear. We are actually an agricultural commodity company. Right now , we are trying to commence with the building of Nigeria’s largest cassava flour company. We are actually putting together a flour mill company that has a one hundred tons per day capacity.

“So right now, we have started with the basic infrastructure, we have acquired the properties, one hundred per cent owned by the Ailes Group. But over time, we will be seeking for partnership with the likes of Afreximbank, African Development Bank and several Anchor Borrowers.

“However, it is a hundred tons a day cassava flour company that will not only produce cassava flour. The idea is producing cassava flour, at the same time creating other products like Spaghetti, noddles from cassava. Because we are looking at having a substitute for wheat. You remember when the Ukraine war started, it affected the wheat output. So, on our own, we thought about having an alternative for wheat, and that is why we are venturing into that,” he stated.

Speaking further, Chief Onuoha maintained that Agriculture is something people cannot do without.

He said, the vision of the Group is to come up  with a company that will provide an alternative, not just a cassava flour.

He said,  “We are going to have what is called a fortified garri. It is going to be a brand of garri that is vitamin fortified, so these are the things we are trying to take to the market in order to support what we have. We are also employment driven.

Chief Onuoha disclosed that within the next five years, with the Flour Mill and other companies under Ailes Group, the company should be looking at a staff strength of between four to five thousand youths.

According to him, “I have the vision to grow it,  as the Lord enables one, we will grow exponentially, because I am employment driven. So it is my desire to have as many as Nigerian youths I can have under the Ailes Group. The vision is there, the will power is there, so I believe the economy and the policies will enable us achieve our desire.

“I see Ailes Group growing global because we are actually trying to go global. I strongly believe that the more we go out there, the more recognized our company becomes and the more we will be able to achieve more for Nigeria.

“For everything that happens, I always say put Nigeria first. If you go out there and have any success, it is for Nigeria’s glory. I also encourage Nigerian youths to be  very patriotic. One of the key problems we have in this country is lack of patriotism. Anything you do, you need to have the mindset that it is all about our country Nigeria,” he said.

Chief Onuoha, however urged the the federal government to support businesses by way of policies, funding.

He said most importantly policies that will help businesses to move from desired place. Also, policies that will encourage foreign investment into our local arrangement, saying it is very key.

“For you to even survive or play at a certain level,  you will need support and if the policies on ground are not conducive, it scares away international investors. So, it is very critical that the government should be very careful in terms of policies they put in place, because at the long run, it affects every facet of business”, he added.

Giving his view on the present business environment in Nigeria, he said “I must be very honest with you, it is a bit challenging, but I think in every situation, there is always an opportunity, that is why diamonds are found in the rough.

“So, I think the present economic realities are also a test of character for certain businesses. It is a time for people to re-strategize and get back to the drawing board to actually be innovative.

“With innovation, we can actually scale through these problems. Part of the things that made us to venture into cassava flour was the wheat drought globally, it was a huge challenge, it is still a huge challenge.

“So , we actually thought about having an alternative, it is finding a solution in a tight situation. So, with innovation, we can always scale through. I encourage every business owner not to despair but just sit down and become innovative to see how we can manage to salvage Nigeria,” he said.

He equally disclosed that Ailes Group is putting together a kind of scheme, D4 Pharmaceutical that will cover people for certain medication.

He said, the company discovered that most people are unable to buy certain drugs when they need it.

 

“So, if they are able to contribute to a kind of scheme, that will make it easier for them to access these drugs when they need it. I have seen situations where people, because of their inability to purchase drugs at the moment, loose their lives. I have seen it happen, diabetic patients, cancer patients, etc.

“But with the contribution, as low as N5,000 a month, no matter the cost of the drugs, even if it is up to N3 to N4 million worth of drugs, the patient will buy. The idea is just to make life easier for people on dialysis that requires medications,” he said.

Chief Onuoha, who commended the efforts of the owners of Dangote Refinery in solving Nigeria’s energy problem said the refinery is an amazing and wonderful addition to the Nigerian economy.

To him, Dangote is one of the people that has the interest of Nigerians at heart, contrary to people’s opinion.

He said first and foremost, to have the courage to set up such a facility in Nigeria, goes to show that he is patriotic.

“He could as well have done it in any other country in the world but he choose Nigeria. The production capacity is over 4 million litres a day ,that would be a very significant input into the economy if the refinery is optimized. To add 4 million litres into the economy is very significant. It will solve a very large portion of our energy cost. So, I think Dangote is on the right course and he is doing the right thing.

“The refinery is an amazing and wonderful addition to our economy. There is this thing about our numbers when it comes to consumption, I think it is false, this false narrative also affects our output.

“So, the first step is for NNPC Ltd to be very truthful to itself. Let us understand and know for sure what our daily consumption is. It is very fictitious to put the numbers at almost a hundred, at times I hear 70 million litres per day. How many vehicles are in Nigeria? So, it doesn’t make sense to me.

“An average vehicle takes about 50 and 60 litres, some 100 litres. So, how then would NNPC say that our daily consumption is almost 70 million per day? We need to be very truthful to ourselves. So an addition of 4 million litres per day into the economy is very significant. So, I will give it to Dangote,” he stated.