-Drives same make of Ross Royce with queen and a 2014 customized Bentley
-Builds multi-million dollar royal city
Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, takes a trip down memory lane in this interview with SUNDAY ABORISADE
How will you describe your early childhood?
Well, I am from a royal family in Ilaje, Ugbo Kingdom in Ondo State. I had a very interesting childhood because my mother and father were big-time traders. I did not lack anything until I lost my father at a very tender age. Life was a bit tough immediately I lost my father. After a few years, I put the incident behind me. I enjoyed my youth as a young prince anyway.
What were those things that you were doing as a youth?
When I was in school, we had a club where we teach each others how to dance to foreign music whenever we were on holidays. We dance Raggae, Break dance and so on, not like in these days when people just dance anyhow. In those days, we pay money to learn how to dance. We enjoyed highlife music too like that of Chief Osita Osadebey, I.K Dairo, Victor Olaiya, Rex Jim Lawson, Adeolu Akinsanya (Baba Eto), Orlando Julius, Eddy Okonta, among others.
At what stage did you get involved in the oil business?
I got involved at a tender age. It was my mother that taught me how to sell petroleum products. That time, we sold in jerry cans, gallons and bottles because in those days, it could take us one month to bring fuel from Lagos to Igbokoda. One day, my mother brought regular oil from Lagos. In those days, we have different types of fuel like the regular, the Premium Motor Spirit, Super 1, Super 2, and Five star. They are different in grades and in prices.
How were you selling the fuel then?
I remembered that my mother bought jerry cans in an outboard engine and as a little boy, I started by hawking it using canoes but later, people started coming to me to buy in our house and I was making money in the process. As at that time, I was still going to school. It was when I return from school that I used to sell.
What were your initial challenges in the business?
I did not have money to do the business when I was in Ilaje. It was when I travelled down to Lagos and Ibadan that I raised some money. I already knew that I was going to be a petroleum seller way back when I was in primary school. That was what I had in mind. It was very tough initially when I came to Lagos and Ibadan because we had about five companies then – Mobil, Shell BP, Agip and Total. All these oil firms refused to establish selling points in the riverine areas. They limited their sales to the urban areas. The Federal Government then decided to sell oil licence to individuals. I was so smart and I became one of the first few Nigerians to obtain the licence. I started with one pump, dispensing fuel to customers in bottles and gallons. After that, we were dispensing in jerry cans and later into drums. Then, we were using surface tanks. We graduated from that to owing a filling station. It was a very difficult task in those days.
How were you getting the fuel from Lagos down to Ilaje?
Initially we were buying fuel from Lagos. Later, we changed to Ore when there was a depot there. Meanwhile, we usually spend up to five days to transport fuel from Ore to Ilaje then with the mini truck because it will surely breakdown somewhere due to bad roads.
You were selling fuel to people in bottles and gallons, what were they using them for?
That was the quantity they could afford to buy. They buy in bottles and pour them into either gallons or jerry cans because the fuel could not go round in the first instance. They would then re-sell to the fishermen who would use it to power their outboard engines. We sell to our established customers in drums while others buy in bottles and gallons.
As the Chairman of Obat Oil and Petroleum, how will you assess the oil business in Nigeria today?
Oil business is a very lucrative one in Nigeria today. If you are honest as a marketer, you have what it takes to make it. Beside, to remain and get fully established in the business, you will need a private depot with filling stations. If you don’t have all these, you cannot be said to be in the business. Those who have depots now are doing very well and they are planning towards establishing their own refineries because that is the ultimate in the industry.
Are there activities of some marketers that are bringing bad image to the business?
Yes but those are the people I used to refer to as Portmanteau marketers. They are present in every business. They are in the business to make brisk businesses and we are phasing them out gradually through the help of the Federal Government.
Is there an experience you will never forget in life?
Yes. My worst experience in life was the day I had a fatal road accident in 1984. It was the same day the government commissioned the Igbokoda terminus. Three people including my first cousin, the first born of my father and my driver, died in the accident. How I survived that accident till today, I don’t know. I did not know how I got to the hospital. What really saved me was God. That was a real bad day for me. Each time I remember that particular incident, my mood will change.
What is your most memorable day in life?
My most memorable day in life was when I had my petroleum tank in Lagos -which is the largest in Nigerian and third largest in the World. We use to look at the multinational oil firms which had smaller tanks in those days as lords. The day that tank was commissioned, I heaved a sigh of relief that I am getting to the peak of my career as a successful petroleum and oil marketer. That was 2003.
How did you meet your wife?
I met my wife in Ibadan; She was a very tough lady. We met and knew each other for over four years before she could agree to marry me in Ibadan. She did not take me serious initially. She said the way I used to dress flamboyantly and go to parties was really pissing her off. She would always say, ‘You are not serious this man. I need someone who will be responsible as a husband not somebody like you that doesn’t appear serious at all’. She then made sure that she studied me for over four years. She was highly meticulous. She would study the way I talk, eat, dress, relate with people and my conduct in the midst of people. I married at the average age. Not too young and not too old.
How are you combining your role as a first class monarch and that of a Chief Executive Officer of one of the most successful oil firms in Nigeria?
I have trained a lot of staff before I became the king of Ugbo Kingdom. I often send them to United kingdom and the United States among others to acquire knowledge and skill to sustain the business and even take it to greater heights. I have knowledgeable and brilliant members of staff. One thing about me again is that I will look at your degree before I can employ you. I will know whether your degree is good enough to get you a chance in the organisation. I know I have committed and formidable team working for me and I can rely on their sense of judgment any day. When I now became the king, I employed the same method. I selected brilliant chiefs to run the affairs of the town with me. Some of them are former commissioners, former lecturers, some retired in multi-national oil firms. If there is any crisis, they can handle it even before I get to know about
it. That is why I am enjoying myself now.
You are building a palace in Ugbo Kingdom which you said will be the biggest in Africa. What informed your decision?
Apart from the palace, there is going to be a complete royal city which will have a modern, well-equipped state of the art hospital, world class primary and secondary school as well as a higher institution. There will be a mini stadium, a five-star hotel, which is known as Febson Waterside International Hotel. There will also be royal guest chalets for my subjects who are living abroad and would want to come home but who do not have houses in the kingdom. My multi-billion naira palace can accommodate over 50 families. Hence, it is rated as one of the best in Africa. It is going to cost well over N15bn to construct and works have reached an advanced stage on the project at the moment.
You really have taste.
Yes, my Rolls Royce is taste. It’s only the Queen of England that has the same type in the whole world. Likewise my Bentley 2014 model which is the only one in the world. I have got taste and I have passion for the best things. I want to transform Ugboland. We have been in existence for more than 3,000 years and we do not have a palace. That is what inspired me to build this World class palace that will, upon completion, become not only a monument but a tourist attraction. I want my people to be proud of their kingdom, their heritage and their monarch.
At the moment, what do you enjoy doing most?
First and foremost, I enjoy reading a lot. I am a lover of education. I have my first degree and I am currently doing my Masters. I will begin my PhD programme afterwards because my ambition is to be a university professor and I am passionately committed to achieving it through hard work and lots of research. It is not as if I want to become a lecturer, it is just for my own self development.
Most monarchs in the country today have good education.
You have various brands of cars in your garage in your Igbokoda palace as well as in your Ibadan home. Can we say you’re a car freak?
Yes. Like I said, I have the same type of Rolls Royce like the Queen of England. The Britons were amazed that an African monarch could do that. I place order in any car manufacturing company anywhere in the world if I want to acquire the vehicle of my choice. I love driving unusual cars, top of the range. I have driven the Phantom for three years and I concluded that I deserve to have another car. I made my checks and found the Bentley. So I went to the manufacturers and asked for it. They asked me how I wanted it to be customised. They offered to make for me the 2014 edition which will come out in 2013. It is cheering to say that the car was customized for His Imperial Majesty, the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom. If anyone buys the car today, I will buy another one. I love to be the best in everything I do.
What is the update on the committee headed by you which has as its responsibility to ensure peace among the Yoruba Obas?
Our committee has achieved a lot. We have visited many prominent Obas in Yoruba land and they received us well. We have resolved age-long disputes among first class monarchs who for many years do not see themselves eye-ball-to eye-ball. These crises we discovered arose due to ego. We are now seeing ourselves as one. My aim is to bring everybody together so that we will continue to speak with one voice as Yoruba Obas.
Are you satisfied with the current rating of traditional rulers by the three tiers of government in Nigeria?
No. I have said it several times that the Federal Government should open a window of opportunities for the monarchs to also play their own role in the collective task of nation building. In Ghana, there are roles for traditional rulers and the same thing is happening in the advanced World. In 1953, we had House of Chiefs and a prominent traditional ruler in Yoruba land even rose to become the Governor of Western Nigeria. The particular monarch, Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife, did very well then. The meaning of government in Yoruba language is “Awujo awon Oba” which was shortened to Ijoba. That means the monarchs are well recognised by government in those days. However these days, government uses monarchs during elections and dumped them afterwards. We will mobilise our people during election to make sure that there is no crisis. They should improve on our remuneration too. They need to take good care of us because we are their father.
Advice to youths of Nigeria.
My advice to our youths is that they have to be focused and responsible. They should stop all forms of fraudulent practices. They should strive towards integrity. No one can succeed as a businessman without integrity. They should not be in a hurry to make it quickly. When they start a business, they should study it well. They should stick to one business instead of turning themselves to jack of all trades and master of none. They should run away from all forms of cultism because they are the leaders of tomorrow.
Courtesy: The Punch Newspaper