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Ogbe Enokela Alexander: A Tale Of Growth And Developing Dreams

By Modupeoluwa Adekanye
28 March 2021   |   11:30 am
Growth has never been easy and Hon. Ogbe Enokela Alexander, a professional photographer, and real estate entrepreneur sat with the Guardian Life team to discuss his growth, business, and political dreams. As the owner of a real estate company, how have you successfully managed people and the business till now? First, God is involved. And…

Ogbe Enokela Alexander: A Tale Of Growth And Developing Dreams

Growth has never been easy and Hon. Ogbe Enokela Alexander, a professional photographer, and real estate entrepreneur sat with the Guardian Life team to discuss his growth, business, and political dreams.

As the owner of a real estate company, how have you successfully managed people and the business till now?
First, God is involved. And when you let God into your business, I believe every other thing falls in place. Equality is also a very important factor in managing an extensive business, like a real estate business, because you’re dealing with people. And when you’re being fair to everyone, both the contractors and the staff, there’s less competition, if you ask me, people work with each other more. You want that togetherness in attitude. Third, discipline. Because if you are not disciplined, you cannot feed the multitude. Discipline is a very important factor because it also affects your financial discipline. Once that is understood, I believe there is growth. And when there’s growth you know, what can happen? There’ll be sustainability as well.

How have you successfully managed to be a business mogul and aspiring to become more?
Very interesting question. Obviously, God, equality, and discipline still kicks and plays a role in the aspect of this question. Aspiring to become more showed me I have the skills, the people’s personal skills, to manage people, which is very important. And once you can manage people, you can lead them. I believe with the strategy and techniques I have applied to my business, I’m looking towards applying that to a bigger community and seeing sustainable growth in that community.

As a politician, have you challenged policies in the government?
I will say I have done that indirectly, because creating employment for people, as a private individual work in the private sector, is a way of challenging and also supporting the government.

You studied pharmaceutical science, but have diverted into being a professional photographer, agricultural export, and politician. Why is this?
Basically, studying sciences has built me and made me a medical boss and being calculative. There is no way that building other businesses will be difficult for you if you apply what you’ve been taught. I got into photography, I wouldn’t say by accident, because I had always loved art. I was dragged into the sciences classes, but the passion was there for art for me, and there was no other way to show that passion other than picking up a camera and expressing myself. It is a way of creating employment for people and yourself.

What are the major hurdles you have crossed? And how have they shaped your life?
I’m an optimist, and I don’t look at obstacles as issues. The hurdles and obstacles I have crossed; I call them sacrifice. And sacrifice is a big word because you have to serve in order to be served.

Understanding the principle of service is a major quality of a leader. It takes a lot of effort and time and being patient enough to wait for your sacrifice to pay off. You can’t even calculate the time, you have to serve and sacrifice until it is your time. And that is what I’ve experienced personally, in my journey to becoming a politician.

If you could change anything in the sectors you are in, what would it be?
First, I would encourage sincerity. Because, once you have sincere workers, sincere people around you, I know you can’t get 100%. Second, skilled workers. We seem to have a lot of so-called skilled workers around but with no experience. And, if we could develop platforms, where those skilled work can be trained, that will be amazing.

How many years did it take you to get to where you are now?
Okay. It’s taken me, funny enough, a good 10 years to be who I am today. Most people would think it happened overnight. However, there were a lot of struggles and obstacles in between this journey, and that has taught me a lot.

What are the changes you hope to bring to Nigeria’s political scene?
The changes I hope to bring to the Nigerian political scene are quite vast. I hope to bring transparency. Transparency tackles a lot of issues that we face as Nigerians and once my people, our Nigerian citizens are aware of what is happening indoors, I think there will be a certain level of peace and patience that we can build upon. This makes it easier for us as leaders and politicians to get our works done.

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