A business mogul and an advocate of steady power supply in Nigeria, Festus Mbisiogu  is the Chairman of Blue Diamonds Logistics, a company based in China, and Dubai and  also, Uzortex International limited.

Recently, he set up a Non-Governmental Organisation known Good Governance Initiative(GGI) to advocate uninterrupted power supply in the country. He recounts the story of his rise from grass to grace. He spoke with BENJAMIN NJOKU
I’m a businessman based in China, I’m into logistic and shippingbusiness .We have branches in four countries of the world including New Jersey, Dubai, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Before seven years ago, I was into importation until I began a partnership business with my distant brother, Charles Igwe ,who resides in Dubai. While he controls the Blue Diamond in Dubai, I equally co-coordinates the activities of the company back home. Later, I decided to relocate to Hong Kong and China in 1996. Then, we discovered that most of our clients were relocating to China and Dubai . As a result of that mass movement, we decided to move along with them .We happened to be the first blacks to establish a shipping company in Dubai in 1992 , and later , we established our Blue Diamond Hotels there in 2001.

Festus Mbisiogu

I was brought up in Delta State , and I had my early education at Ogwashi-ukwu, in Delta State before I later moved to Iselle -Asaba Secondary school. I came to Lagos in 1988 ,in search of my destiny. My parents were very poor and they could not afford to train all of us .I happened to be the first son , and given their condition , I decided to abandon my secondary education to assist my parents in training my younger siblings . I engaged in hawking of groundnut and garden eggs just to support the family.

While in Lagos , I learnt the art of trading from one Mr. Joisah Ekenonu from Amichi in Anambra state who upon my completion of seven years apprenticeship settled me with goods worth about N50,000. It was a new dawn for me.

I quickly attached myself to a friend at Tejuoso market in Yaba, with the goods I got from Mr. Ekenonu.

Determined to succeed in life, I started traveling to Dubai to buy and sell, and thereafter I saw the need to go back to school. That was when I got admission to do partime programme in Business Administration at University of Lagos. I was combining my business with studying for my degree programme .It was really not an easy task for me then . But later, I managed to overcome the difficulties and relocated finally to China . Most of my friends described me as a “go getter”.I believe so much in my dreams , and I’m always focused . Before now ,I have set an agenda for myself .There was a day my wife was going through my diary and she was marvelled at what she saw . I recorded in that diary that I would get married at the age of 28 years, also become chairman of a blue chip company and a landlord before I attain the age of 35. All these goals, I have achieved today except one. I set a target for myself when I was 18 years old.

I tried as much as possible to guard against anything that would hinder me from achieving my desired goals in life. First and foremost , I avoided living a reckless life, I tried as much as possible to be honest and sincere to the people that come in contact with me on daily basis.

This, in no small measure helped in putting me where I am today .It has to do with disciplining yourself and having a constructive mind on where you want to be and what you want to achieve ,focus on it and success will be yours .I never allowed anything to distract me, not even women while I was climbing the ladder of success . I was focused and determined to conquer poverty and its attendant devils and living like an under dog .Discipline , honest and determination brought me to where I am today. Discovering your calling matters a lot in life .I discovered my calling very early in life and followed it up. I’m into logistics and I tell you, I’m enjoying what I’m doing .I do my logistic business with a lot of passion ,and I take the business so seriously which has led to my success today .If you must succeed in life ,you must learn to cherish anything you are doing for a living .Whatever you are doing today is a calling to you ,and if you put all your energies into it ,you will never lack .

For me ,looking back from where I started and where I am today , I have no cause to regret the path I have followed in life .

Relocating to China is a different story all together .Chinese are very hard working people and highly enterprising. That explains why most blue chips companies are relocating to China. There is cheap labour in China and the country boasts of regular power supply which is lacking in Nigeria. And not only that, the steady power supply in China contributes a lot in the mad rush of multinational firms to set up their companies in that country.

Due to high patronage, Blue Diamond today has one of the best hotels in China and Dubai known as Blue Diamond Hotel where customers are accommodated until they are through with their business transactions. And just recently, the company opened a truck warehouse in New Jersey, United States to offer Africans and Nigerians similar opportunities.

My foray into non-governmental organisation was when some Nigerian business men in China wanted to bring some investors in Nigeria. Their Chinese partners rejected the proposal because they said Nigeria lacks steady power supply and that their operations would be grounded.

I felt touched and therefore decided that I was going to do everything possible within my powers to encourage government and private sector participation in giving Nigerians sustainable power supply. My organization’s involvement in the nation’s power sector, was part of efforts towards complementing government programmes in the sector in the task of achieving efficient and steady power supply in the country, while leveraging on my connections in China and across the world .