Immersed in a strong belief in changing the odds for the benefit of humanity through innovation, diligence and hard work, Olawale Ayilara, Group Chief Executive Officer of Oxygen Holdings/ LandWey Investments Limited, has made name for himself as a quintessential CEO whose enterprising acumen sets him miles ahead of his contemporaries.

He has indeed entrenched pragmatic and sterling leadership style of innovation and all-inclusiveness in piloting the affairs of the Oxygen Holdings and LandWey Investments Limited. In this interview, Olawale Ayilara proffers practical steps on how the problem of corruption and other challenges facing businesses in the country can be tackled. Excerpts:

Kindly give us a brief insight into your background.

I am a passionate entrepreneur and business strategist with expertise in business development, innovation, and strategy and over 10 years of experience growing businesses in Nigeria and across Africa. I was appointed Group CEO of Oxygen Holdings in December 2020. I’m an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Metropolitan School of Business and Management UK, and the Lagos Business School.

I have received recognition from Forbes Africa 30 Under 30, Future Award, and Africa Property Investment Summit, among others.
Oxygen Holdings is a holding company consisting of real estate, agriculture, healthcare, and Fintech. One of our notable businesses is Landwey Investment Limited, one of the leading real estate companies in Nigeria that strives to improve the real estate sector through innovation and quality.

We are interested in innovation in the industries where we operate, and we want to be able to drive initiatives that are boosting the industry. We are dedicated to bringing value, and that drives growth.

We are customer-centric, and we want to design and predict what our clients want before they even know it.

What is your definition of the word “Integrity and Merit” How does it apply to you in your daily activities?

Integrity is the backbone of every business. Every serious-minded company will take integrity as one of its core values because that’s what everything is built on. So integrity is very important to us at Oxygen Holdings. Because we value integrity, we’re good for our word and we deal transparently with our clients and other stakeholders. We are versed investors in Africa’s pivotal sectors.

Through years of proven sector experience, we are committed to ensuring that we preserve the confidence people have in us, by not compromising our standards and ensuring optimal operational distinction.

We do this by providing distinctive home living experiences and contributing to the vitality of local communities.

Innovation, commitment, and technology fuel our operations. Our leadership position in the Nigerian real estate industry is rooted in building long-term value for our clients.

What are the challenges faced in your sector and how have you been able to overcome those challenges as an organization?

Well, every business venture has its challenges but what makes a solid business, what gives sustainability is the ability to navigate through all the challenges and keep forging ahead, navigating through to find solutions to mitigate against all of the challenges. In Nigeria, there is a lot of it.

There’s corruption, there’s economic instability, there’s a political crisis, there’s a talent shortage and a whole lot of challenges but I personally don’t like to see them as challenges. Yes, the challenges are there but it’s what you do about the challenges that make all the difference.

It’s how you see opportunities in these challenges, navigate through them and continue to build towards your goal that makes all the difference. So, challenges will always be there, in fact, there’s no business or country without challenges. We deploy all our mental capacity and knowledge that we have to develop the capacity to walk through some of the challenges.

First, you have to understand the challenge and a solution has to be developed around it because there’s no problem without a solution. What determines the weight of the solution is the information you have and the resources you have at your disposal. So challenges will come and then, you have to rise to the occasion and navigate through it by deploying several technical abilities, different resource abilities and everything you can to solve these problems.

How do you think the issue of corruption can be tackled effectively?

Leadership challenge, corruption and all of that is in most countries of the world. However, what makes all the difference is how you manage it and the kind of spirit that the country is trying to imbibe.

Anybody who wants to build anything in this economy must look beyond the problems and see how he can keep deploying solutions while we tackle our different challenges as a nation. Corruption will be but individually, the kind of value that we develop as a person reflects in how we manage our business.

So Nigeria can’t change if our values are not redefined. The person who will be the president in the next 30 years probably is still somewhere in primary school. So, what values are we inculcating in our children? We have to start laying a solid foundation of value so that in the next 20 years, we can start reaping the benefits.

We have to focus on the foundation to tackle the issue of corruption in this country. Our problems are temporary, they are not permanent because, nobody lives forever but how we lay the foundation now will determine the future of our nation and the nature of the economy, that’s the bedrock of every business.

So for now, creating value, creating employment for people but most importantly, to solve the economic, political, corruption or any other problem that we have, we have to go back to the foundation.

Aside from being integrity-conscious, what are those other factors that have brought you this far in your career?

Number one, God is very important because He is the creator of all, and the designer of destinies, so God is very important, so we must acknowledge that. Secondly, hard work, the information you have and the courage to do the things that others are scared to do.

If you can dream it, then you can put it into action. Again, being solution-driven, creating opportunities and not being afraid to fail. So, these are the things that I see as very important to my own life.