By Chris Onuoha

Only 20 per cent of family businesses in Nigeria have plans for leadership succession while even a thinner three per cent have a laid down strategy for wealth transfer, according to a 2017 report by global consulting firm, KPMG. 

Pascal Gabriel Dozie, founder of Kunoch Holdings, Diamond  Bank (before a merger with Access Bank) and co-founder of other institutions from Africa Capital Alliance to the Pan Atlantic University, in this interview, rues the mistakes of Nigerian family businesses of old that failed to measure up after their founders passed on the mantle.

The octogenarian, who turned 80 this month, shares what his company is doing to contribute to the longevity of family businesses in the country. He also looks back on his 80 years in the land of the living. 

Excerpts:

Pascal Dozie

On family businesses

A lot of SMEs are family based and we have not been able to transit our business from one generation to another. We lose so much in this country as a result. Where are the Fajemirokuns, the Ojukwus, the Abiolas Ugo Foam, etc?

Look at Heineken and Mercedez, whose founders have died a long time  ago but, because they have built structures that outlived them, the brands are still out there.

We are working closely with the LBS and a  host of other partners from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to bring the knowledge of how to manage the family business. As part of my 80th birthday, LBS has partnered with other parties in Switzerland to organize a one-day seminar on sustainable family business. We hope to endow a chair for the study. The nitty-gritty that makes a national economy is the SMEs and must be sustainable. My wife’s foundation, the Janet Dozie Foundation for Indigent Widows, is also making impact with over 500 beneficiaries.

Humble beginning of Pan-Atlantic University

When the Lagos Business School was about to be established, the first thing myself and the founders did was to go to a Business School in Madrid, Spain.

They talked to us about the ethics of doing business and how to do the right thing. On the side-lines of the meeting, we decided to go back to Nigeria to build what we called an  ‘ Oasis of Sanity’  and, with time, the oasis will come together to form a mighty movement.

But one problem in Nigeria is the instability of policies; you need predictability in any system. We don’t know the trajectory of government policies. A businessman can deal with risks but not uncertainties.   So it depends on how you accommodate the challenges and climb the steps which require patience or cut corners to get things done.   Unfortunately, those who cut corners often find themselves at the front and nobody asks questions.

Lessons learnt from early setback with MTN

Before I met the MTN team, they had tried on their own and were already convinced about coming to Nigeria. But the people they were relating with were not cooperating. So when they met me, we agreed to work together. I did not know anything about mobile telephoning and, with my experience with NITEL, I felt it was not the right way to go. The process of bidding was very interesting. If you belonged to one box, you could  not  be in another box but my name came up in more than one group which should automatically disqualify me.

During that period, my name came out in every newspaper, saying I belonged to several groups and boards which was illegal. So MTN wrote me a letter saying that “we don’t want to have anything to do with you again because you belong to a lot of groups” . I said “thank you very much” and they left. I still have the letter they sent to me which I didn’t reply to. I have not destroyed the letter because there are some things in a man’s life you don’t destroy.

After a while, MTN came back to me saying they were sorry for accusing me wrongly after they found out that the  people I asked to work with me were the ones who tried to tarnish my relationship with MTN.

This is because they wanted to be Chairman.

Fortunately,then-Chairman of MTN was going back to South Africa with the Chief Executive of one of the competing groups and she asked, “How did you find this man called Pascal Dozie? He is everywhere and part of many groups”. The man answered and said he had never seen, met or spoken to me before.

READ ALSO: Any man I date must respect me — Ronke Tiamiyu

So they did their investigation and found out that the accusation against me was false.

The moral lesson here is ‘patience’ . I didn’t need to fight anyone trying to know who did what because it wasn’t necessary.

All the problems Vodacom had, we also had in MTN. It took us five years to sign shareholders’ agreement but nobody heard any noise about it. I had and still have one of the best boards in the organization. I had no reason to want a different board. They did their jobs effectively and efficiently and we had  a very good relationship.

The five-year wait for Diamond

I put in the application for a licence for Diamond Bank in 1985 and I got it approved in 1990.

Could I have gotten it earlier? Yes, but I didn’t want to short circuit the system. Not because I am an angel, I didn’t even have the capacity to short circuit the system. At a particular point in time, those who agreed to go into banking with me, some of them left. In those days, you needed  2/3rd of your membership from every part of the country, so you are forced to relate with everyone. Because I didn’t have the capacity to short circuit the system and I didn’t intend to, Diamond Bank stayed five years in incubation.

I was running a consulting firm, African Development Consulting Group, and we planned certain things about banking. We watched television, listened to the media. Remember in those days, you will go into a bank and they will give you a tally which I perceived was nonsense. When we set up Diamond bank, it became technologically driven right from the word go because we wanted to change the system and eradicate the delay in making transactions. Diamond  Bank has been people-oriented right from the word go.

So we came up with the first DIBS (Diamond Bank Integrated Banking System) which eliminated the need to carry cash when trying to perform a transaction. All you needed was to prepare your cheque and when you arrive at your destination, you get your cash.A year or two later, we came out with a payment card which led to value card. The rest, they say,is history.

New Access Bank will succeed 

If they work hard, they would achieve a lot. There is a Latin phrase that says ‘ Festina lente’  (make haste slowly). Also, the hood does not make the monk. Everything should be evaluated on its impact on the citizens. Every policy should have the people in mind because governance means the welfare of the people.

I have no doubt that they will uphold the highest standards in running the new entity.

I am a stickler to good corporate governance which I did by allowing every Managing Director to run the affairs of Diamond Bank without any form of interference.

I have never been part of the selection of chief executives since I left Diamond Bank. Even when my son became chief executive, I wasn’t part of it. The chief executive before my son was selected when I was in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Washington. I was very sick and couldn’t care less if there was any bank or not. In fact, as of that time, Nigeria and the world meant nothing to me.

Life as an octogenarian

Life has been interesting. I have found this country very interesting, if I don’t find it interesting I would lose. I am finding this way because of self-preservation. It is difficult to say it, I love my country.

If you travel the length and breadth of the country, you will appreciate the beauty, natural landscape, and the people. Unfortunately, things have changed and we are now beginning to have a contactless society, where banking is done on phone away from the halls.

The more we do things that separate contact, the more life becomes difficult. We need to build relationships because, unless we have a discussion, it will be difficult to know how the minds  of other people work. Families don’t visit each-other again as everyone is looking for personal comfort, many people  are even afraid to travel to their village because of what they heard or read.

That is where the media must work assiduously to mould opinion and thoughts. We must live our lives the way our forefathers wanted us to do as evident in the national anthem. The majority are not true to that national anthem.

We need to re-evaluate our value system which is fast eroding before we lose it completely. Unfortunately, because of the exigencies of life and its struggle  we have stopped thinking. Our value system has changed completely.   Sometimes I wonder how we descended to where we are now.   Re-engineering our value system is not going to be easy, because some people have made up their minds to go with the status quo, but we must try.

But where there is a will there is a way, so we need people who would champion this.

Not many would be interested in this cause, because it is a job that does not give you prominence.

The society must also start asking questions on how people  acquired their wealth. In India, for example, if you have a very big and lavish wedding, the next morning the tax people will be at your door.

We say we are fighting corruption and charging people who took government money but is corruption only about money? If I am not fair to my staff, that is corruption.

In my life, I have a good relationship with everyone from different tribes.

I agree with the fact that we are only human and hence we are fallible. We need selfless people in our politics.

To produce selfless leaders in this country, it would require education. The media must educate the leaders that they are there to serve the people and not to enrich themselves.   The media must talk about de-personalization of our public offices.

Our offices must function with or without the presence of the head. The media must do a lot in this regard through investigative journalism.

Igbos should be content

I hate when the Igbos complain of marginalization, because they don’t seem to realize what they have. If you look at the resources they have, I wonder what they mean by marginalization. Is it because they are not the President of Nigeria? It is only one person that can occupy that seat and it has to be a politician. I am not a politician and I don’t see why I should leave my business for a politician’s job. If the Igbos realize the enormity of the resources they have, they would stop complaining.

Relationship with sons

My sons tell me I ruined their lives because I denied them the opportunity of having private lives.

I say it is not my fault. I had wanted to have a daughter as my first child because I have a friend, Maxell Ubani, whom I used to admire his daughter then in the U.S.

When I told him mine was coming, he would respond jokingly “You no fit get a daughter, daughters are for special people.”

When I was expecting my fourth child, I hoped for a daughter and said her name would be Ngozi Pascal.

When it turned out to be a boy, I said his name is still Ngozi Pascal.

Travails with septicemia

Septicemia, also known as sepsis, is a life-threatening complication that can happen when bacteria from another infection enter the blood and spread throughout the body. It needs urgent hospital treatment, as it can quickly lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death.

I had septicemia.

After a biopsy, the doctor said everything was fine, that I didn’t have any cancerous cells in me.

However, a day or two after, we were going somewhere and I began shaking. I couldn’t even sign my signature where I went to. Then I was taken to the emergency room. It was so critical that I was given the last sacrament given to Catholics. After, that I didn’t know where I was. I was secluded from other people and  only my wife and my niece could get through to me. I became a risk to everyone for three weeks in the ICU. They were pumping antibiotics into me and taking blood samples every three hours. Then I developed something in the heart and they had to take me for operation and put into me a pacemaker used to treat some abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) that can cause your heart to either beat too slowly or miss beats.

VANGUARD