From ship without direction to highest business point in Niger Delta

Emi Membre-Otaji, president of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), 60 today, June 10, 2018, had blazed away with academic brilliance from the Baptist High School in Port Harcourt and continued this at the University of Lagos (LUTH) where he graduated on the dot in medicine.

In an exclusive interview, he revealed how he was fascinated by politics and became the board chairman of the West Africa Glass Industry (WAGI) early in life. This forced him to study deeply at business schools to cope. Soon after, he chose to be Commissioner for Commerce/Industry instead of Health (though it did not materialise), just to apply the tricks of recapitalising government-owned companies without government funds.

The prospects in entrepreneurship forced him to delve fully into business and investment, only just returning to medicine. Today, his dream and aims are wide at sea; maritime, off-shore fishing, location service jobs, oil/gas, movement industry, etc. He wants everyone to understand his life as that of ship at sea without an engine or propeller but remotely controlled by unseen forces.

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Below are excerpts:

Love for military medi-corps

I wanted to join the military after doing my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1993 Port Harcourt at the Military Hospital, but I was dissuaded due to fears of possible stunted career for not being a core soldier. The highest you could get to was Major General.

I was raised by a single parent (my mum) after my dad’s death. For her sake, I did my NYSC in Port Harcourt, but certain to reside in Lagos and from there travel to the S, not UK. LUTH was the envy of all. I completed my NYSC in 1985. Just before I left for Lagos, I just dropped a letter of application at the Teaching Hospital in Town area of Port Harcourt where the old General Hospital was but without any serious consideration, and zoomed to Lagos. I was working in Lagos in a private clinic.

Again, I say, my growing up was like a ship in a sea without engine or propeller but remotely controlled. This is because even when I came back to Lagos, I did not have a plan. I eventually loved to go to the US because I had relations there doing well in the medical field. My life was about getting to the bridge and cross it, not about planning ahead. Today, I tell my children, plan before you get to the bridge. I took what came to me. So, I got set to go to the US. One day in my uncle’s house in Ikoyi. His name is Lloyd. One day, we had a visitor; Nimi Briggs (then Dr, later Professor, and much later Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt). He came with a letter of offer from the Uniport offering me a job in the Department ofGynecology. See, my five years visa was in my hand. All I needed was ticket and I could pick it up any minute. I was dreaming of earning $23,000 per year in the US. Now, this offer! I was depressed and confused. Yes, I had made up my mind to be a gynecologist, but I was not going to be in small town, Port Harcourt. I told myself Port Harcourt (1985) was a civil service town. Lagos was it, but LUTH wasn’t going to take.

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I went to LUTH to my HOD and said sir, this is my dilemma, what do I do? A teaching hospital has given me a full time job and in my choice, gynecology. See America waiting for me, though an unknown world to me. He looked at me in the face and said, well, Port Harcourt may be a small place but there is one man there called Professor Kelsey Harrison in that hospital. He had done a research work quoted worldwide on maternal health. So, my HOD said, if Professor Harrison is in a hole, my son, follow him.

I went home and remained confused for three months. If this Prof Harrison is in a hole, follow him. I went to Port Harcourt and the job was still waiting for me. People were hustling for such jobs. I resumed job, did my studies; passed my initial exams, etc.

A restless soul

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Business bugs:

By 1988, I started a 5-bed clinic in Trans-Amadi, called the Princess Hospital. I usually like to take on a lot of tasks in my life. They said I was a restless soul. Doing a specialist programme is huge work, doing a full time job, is too much, now a clinic.

Politics bites:

Now, there was Fafah Adam-Princewill running for governor of Rivers State, a brilliant young man, and it attracted me. I said, ah, politics, my friend is there. There, I found Ada George also trying to be governor. He was more serious. I aligned myself with Ada George, on a part time basis. Then, in 1990, the then Military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida said no more double timing; either remain in government or resign to be a politician.  He was changing the goal post and people said he did not want to go.

I looked at consultancy and decided I could do better than what I saw there. Then, I went to my HOD, the professor, Nimi Briggs, and said I was not going to work anymore. He was alarmed. He said; you are brilliant, young, and intelligent. You are passing your exams. You can’t go. I went to the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, a chief and doctor, Owaru LongJohn, now chairman of the board of the NLNG, and said the same thing. He too said no way. I took my leave and dropped my resignation letter, not that I had any clear thing to do.

The ambitious man without ambition

That is why my 60^th birthday is important because I repeat, a ship in the sea, without engine and propeller, but remotely controlled by God. I could have just been anything. Imagine; a 5-bed hospital. I could have been one small thing in life because I did not have a bigger picture. I left but I did not have a bigger plan for leaving. I did not even leave for politics. Politics was not lucrative and nobody knew when Babangida was going. No serious person doing something better would go into it, except those who did not have any important thing doing. I was not even running for a position.

If my father were alive, he would have slapped me, but my mum, ah, she would support anything direction I wanted to go, so long as it was not evil.

So, in 1991, Ada George won the election. I remember being in a car with him and he said, Ami, you will be my commissioner for health. Remember the Chief, Zebulon Abule. He had everything. Ada George was the underdog but I liked him; soft-spoken, nice. I was not looking for where my bread would be buttered. Abule was disqualified in the primaries and Ada George won and went on to win the main election. I stayed with him because he was always smiling with me, not because he had a chance of winning. 

My life is one kind. God just packaged my life.

My local council gave him the second highest votes outside Okrika (with Ogu Bolo). Moat people would go to the main contender (Abule) while I was with Ada George the underdog. I was running my clinic while going around with him when free. He just liked me, and said I should be commissioner. I was set to be commissioner, but IBB pegged number of commissioners per state at seven. It was unitary government in action. Imagine old Rivers State (then with Bayelsa).

My dabbling into the corporate world of business

My Abonnema-Buguma entangle

Again, there was an issue in Buguma; a petty rivalry between Buguma and Abonnema. I have an interesting background.

My father’s father was Abonnema but my father’s mother was Buguma. My father was raised by his mother in Buguma. He was raised by his mother in Buguma as a Buguma boy; he schooled there (primary, secondary) and built his home in Buguma and died and was buried in Buguma. Everything about him was Buguma, and Kalabari peole do it a lot. He was Buguma though, he was answering an Abonnema name, Membre. My mother was 100 per cent Buguma. In politics, anything can be used against you.

We had a Buguma Improvement Association (BIA), a socio-cultural association that governed certain affairs of the community, and people lobbied and used them against me. They said I was Abonnema and that Ada George should not give me commissioner. So, I was not made. Also, the Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA), at that time, thinking that I was going to be Commissioner of Health, also kicked, though it could not have stopped me because I could have been Commissioner in any other sector.

So, Ada George said, Emi, you are not going to be commissioner, you will be chairman of RISONPALM. This was the biggest commercial enterprise belonging to the Rivers State government then. Eventually, I did not become chairman of RISONPALM. I became chairman of West African Glass Industry. Rivers State was to produce the chairman. So, here I was, a young doctor, fresh from the clinic and hospital, sitting on the board of a structured company like WAGI. This was the first public quoted company east of the Niger with institutional investors with corporate gurus on the board. The Germans were technical partners. I had not had training in corporate governance. So, I went to the Lagos Business School as the first batch or pioneer students. I read a lot to know what corporate management and politics were all about. I also went to the NSE where I met Ndi-Okereke, being from Rivers State too. She took interest in me and mentored me, made me meet the right people, get the language and be informed. Incidentally, the Lagos Business School in 1992 did not have a structured institution. They only had the big names that volunteered; The Christopher Kolade, Gamaliel Onosode, etc, the heads of big banks, big manufacturing organisations.

I was just introduced to a different world. I can tell you, whatever I am today; God was just preparing me to be the corporate personality I am today. I was nurtured there.

Even though the WAGI was a structured system, but they were having cash problem and production problem. So, they could just give me my sitting allowance as board chairman. It was not a government board where money was to be made. You do not even get an office. You just cheered a meeting. The gain, they made me to go through much training. So, by 1993, the Abacha administration came on the scene and the military was taken aback. I was removed because the administration that appointed me was removed. I just went back to my five-bed hospital. I was just married then. I took each step as it came. By 1994, I started a company called Elshcon to augment my clinic. I had no ambition of having a bigger hospital then.

How June 12 strike crippled WAGI

By 1993, because of the NUPENG strike for June 1993, the oil workers were on strike. The glass industry depends on a lot of gas to power their system, the gas was turned off and the molten caked and the company shut down.

The stakeholders however were still there. They wrote to the then Military governor to reconstitute the WAGI board because the Rivers State Government must produce the chairman. So, they wrote that that young man should be re-appointed. I was in my house in 1996 when then Adokie Amasiamaka, the Attorney-General of Rivers State, came to my house and said the Governor wanted to see you. I was scared. I went to Government House and they said, your former colleagues have asked for you. So, start work. The next day, I resumed as chairman.

Learning to operate without government fund

The state government said they would not give me money. We were to source for funds. They said they were not to give us money. Go and be chairman. The government did not own it alone and will not give money. Foreign investors were not coming in because Nigeria was then a pariah state under Abacha. So, I became chairman.

Luckily, Sona Breweries needed a company where they would get their bottles. They indicated interest. They would bring money to revamp the factory but you would know that he who pays the piper dictates the tune. They procured the lawyers to write the MoU. The government did not care and gave them the plant. I stood my ground to protect government interest. But, few years ago, the Rivers State Government wrote a letter to me to commend me, saying the steps I took for the interest of Rivers State saved the state. It was great. Yes, these were expatriates (Indians) and they were versed in these things. They knew what to do and would show you the money, and they did show me the money. If I had wanted, I would have made millions those days to sign whatever they wanted.

Their lawyers brought an agreement to sign and I said not yet. I met my friend, a lawyer, and begged him to draw an agreement for me. He is now a king in Bayelsa. I could have signed anything. He drafted something that tied their hands and reluctantly they signed. I was looking at my name’s sake for tomorrow. I wanted to pay him from my pocket but he said no, Emi don’t pay.

In 1999, the company started to produce glass and that same year, I became the Commissioner for Health. I had to leave the board. I was also member of Pabod which was partly owned by WAGI.

Why I chose Commerce and Industry above Health and key things in my mind at that time

Many have asked me why I picked Commerce/Industry instead of Health ministry. See, I had come to learn that Government should not be in business and must not have to bring their money for businesses to thrive. It was all about fixing the enabling environment. We were able to do it with WAGI and the company boomed. I therefore felt that we could use that model to make the Government to revive all the small, medium and large scale enterprises.

In Odili’s first term, there was no 13 percent and so no much money in the South-South. Odili’s focus was on power. He was the first to start power and he saw much in it. All other sectors were just managing. This is the way Gov Wike is on infrastructure. Most funds were devoted to power. Most of all those health centres, general hospitals and even the BMH now being built were proposed by that time but they were not the priority, but power.

Fear over failure in Health ministry

I looked ahead and said, oh my God; the years were running fast and nothing much to show in my ministry. So, I ran to the late Chinyere Nwokidu, she used to be a commissioner years back. She is the elder sister to my permanent secretary. I went to her and said, Auntie, advise me oh, what am I going to do? She said, when time passes, you will never be able to explain to Rivers people that you had no money. Whatever you have, do the best you can. So, I began the following: Free Medical Health Scheme for U-6/O-60.

We got Free Medical Care Scheme for Under-6 and Over 60 years. This was how this was done in my tenure. It did not involve contracts. It was about using the government hospitals in existence. The truth is that with dedicated medical personnel alone, you can take 70 per cent of the ailments in this part of the country. You do not have to have a big structure.

We did the EMS. We found that when people get involved in emergencies, the hospitals would dump them. So, we said, government will handle the first 48 hours so you would be stabilized and begin to pay. It worked. It did not require a lot physical structure. It added value and the people appreciated it.

When a call came, the nearest ambulance would dash there and evacuate to the nearest hospital. It was successful.

We did not build hospitals but social infrastructure. I was the chairman of commissioners of health at that time (1999-2003), and so, I represented the commissioners of states in the National Health insurance scheme being considered. So, we fine tuned the documents and so, we tweaked it to start it for Rivers State. It did not start before we left.

We also fought against HIV/AIDS by forcing our people to accept it was real. So, we organized massive campaigns through the one million man march. We set up free HIV treatment point which is active to this day. We were the first to set up the State Action Committee Against AIDS (SACA). Without building physical infrastructure, Rivers State was a leading state in healthcare with many commendation letters from the Federal Ministry of Health and others.

Full time business (Elshcon)

So, in 2003, I left as Commissioner of Health due to intrigues. So, Odili said, okay, can you be Special Adviser on Investment and privatization? Remember you wanted to be Commissioner of Commerce. T took, but it was not the same thing. In 2005, I left to start full scale business. I had had a stint in the oil industry, supplying chemicals to NAFCON (now Notore), location jobs at Kolo Creek, Afam, etc for Shell. I was also doing movement service for Shell, moving things for them. So, I was in three businesses.

Now, we are structured. The business suffered when I was away but in 2005, I went back to my business. I had a piece of land in Woji. Before the first Slaughter Bridge was built, Woji was one track to enter. I had this waterfront land because I like staying at the waterfront. They now built a bridge and it passed in front of my property. So, the Woji end of Town now became Trans-Amadi because of the new bridge connecting two ends of two big towns. Oil companies were looking for a place to take off to their offshore locations. So, my place became handy. They said, go and look for tug boats, barges, cruise boats. I would put N5,000 mark up.

So, I started building my first barge. Before I got into the government, I had built my second house. So, now, I was building an office in the GRA. So, now, 2005, I found I had no more money to complete the barge and the house. I was at the crossroads, and I went to my mother. I said, this is my life oh, I do not know what you can do oh. She said ok. She sold her piece of land somewhere at N19.5m and gave me N19m, and said, go and start your life. She died the next year.

Turning point in my business

So, I put N10m in the barge and N9m to the building, at least to roofing. Siemens took the building (a floor), finished the building, and stayed there for many years. I finished the barge and named it ENL Miracle. (Echcom Nigeria Limited). If my mother was not there, demurrage would eat up the initial investment. That barge didn’t have a job for over a year. Then, Saipem came along and took it for five years consecutively. That was the turning point in my business life.

From there I went into other barges, tug boats, cruise boats, offshore equipment, fabrication, and my businesses took a new turn. Sadly, my mother passed on a year after that seed capital she sowed into my business. (Few weeks before she passed on, she invited me to a church programme in her Pentecostal church and at a point, the man, Bishop Idahosa, asked her to pray for me. It was a word of revelation from God. She poured blessings. Two weeks after, she died in a minor surgery despite top surgeons.

Today, my spirituality has increased. I now plan and pray. I do not wait to get to the bridge before I would plan. In fact, I have developed a life plan package and gave to my children.

Business feats and positions

I am now the president of PHCCIMA, member of NACCIMA, board chairman of ClearLine, and some few others. I own some companies. I am into things. We are building one of the biggest private hospitals in Nigeria to be commissioned in the next few weeks.

Because of NACCIMA, they put me in a lot of many committees, federal boards, etc.

From a ship without direction to the highest business point in the Niger Delta.

Today, I read and I still pray.

Lessons

Life has taught me that there is God and God factor in everything. I am a better Christian. Things do not happen by chance. Work hard, and pray hard. Take your situations to God for direction, guidance, blessings and protection.

Forward ever, backward never. I learn from my mistakes, I do not dwell on them. For me, yesterday is not history, it’s a learning centre. It shapes my tomorrow.

People hurt me but I do not have enemies at all. I sleep like a baby. You hurt me, I will tell you about it, but I ensure you do not hurt me again. I move on. I do not hurt people back.

Pastor David Ibiyomie said you may sow a seed in one spot but you can reap in another spot where you did not sow. It will hurt God if you remain ungrateful. Do not fight me because I am not fighting you. I can only avoid people, I don’t fight them. I read a lot, books written by men of God. I play a lot. Biographies and autobiographies fascinate me because I want to know how great men lived their lives so as to shape mine. My children do benefit from this.

Dearest business or investment

Marine! God used it to transform my life. It will always be dearest to me. At my gate, you see the wheel symbol at my gate. This house is called the Ship Wheel house. I am into oil service, fabrication, construction, maritime, oil/gas.

We are trying to get into non-oil and gas shipping. We are building the biggest private healthcare facility in Rivers State- The Princess Hospital that we kept on standstill for 30 years. Nigeria is diversifying, so we diversify to your area of best knowledge. I am a medical doctor and am getting back into it as an investor. The place will open next month.

Where next?

Offshore fishing or industrial fishing is the next port of call. Feasibility study is already done. We are expecting our trawlers.