Enang: There’s Need to Match Nigeria’s Huge Population with Productive Capacity

A former Managing Director, Samsung Technologies and Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Shepherds Limited, Mr. Idorenyen Enang, in this interview with Raheem Akingbolu speaks on salient issues about the nation’s economy and business management:

What are your thoughts on the current state of the nation and how the country can make things work, especially as it concerns the economy?

The truth about it is that no nation can ever be successful without the people. I am one person who has consistently maintained that our greatest assets are our people, and until we harness those potential and the assets, we might not make progress. It is just like you have assets, if you don’t sweat the assets, you can’t get anything out of it. It is putting a priority on people. Where Nigeria is today, we have a lot of great things happening for us, but unfortunately we have not been able to harness it because we are not harnessing the people resource. We are always quick to talk about our population. Our population is great. It is a number, but the question is how productive is that number. Productivity is what drives efficiency and effectiveness. It is the productive nature of your people that matters. When I talk about being productive, you know one person generates one, by the time he gets into another, it multiplies and that multiplication effect drives the whole spectrum. Then, the biggest part of our problems which we must address is indiscipline. Until Nigerians become disciplined in thoughts, in actions, and every other thing would line up. A disciplined thought produces character. Disciplined action will produce a person or people who have a sense of duty. Where does it start from? It starts from the family. For instance, as I am sitting here, I am a product of a family.

You are a product of a family. We are all ambassadors of our different families. We all come from somewhere; somewhere also means a union of two people. In some cases, they may both be Nigerians or they may not be. But take away ethnic nationality, but they are two people. Fundamentally, it is about the genetic nature of it. So I take something from my mum, I take from my father and both of them have me. From that time, a lot of things that happen to me would come from how my parents have nurtured me, what they see, what they teach me etc. From there, I will learn as I step out of my cocoon, whether in school, whether out of school, neighborhood, whether with my friends, and gradually, something begins to form. By the time I get to a certain age, I would not be with my parents again. It is those things that they said to me that would become a landmark in my heart that would carry me in the journey of life. Unfortunately, we have lost our sense of values. So discipline is the anchor that would make a lot of things happens. When people are disciplined, in the way they think and the way they act, you will see productivity. You cannot say that Nigerians are disciplined people, but when the same Nigerian steps out of this country, gets into an environment, whether high class, low or medium, they conform to those working standards. This is because the environment there is fixed to consequent actions. There are consequences involved. Are there consequences in the families? Are there consequences in society? All these have broken down. So what would happen at the end of the day? It is just like a farmer. The farmer sows seeds, but before he plants the seeds, he has to look at the soil, he would go there and excavate, and then begin to plant the seeds. He won’t just leave it anyhow. He would nurture it. So there are processes he must follow. If at the end of it all, nothing comes through, he would say I did try. And he could also see that he didn’t put in any efforts, number one, there were no rains. So if there were no rains, he would pray for rain. But because there was no rain, he would look for one form of irrigation system or the other, or he would look for a way to water the plants so that the plants can grow. God has provided elements like sunlight. Every living thing has one principle: must grow. The minute a living thing is not growing, it is dead.

So, we need to ask the questions: if we are truly growing?” and “In what ways are we growing?” because not every growth is good. For cancer or tumor growths, people pay huge sums and risk their lives for them to be taken out. Discipline is a currency that we, as Nigerians, need to bring back.

You left the corporate world and started your own company. Would you say the Nigerian environment is friendly to entrepreneurs?

Well, it is a function of the individual’s lenses. We have different visions. What we see are different. Some see problems, challenges; others see opportunities. It is all a function of what you see. There is no one-size-fits-all. I always counsel young people that business is not for everybody. Some things are innate. A child may begin to portray skills of business from around age seven. But if we want to be brutally honest, you will tell yourself that nothing is working. Ask yourself who fills up those business class seats on the planes and the rooms in the hotels. What a lot of people have not done is to identify a purpose. Most people are working in ignorance. I am not getting a salary, but I have inner peace. Being an entrepreneur is a spirit; you must have it. You must be ready to learn, know and serve, so you can create value. If you jump into entrepreneurship, because of your greed, you will be disappointed. Is the environment friendly? No. So, you can call me an entrepreneur, but what I really am is a farmer. The environment is harsh, there’s no ease of doing business, and most of the things the government is saying they are doing are lies; why this is so is because of the people factor.

What gap was your company, Corporate Shepherds Limited, created to fill?

Corporate Shepherds started in 2009. It is a vision that God gave me in 2003, to mentor a generation, teaching, guiding and motivating them. God used my corporate experiences to build me for the place I am now. Shortly after this, I started going to universities with my wife to teach and speak to young people about life. 2008 was a turning point for me, and in January, 2009, we registered Corporate Shepherds. We had a small office in Amore Street in Ikeja; people still located me to mentor and guide them through their lives, which is fulfilling. I started a radio programme – Navigate with Idy – in 2009 on Radio Continental. I expanded to Beat FM and Brila FM courtesy of my friends Chris Ubosi and Larry Izamoje who supported me and still do. These days, my programme runs on Lagos Talks, Inspiration FM, Uyo and Ibadan, Classic FM Abuja, with over two million listeners. I enjoy doing what I love doing. I started afresh, from the scratch. So, when you ask me about nation building, I know what it is about.

You have worked with great brands like Coca-Cola, Samsung and Guinness at top management levels. What normally necessitated your decision to quit each time you did?

I started out at Guinness and I worked there for seven years. I moved from Guinness to Coca-Cola; I spent 11 years there. These 18 years baked the solid foundation for my professional career. When Cadbury had issues with finance and strategy, I was called upon to revamp the system. I came into Cadbury as commercial director in 2007. I spent three years there, leading the commercial team – sales, marketing and operations – and we moved the company from near-crumbling to where it is now. Then it was time for me to go. I moved over to Samsung Electronics as Managing Director. I led the team to change the dynamics of the business. Samsung was a clear case for me of how things can turn around with strategic planning. In 18 months, Samsung was leading the market. I met a team of 20 people, but by the time I left, the team was over 120 people.

I spent two plus years there. My values and theirs were always clashing. I walked out of that building that fateful day in 2012 and I’ve never walked into that building ever since. This still points back to discipline. It is my tradition. I say this with every sense of humility and glory to God, that I’ve never had any issue in all my places of employment. After that, L’Oreal Group came calling. I was appointed Managing Director, West Africa, in charge of Ghana and Nigeria operations. In 2015, I resigned and came back home to focus on my social enterprise, Corporate Shepherds. It started in 2009. The mission of Corporate Shepherds came to teach, guide, and motivate. It is a vision that God has given to me to mentor a generation. The vision came when I was in Coca-Cola, I didn’t know God was preparing me for the future.

You published a book, In the Grip of Grace. Tell us about the thrust of the book.

The title of my book is: In the Grip of Grace. In the Grip of Grace, is an autobiography. This book encapsulates everything that I had to go through in life. It has been really God’s grace and not by my strength. When I left Samsung, I took one year off, went to LBS, where I was always invited to give a talk. I wrote this book because I am very driven about legacy. How else can I drop my legacy if not in writing? This book is long overdue. My greatest motivation in writing this book is to influence a generation to understand that if I can make it, they also can.

What would you consider your biggest achievement so far?

I have seen a lot of my mentees grow to become solid men and women, and to me, that is my greatest fulfillment. Today, I have several young people on my scholarship scheme. I am grateful that I married the woman I married. She is a fantastic partner and has supported me all the way