Championing the Give Back Culture to Society

Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that over the years, the MD/CEO of Vintage Deluxe Interiors Lagos, Francis Nwaogwugwu, has championed the give back culture to his immediate Ezinihitte Mbaise community and even beyond

For MD/CEO of Vintage Deluxe Interiors Lagos, Francis Nwaogwugwu, the give back culture is sacrosanct. Known in many circles as Mune, the businessman-cum philanthropist, who clocked 35 today has ensured that the legacy of giving is entrenched in his community.

Over the years, his acts of philanthropy began with sharing a bag of rice for the needy in his Ezinihitte Mbaise community. This he began right before he even went for his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

That singular act of philanthropy has spanned 10 years and has since grown to encompass sharing of 100 bags of rice and foodstuff, constructing roads in and out of his village, and even tearing down mud houses and building new bungalows in its place. He has also sponsored the academics of many even up to tertiary education.

He noted that “we have been trying our best even though what we do is by ourselves. The little that comes in we try as much as we can to reach out to the people, old friends and all.”

To acknowledge and perhaps, reciprocate the laudable gesture he has exhibited over the years, in 2017, he was given the chieftaincy title of Nwachinemere. Not done, this year, the entire Mbaise community, which comprises three local governments, confirmed the chieftaincy name but now its not limited to his immediate community.

For him, the wholesome gesture does not translate to just an upgrade of his title but means his acts of philanthropy will extend to Mbaise at large.

Formative Years

It might not be the typical grass to grace story that Nollywood depicts in their movies, but from all indications, the MD/CEO of Vintage Deluxe Interiors Lagos, Francis Nwaogwugwu made his fortunes from dint of hardwork and taking advantage of opportunities presented by the interior decorating industry even when he was a youth corp member.

But for providence, he would have ended up as a seminarian. He was enrolled into the Holy Ghost Juniorate in Ihiala but was later transfered to Mbaise Secondary School in Abor Mbaise, where he wrapped up his secondary education after his plans to become a reverend father didn’t materialise. Apparently, fate had another destiny in stock for him.

Born in Enugu State to late Festus Nwaogwugwu and Mrs. Kate, the family moved to Onitsha in Anambra State where where he had his nursery and primary education. For his tertiary education, he schooled at Anambra State University, Uli Campus, where he studied Mechanical Engineering.

Bent on contributing his quota to the school, he ran for the office of the Director of Sports in his first year and he won, a position he held until his final year.

Deal Breaker

After his school year, he was posted to Lagos for service in 2011. He moved to his uncle’s house in Lagos but later left due to space constraints.

To rent a house, he had to sell his car, which he had acquired at 23 during his internship in 2017. This was a bit easier as he had some savings given his entrepreneurial nature right from school where he sold shirts. With the money from the car sales and savings, he rented his first apartment at Kilo, Surulere.

Suffice to say, the proximity of his house to Tejuosho Market in Yaba, where his interior business started was a deal breaker. It was at Tejuosho market he got his first major break. But his foray into interior designing did not start from there. Even as a student, he had exhibited passion to decorate and used his room as sounding board to execute his dreams.

According to him, “It has always been my passion, so when I came down to Lagos, I noticed that interior is actually a vast one so you need to pick a particular one: lightning, and tiling all these are interior. So I met this oga (man). I was able to explain how I would love to learn the business. So I learnt the business in six months and I started getting my personal jobs. I diverted fully from selling shirts and focused on the business.

“I tried to talk to my friends, I did one or two jobs and got small money. I didn’t have much so I registered my company in 2012 then in 2013, I travelled out of the country for the first time to Dubai. In 2014 I went back again. In 2013, I was a novice; I didn’t know anybody in Dubai; I just heard in the market that people said when you go to Dubai it’s nice. So I had to see my way through. I came into Dubai, paid for a hotel and started making contacts from the ones I saw on the internet. I spent two weeks in Dubai and came back.

“I was waiting for my goods but before I got it, I got one shop. When the goods arrived, it wasn’t enough but I just packaged it and that was how I started.”

Family Life

Even though he lost his father in 2016, he expressed gratitude that he was able to celebrate his parent’s 35 years of marriage in December 2015. Already he is gearing to celebrate his mother’s 65th birthday.

Meanwhile, Nwaogwugwu got married at the age of 29 in 2016 to Joy Nwaogwugwu, daughter of Bishop Walter Mbamaram of TREM church, and they already have two kids- a soon to be four year old daughter and a two year old son. According to him, he met the wife during his NYSC and having married her, it’s been an amazing five years journey.

Foray into Real Estate

His first foray into real estate started when he
bought his first property in Lagos in 2015 and afterwards built his house in 2017. Since then, he has built about six houses in Lagos. His first property was in Sangotedo on a land he acquired for N28million qt Fountain Estate.

He went on to build two more, which he sold already. Still in the works are two others at Victoria Garden City (VGC). Meanwhile, he has plans to extend this investment to the East, particularly in Imo State.

Challenges

Like any business man, he has encountered daunting challenges over the years, but that has not deterred him from pressing harder. Given the state of the economy, ” God has been faithful. We have been consistent. Even with the dollar rate, we still have the strength to stock because there are still people who buy only premium. We have never had any challenge which is bigger than us, there has always been a way to walk around it”.

Charge

As one who went through stages in life to get to his present position, he frowned at the “get rich quick syndrome”, which has seemingly possessed the youths.

“Some people that know me will tell you to call Vintage now if he’s in Surulere, call him in Ajah I will be there in 10 minutes. Nobody remembers when you were flying bikes everywhere in Lagos here and there. At a time I traveled five times in a year to Dubai for business so all these are stages you pass through.

“But young guys of these days don’t think in that direction, they don’t want to stay 10 years to wait. My advice to them is if it comes quick, at times it goes quick, but if you go through the right source you will see yourself, you might not be fast to get there but slowly and surely.”

Speaking to the government across board, he charged to ensure that businesses thrive by ensuring that the system works and ease of business is sacrosanct.

For the billion dollar question of whether he nurses any political ambition, he was quick to point out that he started politics as far back as when he contested for the position of Director of Sports in the university. But beyond that, he hopes to take if further in the nearest future.