Jackson Agbai: I Derive Joy in My Employees Growing, Achieve their Life Goals

He was born under special circumstances, grew up in short-lived opulence, then catapulted back into life of penury and by only dint of stubbornness and suicidal tendencies, he came back on track, read Law and providence smiled on him during early practice. Jackson Agbai would later find himself playing crucial roles in the banking industry before a stint with foreign exchange trading, importation and real estate from where he has built a chain of hotels under the Dover brand. He narrated to  Ahamefula Ogbu his challenging  journey to success, insisting that easy money never lasts

How did you start life, where, how and under what circumstances were you born?

Well, I was born by a woman that historically, in the village setting, met her husband once, just one night and then became pregnant. He did not show up again until I was born and was already two years. He had issues with the government that warranted him not being around. Then on one of the occasions , they allowed him to come home, he told them he had a young wife and he came home to see the young  wife for just a day; not even a full day, it was supposed to be for some hours, but whatever happened, they said they were to take the train at Uzuakoli but before they knew what was happening, the government official that brought him there fell asleep and by the time he woke up, the train had left and would come back same time the next day at three o’clock, so they had to sleep. So that same night, he met with his wife, my mom that’s why in Abiriba my home place, you see people call me Nwa otu Abali which means child of one night.

So basically, that is the story of my birth and he did not come around again until I was two or three when the war was about to start and my father had to leave Nigeria and escape to Cameroon to start life all over again.

When the war started, my mom was maybe 25 or 26, and she had my brother at 16 and me and my younger sister who died in Ozu Abam in 1969. So, you had a woman who is a young girl of 25, 26 or 27, battling with three kids and the adversities of almost like a single mother but luckily she took us through all of that.

Then after war, luck shone on my father and he became very wealthy. So immediately after the war, he sent for us except our mother, me and my brother and my half-sister, so we went to Cameroon, Victoria. When we were going, we went through Cotonou by plane. Then, coming from a civil war to a life of luxury and opulence. Barely a year after we arrived in Cameroon, my father built a new house where there was a swimming pool, a yatch, everything. I remember my primary one, two three, we went to school in 404 initially after we arrived and then Mercedes 450 later. We had all the luxuries, had home teachers and there were mainly teachers in primary school, Presbyterian Boys School, Victoria. Our Headmaster was equally the Headmaster of the country, was the Headmaster of the lesson teachers in Cameroon. So virtually all our neighbours around came to the house free. It was a kind of house you saw wealth and how wealth attracted people.

I remember the Prime Minister of Cameroon then called Estimona used to come to our house almost every six months to have dinner, and all the football, Cameroon is a football playing nation; those who played Lawn Tennis,  were always in our house. Our House was the center of activities and my father was the Patron of all the clubs.

What was your childhood ambition?

Growing up; yes, at that time, at a very young age, my ambition was to be a lawyer and the reason was that people said I could argue. And then the circumstances of my father’s absence at that time I was born revolved around the lawyers, about the court system and so everybody always said, oh you will be a lawyer. That was it, so at a very young age without knowing what it was, I wanted to be a lawyer.

What type of child were you, stubborn, pliant?

I think I was pliant but I was equally stubborn. I knew exactly what I wanted at a very young age; I knew that justice was central to my being. At a very young age, I fought injustice. I believe in fair hearing. Any of my relations, siblings, whether my elder brother, my sister or my junior ones if they had issues with anybody in those days, what happened was that if there is a fight you just come and join your own siblings to fight the next but I never did that; I always wanted to know what exactly was going on and then I would, based on what I knew, try to make peace. The only time I get above this is if I realise that you know the life or wellbeing of my sibling was in jeopardy otherwise very early I was a bit stubborn and I knew what I wanted very early. During the war, three days I remember not eating because I said I was not going to eat a soup without salt and my mother didn’t understand. Other people were eating but I said I wasn’t going to eat that food without salt and there were so many times in life I question things. I grew up questioning things; I questioned my mother, I questioned my father.

What indelible experiences of childhood can you recall?

 First three years in primary school and by my primary four; someone who was driven to school now had to trek three miles to school; one who didn’t know anything about farming had to go to farm virtually every weekend; someone who didn’t know how his uniform was sown had to go and let older people lend you their own and because they may be too big for you, you have to use the back plantain stem as belt to hold it and someone who didn’t  know how your school fees were paid, you are now being called upon among those who didn’t pay their fees. Then society was crude at that time, they stand you up on your locker and flog you. So, for me it was quite traumatic and I think it was part of the reason I got withdrawn and the fact that as a young person I was passing exams very well and so a lot of my father’s and family friends saw me as a special child and suddenly when the wealth was no longer there and you people had become poor, the same people that saw you and say hello won’t even answer your greetings again so it was traumatic and part of it was that it encouraged me to be focused, determined.

One of the other childhood experience was in my secondary school when I had issues with my step mum or with my Dad because that was when my asthma resurfaced; that was during Christmas in class three and they insisted I should be fetching water even when I was suffocating. I went to fetch water the first day and came back and  I was almost dying so when they asked me to go back to fetch water I said I wasn’t going and my father came and said I should go and I insisted I wasn’t going unless they bought my drugs for me, that if I go I could die. My father insisted and said that will be the end of my education if I didn’t go to fetch the water and it was the end of my education it seemed when they were going back to Aba and they left me and I went to my mum who was in the village at that time and she decided to take me to her father’s junior brother who lived in Cotonou as an apprentice to learn how to sell okrika. So, on the appointed day, my uncle had in-laws in Umuahia so we went to Ikenezizi close to Imo River. He usually spends a few days there before proceeding to Cotonou, so we went with his children and wife. So during that night, maybe around 4am the asthma started, I started coughing and coughed myself to the road. I remember seeing a woman preparing her wares for the market, I remember her looking back, so I trekked to where they have the tower now at Umuahia. I got there around 7am, I remember around 5 am when early cars were coming, if I see a car I will think they are coming for me and I will jump inside the bush and continue when the car passed. I was directed to the train station where I explained to the ticket masters that I was going back to school and didn’t have money. They took me to school and I explained to the school; that I didn’t have my school fees that my uncle will pay. It was a changing experience because whatever I have is because I was able to complete my secondary education, so it was traumatic for me so that was how I was able to go to school. Later my uncle came back and I sent people to him and he was able to verify because by then they had already published my name in the Statesman as a missing person, that’s how I was able to finish secondary school in the next two years and took JAMB once  and went to university.

What drives you in life?

Fear of failure

Why fear of failure?

Maybe because of my childhood experience where we had everything and suddenly everything was gone; so I live with the trauma, the fear that nothing is given; that no matter the height, that if you don’t take certain rational pragmatic decisions, it might affect you, your children and everything you have, so for me I just don’t believe that you have gotten there.

How did you transit from being a lawyer to banking?

Providence. As a young lawyer after my NYSC, I was in Aba where I was to aspire to become a judge. As I was doing my practice, one of those days I had a man, Chief Dike Udensi that I had gone to previously. You know if you want to practice you meet people you think should be able to patronise you. So, I had gone a few times and did not succeed then one day suddenly he found himself looking for me and went to my father’s place and they referred him to my uncle’s place where I was staying. So he gave me a brief, that brief involved customs and they said he imported contraband goods under decree 20 of 1988 which deals with life imprisonment. I was lucky through God’s grace in the case and was able to extricate him from the case and the goods, his boys and his trucks that were impounded were all released. That made me a sudden hero in Aba because all the big lawyers he had gone to told him it was not possible and because he was a very successful and prominent person that created trust, it was a break for me so I became his lawyer and he gave me all his briefs to be their lawyer, Dubic Breweries, Dubic industries and other companies, so a few months later people approached him to invest in a bank and he brought documents to me and I vetted them so I did the incorporation documents. When the bank was licenced he now approached me and said that he has been advised that the most important position in the bank might not be the chairman or the MD but the Company Secretary if there is dispute tomorrow he would be handy. That was how he talked me into being the company secretary because initially I was not willing to go because after what I did for him, many clients started patronising me and as a young man, I was doing well, I already had a 504, had a flat and savings by 1990 of over N200, 000. For a young man it was a lot of money when my house rent was about N2000 so that was it. That what led me into taking the gamble added to the fact that I wanted to go into corporate practice and the best place to do that is Lagos. At that time I got into the banking industry not by design but by providence.

What do you consider your saddest experience in life so far?

I have two. One will be leaving the bank under the circumstances I did and the other is personal…the issue of divorce.

How did you meet your wife?

Well, I met her through the brother, I didn’t want to marry anybody from Abriba because of the matrilineal system. Somehow, after a lot of disappointments I became friend with the brother, one of those who asked why I was not interested in women and I said I had had some disappointments and he said come and see my sister, well I never really had any interest but that was it.

When do you recall as your breakeven point in life?

I think while I was in the bank but I think the first was that opportunity to become a lawyer, that opportunity for my education because every other thing depends on it, every other thing I have come from it.

When did the idea of Dover Hotels come to you?

What happened is that when I left the bank I went into foreign exchange, but because of the nature of foreign exchange, I combined it with real estate. We built estates in Abuja and sold but when Obasanjo government started monetisation policy, you know government was like an off taker of all those construction and real estate in Abuja, so when they say they will pay you and you go and find your accommodation, I had two estates that I just finished and I didn’t know what to do with them and I couldn’t sell so I had to lease them out but at that point I realised that  the problem you have with tenants is the statutory encumbrances because if your tenants refuse to pay you, there are statutory notices you have to issue  and you still have to go to court and take the permission of courts to quit them. Sometimes it might take you three years of four and closer to real estate but without the problem of the encumbrances, I think is hotel because if you have a guest that doesn’t pay all you need to do is lock the room, you don’t need to go to court to evict them so that was the elementary thought, I did not have a clear picture. Also from my own father’s experience, I realised early in life that you can’t go wrong with real estate and for me, hotel represents real estate on a different level, that gives you income daily unlike the other one that gives you either monthly or yearly so while it is giving you income the land keeps appreciating and the property keeps appreciating.  So by late 2002, I started looking for land and found the first in Lekki and we started construction and by 2004 we were ready. I was advised to bring in foreigners to help run it since I didn’t have the experience.

I brought in foreigners who ran it for 19 to 20 months when I realised they were not adding value and I just told myself that I have stayed on board of a bank for 10 years and realised that every business is a function of marketing, operation and control; once you deal with these three issues whether it is manufacturing, banking or other business then you are good, the other thing is that you learn the nuances on the job. So having watched them for 19 months, we disengaged them and took over.

What do you consider the biggest headache as an entrepreneur?

Manpower, human beings

What of power?

Power is secondary, the greatest problem is human resources, human beings

Why do you think so?

It is so because of our historical background as a people. In my thinking, the ideal worker we saw is civil servants who pushed papers around and at the end of the month they get paid whether the work is done or not and so unconsciously we internalised those processes of the civil service where we see work as a social and not an economic activity. You see people when they are going to work they dress as if they are going to church so in the civil service whether you work or not there are subventions you will be paid but in the private sector what you produce is what you are paid with. Also we have a culture which believes that prayer is more important than work, sometimes begging people is more than doing the work even when the Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice; a lot of us believe oh, okay I will beg him. In the work place those who insist that the rules of the company must be obeyed become the enemy of the workers.

You have been into private business, bank and entrepreneur shall we soon see you in politics?

I am not sure. I have been involved in politics since 2003, helping my friends campaign saying let’s turn around our state Abia State. Whether I will run for public office, if not that nothing is outright I would have said no but in life one of the lessons I have learnt is never to say I will never do this thing because all the things I said I would not do I have done all of them so it is better I don’t say I won’t.

You are doing your traditional retirement of Igboto Mma, does that mean you are also dropping working and business as tradition supposedly implies?

I would say in real terms yes. I will be dropping the knife in Abriba as tradition demands. We are governed by the age grades and we have 13 age grades and at apex, the age grades is Uke Ji Agbala, once you get there it is mandatory that you drop the knife which means no one will call you to come for communal work, no one will call you to come and contribute money for anything or to help them clear any bush. So, in real terms I am dropping the knife in Abriba, but in real life we have seen that we will continue to struggle. Chief Afe Babalola has shown us what people can do even when they are 80. We have seen how much he has been able to transform the university which he started building at 80, so we must continue working to better humanity.

Have you ever had a near life experience?

I have had near life experiences; I have had accidents that were not so life threatening but I could have died, but for me the traumas that I have gone through in life are near life experiences.

What do you consider your most fulfilling experience?

That I am able to create jobs for people that you see some of your workers join you as single people and you see them within the organisation get married and start seeing the first set of people going into university while working and for me I think that is most fulfilling.

Do you have regrets in life or what you think if you had a second chance you will do them differently?

I have regrets, there are so many things that if I was given a second chance I will do differently but what I try not to do is dwell on them, they are past and gone so we do not dwell on them but as for regrets as human being, even tomorrow when you look back at yesterday you wish you had done them differently.

But none in particular that holds special place?

So many. Maybe growing up I would have been more obedient, less objective because I grew up as a very objective and vocal person so I could voice out what I think is wrong. When you do as a young person you are tagged as stubborn especially if you are in an environment where you are not with your mom, you attract hatred and sometimes the kind of negative energies around you, those are things that if I had a chance I will do differently.

What is the effect of success in your life style?

Unfortunately, I don’t see myself as being as successful, maybe if I do then that will be when I would be able to gauge the effect on me. I still work seven days a week, after church I am back in my office between here and Lekki working that is because in my mind I am yet to see myself as if I am successful.

How do you handle pressure from the opposite sex because you look handsome and rich?

Well the first thing is to say that it is not just a function of the opposite sex, we as human beings are attracted to qualities we see as ideal whether that is same sex with us or opposite sex so I refuse to think it is anything about sex. I remember when I bought Jaguar in 2002, and went to a bank, parked it and it didn’t mean anything to me so I went to see my account officer so some staff, DGMs and GMs were circling around the car and I remember a young girl there called Jaqline saying can you see, if it was women they will say we have big eyes but see what men are doing. Human beings like good things so let us be serious and not fool ourselves by saying the opposite sex or you are super human being, we are not but when you are serious with your work, the opposite sex will not find it comfortable because people love easy life so when you are serious an hardworking, they will not find you comfortable whether the opposite sex or not when they know you are not going to give them easy life, they will move on to other things where they will get easy life.

How do you relax?

That’s one question I have been trying to answer. I relax by working, reading philosophical and historical books, they give me great joy. Sometimes I relax by listening to Bob Marley and Fela

What crazy thing do you remember doing while growing up?

Sleeping few times on top of trees to avoid punishment by seniors in school.

What’s your costliest life possession?

Outside the house, the Chattel would be my watches

Where do you see Dover hotels in the next five years?

In the next five years I am hoping we would have opened branches in Aba and Abuja and hope to open one in UK

Assuming one says you are a billionaire or trillonaire, which of them will be right?

Well the point is either of them doesn’t mean you have the cash but that you have assets so I think most of us are still congregating around the first one

That is the billionaire class?

Yea.

You said you may not rule out going into political office, are you sure you won’t get angry at the way Abia is being ruled and say let me go and correct that?

At least today you are seeing changes. Maybe in the past, yes but what I saw in life is never say never because anything can happen. In 2019, they were saying come and do this and that. I remember one of our friends who was planning for it in 2019 but before the time he was gone. I try to take things in small measures. We can impact society without being in government

Taking the way you started life and where you are today what advice do you have for Nigerian youths?

My advice to them is that hard work never kills. The idea that you can make easy is not feasible and easy money is not sustainable. Easy lifestyle is not sustainable. That is why those who had easy money in the 90s where are they now? When you struggle, you will be intentional and strategic than when you pick easy money. It is not a sprint but a long distance thing so that all your planning s will be long time. We are talking about computer and AI, fine  but every day you wake up you have breakfast and it is people that produced it even the shirt you wear was produced by somebody, so if your knowledge of the computer is not so that it will  tend towards production then it is misplaced. The youth must be value added people, anything that doesn’t add value is not worth itself, I mean real value.

What’s your preferred brand in dressing?

Jeans, senator and the Abriba dresses.

Not any of those global brands?

No, the problem is that those brands do not add any real value. I give you an example, my son was crazy about a brand and I kept talking him out of it. One day I traveled to the US and a friend wanted to take me out for shopping and he bought me a shirt, Hugo boss at Nostrum, a high end shop at $85 and two other wears. A few days later, I went to 21st century mall and saw the same material, same colour same quality and I bought it for $35, so when I came back I called my son, turned the back of the two shirts and I asked him to touch them and he said no difference, then I turned them and showed him that one was at $85 and the other at $35 so the person selling at $35 is already making his profit so the $50 difference added no value though there is what they call Geffen goods which people buy because they are expensive, not because they have any real value