Managing Director and Team Lead of UfitFly, Ajibola Ogunkeyede, tells EMMANUEL OJO how hard work and persistence became his launch pad for success

What would you ascribe to be the most important factor that helped you attain your current height in business?

One of the things that helps a man when in trouble is that the person has to be sincere with himself and then be sincere with God and the people who have entrusted their resources to him. Failure could come in the course of it but all you need to do is to be open, transparent, and then be sincere in all dealings. In doing that, of course, there will be many other opportunities that will take you out of that trouble but insincerity will always add more to your problems. So, that (sincerity) is what has helped me in life.

When I was in debt at a very young age, instead of leaving the country or running away at the age of 20 or 22, I ensured by the instruction of God that I stayed back. Even though I was an orphan, that was not a reason for me to make erroneous decisions that could have affected those who entrusted their resources to me and even affected my life because I didn’t know where I was going. I stayed back and tried to ascertain what amount it was that I was indebted to, and then I had to discuss it with the people involved. The act of sincerity has helped me. I can preach sincerity from now till eternity. It is not just preaching, it is what I practise and I’m still practising and it has helped me to this day.

What were the setbacks you faced?

I fail almost all the time. If you see a successful man, failure is part of his success. So, when you are anticipating the achievement of a goal, you should know that failure is part of it. Beyond the failures, I have always encouraged myself. Just as (the Apostle) Paul said (in the Bible) that he encouraged himself in the Lord. As a child of God, when failure sets in on a project, as long as it is God who has instructed me, I encourage myself and it has always given me a reason to move forward beyond the failure I encounter.

I encounter failure every day and to God be the glory, He has been sustaining me and giving me results that are always profound. Oftentimes, the way we plan it might not work. Of course, that’s called a setback. In the end, God always sets us free and gives the desired breakthrough and that is why anytime or any day I experience failure at anything, I just shake myself and move forward.

Which of them would you consider as your biggest?

One of the stories is that one should not pay evil for evil. Many years ago, I had an issue and I expected one of my uncles to come through for me but he didn’t show up, even though he was nurtured by my mother. He didn’t show up as expected. Not quite long from then, he had an issue. Naturally, I didn’t want to get involved but little did I know that that would be my place of encounter and breakthrough. I was not worried about what he did to me. I went ahead and bailed him from the police station (when he was arrested).

When I got there, I met a man, who was a retired police officer and that was in the year 2007, 2008, or thereabouts. He showed me a letter from the Force headquarters, Abuja, and needed to travel to America. He asked if I knew how to process that on the computer. At that time, I didn’t know anything about travel agencies, but as a young man, I said that I could assist him, and to God be the glory, I put him through and he got the Visa and that was the beginning of my breakthrough in assisting people with (flight) ticketing, hotel bookings, and visa counselling and that has helped me today. If I had refused to help my brother who once denied me help, I wouldn’t have been where I am today. So, that’s one story of my life that I cannot forget in a hurry.

How did being an orphan affect you?

God in heaven has given mankind his support, our earthly parents are just there to guide us and the scriptures say that it is not only our biological parents that we should honour. As much as a child honours people around them in society, some people can also be referred to as parents. Being an orphan does not limit a person from becoming successful in life. For example, as a Christian or as a Muslim, there is a congregation of worship with leaders who could serve as parents, especially, when they are very good leaders and that’s why a pastor is also regarded as a shepherd. Shepherds are meant to look after their biological and non-biological children.

For me, it was in the same area I grew up as a boy many years ago that I found the person who became my adopted father. He attended Eckankar in the neighbourhood we lived in. One day, he called me and I told him that I didn’t have a father; he singled me out of all the children playing football in front of his home. As long as they are not lazy, we need to tell the youth to do whatever they find doing with all their might. Being an orphan is not a yardstick that one wouldn’t be successful because we were born into this world and the one who created us designed everything. For any orphan, I want to beseech them to be focused and look up to God. Although we live in a country where there is a lot of influence and some parents influence things a lot for their children, they (orphans) need to be focused and avoid bad company.

Was there any point in time you felt like throwing in the towel?

Well, at every point of breakthrough, you could encounter failures. Of course, there were several times that I felt that way.

What motivated you and kept you going?

Faith in God and testimony of people who were once in my situation or had passed through what I was going through at that moment motivated me. I felt motivated by the fact that if God could help such a person, then He could help me. There are places a person should position himself to hear good testimonies and get motivated. For instance, there are no testimonies in a pub. You hear that where sound doctrines of the scriptures are practised and people there share their testimonies of how God helped them and with that I get encouraged.

However, one cannot wait for people to motivate him or encourage him; one must keep moving ahead. So, I can tell you that faith in God has helped me and He is the one who can help me and has always done that. One also needs someone to talk to and that’s another thing that has helped me. When you can talk to somebody, not just anybody but a trusted person, that can give you a guide. It could be a parent, a pastor, or a leader. Some of them have been faced with challenges and can tell you how you can handle them.

Apart from talking to people, one could also read books, and thank God for the internet today; everything we are going through can be found in the Bible and the Bible is the complete encyclopaedia that can guide one in life.

In all of it, one cannot afford to be lazy. Laziness cannot be condoned. What your hands find doing, do it diligently as if there is no tomorrow. Just because a business collapses does not mean the owner should stop doing business. No, it doesn’t work that way. What they need to do is to find out what the cause was and how they found themselves in that state. When they identify that and are ready to adjust themselves, then they are on their way out of the problem.

Are there other ways?

Also, when we are faced with issues, we should try not to be alone because oftentimes, there are bad thoughts. I have also experienced suicidal thoughts or thoughts that made me want to do some irrational things, especially when in debt, and that kills a lot. One would be thinking about how they would achieve this and that and before you know it, it would be far gone but instead of staying with such thoughts, he should otherwise share the issue with somebody, a respected person, maybe a cleric or a very respected person who can tell you the truth on how to overcome whatsoever challenges they are going through. Also, one must be prayerful. If you say you are a sinner, yes and that’s why there is forgiveness, so, you go to God and He will say, “Sin no more.”

When I was much younger and I was in debt, it took me some three to five years to pay up the debt. I was in the same office then. My neighbours used to tell clients not to do business with me because I was a debtor and all that and at a time, I prayed to God that he should let those who have mocked me see my testimony and know He is the Almighty God. In the same environment, even after 18 years there, God has remained faithful. Even when I was in trouble, I remained steadfast. There was a time when I was the only one left after 100 workers left. I was the only one in the office; I was the receptionist, the human resource person, everything. I kept closing alone and resuming the next day. You may think problems will go away all at once, but that is not possible; it takes a gradual process.

What’s the biggest challenge for business owners and entrepreneurs in Nigeria?

The biggest challenge in entrepreneurship in Nigeria is that the government and the financial institutions don’t believe in small and medium-scale companies. They believe in the established ones. As much as business is more of a risk, the government needs to believe in the upcoming small-scale businesses. Before now, I didn’t have bankers coming to me because I was a debtor and didn’t have a fat account balance. However, when they saw the number of transactions, they came around but that’s not the time I needed them. If God had not helped me to put myself together, of course, I wouldn’t be here today.

Banks in Nigeria have killed a lot of businesses, and that’s why they are entrapped. You see them give (loans) to those who have enough already and of course, everybody likes good things but that’s the reason why you see the economy of the United States and the United Kingdom growing because they focus on small and medium-scale businesses and these are the people who provide most of the employments in their country.

A lot of young people are selling their properties and some leaving well-paying jobs to move abroad in droves. As a travel and tourism adviser, what do you make of this?

I always advise people to be well-informed about where they want to travel to before they do because relocation is not a visit; the person is leaving Nigeria for a strange land. Firstly, before one leaves, one should study the (new) environment. Secondly, going with a visiting visa to stay back is illegal immigration. If one has a good-paying job here (in Nigeria), it’s the same thing. So, the first error is not being educated about the place a person is going to. Secondly, I won’t say people should not relocate but they should find out the type of visa required for them to work (abroad) so they won’t get there and get stranded. Nigeria is losing human resources every day and it’s quite alarming; this will have an impact in the next five to 10 years in Nigeria. Many people who follow the ‘japa’ trend are looking for comfort but the reverse is usually the case. In overseas, you pay for everything; you cannot dodge bills. So, this is major information people don’t know. I will say that ‘japa’ is good if you have the right visa but ‘japa’ is not good if you do not have the right visa to stay back in a foreign land that you have little or no knowledge about.

What are the drawbacks that people should be aware of?

We see a lot of people coming on the internet to cry or talk about their regrets because they didn’t do what they were supposed to do before relocating. Many people in Canada, the UK, and the US are stranded and some are doing well. Also, ‘japa’ has caused a lot of breakups in homes and families. So, if anyone wants to travel for greener pastures, they should ensure to have the right visa so that their family can also have access to a visa to travel with them or be able to visit them.

Some people sold their properties worth millions of naira for half the value because they got a visa but didn’t realise that when they get abroad, for them to be able to build or have such a property, they would need some two to three years to get well settled abroad before they could start saving, and that will also take years to achieve. Some opt for the option of getting a second passport in the long run, which is fine but that is because the government is not working on a lot of things.