“I had the mindset that I would want to be somebody that would contribute to my society; that had been my mindset. But I didn’t know how to be there. So, I was looking for the opportunity. And when in 1983 my husband read a book and gave me that book, the book helped me to really say, “Yes, it’s good to be an entrepreneur.”
- Esther Obazu-Ojeagbase
Dr. Sunny Ojeagbase is a good Nigerian, the Co-Founder (with His Wife Esther Ojeagbase) of Success Attitude Development Centre, Publisher of Complete Sport Newspaper, the second highest circulated newspaper in Nigeria, West Africa.
He is the Publisher of Success Digest Extra and President of Success Attitude
Development Center. A colossus and mentor of many parts, he has been very instrumental to the success of a large number of youth entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
He is well respected in the media, particularly in Entrepreneurship and Sports journalism.
He still remembers what he was told in those days. "Go to school, read your books, pass your exams, get a good job and work there until you retire."
I don’t know how many people who are familiar with that line? Those were the
good (did I say well?) old days. Though Nigerians still believe in certificate, much of that thought is becoming a thing of the past.
Nigerians are beginning to know that to make money, you have to be streetwise and not rely totally on what you are thought in school, for hardly will they teach you how to make money in school.
Are you surprised to know that majority of world inventors and richest men either did not go to school or dropped out of school. A good example is Thomas Edison, who attended school for just three months, or Bill Gates one time world richest man who dropped out from school to work on his Microsoftidea.
What these individuals have shown is that you can still achieve your goal in life with or without a degree certificate.
In Nigeria, the same is the case. While many are doing everything including
buying of certificates for obvious reasons, others are using their God given potentials and talents to add value to humanity.
While others are busy chasing shadows in the name of educational qualifications, which cannot be defended at the appr- opriate time, others are using their streetwise sense to make a contribution to the society and of course earning a living.
Such men are happy doing what they love and passionate about. Such men add colour to peoples’ life while smiling tothe bank. That is where Sunny Obazu- Ojeagbasebelongs.
Born on 31st December 1950, few hours to a new year in Oshogbo, Osun State.
Though Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Janet Obazu-Ojeagbase hailed from Uzebba, Owan West Local Government in Edo State, Nigeria.
From a humble but poor background, he
managed to enroll into St. Jame’s Primary School, Osogbo where he secured his First School Leaving certificate in 1962.At seventeen, he enlisted into the Nigerian army, after working as an apprentice mechanic, a trainee stenographer for six months and almost five years as a trainee printer.
His joining the army was a desperate act to run away from poverty. Pool betting became his second pre-occupation in the military, a habit that nearly ruined his life. But thank God, the turning point came when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and saviour and at the same time reading the book the Seven Laws of Success by Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of Worldwide Church of God.
With this fresh information, he voluntarily discharged from the army in 1978 and then set out for sports journalism.
To improve on his primary six certificate,
he in 1976 enrolled and studied from home for General Certificate of Education (GCE) and two correspondent courses in journalism at the age of 26 with a family to take care of (His first child coming when he was 20).Of the four subjects entered in GCE, he made two papers (a credit in Economics and an A in English).
The A in English fired up his desire in sport journalism. He began to invest in any sports material he could lay his hand on and then to study the style and presentation of sports writers in the materials.
His very first attempt as a sports writer was in June 1976, when he, as a free- lancer, wrote a sports report for the Herald Newspaper, owned by the Kwara State Government. And so he became a sport reporter working for the likes of Daily Times from April 1, 1979, Concord Group of Newspapers from 1980 and the Guardian in 1983. Sometime in 1983,
it dawned on him that at 33 he has not achieved much, with ten thousand naira annual salary, he felt he needed to do more. It was at this stage that he read two books from the shelve of one his mentors, Bishop Dr. George Amu, the General Overseer of Good News Miracle Bible Church.
As he read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, co-authored by Hill and W. Clement Stone, he discovered as he put it that he can bake a bigger pie for his family. So in October 1984 after doing a good job in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, he decided to publish an all coloured sports paper.
To begin, he sold his camera bought from the Olympics for four thousand naira and borrowed two thousand five hundred naira from Chief O. O. Olukanmi. And so with six thousand five hundred naira he started publishing the first
Nigerian weekly sports newspaper Sports Souvenir with himself as the vendor selling the paper at National stadium, Lagos.
A year later, he published Complete Football, the first Nigerian all-coloured monthly football magazine and in 1995 he came out with Complete Sports, which is the first daily sports newspaper.
“In 1995, together with his wife Esther started a pet project that will enable them teach Nigerians how to come about change in their lives.”
Thus, Success Attitude Development Centre (SADC) an NGO with a mission to raise and nurture entrepreneurs whose success in business is driven by the fear of God; a burning desire to care for their families and unquenchable thirst to do good in their communities.
It was under this NGO that Success Digest Magazine (now Success Digest
Extra) – one of the highest selling magazines and Nigerians number one life changing magazine – came out in 1995.
Today under SADC are such national events like the Success Digest Entrepreneurs Awards, Success Digest Entrepreneurs Conference, Success Digest Business Opportunity Expo, Success Digest Leaders’ Club and S.O Wealth Library.
Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase, a consultant and professional speaker amongst other things has authored several books like such bestsellers as How to Make It in Nigeria – Building Your Wealth from Ground Floor Up, How to Bullet Proof Yourself from Poverty, Ideas – The Starting Point of All True Riches, What They Don’t Teach In Lagos Business School etc.
His effort has turned to be the answer to many youths who would’ve checked out from our dear country, though with a
bleak future over there
Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase has touched the lives of so many Nigerians both young and old, his story has served as enough tonic to many who would’ve given up for the sake of not having a university or any other tertiary education qualification.
His effort has turned to be the answer to many youths who would’ve checked out from our dear country, though with a bleak future over there. He brought about the idea of making money from whatever one can do, from snail farming to chalk production, from professional proof- reading to soap making, from Bee keeping to carbon-black production, from building wealth in stock market to packaging for export name it, those hitherto not able to do anything, have suddenly found themselves being their own boss and employingothers.
Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase’s commitment to succeed strengthened him above every rejection that came his way. When he was trying to raise money to start a sports magazine, people told him it wouldn’t work. "Why do you think people would buy sport magazine? Is it not the same stories carried by news- papers that you would be reporting?" they asked, unable to hide theirdoubt.
Today, Complete Football has stayed several years on the newsstand and is still rated as one of the best in theindustry.
Despite the fact that they have been in sports publishing for over a decade when they wanted to introduce a daily sports newspaper, some people still doubted their ability to sustain the new product. "These guys are over-reaching themselves now," the doubters said.
Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase and his crew rejected this rejection and went ahead to publish.
To be continued in Part 2.
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