Dr Kingsley Emu’ s life at 60 is an encyclopedia of some sort. With a distinguished career in the private sector spanning over 23 years, and five years in the public service, Dr Emu brings on his wealth of experience in politics as the current Chief Economic Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State.Before his appointment, he had served as the Honourable Commissioner for Economic planning and budget and as the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in Delta State. He worked in the Banking Industry for 21 years, starting from the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1989, through merchant/investment banks, and finally commercial banks.
From Owanta in Ika North East Local Government of Delta State, Kingsley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology, Masters of Science degree, Industrial Sociology and a Masters in Managerial Psychology (MMP) all from University of Ibadan. He was a pioneer student of ESUT Business School Lagos, where he obtained a Masters in Business Administration (Marketing) in 1997 and a doctorate in Management, with specialisation in organisational leadership from the University of Phoenix Arizona in the United States in 2012.
As he clocked 60 December 27, the Chief Executive of Hotel Benizia, one of the luxurious hotels in Asaba, looks back at life, his achievements, challenges, political journey, family and more.
What does turning 60 mean to you?
It feels excellent turning 60. When I was younger, I thought to turn 60 was miserable. When I was at the University of Ibadan in the 1980s, whenever some of the ladies around us said they were dating a guy of 40, we would exclaim as if 40 was ancient.
I am happy and grateful to God. The kids are doing well. The family is excellent, and business is good. God is kind to me. He has been merciful.
For a long time, you were in the banking sector and left to set up your own business before going into politics. What informed these decisions in your life?
While I was working, at some point, I thought of what to do when I leave. The first thing that occurred to me was where I would settle. I said I would like to go back to Delta State ‘to boost the economy, ‘not for politics. A lot of things were in my mind. When one has a beautiful home, planning becomes easy for him. Knowing a few people who matter is also essential. I have always known the current Governor. I considered investing in a boutique or hotel. My architect and I went to Venice in Italy and decided on a boutique and hotel.
I was still with the bank then, so it was a bit of a challenge, although it was not a parallel business.
I started the project. I was paid some money for doing financial consultancy. I invested the money in it. That was the takeoff. First Bank was gracious to give me N50 million loan in 2006, which we used for finishing and furnishing. It has been a mixed bag since.
We are among the first seven now, and we have embarked on massive renovation which would enable us to compete favourably.
We have a 100-bed building now, with four halls, and the location is fantastic.
The challenges are there, but we would surmount them. We are looking at outsourcing it to some experts to run. My consultancy business has gone down significantly, since getting into public office, because I used to be the driver. My customers will not want to deal with a third party, and I don’t have much time for it anymore.
What do you plan to do when you leave politics?
I should be able to give back to the labour market by going back to teach.
That is how I want to end up. I have in-depth knowledge of the private and public sectors. I am a balanced person to show people processed for the labour market. I will also teach entrepreneurs.
You have been in politics for some time now.
You were part of the Uduaghan government and now part of the Okowa administration. What would you say makes you attractive to incumbent governors?
Okowa has been my principal. My intention was not to go into politics but to support from the outside. He found me useful, while he was a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the most senior political leader in Delta North, he is entitled to a commissionership slot. He was gracious enough to choose me in 2011. Let me also add that I was the Director-General of his Campaign Organisation. The Governor, who was my former boss, made me a commissioner in his cabinet. I served him until the issue of succession came up. I would rather die for my principle than flow with the tide. I stuck with him.
Of all candidates presented at the time, Okowa was outstanding. They didn’t have the experience, administrative prowess, humility and intelligence level of Okowa. He is a massive grassroots politician. He has been part of the government in the state for a long time. I decided to ‘’ die there’ as they say today. Even when the former Governor didn’t want him, I decided to stay on the side of principle. I am very objective, but that does not mean I don’t make mistakes. The mistakes I make are human, not obvious ones. I wish we could have more personalities and characters of Governor Okowa’s nature in Government. A lot of my friends are always stunned that I am still there nine years after. They know I speak the truth, not for commercial reasons, but based on principles.
What are your contributions to the success of the wealth creation programmes created by the state government?
I am just a team player. The Governor is the overall driver of the entire programme. The SMART Agenda talks about job creation because when you create jobs, there is peace. It gives an alternative to people who hitherto would have been engaged in crime. When there is peace, businesses will thrive. A lot of people have placed him (Governor) ahead of his peers in terms of human capital development.
We don’t create employees because we are creating people who would create jobs. We have impressive testimonials about this.
As Chief Economic Adviser, what exactly does your job entail?
It is a significant portfolio. At the risk of sounding immodest, I was first, the Commissioner for Commerce and later Commissioner for Economic Planning for another four years. I have 21 years of experience in the Banking Industry. Academically, I am very balanced. I have three degrees, and I have a PhD. I have a helicopter view of the state and the nation. We have always had an Economic Adviser and not Chief Economic Adviser. With hindsight, I would say that Okowa chose the intellectual part of me as against the physical part of me. The job entails advising the Governor on all economic activities. They include job creation, agriculture, trade and investment. There are specific assignments that give me oversight in some areas. The responsibilities are enormous because we want to finish strong. Our first tenure was fantastic. We believe that this would be exceptional.
At 60, what would you say is one of the most memorable events that has shaped your life?
There are lots of them but this I must tell you. I have always said to myself that I must have a’ PhD.’ I had a challenge in year one in a secondary school; I wasn’t paying attention to my studies, was missing school and doing all the wrong things, then I failed. My dad was a strict disciplinarian, and again he had many children and was not ready to waste his resources on a useless son, as he described me. So I decided to learn a trade. Three, four months after, I told him I was done with learning and was ready to go back to school, that I had learnt my mistakes. He ignored me totally and insisted that I must go and learn that trade that my opportunity had gone, my mother joined me in the fight, as well as neighbours intervention before he agreed. He said I must go back to primary school and not secondary where I stopped.
And you agreed?
Yes, so he enrolled me in a primary school that was close to my former secondary school, and I went. While I was doing this, my mates were already in class three. They used to see me, they discuss me, I even greet them when we see. So my classmates graduated in 1976, I graduated in 1979 because I lost three years, but in 1978 I already had my five credits because I had learnt my lessons and had restored, and I never looked back since then. I made my late mother and me a promise that I must get to the zenith of education; I must get a PhD, and I never looked back. So my doggedness and resilience have been my greatest strength, and above all, God’s favour. One of the memorable things for me again is in politics. I came to understand how humans behave at that level. In politics, people can rationalise what is not rationalisable coming from the private sector, and it is crazy.
When you are not working, how do you relax?
I play golf; that is the only thing I love. I do an average of 45 kilometres weekly. Any weekend I play golf, I will be doing about 50 kilometres a week. I have won the Nigerian Cup in golf. I have won the Shell Cup, and I am a runner up in Indian Cup. I love golf. I used to sleep, think and dream golf, but I don’t do that anymore because my schedule does not allow me.
Every other day I try to do five kilometres. I still do that in my hotel; I move around the premises to see how things are happening. I walk to the office instead of driving a car. That helps me to keep fit. Apart from that, I don’t have any other social life. I don’t go to parties. Unfortunately, I don’t visit people which is a bad one. I also don’t get visited. When I finish my “madness” on the street, I get back home, rest and read because I am a natural family person. I have loads of leadership books I have not read. Reading keeps me busy. I am a friendly person, but the pressure of work does not allow that. The doctorate programme almost made me a recluse. I became a triangular individual. Hopefully, when I leave soon, I would be able to do socials by visiting people.
Looking at where you are coming from and where you are today, at 60, would you say you have achieved all you wanted?
There are challenges, but I am happy I now belong to the old 60, which I now describe as the new 40 for many reasons. If I didn’t go to Delta to do public service, there is no way I would have been in job creation and human capital development. I was doing that at the corporate level, but it is a different ball game in politics. If you didn’t do banking in the post-consolidation era, you are not just a modern-day banker. You haven’t seen what it is in terms of balance sheet size because N19 billion balance sheet in post-consolidation is less than the balance sheet of a branch because you are doing big-ticket transactions. If you haven’t been in the public sector to see the challenges, you will not know how important it is to go back to your community, to contribute to development. I remember we were in a golf course when President Yardua died, and Jonathan assumed leadership. We said we were waiting to see if Jonathan would pick a good cabinet, but he recycled older people because those were the people available. Technocrats have fears about what they would lose, but that is also genuine. If I didn’t find a man like Governor Okowa, there is no way my stay in the public sector would be this extended, because I have not radically changed. I have adjusted, but my old corporate person still lives in me. You can’t drop 30 or 35 years of your lifestyle in nine years; you can only make a few adjustments. So there is so much to be done, I haven’t even started.
Do you intend to take your political career further?
I am open, but I have my plans. First is, I want to be able to do a lot of consultancies, and I still believe my primary constituency is the private sector; I think there is so much I can give to the private sector in terms of training and exposure. We must begin to have a model that marries the private and public sector, and it must work.
You do not look 60; what do you do to stay this healthy and fit?
My lifestyle has changed. What I eat, how I eat it and exercises. Inactivity is the biggest challenge that people have; you attract illness into your system. I do an average of 40 kilometres in a week. For eating habit, I don’t eat late in the evenings; I do fruits. Today I have had two boiled eggs and coffee. I Will make one good lunch, and that is it for the day. That has helped me. I see myself losing some weight every month. I remember when I was big, I went to my physiotherapist after a tedious game of golf and the man said to me ‘ oga Kingsley I have found one beautiful knee cap that fits you’ and thought to myself, now a knee cap fits me. So I stopped going to him and decided to work on myself, and I dropped the weight because I was overweight and my knee and back pain all stopped. I take loads of multivitamins. I do a lot of walks and drink a lot of water, and they have helped a lot.
What word do you have to tell youths of today that look up to you for inspiration?
What I tell them is that they need to focus; there is a need to persevere, a degree is only preparatory. They should only seek those things that will enhance them. Patience is lacking in today’s youths, and it is a critical ingredient for developing themselves, because manna will never fall from heaven if it did, it was in the bible not here. They should embrace programmes that the government is churning out and not see them as demeaning . They should see their degree as something that prepares them for higher responsibilities, that is my word for them as a mentor, as we edge into 2020.
First Published In Vanguard Allure By Yemisi Suleiman
