CFAgbata interviews Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa OFR.

Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa is a true patriot, Christian and mentor. His life is full of testimonies, what about humility? He has that in excess.

I recently held an interview with him.Tell you the truth, I was not exactly prepared for this interview in many ways but I am happy I still made the most of it. I hope you enjoy it?

At the end of the Interview; Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa appointed CFA Leverage as his Internet and SEO Consultants – according to him the “Internet is the Future” and I want to make the most of it. Technology is like a moving wheel, it is either you run ahead of or with it or wait for it to crush you and run past you. It is all a matter of choice.

To prove how important the Internet really is to him, he enrolled and became one of my latest students 🙂 We would have to set up a comprehensive web presence management  program for him and his team. And teach them how to manage it.

Please note: I captured half of the interview with my amateur video camera and the rest using evernote app. audio function on my Galaxy tablet – which would be transcribed at a future date. In the meantime, please enjoy the video.

If you have problems viewing the video, you can watch it here.

About Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa

Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa has over 33 years of cognate corporate and organizational leadership experience, 18 years of which were at CEO level.He became Chairman/CEO of Pfizer West Africa in 1993 and led the first major Management Buyout (MBO) of a Multinational in Corporate Nigeria, when Pfizer Inc divested its 60% shareholding in the Nigerian subsidiary in 1997, transforming the resultant company, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, into a medium-sized R&D-based Pharmaceutical Company. He led the company through turbulent times in the Nigerian economy, employing strategic financing options which included All Assets Secured Debenture, Foreign Bond Issues and Equity Infusions. By the time he retired in August 2011, he had transformed the company which depended on licensed and franchised produces (with Royalty obligations) into an independent company with its own portfolio of indigenously developed products and brands.

Sam is an Entrepreneur who practices and preaches Entrepreneurship. He has been involved in the founding of not less than twenty thriving businesses spanning the pharmaceutical, medical, manufacturing, agriculture, food, logistics, telecommunications, construction, oil services, financial services and consulting services. He serves on the Boards of many companies. He uses the auspices of the Sam Ohuabunwa Foundation for Economic Empowerment (SOFEE) to teach entrepreneurship and mentor young entrepreneurs.During the 18 years Sam was the CEO of Pfizer/Neimeth, he admirably combined his executive functions with the leadership of many private sector organizations and other nongovernmental organizations. He was at different times Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, (MAN) Ikeja Branch, President, Ikeja Business Club, President, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Chairman, Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMGMAN), President, West African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (WAPMA) and the Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). In each of these positions, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa showed exceptional leadership and adopted excellent corporate practices that enabled him complete full terms in all the positions, leaving behind a string of successes.

In addition to his several and long years of experience in the Private Sector, Sam has had ample exposure to the workings of the Public Sector Organizations in Nigeria. He had served either as Chairman or Governing Board member of several institutions such as the Nigerian Institute for Economic and Social Research (NISER), the Manpower Board, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Abia State Polytechnic and Abia State University Teaching Hospital.Sam received an honours degree in Pharmacy from the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and obtained more Executive Management training from the Columbia University in the USA and the Lagos Business School in Nigeria. He has obtained Fellowships of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (FPSN), the West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists (FPC PHARM), the Nigerian Institute of Management (FNIM), the National Institute of Marketing in Nigeria (FNIMN) the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (FNIPR), the Nigerian Institute of Immunology (FNIIM), the Nigerian Institute of Quality Assurance (FIQAN) and the Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC) among others.

Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa received some political exposure when he served in the National Political Reform Conference in 2005, the Presidential Steering Committee on the Global Economic Crisis in 2009 and the Presidential Advisory Council in 2010/2011 and remains active as a Social Commentator, an author and a respected voice in Nigeria, using every opportunity he finds to serve God, the Nation, his State, his Community and Mankind. He has been honoured twice by the Nation – Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) in 2001 and Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) in 2011.Sam has a strong passion to play a more active role in seeing Nigeria and its institutions transform from the 3rd World status to the 1st World.