Mr Festus Uzoma Mbisiogu is the Managing Director of Blue Diamond Gold, and the Chief Executive Officer of several companies both in Nigeria and China.
He is also the Coordinator, Nigerians in Diaspora, China, Guangzhou Province.
His rag to riches story has been an inspiration and encouragement to many people who have come across him. From a poor family in Anambra, South East, he rose to become the most popular Nigerian in China .
In celebration of his 50-years, he spoke with Ayodele Olalere on his rise to stardom, his connection with the former President Goodluck Jonathan and other top politicians in Nigeria as well as his efforts to give back to.his community
You are 50 in a nation where life expectancy keeps going down. What does it feel like to attain this landmark?
I am Festus Uzoma Mbisiogu, CEO Blue Diamond Gold. Under the company, we have Shanghai Engineering Work and Industrial limited. I started with Uzotex International Nigeria Limited. I also have the Uzotex charity foundation which is an avenue I reach out to people. We also have Blue Diamond Logistics which is based abroad.
I am.super excited because when I look back at what I have passed through in life, I could not believe I can be alive today. There was a time I was admitted in the hospital and was taken to the emergency ward. That was 2006. I had concluded the Lord was about to take me because with all efforts to know what was happening to me ,I was subjected to different tests but they couldn’t detect what was happening to me. I am grateful the Lord saved me from that sickness and took.me far. So I am so happy the Lord has taken me this far.
What does it feel like to be 50?
Two or three of my friends are no longer alive. When I look at a few of my friends that have left, it’s the way God wants it, so I appreciate God for making me get to 50.
There is a saying that counts your blessings one by one.“What are some of the achievements in the last 50 years?
There are so many. My parents were from a prior family, in fact the poorest family in the village. As at the time I left the village for Lagos, my mum managed to borrow money from the group she belonged to and built two rooms;, my mum and dad shared one room and four of us shared one room. So I left the village for Lagos.
For the first four to five years, each time I traveled back to the village, I would stay in that house. The Lord was so kind to me that I have much now. When I came to Lagos, I stayed with one man named Josiah Ekonomi. Before then, there was a guy called Sunday that brought me to Lagos and handed me to Josiah. I stayed with and served Josiah for seven years faithfully. He was so happy that when he wanted to settle me, he called the whole community and elders and they all blessed me. He killed a cow to celebrate me for serving him. We were into trading at Tejuosho market. His wife bought clothes and gave them to my mum and told her she has a very good son. The man gave me only N50,000 as settlement. That was 1994. So I started my business with that amount at Tejuosho market.
As a result of my character of honesty, people began to identify with me. Some people started to give me goods on credit. When I started having problems in my business, I decided to travel to Antigua and they duped me about $50,000. I later went to Dubai, they also duped me and gave me a fake visa. I was deported.
I struggled again to go back and I met one Alhaji who gave me a fake passport. I was deported again so all my money vanished. But I didn’t give up. My mum invited me back to Delta where she was staying with my dad. They sold yam from the farm and gave me N30,000 and asked me to go back to Lagos. I was living close to Ojuelegba bus stop then.
I had meetings with some friends and we agreed we should be importing goods from Dubai. I told them I could only afford ticket money. They contributed $2,600 and decided I should be the only one that should be traveling to Dubai to bring the goods because of the trust they had in me. The last trip I made to Dubai before we separated, I met one man called Azeez and said he wanted to do business with me. He started giving me goods on credit. He gave me the first goods worth $2000 and within two months, I paid back. The man was surprised. That was how he continued giving me till he increased it into $40,000.
I also met a man called Obison and said he wanted to help me. He gave me $2000,I traded it and returned the money. This is how I started. But later my mum fell sick and I spent all the money for my business on her.
Later I started going to China and all the people I met, I found favour with them. One gave me goods worth $1million. Looking at what I passed through in life, it’s the grace of God.
The concept of apprenticeship is no longer what it used to be. Some masters refuse to settle their apprentices. What’s your take?
When I was learning trade, we were about six with our boss but I was the only one that my master settled willingly and celebrated because of my integrity. I refused the temptation to steal my master ‘s money before settlement. Some that tried it were caught and dismissed.
Some of the things that causes this is because some of our Igbo brothers don’t want to stay long as apprentices. They want to become rich overnight and they spoil their names in the process. Some masters are also not good. In Igbo land now, the trend of serving someone for many years has reduced now.
From your humble beginning , you rose to become friends of governors and men of repute. How did that happen?
I dropped out from secondary school in year 2. At the age of 40 years, I achieved all I had planned to achieve by that age. But I realised education could be an impediment. So I took a jamb exam, got admission to UNILAG and studied business administration.
While at UNILAG, I started planning to relocate to China to open an office there. I deferred the education for a year, went to China to establish my business, came back and finished my degree. I did my masters in China and went to Lagos Business School.
I started making friends with people that are higher than me. I have received a lot of insults following these people. The people you mingle in life determines where you get to in life. If you mingle with those that go to clubs everyday, that’s what you become.
When I went to China, I was vocal. Former President Goodluck Jonathan. Okonjo Iweala and other top government officials knew me as a vocal person. If governors and government officials are lodging in a $1000 hotel , I would go there and lodge. I told myself I must know them. I started organising a business forum with 24 governors in attendance. We did the North Central Investment Forum and many others. So early in life, I planned what I wanted to become.
At some point, you became the coordinator of Nigerians in diaspora in China, Guianzhou province. Can you tell us the story?
Nigerians in China were not valued because the Chinese felt our people were committing many atrocities. You can’t even stay with your family in China, it’s too difficult. For 15 years, i was the only one allowed to own a visa in my company. Most Nigerians in China can not live a good life. There are places you can not live in China.
I called a press conference on one of my visits to Nigeria to announce to the Nigerian government what Nigerians are passing through in China. Okonjo Iweala read it in 2015. I raised a question on why Nigeria had an embassy in Beijing with less than 600 Nigerians while in Shanghai Guangzhou there were over 10,000 Nigerians but no embassy which was the reason we were being humiliated. We were just like sheep without a shepherd.
When Okonjo and President Jonathan came to China, they now approved the consulate office in Guangzhou. Many of the international media like CNN and Aljazeera interviewed me. So Abike Dabiri appointed me coordinator in that province.
Why the choice of China as your base?
80% of what Africans consume is from China. All that they buy from Dubai is from China. In China, if you place an order for one container, it would take them two to three months to produce it. I told the Nigerian government we can do better if we have a steady power supply. There are a lot of opportunities in China. If you have ten families, eight are into manufacturing. One can stay in his or her room, join wires together, come out with one idea and start exporting to the whole world.
If you want to buy anything from China, they will ask if you want European, African or Nigerian standards. The Nigerian standard is the cheapest and the lowest but thank God for Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON.
My stay in China helped me to achieve what I have achieved today. As a businessman, you go where you can make more profits. I am there to extract those good things from there to Nigeria. I established my company in Imo State and President Jonathan sent a representative to commission it. I brought my equipment to Nigeria.
Tell us about your philanthropic aspect?
It’s like a script written before now. I copied it from my late mum who was always giving food items to people in the village. Since 2009, I have been given rice to the widows. They gave me 150 widows . Even when I have challenges, I still share.
I also built a hospital in 2012. Though there were moves and threats from politicians, the women insisted it must be built because there was no single hospital in the area. I equipped it and handed it over to them.
On the issue of water, after my mother ‘s burial, I gave the village five boreholes and gave it to other communities too. I insisted every village must have water. I made it an annual thing to give empowerment. We empower those we trained. I have some kids under the foundation that I celebrate their birthdays with. Some name their children after me. It’s motivating that it’s good to be good.
What is your sad moment?
One was when I lost my mum. I cried for almost two.weeks. Second one was when my wife visited me in China for the first time. When she got to my house around 5pm after I dropped her at home and went back to the office, as she was cooking, the police came to my house and asked her to.stop cooking and arrested her.
She called me and went to meet them at the police station. Her crime was that the house I was living in, no black man or Nigerian can live there, that it’s a very big house. They insisted they must detain my wife until I leave the house. I had to leave the house. The pain is still like a dream to me.
