MBADIWE: West African millionaire What my dad’s strictness taught me about life – Victor Mbadiwe, son of foremost nationalist, James Green Mbadiwe
Had he been the type that brags and hit their chests proudly about their achievements, Chief Victor Ngozi Mbadiwe would have been one of the numerous overbearing personas in contemporary Nigeria who make so much noise about how the country owes them some recognition.
However, he has chosen to stay away from the noisy stage of public life. But that does not detract from the huge impact he has made on this nation. For the record, he revolutionized barbing in this country when he singlehandedly introduced the use of Wahl clippers into the country and changed male grooming services for the better.
This illustrious son of Chief James Green Mbadiwe, one of Nigeria’s prominent nationalists who fought for the country’s independence, has continued to impact on the nation with his undying devotion to economic empowerment of able-bodied young men and bettering the lot of the less privileged.
In this interview, Chief Mbadiwe whipped up the nostalgia of pre and post-independence era and its politics of the time and he recalled his upbringing under a father that was a prominent figure in Nigeria’s politics of the early days and how that has shaped his life and his disposition in his business dealings. He said: “My father was a very strict man, and he would not want to see his reputation tarnished. When he was here, he was very hardworking and disciplined.
“He would never want to deal with a dishonest person or relate with liars. He was very straight forward, and he believed in remaining upright. So I have to live up to that. I make sure that I remain upright in running my businesses, and I avoid people of questionable character because my father will not be happy if I do things that would spoil the name of the family.”
Tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Chief Victor Ngozi Mbadiwe. I am the son of late Chief James Green Mbadiwe. I am from Arondizuogu in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State. I am a businessman. I studied Business Administration and Political Science in the United States of America (USA), and I came back in 1979.
When I came back, I was doing some little trading. I then got in contact with the Wahl Clipper Corporation in Sterling, Illinois, USA. And I was lucky to get the distributorship of their business in 1990. It was I who introduced the use of electric clippers to barbers in Nigeria.
Before then, barbers were using the manual clippers and operated at roadside shops. I saw that these old fashioned clippers could be modified to something that would simplify the jobs of barbers. And the barbers saw it as a good tool that they can use in doing their businesses.
Also, at that time, the barbers operated in little shops, so I also showed them how they can beautify their barbing salons to make it look nicer and more comfortable for their customers.
I felt that barbers are doing a good job to humanity, and felt that they should be better appreciated. So we went on to start an annual show called the Wahl Show to bring them together and celebrate them. I needed them to realize their importance to society because even Heads of States and Presidents need barbers to cut their hair to look good. But most times, barbers are neglected and looked down upon by society.
But with what I am doing, most Nigerian barbers now have improved self-esteem in their skill and businesses, and many more have realised that they can be proud of whom they are and what they are doing. We’ve been staging the Wahl Show for 28 years now. We bring barbers together and make sure that we give them fantastic prizes. We organise competitions where the winners sometimes win cash prizes worth a whopping N500,000, and the non-contestants get free clippers and barbing kits to start up their own businesses.
After the barbing contests, we would usually look at the less privileged homes and also donate to worthy Charity Homes like the Pachelli School for the Blind, The School for the Dumb, The SOS Village in Isolo-Lagos, Jamaha Mata Arewa in Northern Nigeria, several motherless babies homes and many other charity homes.
We have also given several scholarships to both secondary and university students to help their education through the J. Green Mbadiwe Foundation. We have indeed trained many doctors, engineers and lawyers. I’m in my 70s now, and I am happy with life.
What was it like growing up under a prominent father like yours?
It was not easy having a prominent father like mine. I was barely 29 years old when my father died. I am my father’s second son. My elder brother, who was the first son died during the Nigeria-Biafra civil war. So as the second son, I had to take up the mantle of leadership. It was a huge responsibility that fell on me as a young man who just came back from the United States.
But what can I do, but to handle the responsibility of continuing my father’s legacy? My father was a very strict man, and he would not want to see his reputation tarnished. When he was here, he was very hardworking and disciplined. He would never want to deal with a dishonest person or relate with liars. He was very straight forward, and he believed in remaining upright.
So I have to live up to that. I make sure that I remain upright in running my businesses, and I avoid people of questionable character because my father will not be happy if I do things that would spoil the name of the family. And I thank God Almighty, I’ve remained steadfast in keeping the good name he left behind for 40 years now.
Women must have been falling heads over heels for you because of your father’s feat. How did you cope?
I got married in America before I came back to Nigeria. So I didn’t come back home as a bachelor. I came back with my wife. I was lucky. I met her in the United States from my tribe. Both of us were students at that time, and when we graduated, I looked at Nigeria as a better place to come back to and start my life.
Did your father’s clout ever fetch you some antagonisms?
I don’t bother about antagonism. In life, whatever background you come from, or when you’re successful at what you do, people, and even your relatives, would at a time become jealous of you. So for me, I strive to remain focused, keep a level head and give my best in whatever I do. Jealousy and antagonism should not stop you in whatever you are doing to attain your goals in life.
What fond memories of your late father do you have?
My father was very strict with me even when I was young. At 10 years old he sent me to go and live with a family friend whose wife was a primary school headmistress. So I lived there, relocating with them to different parts of Nigeria, as transfer duties frequently beckoned on the humble civil-service family.
We lived in such diverse places as Owerri, Calabar, Eket and Degema in present-day Rivers State. That was a training that helped me tremendously because I was virtually a house boy to this blessed ‘foster family’ (The Nwachukwus) who were squarely responsible for the valuable training that characterised my early formative years.
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I frequently did chores like hacking the firewood, washing clothes, cooking, and fetching water from the well. It was a tough life. but I think my father sent me there to fully understand that life is tough.
And it helped me later in my adult life when I got into the United States. I did summer jobs like working at the factory, being a messenger and other sorts of menial jobs to earn extra pocket money for me to afford a good apartment, and live a good life. Those extra jobs helped me earn a living and support myself through school.
I also have fond memories of my father’s magnanimity. During the colonial era, life was so challenging for my father. And that made him and his peers to start thinking about freedom. So they started nursing the idea of having an independent Nigeria. My father was a major financier in the struggle for independence.
He worked hand in hand with the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macaulay, and the rest. He also sponsored the likes of K.O Mbadiwe, Nwafor Orizu, Mbonu Ojike and others to study in the United States. That group was called the “Eight Argonauts.” After their studies, they returned and joined in the fight for Nigeria’s independence.
But my father, alongside Odumegwu Ojukwu’s father (Louis Ojukwu), started it all. My father also invested heavily in Azikiwe’s West African Pilot Newspaper, a media tool that fast-tracked Nigeria’s independence. He also invested in Africa’s Continental Bank for Nigeria to have her own indigenous bank. Also, my father in 1944, gave an interest-free £500 loan to the British colony. It was some of these generous gestures that made Dr Azikiwe rank my father (J. Green Mbadiwe) as a “West African Millionaire”.
No matter how good a man is, he will always have some weak points. What is your father’s weak point that you don’t want to have?
I love everything about my father apart from his strictness. I don’t know if I can be that strict with my children at this day and age. When I was sent to stay with the Nwachukwus, I kept wondering why he doesn’t want me in our luxury house; and even when I ran back to my home, my father would send his driver to take me back.
My father didn’t want us his children to feel that he had stupendous wealth. But I think that that training helped me to stand on my two feet and become independent because if I was spoilt by my father’s wealth, I wouldn’t have understood the value of hard work. My dad’s strictness made me realise that life is a struggle and not a bed of roses.
Why are you not in politics to continue from where your father stopped?
Politics these days is not easy. People from anywhere can come and hijack a political system. It’s not the best area for me because I feel that there are some other things I can do in life and do it well. An example is what I’m doing now. I’m getting barbers together, empowering them, encouraging them to be proud of their skill, organising events to get them recognised and respected in the society. I want to be remembered for that feat. I want to have a legacy for my role in improving the lots of barbers in Nigeria.
And again, I’m a businessman. In families, some people would be politicians while some others are cut out to do business.
Do you feel pressured to match your father’s reputation, and step into the big shoes he left?
You can’t compare the years of our fathers with now. In this day and with this internet age, somebody from nowhere can start a business and begin to prosper in a few years. But during colonial times, life was much tougher. They strived to make it under the exploitations of the British government. So anybody that was able to excel at that time must have been a great man. Those of us that came after them, enjoyed and showcased the foundation they laid for us.
My father left an illustrious, and a huge legacy for me after he passed away. And it is not easy fitting into his shoes. But I have done my best to enhance some of his legacies and multiplied what he left for us. In those days, my father would say to us: ‘It’s not what the hands fetch that matters, but what it can keep’. And I always repeat the same to my children and tell them that they must also strive to multiply whatever they can inherit from their parents so their children can inherit too.
