[Personality Profile] We Need to Utilize Our Comparative Advantage in Boki — Emmanuel N. Ewah, Prominent Boki Businessman

In this exclusive interview, Emmanuel Ewah, prominent Boki businessman bares his heart on his Journey through life, his love for Boki and shares his advice for Boki Youths 

Tell Us about Yourself

My names are Mr. Emmanuel N. Ewah, I have a HND in Public Administration.  I am married with 2 beautiful children.  A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administration of Nigeria and the Managing Director of Apex Projects Limited.

Apex Projects Limited is into construction works, solar power and water engineering or water resource management. The company has been around for the past 20 years. We have carried out local and international contracts, with associates in countries like South Africa, United Kingdom and Thailand. We also import solar products. When I mean solar products, I am talking about Solar Panels, solar pumps and all other allied products that have to support solar water engineering which in turn helps the economy of Nigerian cities and our local communities. 

You and Boki

I am a proud son of Katchuan Irruan. I love Boki a lot.  My father is a chief. His name is Chief Stephen Ewah. I am not a politician but could be one someday, although everyday living is politics. I am a full businessman for now. I was in Boki last 2 weeks and I will be in Boki next week. One cannot run away from their root. I visit home on a regular basis to relax and see my people and friends.

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Like I said, I am from Katchuan Irruan, I was born and I grew up playing in the sands of Katchuan Irruan. I finished my secondary education at Community Secondary school in Katchuan Irruan and moved to Lagos in 1983. When I moved to Lagos I worked with a prominent Boki son, the CEO of Global Minerals LTD.

What gets you going?

Life is an endless journey of walking by faith. You must trust God, and trust your abilities. Mentors will train you physically but God will guide you spiritually. Dr. Pius Tawo is that person for me; he trained and groomed me. The journey hasn’t been easy, but what is worth doing is worth doing very well.  If one wants to be a doctor, you must sit down and learn what it entails, likewise one going into business. I have dedicated a larger part of my life into understanding business and the importance of business in helping local communities and even larger cities. So the journey hasn’t been easy but I have given my best and it is yielding results. 

Why this line of work?

I read somewhere in a book that one should have at least 5 streams of income. I read marketing and Public Administration at the Chartered Institute of Administration. As one is growing up you should be able to know what you are good at. Some of the things people call gifts. You must be able to know where the flood of life is taking you to and if you don’t like the direction, you quit and if you like it, you improve on it. Life has taken me through the direction of marketing to where I am now. 

You know life is basically about marketing. Politicians do marketing, business men do marketing, engineers do marketing, and car manufacturing companies do marketing. You must have a marketing aspect to your business and I am lucky to have had the head for it. So my marketing knowledge has led me here and it has helped me navigate the business environment. It has not been easy but here I am.

Your advice to young people

Life is a process, and in this process there is a period of incubation and you cannot skip this part, because if you do you won’t make it. I am a big fan of the Igbo people. When you see an Igbo man, he will have around me a group of boys who he trains in a particular line of business, they will learn from him and within a period become masters themselves. Some of us consider these boys uneducated, but they are educated in a particular line of business they will go on to do for the rest of their lives. 

One of the things I have seen amongst Boki youths and I think they should change is young people’s desire to skip the training process. We have a lot of things that young people can engage themselves with in Boki; Palm oil is there, banana, yams, plantain, you name it. If they can put their head down and learn the trade of agriculture and take opportunity of the comparative advantage their locality offers instead of playing dirty politics they will succeed. 

See, politics itself cannot work except the economy is functioning and that will  only happen if we have people actively involved in the activity which we have comparative advantage in. 

I see what young people are doing. Along the Ikom-Boki axis, I have seen a group of boys who have engaged in the cocoa business and are doing a lot for themselves. I have seen them rising from nothing to something. Some of them have built houses, some have bought cars and have even opened businesses for their spouses.  

Final words

Boki is our home, what I don’t understand is the kind of politics we play there. I will like to understand why we do that kind of politics and of what benefit it is to Boki. it will be  nice if we can restructure our political thinking and make it economically based Boki will be a place to envy.

Secondly, we need to take God seriously in Boki. I have come to understand that as a young person, when you put your faith in God all things are possible.