Struggle to Success: A story of how a street marketer became an international businessman

The story of Chief Joseph Onah, a businessman, an indigene of Igede in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State, can be described as: ‘from rag to riches,’ ‘from grass to grace,’ ‘from nobody to somebody.’ He had a very humble beginning as a street marketer but today, he has a story to tell the younger generation. This is to let the present generation know that hardwork pays and it is better to strive harder to get to the top rather than delve into illicit activities like armed robbery, kidnapping, gambling/betting, drug peddling, yahoo, cheating, etc. He spoke with Chris Onokpegu in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Excerpts:

*Can we meet you for the benefit of our readers?

My name is Chief Joseph Onah, I am a businessman, I reside in Cote d’Ivoire. I am the CEO of TSW International and the Founder of Aids-Life Foundation. I am also the President of the Benue Community in Cote d’Ivoire.

*What type of business do you do?

I am into importation and distribution of food supplements.

*Why did you choose this particular field out of all others like banking, engineering, law and even being a medical doctor, why pharmaceutical line?

You know, as one grows up, you have a lot of ambitions and in those kinds of ambitions, the bottom line is that you want to be a successful person in life. So, while growing up, you try to go to school, finish from school, you try to put your hands into doing something, either looking for a job or trying to do business. And while pondering on what to do, an idea came to me after school. So, I started as a marketer, distributing food supplements and that actually spurred me to go further to do more research on a particular product and that was how I became successful.

THE TURNING POINT
*After school, I know you started from somewhere, for the benefit of our readers, especially the upcoming generation, how did you start your business?

I did not start big and I didn’t inherit any wealth from my parents, I started very little. I started business as a marketer, a street marketer, where you take goods and move from one point to another trying to convince people to patronize you. You remit the money and collect more goods and another day, you do the same, and that was how I started and today, I am the owner of my own.

*How were you able to raise money to start your own? Is it from the money you saved or you collected loan from the bank or from friends and relatives?

I actually started my business from the money I was saving which I got from the marketing of the goods I was collecting. You know, every day, I sell and make money, so I was able to save the money from the sales, no matter how little. And from there, I increased my stocks and started moving from one level to another and before you know it, I started importing the goods by myself. So it is all about being courageous and being honest with the people that give you goods to market. Well, you might start little but if you are honest, people will like to do business with you. My honesty paid off, other people started entrusting me with their goods even when I don’t have enough money. They gave me goods because they know that after selling, I will definitely return to pay them their monies and they were encouraged to give me more goods and that was how the whole thing started.

*Where and what level has this business taken you to?

The business has taken me to places, where I least expect. I have gotten recognitions from so many places and I believe it is taking me to greater heights. Presently, I cover West Africa region. We have branches in most of the West African countries especially the French-speaking countries and I know I am going to somewhere. By the special grace of God, we hope to cover the whole of Africa, that is my dream and aspiration.

*We discovered that the younger generations are into illicit activities like kidnapping, armed robbery, yahoo, gambling/betting, etc, probably because people are not impacting knowledge in their fields, are you doing anything in that aspect?

Yes, most of the younger generations are looking for the quickest ways of making money and that is why they are into wrong ventures and illicit activities. The problem is that they are impatient. I will rather encourage them to be patient and not do what will affect them and the generations after them. Money does not fall from heaven like manna as we saw in the Bible, and even if it falls like manna, you will not value it. The Israelites did not value it as we read in the Bible. Immediately after they finish eating, they became lazy and started asking for more and other types of food from Moses, instead of them, to keep some and probably look for how to preserve it for another time, they were expecting more to fall out of greed. So, the children of today should be patient, they should not consume everything they are getting but rather invest them. They should know that success comes when they gather the little they have, little by little. And because they are looking for profits to come in volume, many of them will run out of patient, hence they involve themselves in wrong doings and in the process endangering their lives. Well, we are trying in our little ways to impact knowledge on those who are interested because it is not everybody that like pharmaceutical field.

*Do you have any training outfit that teaches or impact knowledge on the younger generation?
Yes, in our business, the first thing we do is to put you through training, after training, we organize seminar for you. We train you in different fields, and if you have learnt enough from our trainers, we test you and if you are good enough, then we establish you in what we do.

*Lastly, is there anything you are doing for the people or community around you, to support them?

For the society, yes. I am the Founder and President of the Aids-Life Foundation, and I use the Foundation to give back to the community around me. We know, all of us came from somewhere, and many of us were not born with the ‘Golden Spoon’, I came from a very humble background before I rose to this level I am today, so I am encouraged to give back to the society through my Foundation.

*As the President of the Benue Community in Cote d’Ivoire, what plans do you have for your people?

Yes, we are working hand-in-hand with the Benue State Government in the area of humanitarian service and fight against human trafficking and child prostitution. I want to use this opportunity to appreciate the Governor, His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia for the wonderful jobs he is doing. Recently, we were able to collaborate with the State Government and the Benue indigenes in Cote d’Ivoire to rescue and repatriate some of our girls who escape from the kidnappers’ den. We also want to use this platform to call on the federal government led by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to see how they can tighten our border between Nigeria and Benin Republic (Seme-border/Krake) so as to put a stop to kidnapping. We also have other plans lined up for our people in Cote d’Ivoire which will be unveiled during our next meeting.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for having me.

Note: If you want to tell your own story, to encourage somebody out there, kindly contact this number+234-8165273757.