Welcome to 2009
2008 was the year I moved back to Nigeria from the UK. I stopped working at Network Rail Infrastructure Limited on Thursday the 1st of May 2008 and started working with Diamond Capital & Financial Markets Limited (DCFM) on Monday the 5th of May. Talk about in at the deep end.
For the past 8 months, I have been working non-stop as the Head of Principal Investments at Diamond Capital, responsible for historical equity investments made by Diamond Bank and all future investments made by Diamond Capital. I am responsible for investments in paint and resin factories, beer bottling plants, real estate developments, oil and gas servicing companies, road haulage and logistic companies, natural gas bottling plants, rice farms, car tracking companies, telecoms investments, health companies, catering companies – anything that moves and we can invest in for a good return, I am responsible for. I have become responsible for the structuring, the tracking, monitoring, logistics, legal issues, entry and subsequent exit from the investment…
No be small…
That is why I have been working from dawn till dusk over the past 8 months, working like a dog, chasing my tail. But, it is not sustainable. It can’t continue like this. It’s no fun and life had better be fun or you move on. I can’t continue to complain that I am in-undated by the sheer volume of work. 2009 is the year I have to take things forward. I have to make a change. I have to rise beyond carrying all the operational issues on my back, and start putting people in place under me to take care of the day-to-day running of this business. I can’t continue and do not derive pleasure from running a fire fighting business and I need to move to a more strategic level where I can add more value and vision.
I told my organisation at the team building event when I joined that I intended to work towards taking off on Wednesday afternoons to go and play golf. They looked at me with expectation. I still stand by this promise, and I haven’t changed from my expectation. I appreciate that I am in a great position of being able to pick whatever investment I believe can make money as long as I can defend the idea. It is a great position to be in. I have to make the most of the opportunity as such an opportunity for me to go off and place experiments with someone else’s money may not come walking off the street every day.
At the same time, I have to make time for developing strategy, I have to make time to develop strategic relationships both for the position I am in but also for my own career development. No man is an island as they say. I have every intention of making a success of what I do and I can’t do it successfully by continuing along the path I left in 2008.
So, welcome 2009, things are not going back to the way they were. I am no longer a baby in this country. Time to start to assert myself. Time to put my own plans in place. Time to make a change.
Munachi Okoye
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5 comments:
Hapy new year!
Ise!!!
Drax my broda, 2009 will fulfill all your dreams and more... and that's a promise.
Kene Ritz & the brood.
fabulous blog. i've bookmarked you. keep saving the country. i'll be back.
YO dude,
jus randonly came across your blog. I jus wanted 2 say keep up the good work, your move to nigeria has sort inspired. I have worked as an investment banker for 4 yrs in the city. I came to UK at the tender age of 16 and that was 10 yrs ago. Now at tender age of 26. I am aslo entertaining the idea fro returning home this year. Your ideas and blog is quite refreshing to read. More power to your elbow, I shud joining u soon.
I find this blog very inspiring. I too have been off the country for too long and find myself recently perusing relocation. As a IT person of many years of experience, where do you see possible employment. I also was excited about the fact there are golf courses around; which means boredom is certainly under control.
Please keep up the good work and let me know when we can tee up; I will be twittering your blogersphere for sure.
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