Dr. Cecilia Ibru is the Co-Founder of the Michael and Cecilia Foundation (MCF); a non-profit organisation focused on building effective, innovative, and enterprising human capital through educational opportunities. The foundation has birthed the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Delta State, the MCF Demonstration Schools, the MCF College of Education, and other education-oriented programme centres such as the Urhobo Innovation Hub and the MCF Coding Club for young coders. Hailed as the ‘First Lady’ of Banking, Ibru was the former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank. In this interview with ADELOWO ADEBUMITI, Ibru spoke about her new book, her university, and the Nigerian business climate, among others.

After a remarkable career in banking and the business world, you are back, this time, to unveil your autobiography. What informed the decision to write the book? 
Well, it was a decision that came out of discussion. This particular one had to do with my first Pro-Chancellor at the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Chief Joop Berkhout, a Dutchman, who later naturalised as a Nigerian.  He had this notion that I should write a book. And I said to him, book writing is very tedious. But he said, no, you’ve got to write your book. Just make it Cecilia, don’t complicate it.

After some time, I decided to try. He asked me to send the manuscript to him. So, as I was writing, I was sending it to him. Anytime I had a break of two, or three days, he would say, come on, you have more to write. You’ve not finished your story yet. He was an encouragement, and people need to be encouraged to do things. Without him, I’d probably not write the book.

Unfortunately, I had finished writing the whole book, they were already editing it the night before he died. If I had known he was going to pass on, I would have dedicated the book to him. But I had already done everything before he passed on.

What are the ideas you expressed in the book that can benefit other aspiring businessmen and women? 
I think the most profound one is growing up at home. Many of us came from villages.  I cherished growing up in my grandfather’s village and we learned a lot about life. We learned about survival, facilities, social gatherings and so on. And I think learning is the bedrock of development. Because, whatever you are learning, when you go away, whether to school or wherever, in your mind, you have to relate it to something that you have learned back home. And if there’s no relationship, it is difficult for you to assimilate.

I remember when I was in university and we were doing philosophy, each time there was an idea, I would think about it and cross it back to what my grandfather used to teach us in the village. Only two days ago, I told one of my daughters that whatever money you have, don’t buy cars, buy land. That was my grandfather. He said, “Buy land because the land is fixed.”

He used to say to us, you will have a car, you will go to university, you will have everything. You will have money; don’t use it on depreciating assets. For him, a car or a bicycle, are all depreciating assets. Sooner or later, they will go bad and you will have lost your investment in them. But with land, it will appreciate. So, that is a very simple philosophy of life. And I think that is the most profound experience I had.

You have taken the backstage in business for some time now, what have you been up to over the years?
I was never really in business until we started Oceanic Bank. But I had learned a lot from my grandfather and my husband about how to run a business, and as much as possible, make it successful. The watchword is total humility and being able to guide people without being aggressive.

So, after the issue at Oceanic Bank, for the first year or two, I wasn’t feeling too well. I was sort of psychologically affected. I couldn’t just imagine that this type of thing would happen to me after I had put in my very best. Anyway, being a Christian, you have to now take it that well, if God did not permit it, it will not happen. And if he has permitted it, it is because he has greater things for you in the future.

So, after that, I went for my medicals and everything. And then, my husband was sick in America, and they had cancelled my visa. Getting a visa to go to America was herculean; they were pushing me here and there until I was denied.  I said to myself, listen, I can’t just sit here, looking at the four walls. I must do something. And since we were already planning the university, even before the crisis with Oceanic Bank, I had to go back. I had one or two people working on it already. So, I went back and began to work with them on it. That was how we technically fast-tracked the establishment of the university. And I’ve been working there since.

Given your invaluable experience in the business sector, how are you mentoring the young generation to succeed in business?
I have a great next generation to mentor now with the university. We have over 1,500 students, and they all need to be mentored. I am not a lecturer, but now and again, we have sessions where I sit with some of them. The first team that we took on had my input all the time. Now, the university has grown and we have several faculties. So, I am not mentoring as I used to, but whenever I am there, I make sure that there is a time to get together, exchange ideas, and see how they are faring.

Are they getting it right educationally? Are they on the right track? Many of them feel that until they go abroad, they won’t be able to deliver. I say it’s not like that. You can deliver right here, especially with internet connectivity. You can get ideas from abroad and deliver them here.

The economic climate in Nigeria over the last few years is still not conducive for business.

What do you think are the issues?
Well, the issues are very simple. It’s a lack of direction. We have good policies, by the way, don’t mistake that, but it is the implementation of the policies that makes people tired. You go and ask for a permit to export some things, and they will give you a run for it, whereas if you go to other countries, they will actually help and ensure that you succeed. So, I think we need to encourage ourselves as a people.

How can we address these challenges? 
I believe we can still tackle them. It’s never too late.  It’s a clean-up exercise, we call it policy-driven and implementation. I believe with the right policies and the right team to implement; we can get it right. If you have a policy and cannot measure its effectiveness, that policy is useless. So measuring the effectiveness of a policy is key.

There’s a need for us to ensure that we encourage youths to take their proper position in the society so that we don’t leave them behind. I feel that our youths are very brilliant and they should be encouraged.

What can the government do to strengthen the naira and ultimately the economy?
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country will help in that people have to be encouraged to export. The government’s huge expense is a big concern because if you are spending more than you are earning, you are a deficit nation Because we are owing. So how are we going to do that?

One would have thought that we would be a net lender, rather than a net borrower. But at the moment, we are net borrowers. So, the question is, how are we managing the income from all these wonderful resources, oil, minerals and gold? Is the control good enough or is it lax? I’m not in government. I don’t know how governments implement their policies. But all we can see is that we are a rich nation, yet we are net borrowers. That is a problem that we need to address.

We are also allowing foreigners to explore our resources. They are here because we guide them. And there is a gap in knowledge because we don’t know how to explore these resources. That is a challenge that you and I as Nigerians must face and work with in order to actualise our real values.

What is next for Cecilia Ibru and what are your plans for the future?
My plan for the future is to stay with the university and bring up well-rounded, well-educated youths. Because we are in the village and many of the youth think that doing internet fraud is the best thing that has happened to them. But we have to let them know that the most important thing is to have a proper education so that they can be relevant.

You can go to China and look at what the country is doing, it is out of this world. The country is producing some of the best things. It’s a great country, but it is the people that are making the difference. So, if we educate our people well, and they become very proactive in determining what the future should be, we will be a different country and a very successful one at that. The quality of the people makes the nation.