Tope Mark-Odigie is a transformative figure, leveraging entrepreneurship to drive societal advancement. With a strong belief in real estate as a path to wealth creation, she advocates for good governance to create an enabling environment for Nigerians. As CEO of REB360, Tope spearheads initiatives empowering individuals through real estate, while leading WIRE Africa to empower women in the sector. She draws inspiration from influential women like her mother, Ibukun Awosika, and Oprah Winfrey. Through initiatives like the “Game of Money” conference, Tope aims to demystify financial management and empower individuals to achieve financial freedom. In this interview with ESTHER IJEWERE, she shares her inspiring story.

Childhood influence
I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My parents and my grandfathers on both sides were successful entrepreneurs. My maternal grandfather was a successful sawmiller in Ekiti and Ondo, while my paternal grandfather was a successful entrepreneur as a casket maker. I have always known I am going to be a successful entrepreneur. Childhood influences for me were my parents and grandparents, who co-influenced me into seeing myself thrive and grow as an entrepreneur, solving problems within my environment.

Motivation for entrepreneurship and real estate advocacy
I have seen many lives being transformed with the knowledge of entrepreneurship. I have met many people who started with nothing and became successful. I believe wealth creation is possible through knowledge of entrepreneurship and that inspired me to become an advocate of entrepreneurship. Many Nigerians are looking for jobs where there are not enough job opportunities. The best solution is for us to create jobs by becoming entrepreneurs and solving problems within our environment. My passion for living a life of significance led me to become a transformational speaker.

The hunger has always been in me right from when I was young and my life has to count for more. As the only child, my parents always say, “You are a child of destiny. You are not a mistake. God gave you to us to solve problems.” With these, I have always had expectations of myself that I must solve the challenges of many people around me. I perfected my speaking skills when I finished secondary school through teaching and speaking in church. All of these helped me to become a teacher of entrepreneurship and wealth creation.

As I earlier mentioned, my parents and grandparents were big on consolidating their wealth in real estate. I have realised that many Nigerians make money and lose money because they do not have strategies to multiply their money. In solving that problem, I have discovered that real estate is the best way for people to maintain the value of their wealth and by doing so they need knowledge on how entrepreneurs build wealth through real estate. This brought me to teaching about real estate and helping people save and build their wealth through real estate.

To God be the glory, the testimony has been immense. I feel like I am living my dream life. I am living purposefully because I live a life where I am earning money while helping others to earn money through real estate and build their wealth as entrepreneurs. It’s a win-win!

REB360: Empowering communities and creating wealth through real estate
A country like Nigeria deserves hopeful-minded individuals who are filled with encouragement. These will contribute to the growth and development of the country in various ways. As a citizen of Nigeria and a real estate business owner in the country, I am not building real estate specifically because I want to house people. I am building real estate because I want to assemble communities that are inspired to solve problems from every layout and estate that REB360 designs for individuals who will live in those spaces.

Also, I use real estate as a tool for wealth creation because it is the best way to circulate money within an environment. With real estate development, many individuals get empowered, right from the engineers to the lawyers, architects, bricklayers, plumbers, building materials suppliers and every other worker that makes a building a home. Real estate helps to empower a large group of people to create wealth for themselves. I love real estate because it is a win-win for all. In my opinion, whenever governments are thinking of how to stimulate the economy, they should put money into real estate because it touches a lot of people. For me, real estate is a true platform for people’s empowerment and wealth creation.

WIRE Africa: Empowering African women through real estate
Financial empowerment is crucial for women’s independence and safety. WIRE (Women in Real Estate, Africa) aims to combat issues like prostitution and abuse by empowering women economically through real estate.

By providing opportunities and fostering financial stability, WIRE enables women to make decisions independently, escape abusive situations and secure better futures for themselves and their children.

Game of Money
Game of Money as the name implies is to teach us (Nigerians) how to understand money. Money is a game and a currency that comes in and goes out, which needs to be properly understood like monopoly. It is wise that we employ people who are entrepreneurs as well as cooperating workers to be able to master and win the Game of Money. We are bringing in coaches, successful entrepreneurs and workers – those who have worked in corporate sectors and have built their wealth – to teach how they built their wealth, dealt with inflation and were able to live their lives even though they had limited income. Game of Money is also a way for me to cross between just talking to entrepreneurs and also talking to those who work in the corporate world.

Strategy for societal growth
Human potential is limitless. I’ve spent seven years transforming lives by instilling hope and optimism. Mindset shapes behaviour; I emphasise positivity, showing opportunities even in challenging narratives. I have trained over 300 individuals in make up and thousands in real estate. I teach, speak and share examples, empowering others to believe in themselves and their potential for greatness.

Driving societal change as an award-winning television host
Being on television for over 10 years has been very enlightening. It has helped me to speak truth to power. I have met with governors, First Ladies of different states and even the First Lady of Nigeria, ministers and many decision-makers. I have been able to confront them on the things they do wrong and how they can do them better. I have gotten feedback that my constructive criticisms and objectives have been of immeasurable value to leaders (ministers, commissioners, House of Representatives members) who have specifically said to me that they like the way I give feedback to the government without insulting them. Therefore, I know my presence on television has been impactful.

Also, I contributed to a massive natural hair movement, which inspired people to go natural and love their natural hair. This has helped to improve an aspect of their self-esteem. In addition, I have influenced several people to make healthcare choices through my shared stories on what I do to live a healthy life.

In all routes, I have seen and experienced evidence of the impact that my being on television has had on people’s health, self-esteem, wealth creation and even good governance within Nigeria.

Advocating for good governance
Over the past 10 years, I have spoken truth to power across political parties, and I have repeatedly mentioned that entrepreneurs need an enabling environment to thrive. What we consider an enabling environment is majorly stable power supply and maximum security. Having a reliable power supply will minimise the financial burden caused by diesel price fluctuations, while maximum security provides safety and peace of mind for businesses and business owners. If the government can provide a good power supply and maximum security, I can guarantee that entrepreneurship will thrive on a greater scale. As well, we would like to have access to loans – single-digit loans – for businesses and a tax break for a long time. Most importantly, a good power supply and maximum security are essential to thrive as a country.

Impactful projects in tackling unemployment
In 2015, I started a scholarship programme where I provided 300 underserved and underprivileged community members in Lagos State with access to free makeup training. Statistics show that 70 per cent of those who were trained now earn a living based on the training they got from the initiative that I pioneered, which I found impactful because not only did I see a problem in unemployment but also a solution in providing skills.

In addition, I partnered with the ‘Not in My Country’ anti-corruption agency to educate secondary school students on integrity. After this, many of the students gave feedback that they did not understand how important integrity and being truthful were, which shows they found the interactions impactful and helpful. I supported this initiative for over one year.

Also, I supported the former First Lady of Lagos State’s foundation, which took care of widows. My contribution to this foundation was to provide training for the widows on makeup and help them set up a business, which was funded by the former First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, at the time. By doing this, the widows were able to find a source not to become beggars or prostitutes. This is among many things we carried out as innovative solutions to local problems within Nigeria.

Three women who influenced her journey
The three most inspirational women in my life are my mother (Mrs. Olayinka Odubela), Ibukun Awosika and Oprah Winfrey.

My mum (Mrs. Olayinka Odubela) is my pillar of strength, my support system and she shows me what it means to be resilient. She is a successful entrepreneur across different industries, going from one business to another, making money and coming from the bottom to the top in everything she lays her hands on. She is my first inspirational woman.

Ibukun Awosika is an entrepreneur and a lover of God. She portrays that she is a pastor called to serve by God; a mother, a wife and a successful entrepreneur who is also impacting her world. She symbolises everything I want to succeed in, which made her a shining example for me. She is my second inspirational woman.

Oprah Winfrey, on a global scale, is my third inspirational woman. This is because she rose from poverty and a place where she was undermined as a person who went from slavery to becoming the wealthiest black woman in America. This is another story of coming from the bottom and to the top. It is a symbol of hope and a major strength for me.

Being a Woman of Rubies
I am a Woman of Rubies because I know I am a source and a channel that gives life. Being a source, I open up myself to help many other people maximise their lives. I have done this on television for over 10 years and as an entrepreneur for over 15 years. I have given life to people’s dreams as a speaker for over 10 years. Every day I wake up, my daily activities give life to people’s dreams, finances and investments. And also, because I live my truth as a life-given source, I believe I am a
Woman of Rubies.