He is the Publisher of Success Digest Extra and President of Success Attitude Development Center.
A Colossus and Mentor of many part has been very instrumental to the success of a large number of youth entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
He is well respected in the media, particularlly in Entrepreneiship and Sports jounalism.
A Husband, father , mentor and business coach is 58 years old.
He still remember what he was told in those days. "Go to school, read your books, pass your exams, get a good job and work there until you retire." I don’t know how many people who are familiar with that line? Those were the good (did I say good?) old days. Though Nigerians still believe in certificate, much of that thought is becoming a thing of the past.
Nigerians are beginning to know that to make money, you have to be streetwise and not rely totally on what you are thought in school. For hardly will they teach you how to make money in school. Are you surprised to know that majority of world inventors and richest men either did not go to school or dropped out of school. A good example is Thomas Edison who attended school for just three months. Or Bill Gates the world richest man who dropped out from school to work on his Microsoft idea. What these individuals have shown is that you can still achieve your goal in life with or without a degree certificate.
In Nigeria, the same is the case. While many are doing everything including buying of certificates for obvious reasons, others are using their God given potentials and talents to add value to humanity. While others are busy chasing shadows in the name of educational qualifications, which cannot be defended at the appropriate time, others are using their streetwise sense to make a contribution to the society and of course earn a living.
Such men are happy doing what the love and passionate about. Such men add colour to peoples’ life while smiling to the bank. That is where Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase our change master for the week belongs. Born on 31st December 1950, few hours to a New Year in Osogbo, Osun State, though Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Janet Obazu-Ojeagbase hailed from Uzebba, Owan West Local Government in Edo State.
From a humble but poor background, he managed to enroll into St. Jame’s Primary School, Osogbo where he secured his First School Leaving certificate in 1962. At seventeen, he enlisted into the Nigerian army, after working as an apprentice mechanic for two days, a trainee stenographer for six months and almost five years as a trainee printer. His joining the army was a desperate act to run away from poverty. Pool betting became his second pre-occupation in the military, a habit that nearly ruined his life. But thank God, the turning point came when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and saviour and at the same time reading the book The Seven Laws of Success by Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of Worldwide Church of God. With this fresh information, he voluntarily discharged from the army in 1978 and then set out for sports journalism. To improve on his primary six certificate, he in 1976 enrolled and studied from home for General Certificate of Education (GCE) and two correspondent courses in journalism at the age of 26 with a family to take care of (His first child coming when he was 20). Of the four subjects entered in GCE, he made two papers (a credit in Economics and an A in English).
The A in English fired up his desire in sport journalism. He began to invest in any sports material he could lay his hand on and then to study the style and presentation of sports writers in the materials. His very first attempt as a sports writer was in June 1976, when he, as a free lancer, wrote a sports report for the Herald Newspaper, owned by the Kwara State Government.
And so he became a sports reporter working for the likes of Daily Times from April 1, 1979, Concord Group of Newspapers from 1980 and the Guardian in 1983. Sometime in 1983, it dawned on him that at 33 he has not achieved much, with ten thousand naira annual salary, he felt he needed to do more. It was at this stage that he read two books from the shelve of one his mentors, Bishop Dr. George Amu, the General Overseer of GoodNews Miracle Bible Church.
As he read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, co-authored by Hill and W. Clement Stone, he discovered as he put it that he can bake a bigger pie for his family. So in October 1984 after doing a good job in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, he decided to publish an all sports paper. To begin, he sold his cameras bought from the Olympics for four thousand naira and borrowed two thousand five hundred naira from Chief O. O. Olukanmi.
And so with six thousand five hundred naira, he started publishing the first Nigerian weekly sports newspaper Sports Souvenir with himself as the vendor selling the paper at National stadium, Lagos. A year later, he published Complete Football, the first Nigerian all-colour monthly football magazine and in 1995 he came out with Complete Sports, which is the first daily sports newspaper.
Also in 1995, together with his wife Esther started a pet project that will enable them teach Nigerians how to come about change in their lives. Thus Success Attitude Development Centre (SADC) an NGO with a mission to raise and nurture entrepreneurs whose success in business is driven by the fear of God; a burning desire to care for their families and unquenchable thirst to do good in their communities.
It was under this NGO that SuccessDigest Magazine – one of the highest selling magazines and Nigerians number one life changing magazine – came out in 1995. Today under SADC are such national events like the SuccessDigest Entrepreneurs Awards (an event looked forward to be entrepreneurs in Nigeria), SuccessDigest Entrepreneurs Conference, SuccessDigest Business Opportunity Expo, SuccessDigest Leaders’ Club and SO Wealth Library.
Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase, a consultant and professional speaker amongst other things has authored several books like such bestsellers as How to Make It in Nigeria – Building Your Wealth from Ground Floor Up, How to Bullet Proof Yourself from Poverty, Ideas – The Starting Point of All True Riches etc.
Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase has touched the lives of so many Nigerians both young and old, his story has served as enough tonic to many who would’ve given up for the sake of not having a university or any other tertiary education qualification.
His effort has turned to be the answer to many youths who would’ve checked out from our dear country, though with a bleak future over there. He brought about the idea of making money from whatever one can do. From snail farming to chalk production. From professional proofreading to soap making. From Bee keeping to carbon-black production. From building wealth in stock market to packaging for export. Name it, those hitherto not able to do anything, have suddenly found themselves being their own boss and employing others.
Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase’s commitment to succeed towered above every rejection that came his way. When he was trying to raise money to start a sports magazine, people told him it wouldn’t work. "Why do you think people would buy sport magazine? Is it not the same stories carried by newspapers that you would be reporting?" they asked, unable to hide their doubt. Today Complete Football has stayed several years on the newsstand and is still rated as one of the best in the industry.
Despite the fact that they have been in sports publishing for over a decade when they wanted to introduce a daily sports newspaper, some people still doubted their ability to sustain the new product. "These guys are over-reaching themselves now," the doubters said. Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase and his crew rejected this rejection and went ahead to publish Complete Sports which is more than seven years old now, and it is still growing stronger daily.
Lessons
Dear reader, if you will agree with me, there are important lessons to learn from our change master for the week. First, you must know who you are. One of my mentors once told me that if I can’t describe my career using few words, then I don’t have a hold on what am doing. So my question to you dearly beloved reader is where are you right now? What is your purpose in life? These questions I believe should ignite a fire within you.
Secondly, you should know where you are going. That’s the only time you can know how to get there. Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase, then wanted to be a journalist and he took steps that could make it possible. The idea of knowing your purpose and how to achieve it will make it possible for you to know if your present career will take you there or know when to move. If Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase had stayed back in the army or stayed back in paid employment, there is every indication that the story wouldn’t have been the same.
When you decide on what to do, act on it. Many have been found wanting in taking action. They wait for the perfect time. But when is the perfect time? While they still want every arrangement to be perfect before launching out, others are out there doing their stuff. The problem is that some do not want to start small. Do you think Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase would’ve waited until he gets so much money before launching out?
Form the habit of self-improvement. Books, tapes, seminars and closeness to mentors could be the tonic you need. There is no how you read a book without learning something new from it. They are packed full with ideas. They are packed full with wisdom. They are shortcourts to attaining your dream. If it takes Napoleon Hill thirty years to write a Think and Grow Rich and it takes you one week to read, wouldn’t you have acquired an experience of thirty years in one week? It was Isaac Newton that said that if he is seeing farther than others, it’s because he is standing on the shoulders of giants.
Look at every obstacle as a stepping stone. All that Dr. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase has achieved today didn’t come without struggle. But he persisted. He was broke, he failed in business, and he was rejected but today all that is history. Also, I would advice you start documenting your experiences as they come. Some day it could be a bestseller and while it becomes an encouragement to the younger generation, it will also become an income earner.
Lastly, I left this for a purpose. Coming last I believe you won’t forget it easily. Believe and trust in God. There is no alternative. He has all that you are looking for.
I don’t know what you or some one you know is going through currently. But I do know that men and women like Dr. Sunny Obazu.But Ojeagbase did not set out to go into motivational and business advisory business. He was indeed a victim. He was himself at the brink of bankruptcy when he stumbled on these winning ways. He had actually been declared bankrupt and a reciever appointed by his bank to liquidate the business. The reciever indeed visited them and asked for the company's assets.
Here are his keys to his success:
Sunny’s First Key To Success: He Sought Financial Independence. This is the foundation of his success. When he came to the point he wasn’t no longer contented with his meagre pay as a low ranking army personnel, he started looking for other ways to make money legally and be able to provide for his family.
Although he went about it the wrong way the first time by engaging in pool betting, which left him poorer, more frustrated, it was nevertheless the desire to be freed from financial stagnation that he was in search of.
And fortunately for him, that search led him to come across the book, The seven laws of success by W. Herbert Armstrong, which positioned him in the path of success and changed his life for good.
Sunny’s Second Key To Success: He Applied The Knowledge He Got. Sunny did not give room to doubt about the workability of the ideas to achieving success that he read in the Seven Laws Of Success, neither did he allow procrastination to stop him from putting the ideas to work in his life.
Some other persons may have dispelled the keys to success in the book as something that would work only in America, the country of the book writer where there are infrastructures that work. But sunny was convinced it would work for him if he could do just as the book taught.
Sunny’s Third Key To Success: He Identified Where His Passion Lied. Following what he read from the 7 laws of success, that one should find his passion and build a career in it.
Sunny’s Fourth Key To Success: He Was Prepared To Be Retrained. Although sunny had been in the military for many years, subjected to the regimental lifestyle of the military, yet he was willing and ready to be retrained.
With an education that was no more than elementary schooling, Sunny was not intimidated or overwhelmed by the fact that he would need to take and pass some O/level papers to proceed to study journalism.
The huge sacrifice and commitment involved in changing career did not discourage him, rather his goal of becoming successful in life was so strong that he was prepared to do all that was needed to achieving it.
Sunny’s Fifth Key To Success: He Went To Gain Experience. Having successfully studied journalism, Sunny was been drawn closer to his goal. Now he needed to gain work experience by getting a job as a journalist, which did not come.
If he hadn’t stayed with his resolve to be a journalist in spite of the difficult financial situation he was going through, and started off being a freelancer, perhaps he may not have later had the opportunity to get to the highest level of his profession.
Sunny’s Sixth Key To Success: He Was Never Content To Remain In The Same Level For Too Long. After getting to the peak of his career, Sunny longed to move higher.
That longing pushed him to resign his appointment as a Sports Editor with a leading Nigerian Newspaper, to set up his with the partnership of his wife.
Though he struggled to keep his business, Complete Communication Limited, running for many years, today the company is a phenomenal success.
Sunny’s Seventh Key To Success: He Found A Profitable Niche Market. Before Sunny began publishing only sports newspaper, there was none in Nigeria. Sports stories were usually sited at the back pages in newspapers, and were never detailed.
Sunny thought deep and discovered his passion was in
journalism. It was under this NGO that Success Digest Magazine – one of the highest
selling magazines and Nigerians number one life changing magazine – came
out in 1995. Today under SADC are such national events like the Success
Digest Entrepreneurs Awards (an event looked forward to be
entrepreneurs in Nigeria), Success Digest Entrepreneurs Conference,
Success Digest Business Opportunity Expo, Success Digest Leaders’ Club
and SO Wealth Library.
Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase, a consultant and professional speaker amongst
other things has authored several books like such bestsellers as How to
Make It in Nigeria – Building Your Wealth from Ground Floor Up, How to
Bullet Proof Yourself from Poverty, Ideas – The Starting Point of All
True Riches etc. Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase has touched the lives of so many Nigerians both
young and old, his story has served as an inspiration to many who would
have given up due to lack of a university or any other tertiary
education qualification.
He brought about the idea of making money from whatever one can do. From snail farming to chalk production. From professional proofreading to soap making. From Bee keeping to carbon-black production. From building wealth in stock market to packaging for export. Name it, those hitherto not able to do anything, have suddenly found themselves being their own boss and employing others.
Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase’s commitment to succeed overcame every setback that came his way. When he was trying to raise money to start a sports magazine, people told him it wouldn’t work. “Why do you think people would buy sport magazine? Is it not the same stories carried by newspapers that you would be reporting?” they asked. He proceeded forward nonetheless, and the rest is history.He will always say ''Learn it,do it, sell it.There are five critical steps to effective selling of anything, be it a product, a service or an idea. These five steps are what must be in place in any business, small or big, for it to prosper. If you can understand these five steps and patiently implement each one of them in your selling process, you’ll end up with a lot of money in the bank.
The five steps are: [1] Find those who would buy what you want to sell first [market]; [2] ensure you get the very best of what they want to buy [product or service]; [3] go back to the people and present what they want to buy to them in a way that it will please them [irresistible offer]; [4] present to them the most convenient way for them to buy it from you [call to action] and [5] keep repeating the five processes.
That’s it. If you can implement these five steps in your business, the Invisible Paymaster will love you and hand over cheques to you non-stop. In our previous lessons, we had covered steps one and two.
