Razaq Okoya, founder of Eleganza Industrial City Limited and the Aare of Lagos, has revealed that his rise to wealth was shaped by lessons learned from his late father.
Speaking in an interview which started trending on Wednesday, the billionaire businessman said his father, a tailor who also sold tailoring materials, introduced him to commerce at an early age.
According to Okoya, although he attended school, his father did not allow him focus heavily on formal education because he was needed in the shop to learn tailoring and trade.
He said selling buttons and other tailoring items helped him discover his passion for business and fashion.
He said, “Right from my youth, I determine what I want to be. My father is a tailor, and he sells tailoring materials. I went to school, but my father didn’t allow me much, because I have to be in his shop, keep on doing tailoring, selling buttons and everything. “
Okoya said he identified his path early in life and pursued it with focus, adding that he had no regrets about the route he chose.
He said, “From there I get my fashion. From there I specialise in what I want to do in life and I’ve done it very successfully. I have no regret at all. I thank him so much, and with my mother’s support.So these have been helping me quite a lot.”
The industrialist added that many young people today prefer to follow their own ideas rather than take advice from parents.
He added that some succeed independently, but building a business from scratch in today’s economy is not easy.
“But Children of nowadays, they have their own ideas. They hardly listen to you. They want to do it their own way, which is not really working. Some are working, but not all, unless most of them who have a very good children background, an industrial background, they have to follow their parents to grow, But to be on your own now and start growing into the economy is not easy, ” he said.
Okoya disclosed that even within his own family, several of his older children have chosen not to continue in the family business.
“I have a big problem too. So a lot of my senior boys, senior girls, they don’t want to follow me. They want to be on their own. They want to do things on their own. Good luck to them,” he said.
Despite that, he said his passion remains industry and manufacturing, stressing that he wants his legacy tied to industrial development.
“I have passion for industry. I want to be known for industrialists. I want to be known tomorrow, my legacy is industry, so I have to keep it going,” he added.
By
TheTimes Nigeria
