I threw away SIM cards worth millions of Naira — Tobi-Williams Dimoji

He has never done anything else but business. His experience traversed from tel e-communications to shipping and now publishing, properties and computers. Okey Tobi-Williams Dimoji is popular in his line of business with headquarters in Anthony Village , Lagos where a street is named after him. The graduate of University of Nigeria, Nsukka is currently undergoing his P.hd programme in the same University after an eight year sojourn in the United Kingdom where he ran a shipping business. Here, he talks about his business experience. Excerpts. What is your business story? Tobi-Williams Dimoji Tobi-Williams Dimoji Really, I have a media background. Both my first and second degree were in Mass Communication. I started my business with telecommunications. Before the advent of GSM, we were a leading telecommunication company in Nigeria. The company then was called, ROYAL STRIDE Nigeria LTD. I would say that we laid the foundation for the take off of GSM in the country. Of course, this is an age of public relations and every one will like to be recognized, so, we are also into public relations and publishing and we handle events for people. We were deep in telecommunication in Nigeria and ushered in the GSM business. Explain how you ushered in the GSM business? Before the GSM came into Nigeria , there were a lot of noise about its coming and a lot of people look forward to its coming. Apart from MTEL, which was a major player, there were nothing like, MTN, ETISALET, AIRTEL and others. MTEL then had something they called agents and you must be accredited before you can play a role then. We were one of those agents and then at that point, we had almost about 15 branches in the country. And before the advent of GSM, we had serious seminars where we invited most of those network providers. But then, somewhere along the line, most of those agents who were accredited by MTEL at that time were already used to a certain regime in which the network provider for instance was not a player in the retailership of their services. A lot of people thought it was going to be the thing. But then, when the GSM network came, the game was quite different. They became marketers. A lot of agents as well because of their anticipation of what GSM was going to be went to borrow money from the banks to support their business. Unfortunately for them, these banks were supporting the networks. Until CBN sanctioned them, the banks were selling GSM inside their banking halls. So, you go around to borrow money from a bank to do business and you go back there next time to discover that the bank was doing the same business that you are doing. At the end of the day, the networks did not play the roles the way they were being played under the MTEL era. The resultant effect was that you found yourself competing with the network providers who have not as at that time streamlined what their operations was going to look like. It is only now that they have found their level and of course, have streamlined everything. For someone like me at a time, one of these network providers did what they called, “Buy One, Get One Free, BOGOF”. What we did was that we bought a bundle of mobile phones with SIM cards and paid like N20,000 and before you know what was happening, the prices of SIM cards were crashing. Sometimes, you got stuck with the ones you have. And if you notice, when GSM came for the first time, SIM cards were sold for N10,000, N5,000, N2,000 then but now, they are sold for N100. Some of us were hoping that there was going to be an official scarcity sort of so that we could sell and recover our money because in those days when there was an official scarcity of goods, you could rocket your prize. But this thing kept crashing until it was sold for N100. This affected 100% of all the former agents and that was why they all crashed. Including your business? Yes, we had to pull out because the thing affected everybody. Just like I said, the network providers were as at that time trying to streamline themselves and have a good framework under which the agencies could work. So, those who are really surviving now are those who were never part of the former NITEL era. How much did you lose during this period? We lost a lot of money. I remember throwing away over N2 million worth of SIM cards because, we bought these phones and SIM cards and before you know what was happening, the prices crashed. Why did you not sell them at give-away prizes then? There was this constant hope that things would change but they didn’t. They kept crashing and you didn’t know what the next day would look like. It was only recently that anybody who wants to enter into the business knows what he or she is going in for. Even at that time, the networks were finding it difficult to operate. That was why networks like ECONET has undergone so many changes. Afterward, we moved on to so many things. I was in UK for eight years and I ran a very successful shipping company. The business is still there in the UK. Why did you decide to leave a very lucrative business like shipping in UK in the hands of other people to come back to Nigeria? Nigeria is my country and they say home is haven. Shipping is a very vast area and it all depends on the branch of shipping you’ re doing. I am doing international shipping. The branch of shipping I wanted to do was the one that required my presence, so I was there for eight years. But then, Nigeria is our country and we cannot be in another man’s land for ever. That is why I have decided to come back. The business is still there and we are running that with a good management but I have decided to invest in some other things too. What other things are you into now? I am into publishing. Now, that is my course of study in the University. We are also into public relations and advertising under the company name, Wesley & Bryan Limited. Publishing is something I studied for seven years. I have a BA and an MSC in Mass Communication. I have also, enrolled to do a PHD programme in University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I saw a copy of Computer Village Weekly published by you? What is the inspiration for it? I noticed that a lot of things goes into the market which the major newspapers in the country would not be able to capture. The market is a billion dollar market and I discovered that the main stream media might not be able to cover a lot of their activities. That was why we decided to float that. It is meant to capture what goes there since that is where major telecommunication companies in the country comes to market their products. So, we feel that as long as you use a mobile phone or a computer, you cannot do without the computer village. So, the paper is sort of a community paper. How would you compare running a business in Nigeria to running a business abroad? Of course, there are a lot of advantages about being in Nigeria to do your own thing, whether you like it or not. Here you meet your old school mates, your acquaintances, you also, meet people who are very connected to people. And don’t forget that Nigeria is a developing country and this means that you have a chance to be part of that development. So, when you are in a country like Nigeria that is developing, you should know that we are not just a developing country but we have resources. There are lots of developing countries that do not have resources but Nigeria is a developing country with resources. The important thing is for you to simply sit down, analyze the country and ask yourself, where you can key in. It is not going to be that easy because the country is not just an easy place. But by the time you are able to understand the place and key in properly, every other thing will fall into place. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/threw-away-sim-cards-worth-millions-naira-tobi-williams-dimoji/#sthash.qwatXHVn.dpuf