300-Level LASU Student Builds Fast-Growing AgriBusiness With N100,000 Start-Up Capital

Running a successful business in Nigeria is no walk in the park; it is not for the faint-hearted. The challenges are humongous, the roads to success littered with losses and struggles.

However, against all odds, some are making things happen in the business sector.

Omotade Mack, a 300-level student of Mass Communication at the Lagos State University (LASU) is one of them.

Omotade Mack, a 300-level student of the Lagos State University runs a fast-growing agribusiness.

An unpleasant situation had brought Omotade to Lagos a few years ago. However, within a very brief period, she made “a lemonade out of the lemon” life threw at her. Some days ago, I stumbled on the photos of a beautiful, gorgeous young lady, Omotade, smiling gleefully as she stands in front of a huge truck loaded with thousands of tubers of yams on the Facebook page of Jack Obinyan, a former media aide to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state.

It’s not every day you come by the photos of a young damsel dealing in the “unfancy” business of selling yams at such a large scale, and doing so with ease, passion and a touch of millennial fanciness. So, what I saw piqued my interest immediately and I decided to visit her wall. I was blessed with more beautiful pictures and a video of Omotade as she conducts her business in Benue.

“I’m on River Benue. I’m scared and I’m not scared,” she said amid a bout of laughter on Facebook live as she took a boat on the popular river. Omotade Mack is the founder of Ample Ace Ltd, a fast-growing agribusiness company.

She said about the business trip to Benue on Facebook: “The whole transaction went well, my goods are on the way to the receiving market. For many who have been asking if we are insured, I’m here to also announce that all of our goods are fully insured.

She’s an inspiration, Nigerians react “This smile of mine will not reveal the tired part of me..” Amid the stories of gloom and doom that have filled up Nigeria’s social and traditional media spaces, Omotade’s inspiring story deserves to be told. So, I got in touch with her via Facebook messenger and she obliged me almost immediately.

Omotade was born and raised in Akure, Ondo state. Raised in a godly home and surrounded by doers, she grew up with an independent mindset and had a burning desire to work and make money at a very early age. Years after, that early stage burning desire led to the founding of Ample Ace Ltd. Ample Ace Ltd, also called A2, is a privately owned agricultural company that specializes in the trade of agro commodities and explores other agricultural value chains such as storage, exportation, and so on. A2 is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

But before Ample Ace Ltd was born, Omotade had tried her hands in many menial jobs as she put a not-so-pleasant experience she had had at Ambrose Alli University behind her and relocated to Lagos. To survive, she once cooked and sold noodles for sale. At some point, Omotade worked as an attendant at Sweet Sensation, a popular restaurant, and other restaurants at Surulere in Lagos. When I tried to empathise with her over the unpleasant experience which made her relocate to Lagos, Omotade quipped: “Don’t be (sorry for me), Lagos shaped me into a better person.”

With Ample Ace, Omotade has experienced daunting challenges that could have made many people quit. But like the strong lady that she is, she confronted the obstacles headlong and made a success out of them. When I asked how her journey from Benue (where she bought the truckload of yams) to the receiving market was, Omotade said, “It was actually stressful.”

Nigerian roads can be really stressful. “I use flight in most cases, but Makurdi (‘s airport) isn’t functional,” she said. “The state (Benue) is filled with lots of challenges. And the extortion that goes on there is a lot.” High cost of food in Nigeria During his nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 61st Independence anniversary on Friday, October 1, President Muhammadu Buhari said middlemen are to blame for the high prices of food in the country. The president said middlemen have created “artificial shortages” through the hoarding of essential commodities just to get excessive profit.

Omotade believed otherwise. She said the extortions by the police and state government agencies are the reasons for the high cost of food. “Many people blame middlemen for this but it’s far from it,” she said. “Before I could move my truck, the tax people collected N200,000 from me and gave me a receipt of N38,000. That’s within the market.

“Police checking goods is okay take N15,000 at every checkpoint. We can pay between N10,000 and N14,000 in 25 places before goods gets to the consumer. “Trucks alone charge between N700,000 and N1 million per trip. Please am I to come here and sell my goods at a giveaway price? “I will factor those expenses and try everything in my power to make it back. “So when I see farmers talking online that middlemen are making the most money I just laugh. I challenge them to come spend all the money that I’m spending. None of them can do it.” Recently, the minister of industry, trade and investment, Niyi Adebayo, said Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business stood at 131 of 170 countries in 2020, up from 170 of 189 countries in 2016. He said Nigeria also recorded improvements in the World Bank’s Subnational Doing Business assessment and assured that the country will by 2023, be ranked among the first 100 countries in the global ease of doing business evaluation.

Nigeria clearly has a long way to go in terms of ease of doing business, if Omotade’s experience is to be considered. Who is Omotade Mack? I was born and raised in Akure, Ondo state, on the 16th of October into the family of Mr and Mrs Makinwa. I was raised in a godly home and was surrounded by doers. I grew up having that independent mindset and wanted to work and make money at a very early age. I attended Chapel of the Annunciation Primary school in Akure and obtained my Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) at Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School, Akure. I currently study Mass Communication in Lagos State University (LASU). I’m based in Lagos state. My core values are diligence, honour, commitment and consistency. I am very compassionate, adventurous, courageous and a lover of good humour. I’m convinced that the core of life is service to humanity which eventually leads to making the world a better place.

Source: Legit

Email: elora.akpotosevbe@yahoo.com