NIGERIANS MUST BUY MADE-IN-NIGERIA TO DEVELOP – CHIEF ERIC UMEOFIA

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1 Cover ImageHe is a man with a mission. He is sad and angry about the state of the Nigerian manufacturing industry and the economy. He is determined to change the status-quo and he is staking all his resources, even his life into galvanizing Nigerians to be proud of themselves, be proud of their own and patronize made-in-Nigeria products in order to make Nigerian economy great and the envy of even the advanced economies. An iconoclast and a manufacturing activist with a style all his own, Chief Eric Umeofia, President of Erisco Foods Limited, Mr. Made-in-Nigeria, takes no prisoners when he engages in his pro-Nigerian battles. Known variously as ‘The Tomato King’ and Igwe of Tomatoes’, Chief Umeofia has in recent times embarked on a novel campaign in which he exhorts Nigerians to take their destinies in their own hands, produce their own products and buy only made-in-Nigeria. BRANDPOWER visited his factory recently and Chief Umeofia’s infectious zeal held us spellbound with his brand of economic activism as he shared his perspectives on manufacturing industry and economy in Nigeria. Below are excerpts…

2 CHIEF ERIC UMEOFIA (Ikuku-Oma, Amichi)

BRANDPOWER: Chief, you put up a National Campaign on television imploring Nigerians to buy MADE-IN-NIGERIA PRODUCTS. You have also featured on many newspaper interviews and advertorials where you have made a strong case for Nigerians not just to buy Made-in-Nigeria, but to also come together to build Nigerian industries and make Nigeria self-sufficient in most of its needs.

You have done this at a great cost to yourself, and we are also aware that in the industry where you operate which is the Tomato Paste industry, you have made a lot of enemies because of your insistence that we should look inwards for our own raw materials and also produce tomato paste in Nigeria. What is driving this passion?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Firstly, my main interest is in Nigeria as a whole. We thank God for giving me the courage, the zeal and the will to continue to campaign. I have businesses outside the country, like Angola and UAE. Through good policies, I see how their own people make things work there properly.

Down here in Nigeria, we have issues.  When I meet with foreigners like the Indians, Chinese and Lebanese outside Nigeria, they always laugh at us. They frequently ask me, “What are you doing here? Why not go to your country? If I go down there right now, I will come out with lots of money; good portfolios. We go there to do good business. You have a very rich country and here you are suffering”.

Those things pained me greatly and I think Nigerians have no choice whatsoever other than to look inwards, and begin to use, produce and buy made-in-Nigeria if we must move forward.

Before I embarked on this, I thought it was going to be simple. I entered into the manufacturing sector of the country in order to help the country grow. When you see graduates come here to hide as non-graduates just to work as casual workers. It is painful that after sending our children to school, we still feed, clothe and shelter them every day; we keep providing for them even after they are university graduates because there are no jobs.

4 Chief Eric Umeofia and  Hajiya Aisha Muhammadu Buhari,

Chief Eric Umeofia and Hajiya Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, wife of the President of the Federal Republicof Nigeria when she came to commission Erisco Foods Tomato Revolution an February 18, 20i6 at Erisco Foods factory in Oregun. Lagos state

Not long after I came back, I realized that the problem of the country’s economic situation is caused by Nigerian leaders. The foreigners have bought them over with peanuts; they keep selling their conscience and also want to sell Nigeria without knowing that if Nigeria is not in peace, your own state can never be in peace. If your state is not in peace, your local government can never be in peace and that means your town and family can never be in peace.

We have to look at the economy as a global place for all of us to benefit; nobody should think that he is comfortable and safe if he steals a lot of money and stack overseas. Infact, the more you steal what does not belong to you, the more you are buying your death; thereby making your death faster. I found out that it’s even easier to be a commander in the Boko Haram force in Maiduguri than to be a Chief Executive Officer in a company like mine. Especially when you have refused to take short cuts, kill your fellow brother because you can manufacture goods at a low quality.

How can someone go to China and import what is not good, yet you keep allowing them sell it to your people. Every Friday/Sunday, you go to mosque/church claiming you want to go to heaven. Which heaven are you going to? Most of them know these products are bad; but because of the heavy profits they get, they cut corners and keep on doing what is bad. I refused to do that, I told myself that I will rather use our resources to fight and ensure I let the government know what these other people are up to. Only few cabals are doing this because they have interest in each container that comes into this country; they have a mortgage there. Like the former Director General of NAFDAC, having studied everything and confirmed that the tomato products from China are substandard and fake, yet he refused to mop them up and apprehend the criminals. They are the ones importing the substandard products, and this needs to be stopped.

The President, Senate and House of Reps are all in support of banning these products because within the economy, people are crying. But why are the importations still going on? It is because the crooks among the civil servants are getting more from there than whatsoever they are being paid.

5 CHIEF ERIC UMEOFIA (Ikuku-Oma, Amichi)It is unfortunate that in this country, some well-placed civil servants are using our money to kill us. They are being paid salaries, housing allowances and so on but instead they turn it into a place for bigger business deals. They use that position to subdue manufacturers like me who have genuine business intentions.

They do not allow us to sell our locally produced goods, claiming they are costly; yet they neglect the quality of the imported goods because once an average Nigerian sees a cheap product, they tend to go to it believing that NAFDAC allowed it because it is of good quality. They do not know that NAFDAC safeguarding our lives ended with late Dora Akunyili. During the time of Paul Orrhi, he was safeguarding their pockets and instead, killing more Nigerians and this is very unfortunate. This is why I can never stop until all of those criminals killing this nation both the cabal importers are stopped in their tracks. We will have to start producing and even exporting goods, thereby creating job opportunities for our children.

We have much potential to make this country great within two years under agriculture alone. How can Nigeria still be importing tomato paste at this time and age?  We keep wasting 75% of what we have in our backyards here yearly. If we are wasting 75% of what we have and keep importing 80% of what we need, put right what you have here and everybody will be happy. Millions of jobs will be created; but instead they will never. By doing so, they know their shares of what they get on those imported goods will be gone.

I will continue to chase them by putting out good information, by being straight- forward, until government takes proper action. If not, we will continue to shout and also keep on borrowing money when it can be avoided. They let these people enslave us here financially again, give us small grants, and we clap for them. We don’t need any foreign grants, what we need now is the diversification of our economy by every one of us.

8 CHIEF ERIC UMEOFIA (Ikuku-Oma, Amichi)If not for President Buhari, I will not still remain in this business. When someone says he is the Director General of an MDA, he is supposed to speak and advice well for whole nation. Rather he speaks and advises for his own pocket; and that is a pity and very unfortunate. How can we subsidize our products because we want to match China’s price? Apart from the cheap quality, their government subsidises their exports.

I am here because of the love I have for this country, because of President Buhari’s incorruptible presidency. If not, I am a comfortable man; what I have already is enough for me; I can be a billionaire anywhere and enjoy my life until I die. I don’t need to waste my time here; I call it a waste because when you are in operation for five years and still lose money, does it encourage others to come?

Just like the president, he is showing people he is not corrupt therefore, don’t be corrupt; the whole world agrees with him. If the Federal Government designs the economy to be good, you don’t need to tell me to continue to produce. People will be everywhere doing well because it is a profitable venture.

But when people invest and begin to lose their money, even if they complain from here to America, nobody will listen to them; only hard people like me that have made enough money will decide on my own to continue the business whether good or bad.  95% of the foreign business men here are semi criminals; they are syphoning our money.

BRANDPOWER: Chief how much patronage does your products and services receive in terms of acceptability in the Nigerian market? Because it seems like even the consumers have more craze over foreign made goods than our indigenous goods. So how much patronage do you get?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: That is why I said earlier that we Nigerians are the architects of our own problems. Most Nigerians buy our products, compliment its quality but still say it is not cheap. How do you get something that is good and cheap at the same time? Nigerians have suffered with lots of fake products; no control of our borders and quality. That’s why many suffer from heart failure and the likes and nobody is bothered to find out the cause. If you do not eat right, your life span diminishes. God has given you the sense to eat right, so don’t eat yourself to death.

It will interest you to know that I invited SON and NAFDAC to come certify our products; they didn’t come to us; we invited them. I was sure from day one that my standard was higher than what they wanted. We produce to international standards. We are the first to produce this kind of tomato paste quality in this country; nobody has done that. All my product lines are all MADE-IN-NIGERIA. I don’t import any food product into the country. I believe in Nigeria! All the products and packaging are excellent.

So people believe since my products are made in Nigeria, then they should be cheaper; whereas if the foreign ones are priced higher, they will comfortably buy them. There are few things they don’t know; foreigners are producing in a better economic atmosphere than what we have here, they produce everything at a cheaper rate, they give them 17.5% rebate to come and dump their products in Nigeria.

3 The Canning Section for Tomato Paste at Erisco Foods FactoryA product in a tank of tomato is required to use 6 to 8 drums of tomato concentrate depending on the standard you want to go. In China, they use between 1 and 1.5 drums; we cannot be the same. If I am so driven by money actually, I would have done worse than them and people will buy my products at a very cheap price and will eat themselves to death. I choose not to do that. I would rather be a poor man than kill someone just to make money. The Indians and Chinese that produce these substandard products don’t eat them in their countries. Why must Nigeria be a dumping ground? We are fighting Boko Haram but we do not know that the Indians and Chinese are killing us more than the Boko Haram. If we can stop food importation just for one year, you would be surprised at how the economy will be turned around.

BRANDPOWER: Some of these imported products are certified by NAFDAC and SON; so how come these substandard products are not being detected? Even frozen foods are not detected despite the fact that they are certified before being circulated in the Nigerian market.

CHIEF UMEOFIA: The law says these products should be certified and that is why we see NAFDAC numbers on them we rush to eat them. The truth is that what certifies what you bring into this country now is your money not the quality of the product. I say it boldly because these tomato products have shown how NAFDAC works; they have disgraced themselves with these fake tomatoes flooding the market. They ran a test and came out with report s and still chose not to implement the needful.

Go to Cotonou border, hundreds of new tomato brands come in everyday; the more we shout, the more they still import because some privileged officers in regulatory agencies get their own money. They have more money to line their pockets with. In the real sense of it, those products are dangerous and poisonous to the health; eating them is a risk to one’s life. I challenged Paul Orrhi to come on national television for us to debate this; and I now also challenge the acting DG of NAFDAC to come on TV for a debate if they truly knows what they are doing.  These importers are less than 500 and we cannot leave them to kill this nation. 80% of them do not eat foreign tomatoes; they eat fresh tomatoes or my own products. Yet they allow people die for the sake of money, and they claim they are Christians and want to go to heaven. They have no conscience they have sold it for money; yet we trusted them. People had confidence when Dora Akunyili was there; these people were being cut off. These people make a lot of illegal money and they can afford to bribe anybody.

I advise President Buhari to create an institution that will go after these so-called foreign investors and check-mate what they do; nobody controls them. They kill this nation all because they are so-called foreign investors; yet what they bring in are peanuts and what they pack out is in billions. What kind of investment is that? Why will foreigners keep controlling our food items? And the regulatory agencies are not doing their work. We really need to know first-hand what these foreign investors come here to do. We have other areas in the country that also needs investment; take a look at our railways, power and roads for years they haven’t been working properly. Why can’t they invest in those areas if they truly have genuine interest of Nigerians.

Some of them come here crying that they want to invest in Nigerian Stock Exchange, they invest $1M after they make $1.5M in just a matter of some months, they withdraw their money and leave. What sort of investment is that? If they really want to invest, they should invest in Nigerian Companies and help them grow. Instead they ask us to devalue Naira; why should we do that? If we do so, it will not increase our foreign deposits. What we need now is to diversify our economy; and these so-called foreign investors are holding on strongly to our economy. For example, when you go to ask for bank loans, they would prefer to give an Indian/Chinese the loan instead of their fellow Nigerian. The Nigerian banks also need to realize that we need them for us to develop this country together. It would even be better for them; it will bring them more customers and businesses.

BRANDPOWER: Further to lifting the quality bar on products in Nigeria, you recently launched the Erisco Foods Tomato Revolution. Can you let us know more about this?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Thank you. Erisco Foods Revolution started when golbal oil prices were coming down, and the government had not enough money to give us to start the production of those goods which can also be produced better here.

President Buhari requested each and every one of us to look at the CBN’s list of 41 items and pick one item that can be given foreign exchange.

Because we own the biggest tomato paste company in Africa, I realized that as a Nigerian, I have to do something good for the nation. I arranged with my team of engineers and challenged them to do something that would be extraordinary and will also serve as a benefit to the nation. To God be the glory, we discovered, developed and started producing with raw tomatoes from Nigerian soil and turning them into tomato pastes.

Prior to this, no one dead or alive had done it in this country; but for the wisdom of God, and a true and proud Nigerian, I discovered and decided the production of tomato paste in this country. Right now, all the raw tomatoes that waste daily on our farmlands will be a thing of the past in a short while provided we get support from government and Nigerians. We don’t need the support of import waiver, what we need is a reasonable interest rate, money to operate; infact if the government supports Nigerians, we will get out of our present economy situation without foreigners. Presently, only President Buhari is making efforts of bringing local manufacturers together to tell us what he can do for us.

Erisco Foods Tomato paste brands were developed and tested and proven to be of better quality than all the foreign products in the country; it is in the market for anyone who wants to check. So far, we are lucky and happy that her Excellency Aisha Buhari and her husband, Mr. President, believes in Nigeria and Made-in-Nigeria products. She came to grace the occasion of the commissioning to confirm all we had told her; she and her entourage were very happy indeed.

I believe right now that in this tomato paste business, we will go further; I will take it down to my state which is Anambra and also down to Sokoto, my second home state. The Governor of Sokoto state believes in Made-in-Nigeria products; he also came to grace the occasion and wants us to create more job opportunities in his state. I urge Nigerians to try to always patronize Made-in-Nigeria products; anything you buy here, you are also saving your money for the future. Infact by doing so you are creating millions for your children automatically.

BRANDPOWER: In executing this tomato revolution project, it is clear that the location of your factory which is Lagos is a bit far from where you source for your raw tomatoes. What challenges are you having in bringing the tomatoes from the farms to Lagos?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Actually, that is the problem now because we just tested what we wanted here and it worked out well. But the transportation costs, the logistics, are very heavy. Presently, we produce at two and a half times the cost than what we ordinarily produce with foreign tomato concentrate; and that is because of the distance. We are hopeful that with the effort the government is making, when the foreign products are banned, we will be able to sell up most of our stocks, then we can relocate our factory closer to where it can be cheaper. This is because the diversification of an economy can never be done verbally. CBN has the power to tackle many expectations and challenges; while our commercial banks also need to give funds to indigenous and genuine manufacturers.

They have to help us curb this problem; it is actually very easy to do. They expect us to borrow money at high rates, and also return the money whereas they are not helping matters. We pay so much money without concessions; yet they want us to develop and also sell cheaper than what is made overseas. If this country can be good in line with President Buhari’s policy, I believe in him, and in the nation; but I don’t believe in some of his subordinates and the policies that they are executing. Some of them tell us what they don’t know; it is not about acquiring many certificates. Theory and practical works in every economy; but Nigerians want more of theory than practical.

Practical is where it happens; can you show me a professor who is a billionaire? Yet professors taught those that are billionaires today. That shows us that the world needs practical than theory. Here in Nigeria all we go after are certificates; you put them there, they behave like Paul Orrhi that sold Nigeria. Do they have any conscience? All the corruption going on in this country, how many illiterates are there? All are graduates. So that means they are using the education to tell us that the more we go to school, the more we become criminals.

BRANDPOWER: So Chief, talking about President Buhari, you have spoken so glowingly and emphatically about his achievements so far in the few months he has been around. In your appraisal, will you say the change mantra of President Buhari’s government is having a positive impact on the Nigerian economy and how?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Great impact, in fact, very great impact. I want to be very clear on this issue; now because I have businesses outside the country, I know how an economy is being run. I have one in Dubai which is an international economy, and Angola which is an African economy. President Buhari’s standard is that you work for everything you are benefitting; for him to stop free money is good. Free money destroyed many nations and will keep destroying many nations. It makes countries collapse; free money is dangerous and that is eating for what you didn’t work for.

President Buhari is fighting against corruption; he is making free money scarce to come by; people now realize that they have to strive hard before they can feed; they have to strive in order for a nation to grow. Before he came into office, we couldn’t sell our products; foreign products where killing our products to the extent we contemplated moving the business outside Nigeria. How can you touch the same Indians who use their money to sponsor elections in Nigeria? Right now, all those are gone forever because of President Buhari.  President Buhari has good intentions for this country, all we need is just to give him more time and be patient with him. But I wonder if the people surrounding him really have good intentions towards this nation; I wonder if they can match his efforts into making this country a better place for everybody. If we can get 50% loyal people around him, I tell you our economy will experience a great change.

BRANDPOWER: Please can you tell us why you are so passionate about poverty alleviation?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: That started from my father’s lineage; when I was a young boy, my father always went to our yam barn, took the best tubers of yam and gave them out to the poor. My mother always queried his actions as to why he always gave out the best tubers of yam; one day he told us that there is more happiness in giving than allowing people suffer. He said when people suffer, the nation will not be happy with you. That is one of the major reasons why I always extend to the needy in any little way I can. In my home town, I have trained over a hundred graduates; I build homes, churches for the needy.

I derive joy from doing these things; I am not only a rich man, but a man with a rich conscience. I want to not only be the richest monetarily, but also a man known with the richest conscience. But before I can do these things, I also need money and that is why I pray to God every day to bless me; because I yearn to do more for people in any way that I can.

Sometimes, some of our leaders especially the governors see the Federal Government campaigning for investments; they do not know that investments must begin in a state. And a state is controlled by a Governor; instead the governor doesn’t realize that the first thing he should do is to industrialize his state in order to make more money; rather he believes collecting more tax will industrialize his state and that is why people are still suffering.  We need more industrial estates in this country; if there are no industrial estates, we are just wasting our time. We keep mounting pressure on the urban areas, cities will have more people, and when that happens, everybody neglects the rural areas. Nobody stays back home to do the farm work, everybody wants to migrate to the cities for greener pastures; and this brings about rise in armed robbery. So to solve this problem, it must be tackled from the root.

Presently, I am building a church in my hometown and also one in Lagos. I also built a mosque in Sokoto and also in Kano. In terms of supporting the government, we gave military support in terms of vehicles used in combating Boko Haram and also food items. We sent some people from Sokoto to Saudi Arabia; we also give food items to Internally Displaced People (IDP). The fire incident that happened in Kano, we gave money and food items also.  I do those things because I feel it’s part of my duties and also as a way of progress to the nation as a whole.

 

BRANDPOWER: You are the Sun Newspaper manufacturer of the Year for 2015, we are aware you have received quite a number of other awards; what do these awards mean to you?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Firstly, it means that I need to keep working harder. Secondly, it means that people recognize what I am doing. Sometimes I meet people and I am surprised when they tell me about my achievements and all that I do. It encourages me to keep working harder and doing better. I just want us all to start patronizing each other instead of carrying our money abroad. We, manufacturers and Nigerians as whole need to help our economy grow.

BRANDPOWER: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Firstly, I derive my strength when I see people doing the right thing. When things are going well, I will do everything possible to associate myself with you. When I see or hear positive things being said about Nigeria, our achievements and great possibilities, those things give me strength to continue to fight on and press forward. My weakness is that I don’t condone evil for any reason whatsoever; it doesn’t matter who ever you are; once you do anything that is morally wrong, I won’t hesitate to tell you as it is. I don’t have the patience to follow the procedure to say the truth when I see something is wrong. I don’t condone bad things; I get annoyed easily when I see things are not done the right way.

BRANDPOWER: Chief, you are obviously a very high energy person. You work very hard, and you are very passionate about what you believe in. Do you find time to relax sometimes? And if you do, how do you relax?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: No relaxation for me now; my target is to make importation of tomato paste stop and begin the exportation of tomato paste out of Nigeria. Any day that happens, I will now have a minimum of ten more years added to my life span and then my relaxation can begin. But for now, no form of relaxation whatsoever; every day of the week is a work day for me. If you even come to my office on Sunday after work, you will meet me here.

BRANDPOWER: What message do you have for your customers and prospective ones? What should they expect?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: They should all expect better things will come their way; they should continue to have faith in us and keep on believing that we are not going to deceive them. I also want to tell them that as they keep on marketing our products, they are doing something good for the nation.  Whosoever loves his nation, God will love him; you can’t love your nation without helping it grow. Every nation supports its own people to grow. Nigeria should not be an exception. Any Made-in-Nigeria Product you buy directly or indirectly contributes to the growth of the nation.

BRANDPOWER: What are your key products?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: We currently have three brands of tomato pastes in a range of 5 tins and sachets. Nagiko, RIC-GIKO and Erisco which come in two variants: the classic which is only tomato paste while the other is a blend of tomato and pepper paste. Our Tomato paste brand is endorsed by The Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) and the Nutrition Society of Nigeria.  We also have other products like Nagiko Sugar, Nagiko Powdered Milk, RIC-GIKO Seasoning Cubes, Nagiko Monosodium, Nagiko 3-in-1 Garri Mix, Nagiko flavoured drinks. We are also working on a complete range of food products to cater to the nutritional needs of Nigerians from breakfast to dinner; on-the-go and at home.

BRANDPOWER: Any word of advice for upcoming entrepreneurs and manufacturers?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: My advice is that our schools need to teach our young ones the love for manufacturing. My company is among the few Nigerian companies that allow Nigerian students come here to see how manufacturing of products take place. More than six schools have visited my factory; and our doors are still open for others who might be interested.

In Asia, when kids vacate from schools, they visit their parents’ cottage industries to see how things are being done; before the father retires, the kids are already well groomed to take over the father’s business to the next level. But the same cannot be said for Nigeria, because no love for manufacturing here and there is equally no place to go learn how things are being done.

Therefore, we are trying to encourage Nigerian youths to learn about manufacturing; we are going out of our way to make sure they come to us for free manufacturing advice and also support in any way we can. The truth is that we have a lot of vast areas where we can all tap into if we truly want our nation to progress; if we do not do these things now, fake foreign investors will keep taking over our economy.

The government needs to make economic empowerment very imperative; particularly the governors of each state. Every state in this country has a lot of opportunity for people to tap in and help make their state better. State governors should begin to encourage these things; So far, only the governor of Sokoto state has encouraged us. He gave many things and also all the support that we need; then it is left for us to prove ourselves; and very soon by the grace of God, we are working towards it.

BRANDPOWER: In the 1990s, we heard much about Erisco Bonpet Automatic Fire Extinguisher. We would like to know if Erisco Bonpet is in the cooler now.

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Erisco Bonpet was out of the country because of this same corruption we are talking about. SON, then headed by Prof. Abalaka refused to give us a standard; he tested our products and refused to release them perhaps because his friend was involved in importing fire extinguisher products.

Because of that, my foreign partner who was supposed to do business with me backed off and decided to go back to his country; he took the manufacturing business down to China. That was the reason why I moved down to Angola to establish Erisco Bonpet. Now, on my second attempt at manufacturing in my country, the same criminals headed by foreigners came back here to stop it. That is one of the many reasons I am very passionate about this tomato paste revolution. I said to myself that I would rather smash them this time around; and that is why I am matching on.

Hopefully, Erisco Bonpet will come back in less than two years from now by the grace of God. The truth is that our quality still remains the best so far in this country.  We don’t do products that are of inferior quality. Anyway, that was what pushed us out; then I was smaller, but now I believe I am mature enough in every angle. I am ready to fight for Nigeria’s progress!

BRANDPOWER: Do you believe in mentoring? Who is your mentor? And have you mentored people?

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Yes, I believe in mentoring; but my mentor who till tomorrow still remains my boss goes by the name Nnakeyi will tell you that I taught him more things when I was with him than he taught me. I just thank God for the kind of grace he gave me; I often say if you want to become someone here on earth, you must always ask questions at all times. Never pretend to know something if you don’t; once you begin to pretend, you are killing yourself.

 

 

I have even mentored many people; I derive joy when I see people around me succeed in life. Also, I like what President Buhari is doing, I always want to be associated with his system because I believe he is incorruptible.

6 Nnamdi Umeofia, Chief Eric Umeofia, Nnaemeka Umeofia

L-R: Nnamdi Umeofia – Executive Director Erisco Foods Limited; Chief Eric- President/CEO; Umeofia, Nnaemeka Umeofia, Executive Director Erisco Foods Limited

BRANDPOWER: Please describe the Eric Umeofia Brand

CHIEF UMEOFIA: I am Chief Eric Umeofia, a hard-working, authentic Nigerian patriot, an indigene of Amichi in Nnewi-South LGA in Anambra State. I am also the President of Erisco Foods Limited and Group MD of Erisco Bonpet Group. Erisco Foods is a member of Erisco Bonpet Group that was launched in 1994. When we gave one fire extinguisher to every State Government fire services in this country and one extra for the Federal Government.  My father’s name was Edwin Umeofia, my mother was Janet Umeofia; both from Amichi in Anambra State. I am blessed with a wonderful wife, Nmachukwu and 4 children Nnaemeka, Nnamdi, Adamma and Odinaka. I have ten brothers and one sister; we are all doing okay by the grace of God and all of us were taught by the spirit and courage of our late father. He taught us to always be fair in all that we do. He taught us that if we cheat someone of a Naira, God will take away billions of yours. That has always made us cautious in whatsoever we do.

BRANDPOWER: Many thanks for your time Chief.

CHIEF UMEOFIA: Thank you. God bless you and God bless Nigeria.