Mr. Bisi Oni, a Financial Expert and Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer of FundQuest Financial Services Limited celebrated his 60th birthday last Tuesday in Lagos and in this chat with Oluwasegun Abifarin, he shared his thought on his journey of life and the lessons learnt.
What is the significance of being 60 years? What does it mean to you?
Oni: What it means is a mark of reflection first of all. But post-reflection, now, it is work. So, for me, it is a commencement of my assignment. I have been prepared. I have seen what has not worked, I have seen what has worked.
I am a family man. I have schooled and by the grace of God, I am His child. So, both the physical and spiritual sides are complete. Now, work begins.
What are the lessons Life has taught you?
Oni: For a man to be successful in life, for instance, if you are married, family value is key. Your wife and your children are the support system that you have, and if they are broken, you are dead, because those are the people that can pray for you genuinely. Those are the people that can tell you things without any form of interests. Those are the people that can kick you back to line and they will do it gently with love.
Next thing is that we are all capable of going astray. There are distractions and landmines everywhere and you need to be careful and focused. It is not that you won’t go offline. You will. You will press the wrong buttons. But when you press those wrong buttons of life, what is your reactions to it? What do you do? Do you blame other people? If you blame other people, you won’t change anything. Any mistake you explain, you cannot correct it.
If you are not willing to say Oh I goofed here. For me, I do a lot of self-talking. If I made a mistake, I go to the mirror and say, ”Look Bisi, you just goofed here, you just drop the ball. If you are not willing to face the man in the mirror and tell him the truth, you are not going anywhere. You must be able to do that, and regularly too, to appraise your journey of life.
Another thing is that people are the greatest resource you have. I am not talking of only you and our family here. It is not costly to be nice to people especially to be humble. Humility draws people to you. If you drives people from yourself, you can’t impact their lives.
The next thing is that…I don’t know the type of faith you belong to, if a man is not in Christ, he is a disaster waiting to happen. I am not talking about whether you go to Church or not. Every day, you must have a resting place, and a secret place where you can draw energy from. That is what keeps you going, and nothing can change it, regardless of what is happening in life. So, these are the key pillars for me.
Are there things you could have done differently if the opportunity presents itself today?
Oni: Several things. If I have the opportunity to go back to the first phase of my life, I would have done my Phd early and quickly, even though I am currently rounding up my research.
I would have done my Phd in my first 30 years. Outside FundQuest, What I do is to help people and company find meanings. What I could have done is to have started earlier.
Also, I did not begin to grab financial knowledge early and on time. It is one thing to know how to teach money making, it is another thing to practice money making. One could teach it and not practice it.
It is very important. If it is only one lesson of money making you learnt and you can internalize and practice, then you are good to go. So, I would have started earlier than now.
The next is the way I built FundQuest. Instead of a Brick and Mortal approach, I would have built a digital institution from the beginning. So, if I have to dismantle FundQuest today, I would rather build a digital institution out of it.
What are the challenges you have faced over the years?
Oni: Several challenges. Yes, I function in the financial service sector, but the challenge of money is real. And running a family. I am a low cost family producer, meaning I don’t do beyond my means; and my wife has been such a supportive woman that what is available is what she will make happen. We have been married for the past 30 years, not once has told me that if you don’t give me this, you won’t go out. Never! So, she has been giving me that stability of mind.
Next to that is mistakes, especially in choosing people. I have worked with people who later turned to be something else. But for me, the real thing is to meet you, do my assignment with you and move on to the next person. When you help someone to solve a problem, it is a privilege.
What are the core values dear to you?
Oni: Sincerity. If you are not sincere, we can flow together. The danger however is that when you are over sincere, people might tend to take advantage of you. But God has also given me an unexplainable wisdom to discern.
As an economist and financial expert, what is our advice to the government?
Oni: The solution to Nigeria’s problem is not difficult. We just need sincerity. On a generic level, I will say we need sincerity from the leadership and willingness to kick out those who are not willing to make things happen. If Nigeria is run like a company, we will deliver more value that what we are currently getting.
The problem we are having is because our policies are laced with political considerations. And for such considerations, the economy will suffer. It is always a trade-off between politics and economy.
But as an Economist, one thing is certain. The Adam Smith philosophy as regards economic growth has never changed. Nothing has changed. What has changed is the economic mangers of those policies. You don’t have to be an Economist to know that there is something called Demand and Supply. And the key solution to any form of shortage is to increase supply.
So, for electricity supply shortage for instance, the solution is to increase supply. But you must also look at the supply on a sustainable basis. If you do this on electricity, we will get it. And it has a multiplier effect on the economy. Electricity is central, all other things like infrastructure, transportation, industrialization resolve around it.
As an Economist, I will therefore advise Nigerian leaders to take and focus on a sector that has linkages, especially electricity. Sort that one out, and let’s see what will happen. Let President Tinubu administration focus on electricity.
