I ATTRACTED MORE THAN 2000 IGBOS TO LADIPO – NZE COSMAS EZEIKE (COSMOJO) - BY O’STAR EZE

He will clock 50 years by June 26 this year(though he maintains that ‘everyday is a birthday for every serious minded being) . His communication skills are astounding and his intelligence amazing for one who had only basic formal education. He exudes an unassuming aura but wait till you start interacting with him and you would be floored by the wealth of experience and accomplishment he represents. NZE COSMAS EZEIKE ( popularly called COSMOJO) is a household name in Ekwulobia as there is no household that does not know him as one of the few who amassed great wealth in the past. But how many know that he was instrumental to the fame Ladipo market enjoys today as well as the one who attracted more than 1000 Igbos, especially from Ekwulobia to Ladipo Auto-spare parts Market, Lagos State. Following are excerpts from a recent tete-a-tete with the enigma. 

Let Us Meet You, Sir?

 I am Nze Cosmas Chukwudozie Ezeike (a.k.a Cosmojo or captain), from Ifite, Agba Ekwulobia. Aguata Local Government Area. Some of my companies are HONIC Professional Business Consortium kft, Budapest, Hungary; Experts in technological exchange. Directors included Hungarian; Discount Project Limited – importer of wines, juice. This failed because of misappropriation of fund and betrayal of trust. GermanyOsloMalaysiaAustriaKaundaOakland Films, Budapest, Europe.  I also was the pioneer automobile parts dealer in Lapido and initiated the Ladipo boom of the early nineties.

How did you discover Ladipo?

In a nutshell, I came to Ladipo from Alaba International Market where I already had suites. Discovered Ladipo in 1991 as a place where if one puts in his sweat, he would not be disappointed. I percieved inside me that if I could give out my best there, the sky would be my limit.

What was going on there when you discovered it?

The place was a market and the market was a combination of livestock and a few automobile spare parts. The place was swampy and a big canal that was very dirty was situated there. If they can clean up the place it will be nice. They can easily use their wastes to make food (manure). Their greatest enemy is maintenance culture. I had a place I was living but I used to sleep there in the market to encourage those I brought to the market myself. It is a very big place in Mushin. I noticed that as I was in Alaba International market that Ladipo was a no go area. But I saw opportunity there because there were a lot of spaces there and Alaba International Market was already very compacted then. So with the little idea I had about doing business, I pushed my business to Ladipo. I said to myself that if I could develop it with my colleagues who joined me and they can believe me and bring out their best, it can escalate to other parts of the market.

What difference did your presence make in Ladipo

I did not just make people believe it was a good place but I also empowered people to start doing business in Ladipo. Example: I used to make connect young people who came with me to Ladipo to expatriates as well as established men with cargoes of containers of wares to disburse. Once I established the trust and the first cargo was sold, a business relationship was established and that was the building brick that brought about the boom in Ladipo in the early nineties. It was also my instrumentality that led to the large influx of Ekwulobia indigenes to Ladipo which gave the market known as ‘Second Eke’ (given that an Ekwulobian feels at home as if he were in Eke Ekwulobia – a large Ekwulobia market).

Before you came to Lagos, what/where were you?

I came to Lagos in 1989. I did not come to Lagos as a beggar. I had money; a lot of money. I had had my formal education at Agunwa-Agba Primary School. Afterwards, I joined my uncle at Maiduguri on a business relationship with his friend. After six years of suppression under him, I seceded from him and started my own business there. I spent three years on my own there during which I became an accomplished business man, dealing in electronics, electrical appliances, automobile parts, and international business. I went to Nnewi and, after establishing some of my apprentices there, I moved over to Lagos in 1989.

Any Word of Advice to other business men who have encountered set-backs?

I don’t really think it is proper to advise a grown man. What a grown man requires is empowerment. All I can give are words of encouragement. The downfall of a man is not the end of his life. Once one keeps on moving, regardless of the eventualities, such an individual always breaks even at the end. Experience is a priceless thing, so no one should under-estimate any experience he has garnered in his journey through Life.