Interview With A Young Entrepreneur At SMEDAN Fair With Governor Adeleke In Osogbo

Tuesday 17th -20 have been slated for SMEDAN MSMEs Opportunity Fair. An encounter with a young Osun entrepreneur at the  venue gives birth to this interview.

Mr. Odejobi Muyiwa is a Nigerian graduate and the CEO of Authentic Enterprises based in Gbongan ,Osun State . He innovated Packaging of Indigenous locust -beans (IRU for domestic consumption.

Packaged Nigeria IRU (locust-bean)

In this short but impressive conversation with this ambitious young man,he delved into areas of hygiene in production,high demands for his products overseas and the need for government assistance to boost the economy of Osun by employing more hands

Excerpts:

Question:What motivated you to embark on this project?

Thank you.For quite a while, I’ve been into locust -bean packaging in a unique way and basically because I’ve seen it as a means of replacing some harmful aspect of some spices available in the market that our people use on daily basis.

How is yours different from the traditional locust-bean producers?

Locust -beans(with the local name IRU) are used both by the elites and people at the grassroots  .However, our own system of production is quite different; we do not  use the traditional methods of using sunlight for drying it  because we are aware   that using the sun to  dry may have some harmful effects on the body metabolism. Also, there may be contact with some bacteria in the atmosphere while openly using the sunlight for drying.

For instance, when you sundry , flies can easily locate where you are drying and infested the product .

What then is your own method of drying?

So instead of using the sun to dry,we make use of  Tripod  Method which is technically driven.

Since you began producing this modern driven locust -beans,who are your customers?

Our customers are numerous , starting with the locals and also going international .

Are you saying that your production have international demands?

Nigeria’s IRU in Packs

Of course ,Yes.Our product actually has gone outside the Country .Most of our friends in the diaspora make request for our product and we get it across to them ,when they come home they buy as much as they want in kilograms.

What did these Nigerians in diaspora see in this your locust-bean that make them demand for it as you’ve pointed out?

You know,that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Many of these diasporans have had the taste of the traditional locust beans before in their vegetables,and other ways and know that the taste is better than the common ‘Maggi cube’ or other seasoner,so they prefer enjoying what they have been tasting since childhood from their country,Nigeria.

Now, instead of having the normal locust-bean  that will be watery or moisty some kind ,we have packaged it to be dry,nutritious and  very handy.

They can easily pick it for kids inside bags and travel out which  would give them better aroma devoid of the known unhealthy odour associated with the traditional locust -beans.

What has been the impact of SMEDAN in your business,?

SMEDAN has been very helpful and inspirational.They have visited our establishment  to know what we do and the mode of our production. They have inspected our premises and our machineries for production. We started with using improvised to remove the shells of the local beans but now,that is a thing of the past. SMEDAN has provided for us shell extruder that we use to remove the shells and this has made our work to be hygienic ,faster at production ,saving a lot of man- hour. Thanks to them.

Also, SMEDAN organises seminars for us as an association and gives regular counsels on how to go about our  businesses . As time goes on,we shall expand our business to overseas.

Has there been any financial benefits from the government or other sources since you started the business?

At present,we have not received any financial benefits or grants from any source but we are hoping that very soon ,help will come from the government.

“We are hoping and we are trusting them that they will be of help because this business requires a lot of money just as we’ve mentioned,; for instance: We are planning  making  powder locust- bean and package it like the  Maggie-cube and some other seasoners. You know ,that, medically it has been discovered by research that elderly ones should abstain or minimize the consumption of Maggi because of the ingredients not  suitable for aged people.So,our packaged ground locust- bean is a ready alternative for those category of senior citizens in the country.

Who are your competitors?

There’s no business or company without  competitors. Even where I make my own products I have within the town no less than 34 places where they produce locust-beans but my own is unique. They are no threats to our business as we have added more value to our own kind of locust- bean in a modern form.

What is your advice to jobless graduates or school leavers looking at the rate of unemployment in the country today?

By the grace of God,I’ve been to the Polytechnic and I’ve advanced to the university,so I know what it takes to go to school. And I know that most graduates want a white-collar jobs ,but we can’t all be employed in the office. “We need to change our orientation. We need to ask ourselves, What can I do even while in school? We can actually develop our entrepreneurship skills while in school. What can I do or what value can I add to my society while in school and when Iam out of school.”

“The problem we have today in Nigeria especially among school leavers is that  a lot of graduates sit down and want the  government to do everything for them. You can actually get something done,with  so many opportunities. We only need to act as a graduate. You need to think ahead of people. Okay, Ask yourself,What is the problem of people in my community or my environment? Then how can I solve it?

What’s the message? What  I’m trying to pass across is  that if they can look at what we are doing and other possibilities the  advantages are numerous .

How do you package your product?(IRU)

They are packaged in kilograms depending on what you need. So it depends on what you want. If somebody wants to travel out of the country and you want locust- bean you can have the dry locust- bean from us or buy at super markets and shops. We have that of  500g,200gram,50 grams and less because we are really concerned with the grassroots. This is a product that people make use of on daily basis so we have to make it available to them in different sizes.

If you have the opportunity to enlarge your business. How many workers would you be able to accommodate ?

Thank you so much. I love the question because I’m thinking in that  direction presently. I’m looking for a plot of land where we are going to accommodate many local producers for them to come and  produce their products and learn from us.   We want to employ school leavers as production assistants and marketers as well by God’s grace.We are looking for a place  nearer to a water source because we need a lot of water for the production process.

So,water is one of the challenges you are facing at present?

We don’t have the capacity to make bore-hole.So if we have this bore-hole dug it will go a long way to boost our production.

The old way of making this IRU gives room for messy environment because of the way they use water all over the production site. But  ours will  not be  like that. We would invite the indigenous producers to come and produce on a week day ,say Tuesday,take it out to sell and make them to be aware of the importance of good hygiene with the way they handle their products.

Thank you for sparing your time for this short conversation. It is our belief that as time goes on,and your product becomes more popular in the market, expansion will definitely come as envisaged.

.

Thank you  very much Sir.

Authentic Enterprise,located in Gbongan Osun State. is a registered company with  the Nigeria CAC, Abuja.