UNVEILING ODUNAYO AKINRINSOLA , THE MAN WHO WILL TAKE OVER FROM GOVERNOR OLUSEGUN MIMIKO OF ONDO STATE COME 2016

UNVEILING ODUNAYO AKINRINSOLA , THE MAN WHO WILL TAKE OVER FROM GOVERNOR OLUSEGUN MIMIKO OF ONDO STATE COME 2016
-His Grass To Grace Story, Lifestyle, Business And Politics 

SPIDS LOGISTICS LIMITED boss, Odunayo Akinrinsola’s  success  story  is not only inspiring but a must read for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build their businesses from the scratch. Having graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo University, with BSc in Accounting , his search for jobs without success for years led him to start SPIDS Logistics firm on a small scale and today the business has grown in leaps and bounds into a multi-million naira organisation, with rate of turnover beyond expectations. The expert in human resource and logistics management in a rare interview with us expresses his desire to contest for Ondo state governorship in 2016.

What inspired you to set up a business after your University Education rather than search for job?

The expectation of every graduate is to get out of school and get a job to earn a living. It was same for me too after graduation, but I realised that it was easier said than done, as things did not pan out as I thought it would be. I kept on looking for job but it seems the jobs kept running away from me. But thank God, the rest is history.

Can you briefly share your experience with us?

After my NYSC I came to Lagos and did several job tests but at the end I was not shortlisted for the jobs I applied for. After many disappointments, one day it occurred to me that if I can’t find a job, why can’t I create one? That was the turning point. Fortunately for me I have a friend who was into Logistics, I joined his team instead of staying at home on a voluntary basis- giving my services for free. With that I learnt the rudiments of the business. I also did teaching job because I don’t like to stay idle. As God would have it, I got a scholarship for a Post Graduate course in Netherlands, after the course I came back to Nigeria and I decided to leverage on my experience in logistics business to start immediately. I reached out to some contacts in my line of business and here we are today. God provided us with an opportunity through a contact, we got a contract from a Telecommunication company that needed a Warehouse, which we got for them, that was our first job ,and from there on we started expanding gradually. Our service delivery, competence and expertise in handling the jobs of our initial clients got us referrals that opened doors of business opportunities for us elsewhere

What would you say has sustained this business this far?

The grace of God has kept us going. Apart from that you must be a very good resource manager for you to succeed on this job. Accountability also matters, as well as transparency and discipline. We do our best to deliver on promise. I strongly believe that a good name is better than all riches in this world. So we committed ourselves to building and sustaining our good name. This has helped us tremendously. Protecting the good name and integrity of my family heritage is my mantra. Therefore, we  always strive to earn the trust of our clients’. As a result; we have gotten referrals from big organisations, multinationals.

What exactly do you do at Spids Logistics?

Spids  Logistics Limited is an integrated Logistics solution provider, we are into Warehouse sourcing and management, Customize Warehousing, Inventory Management, Distribution and Redistribution of goods and services. What we do is a reflection of our slogan-“Logistics at Its Peak”. Our drive is futuristic, always aiming for the top. We want to be the best among Third Party Logistics Firm operating in this country. We have done jobs for Multinationals, Manufacturing Companies, Telecommunication Companies amongst others.

How much would you say your educational experience helped you in this business?

I studied Accounting at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, I did Financial Management in Netherlands, I took another course in US that is related to management. Yes my educational experience has helped and is still helping me in business especially in the area of cost and human resource management. However, success is not only dependent on what  you study in school, what comes to play in the marketplace; what you can do and how you go about it counts. We try to offer excellent service delivery, offering and providing cutting edge service. Because of competition we are always on my toes looking for new ideas that can give us the edge over others.

How would you describe life as the CEO, Spids Logistics Limited and your lifestyle?

Life as a CEO is quite challenging, when you have to think about your family, business, staff welfare, and the growth of the business. In actual fact, all of these matters to me. It is not all work and no play. I play golf for relaxation, nobody is perfect but I try as much as possible to strike a balance between my work and family. Moreover, we do not joke with our staff welfare, their salary is very important because they too have to make a living. I maintain a simple lifestyle,  I am devout Christian, I live a simple life. I m a sociable person, but  I don’t  indulge drinking, smoking and extra curricula activities of men. During my leisure time I like to dance, play indoor games like Basketball, Scrabble, and Chess. I love gadgets but I only buy them when I think it is quite necessary.

Give us a brief about your immediate family?

I got married in 2005, to the glory of God we are blessed with three children. My wife has been very supportive. I always thank God for her. You need the support and prayers of your spouse to succeed as a business man. Like the saying goes, behind a successful man, there is a woman. My children are my future, I love and cherish my family.

You are doing well in business, why do you suddenly develop interest in politics?

My joining politics is not sudden, I have been following politics since the days of SDP and NRC in the early 90s, I remember when I clocked 18,  I was excited that I would be able to vote. I am was born into a Polygamous family from Ile- Oluji  in Ondo state. I was born with a silver spoon but was not trained with one. I joined Politics because I want to impact the lives of people, especially my people in Ondo state. Our state is blessed with natural resources and if well managed it will help to create millions of job opportunities for the youths. People will not have to run to Lagos to seek for better opportunities. Now is the time for us to make that impact, and we can only achieve this for the populace through public office and the route to this is politics. I admire people like Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, he is the Architect of a new Lagos, he created an environment which provided an opportunity for people like us and many others to succeed. I am a supporter of Party of Change, All Peoples Congress, APC, the  party that understand the plights of the common man.

So why do you want to contest for the Governorship?

I have always loved to put smiles in the faces of the people and to do that I have to seek for a platform that can reach out to many people. We want to demonstrate how a peoples’ friendly government should be run.The moral test of any government should be how best you treat these categories of people - the downtrodden, those in the twilight of life and those in the shadow of life. The first category are the children, a serious government must have a direct impact on these people in a way that they will feel the impact of governance. The second category is the elderly people, they must be well taken care of, and the third category are the physically challenged people, they see life as meaningless to them, they don’t see anything good in life anymore. A serious government must care for them and make them have a sense of belonging. This is what “Odunayo Akinrinsola Youth Empowerment Foundation” wants to do. We want to reach out to the people, we have being doing that at low scale for some time now,  by the grace of God we have children we pay their school fees and we will continue to do that, but we want to take it to a higher level.

How do you translate your experience from running your personal business to that of running a state government?

Experience they is the best teacher. I want to start by creating a good environment for investors to come into the state. I don’t joke with my staffs’ salary. And this is what I do to meet up with that obligation, we build understanding with our staff and we operate the principle of transparency. The staffs want to see a leader they can trust, a just leader. They see the inflow and see what we spend from the company, it’s a symbiotic relationship we trust one another, they know if the company is growing. It is not proper to deprive staffs their salary because their families depend on it, most times when there is no money we engaged in discussion and they suggest ways out of the situation. It is even difficult to run a business than to run a government. In government there is ready made allocation coming to the state, while you source for money to run a business. Lagos was able to survive during Asiwaju Bola Tinubu when allocation was not coming in from Abuja. His administration generated money internally. We have oil in Ondo state, we will bring in investors that will generate jobs, the idea is that we won’t put all our developmental efforts of  the state  on allocation from the Federation Account alone, so that we won’t run into problems associated with non payment of salaries that has affected most states in recent times

It is generally believed that Politics is a dirty game, you are a young decent man running a successful business, how do you hope to play along in this game?

Politics is not a dirty game, that phrase is just a slogan to me. I don’t believe in it. We have decent people who want to impact on the lives of the people and they are in politics. Politics to me is not a dirty, it is only a platform whereby one can reach out to the people, and meet the needs of the populace.  Politics is a game of leadership, a game of transparency and accountability

How would you describe the current political situation in Nigeria. For the first time in 16years power changed hands from  PDP to APC through the ballot?

If you see the manifestoes of the two major political parties in Nigeria the All Progressives Congress APC is the only party that has the interest of the people in their plan. APC is a party of intellectuals and technocrats. People, who know how to meet the needs of the common man . APC knows what it entails to make the common man relevant, they know the plight of  the common man and what they are going through. You can see leadership by example since APC took over, President  Muhammud  Buhari and his Vice  Yemi Osinbajo led by example by cutting their salaries by half, the wind of change is blowing and I am ready to channel that wind of change to my state, Ondo so that people will also enjoy the new things, there is no better time than now.