MEET DR. STELLA OKOLI, ONE
OF THE RICHEST WOMEN IN NIGERIA, AND HOW SHE BUILT A MULT-BILLION NAIRA
BUSINESS (EMZOR PHARMACEUTICAL IINDUSTRIES LTD WITH N4,000. 00 ONLY.
 |
| Emzor Pharmaceutical Products |
Chairman/CEO, EMZOR PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LTD
PROFILE, ADVENTURES AND
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE AMAZON
PROFILE OF DR. STELLA OKOLI
Dr. Stella Okoli, OON is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer
of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, an indigenous group she founded 33
years ago, which has remarkably grown to have footprints in Liberia and Sierra
Leone.
Born in Kano, Northern Nigeria to the family of Chief Felix
Ebelechukwu and Princess Margaret Modebelu of Nnewi, In Anambra State, she
attended All Saint Primary School, Onitsha from 1954-1959 and Ogidi Girls
Secondary School from 1959-1964, Attended Federal Science School Lagos from
1964 till 1966.
She later proceeded to University of Bradford in the United
Kingdom from where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy. This academic
achievement was followed by an MSC in Biopharmaceutics which she obtained from
University of London, Chelsea College in 1971.
Dr. Stella Okoli’s post-graduation work experience is quite
impressive. Her experience in the Pharmaceutical field is well consolidated.
She initially worked in Middlesex Hospital as a Ward/ Clinical Pharmacist,
followed in succession by her brief stint as a Pharmacist at Boots Chemist
London. Her return home to Nigeria, saw her work at Massey Children Hospital
Lagos before she joined a pharmaceutical manufacturing company Park Davies
Nigeria Ltd (now Pharma-Deko Plc) as a Medical Representative and later as a
sales Manager.
By 1981, her entrepreneurial drive led her into the Drug
importation business. She imported both Ethical and Over the Counter (OTC)
drugs to meet the health needs of Nigerians for quality drugs and by 1984 incorporated
Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries, a leading producer of a wide range of drugs,
over 70- lines of products and significant contributor to Nigeria’s gross
domestic product.
Dr. Stella Okoli is on top of leadership challenges and is in tune
with current management trends. She has attended wide ranging courses across
the world, to broaden her knowledge and sharpen her leadership skill. Some of
these, include The Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School
Boston (1997- 1999) the implementing Strategic and Organizational Change at
I.E.S.E. Business School, Barcelona Spain (1996). Management Course 2002 in
Insead in Switzerland and the Chief Executive Programme of the Lagos Business
School. She is also a director of the Harvard Business School Nigeria.
Beyond her quest for knowledge, she has consistently served in
finding practical solutions to the perennial problems in our environment. She
served as the Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMGMAN) she is an active member of many
local and international professional organizations such as the Pharmaceutical
Society of Nigeria, British Chamber of Commerce, Commonwealth Pharmaceutical
Association as well as Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce. She received
the Bullion Award for her outstanding contribution to industry and
Manufacturing.
She is the Vice President of Manufactures Association of Nigeria
(MAN). And she is the Vice president of NACCIMA.
A great Philanthropist and a Change Agent, she has awarded many
Scholarships to students in Secondary and Tertiary Institutions and donated
generously to the less privileged in the society and consistently supported
several non-profit organizations. Dr. Stella Okoli is the Founder of Chike
Okoli Foundation. The Foundation was set up in 2006 to raise awareness on
cardiovascular disease and promote entrepreneurship. To date, the Foundation
has set up the Chike Okoli Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies at Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka and is trained over 1,600 entrepreneurs/students in the
science and spirit of entrepreneurship. It has also reached over 5,000,000
people across Nigeria on lifestyle interventions.
Dr. Stella Okoli’s great entrepreneurial strides and philanthropy
has won her many awards and accolades. She is a recipient of the MON and OON
awards from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, among others from
several local and international distinguished groups.
Dr. Stella Okoli is proudly Nigerian and a distinguished daughter
of Africa. Her doggedness, dynamism and unparalleled energy and passion in the
face of daunting odds, have made her a remarkable role model for women and all
classes of entrepreneurs across Africa. Her guiding philosophy is routed in
hardwork, integrity and ethical leadership.
She was recently honoured with the Doctor of Business
Administration (Honoris Causa) by Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
She is a proud mother of three Children and loves music,
travelling and meeting people. She spends her spare time on charitable work and
service to humanity.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND FEATS
ACCOMPLISHED BY STELLA OKOLIi
Anambra-born Stella Okoli certainly belongs to the class of
amazons. The first child of her parents, she was born in Kano, Northern
Nigeria, to a wealthy chief who, according to Igbo culture would have preferred
to have a boy. However, as Stella grew into an admirable, perspicacious little
girl, her father fell in love with his daughter and founded a movement with the
sole aim of appreciation the girl child. Named Nwanyibuife, (meaning the girl child is also importation), the
movement did a lot of the hitherto rigid mind set of the people of the
community, regarding female children, most of whom, at that time were usually
not considered for education. A widely travelled man, her father named her
Stella, after Stella Thomas, who, back then was a famous lawyer in Western
Nigeria.
Education at University of Bradford , England, where she studies pharmacy
, young Stella returned to Nigeria with a burning passion to turn around the practice
of pharmacy, which, at that time was still in a crude state of
infancy and still pretty
much controlled by foreign
investors, as fate would have it, though, Okoli didn’t get a chance to
revolutionize Nigeria pharmaceutical
practice on her return to the country in the 197os. All she got was the
seemingly paltry sum of N4,000 from her Wealthy
father. Back then, however, N4,000 wasn’t exactly considered a paltry
sum if u recall that a brand new Peugeot
504 car was sold for N2,500. Although the N4,000 she got from her father was
hardly enough to change the face of
pharmaceutical practice in Nigeria, far-sighted Stella Okoli didn’t let that discourage her. She had learnt
enough from the bible to know not to be negligent of bumble beginnings. So she
set up a medicine shop with the mind set of making it the best for miles
around, while all the time keeping her eye on the big picture. So certain was
she of her vision for the pharmaceutical future of Nigeria that she
recalls, “I refused to join the family
business, even though that was what my family wanted me to do, especially
given my exposure in the United Kingdom.”
Described as a woman who treads in terrains considered to be
the exclusive preserve of the men folk, Okoli was to venture into the
manufacturing of drugs at a time when most of the foreign, multinational
investors, who had been more of pharmaceutical traders began divesting from the
country on account of the enormous challenges they faced in growing the
industry back then. Says Okoli, “but they were foreigners, they could divest, pull
out their funds and go back home to their countries. I couldn’t go anywhere.
And so we were forced to do the best we could to ensure the quality and the
growth of the industry was maintained. We just had to do our best the only way
we knew how.”
Today, Chief Mrs. Stella Okoli enjoys the glorious
distinction of being the owner of Nigeria’s leading indigenous pharmaceutical company
and, indeed, Emzor Pharmaceutical Company Limited holds the record as the first
indigenous pharmaceutical company to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
However, she is usually the point out that it hasn’t always been easy. Hear
her: “first of all, most of the multi-nationals
were mostly trading back then but, although we also started by
importing finished products, we didn’t
waste time before investing in raw materials and going from raw materials to finished products. We have always done this and
manufacturing in our country has been very challenging. As if that is not bad
enough, there have been policies, over the years that have favoured the trading
multi-nationals, to the detriment and disadvantage of those of us who have
invested in the development of the manufacturing aspect of the industry. When
you consider the other issue like double taxation, drug faking, sub-standard
drugs power, and so on you may begin to appreciate the challenges we have faced
over the years.
The result of all this is that Okoli who is naturally warm,
God-fearing and people-oriented, now mentors a
lot of young people, who find it
vey convenient being around her. For so many years in the Emzor Group, almost
everyone was on first name terms with Stella-a carry-over from her days in
England. Add to all this the fact she is a ravishingly beautiful woman, even in
her seventies and you begin to understand why Mrs. Okoli is a tremendous force
to reckon with in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical circles. Not only is she a pioneer
in the industry, she is an elder stateswoman, who can beat her chest proudly
and confidently regarding her achievements in the industry. For well over two
decades, for instance, her Emzor
Paracetamol has been a market leader widely ` recommended by doctors and
pharmacists. To say the least, the Emzor Group is a multi-product brand that
has steadily metamorphosed, over the years from the production of primary to
tertiary drugs. As one of the managers of the group explained, ”we know Nigeria
and Nigerians we know the peculiarities of our people more than any foreigner,
no matter how expert he may be. Besides, we are Nigerian our people are
Nigerians, a foreigner may develop a substandard drug that may harm Nigerian,
but if we do that, who knows whether it is my relative who may end up using the
drug? These considerations inform our commitment to uncompromising quality and
may explain why we are rated high as a quality-oriented Nigerian company.
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