COSMAS MADUABUCHUKWU MADUKA: I was already breadwinner at 7

Dr. Cosmas Madua­buchukwu Maduka, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer of Coscharis Group of Compa­nies is an uneducated man who pulled himself out of poverty to become a billionaire,
simply by working hard, believing in himself and confessing himself to riches. He is regarded as suc­cess personified, as he had been a resource facilitator in youth empowerment seminars and conferences, where he educates people that on how to move on with life, no matter the circum­stances. He believes that one’s background should not deter­mine his destiny.
Born into the family of, late Pa Peter and Madam Rose Maduka from Nnewi, Anambra State on December 24, 1958, he lost his father at the age of four, so the opportunity of acquiring for­mal education eluded him. After the death of his father, he went through hard times, but with per­severance and dedication, he is today, one of the leading chief executive officers in Nigeria. His uncle sacked him when he was an apprentice trader for attending a church programme, yet that was not the end of the road for him and never despaired and trudged on, and believing that tomorrow holds much promises for him. To­day, his name is written in bold letters among corporate leaders in Nigeria.
Maduka started Coscharis Mo­tors as a one- man business, which has now risen to a conglomerate, with diverse interest in banking, manufacturing, ICT and the auto sub-sector of the economy.
He is presently regarded as a benchmark for other operators in the automobile industry.
It was as a result of his out­standing qualities, experience and contributions to the business and commercial sector that he was awarded Honorary Doctor of Business Administration by the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 2003. And in September 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan conferred him with the National Honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). He served as a director in Ac­cess Bank for twelve years. He is also the President, Nigerian Ta­ble Tennis Federation from 1996 to 2008. An alumnus of Harvard Business School under Execu­tive Education Programme, he is currently serving on the board of many notable companies, includ­ing, CG-Eko LLP, First System Refinishes, Ltd CG Biostadt Lim­ited etc.
He spoke with GILBERT EKEZIE on his journey to life and the secret of his success.
How was your beginning?
I was born and bred in Jos, Plataeu State. My father died when I was four years old. So, my mother who fried bean cake (Akara) could not cope with the hard situation we faced. I had to assist her by hawking Akara. I also learned how to cut palm fronds for elderly women and they paid me three pence. Three years after, things got worse, my mother withdrew me from elementary three and sent me to my maternal grandparents in order to reduce her task of providing for me as a little boy and other three children. At seven, I was already a breadwinner.
How was your journey to success?
In 1970, I was sent to serve my uncle as an automobile apprentice at Ebute- Metta, La­gos. My uncle lived at Ebute- Metta, but had a shop at 88 Griffith Street, near Oyingbo bus Stop. At that time, people laughed at me and questioned what I could learn at seven years old.
Why did people doubt your ability to learn a trade?
People doubted me because at the age of  nine, I have effectively mastered my craft and travelled alone to Nnewi to purchase some items on behalf of my uncle. At age 14, my uncle was so confident in my abilinine, I have effectively mastered my craft ties that he sent me to work in one of the branches in Sokoto and later in Nnewi. That time, there was no contract binding my uncle and I about. ­
Tell us of your apprentice experi­ences
My uncle then had no apartment. He was squatting with someone. So, he asked me to be sleeping in the shop. One funny thing was that when we closed for our daily business he would lock me inside the shop and went home with the key. I only came out when he opened the shop the fol­lowing day. If there had been any fire, I would not have been alive today to tell the story. Then, I used to bath in an open place. I could recall that school children mocked me while I was bathing, and I told them that I was going to be better than them in six years time. Also, I was born into a Catholic family, but later gave up my faith. Along the line, I found back my faith.
How did you regain your faith?
I tried to do that but there was no pos­sible means, until a friend invited me to the Redeemed Christian Church of God at Ebute- Metta. It was there I found my faith back and was not ready to let it go again.
How did you part ways with your uncle as an apprentice?
In 1975, at the age of 14, while still at Nnewi, I attended a church camp pro­gramme. When my uncle returned and dis­covered that I was not around, he became angry, and sent for my elder brother and me. When we went, there, he gave me the sum of N200.00, and asked me to go and concentrate on my newfound faith. That was how my services with my uncle were terminated.
What was your reaction for sud­den termination?
In fact, that was really done to punish me. But having known a little about God, I looked at my uncle in the eyes and told him that, “God hardened the heart of Pharaoh to show His might in the land of Egypt. I served you well and therefore do not de­serve this. But if this is what you have to offer me, five years from now, you will be amazed what you are going to see out of this money.”
What did you do with the money?
After collecting the money, I thought about what happened and saw it as a very big set back for me. However, that made me embrace a positive attitude. I have al­ways been very positive from my child­hood and this often made people laugh at me. After I parted with my uncle, I teamed up with my elder brother who had finished his apprenticeship and was ready to set up a company. So, we set up a company called Maduka Brothers and we specialized in spare parts. Unfortunately, the partnership did not last.
Why didn’t the partnership last?
My brother had to part due to ideologi­cal differences and left me with a capital of N300.00.
Now from N200 to N300, where did you go from there?
I used the N300, my brother left to start my own business enterprise called Coscharis Motors. I was coming to buy goods in Lagos.
At what point did you start to have breakthrough in business?
I had my first breakthrough in business when I went to Boulous Enterprises to purchase motorcycle spare parts. There, I saw an innovation called motorcycle crash ban and bought many of them. Thereaf­ter, I removed the address of Boulous on the carton, so that people would not know where I bought them. Then, I sold all the next day and joined night bus back to La­gos to buy more. I did that four times in a week and my capital rose from N300.00 over N3000.00.
You seemed to be making a suc­cess after being on your own, did you experience any hiccups?
After making some money from the Boulous business, I went into importa­tion. But, unfortunately, I received the wrong consignment and that made me lose my capital. I had a serious set back and became indebted to many even to my landlord, who I owed some months rent ar­rears. As a result, my shop was locked and the business crumbled. Notwithstanding, I was willing to start again.
How did you bounce back to busi­ness?
In order to survive, I searched for a weighing scale, which was presented to me during my wedding. I took it to the market and was charging 10 kobo for anyone that climbed it to check his weight. From there, I made some money, but my wife did not know about it initially. When she eventu­ally knew, she cried and decided to pick up a job to support the family. So, with the proceeds from the weighing business, I teamed up with a friend called, David and we set up a company known as Cosdave. My partnership with David also had to end due to ideological differences. Thereafter, I set Coscharis Motors.
How did the name, Coscharis come up?
Coscharis is a combination of three let­ter words from my name, Cosmas and four from my wife’s name, Charity. I decided to call it Charis instead of Charity so that it will sound well and different.
How is Coscharis Group doing?
Coscharis Motors is a member of the Coscharis group; the Coscharis group has seven subsidiaries. The company is di­versified into auto sales and auto services with state -of -the-art showrooms and workshops, nationwide. The auto sales and services facilities are top of the bill in Nigeria and Sub Sahara Africa with a complementary efficient and effective staff force. The automobile business of Coscharis Group commenced in 1983, when the company was incorporated with the business of importation and distribu­tion of genuine automotive spare parts and accessories of Japanese vehicles and sev­eral kinds of automobile related products. Coscharis previous head office Complex at 1-7 Coscharis Street, Kirikiri Industry Estate, Maza- Maza was instituted in 1989 and since then, the company has stretched its bases to Victoria Island and Lekki in Lagos State, while branches have been set up in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Ibadan. Other areas are Aba, Akure and Maiduguri, especially for the motorcycles and auto-care Abro products.
What can you say is the landmark of Coscharis Motors?
It was the commissioning of an Ultra­modern Complex at 68A, Adeola Odeku Street in Victoria Island, Lagos in 1997. This was immediately followed in 1998 by securing exclusive franchise to market the BMW and Land Rover brands in Nigeria. The BMW brand comes in a series of mod­els ranging from BMW 1 Series, BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series and BMW 7 Series. Currently, Coscharis mar­kets all the X variants: BMW X1, BMW X3, BMW X5, and BMW X6. The Land Rover variants include the Range Rover Vogue, Range Rover Sports, Range Rover Evoque, Discovery 4, Freelander 2 and the Defender.
In 1999, Coscharis Motors completed its ultra modern sales showroom and after sales services workshop located in Maza Maza. The then Vice-President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abuba­kar commissioned this. And, in 2000, it opened a standard sales/service branch in Abuja but this has been followed by the commissioning of an ultra-modern com­plex, the first of its kind in Nigeria and West Africa. The complex is located in the Central Business Area, Garki, Abuja. Cur­rently, its ranges of auto brands include, Ford vehicles, MG and other commercial vehicles. Then, in 2001, Coscharis Motors expanded its automobile range by diversi­fying into the sales of Ford vehicles. The Ford ranges include Figo, Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Mondeo and Taurus (all sedan). The Ford 4X4 on offering are Ranger, Es­cape, Everest, Galaxy, Edge and Explorer, Which is the flagship of the Ford brand. The company also sells the Ford Transit while the Ford showroom was commis­sioned in 2002.
What is the turning point of Co­scharis?
Coscharis made a breakthrough in 1982 when the Federal Government decided to grant import licences to 10 Nigerian Com­panies and it became one of the beneficiar­ies. Since that time till date, the company has continued to expand. The Coscharis group has over 26 branches nationwide and with heavy presence in three African countries namely Ghana, Gabon and Cote D’Ivoire. The Group’s business portfolio features supply, installation, maintenance and repairs of medical and labouratory equipment, pharmaceuticals, sales and ser­vices of automobiles.
You said you didn’t go to school, how did you succeeded without ed­ucation?
I learn from natural things. I believe that it is not about going to university, but hav­ing common sense to make things happen. An educated man is one who can organise his thought into productivity. It is not about having dream, but the plan to actualise the dream into action. I have the passion  to make a difference in my life.
Though I left school in primary three, I tried to do some research and found out how I could take some parts from a Volkswagen car and fix into a Honda. I was always curious to know which automobile parts could work on another brand. For the three years I worked tirelessly with my uncle and he opened some branches. So, you need pasto make a difference in my life. sion, commitment, integrity, discipline, creativity, business development skill, innovation and perseverance. It is interest­ing to state that I have not failed to keep my commitment since I started business. ­
What gave you the con­fidence that you would one day succeed?
In fact, I did not know why I was so confident as a child. But the truth is that my mother inspired and encouraged me al­ways.
Why are some business­men not making the desired progress?
I was able to turn N200.00 into billions of naira under 40 years of being in business. One major bane of stagnancy in busi­ness is artificial lifestyles. Many Nigerians live wasteful lives. I am proud to say that I can pay some of the people that use pri­vate jets. It is unfortunate that many businessmen do not create businesses and try areas they can make maximum impact. It is also unfortunate that most business­men think that one could build reputation with what he is going to do, not knowing that reputa­tion is built of what one has al­ready done.
What is your vision?
My vision is to build an insti­tution that will be timeless in its relevance and value.
What advice do you have for young people?
Youths should start little and they will get where they want to be. It is not where you started from, but where you will end up that matters. Those going into business should be mindful of the 10 commandments of Small Scale Business Enterprise: Pick and remain focused on a busi­ness they understand well. They should thoroughly understand their market. They should look for and hire professional manag­ers, put in place a strong financial administration control, constant­ly research the market to confirm the continued relevancy of their products to prevent a business from being obsolete. Also, they should avoid spending too much money on office space and self serving activities; they need liq­uid cash to run their businesses, they should have a business stra­tegic plan and constantly review it, keep proper and complete re­cords of all transactions, make sure that there is a job for every position and find people to fill them. Further, they should set performance standards for them­selves and constantly measure against the standards.
Another thing the young busi­ness people should to know is that success of a great meeting is not based on the eloquence of the speaker, but the understand­ing. In a journey of success, one must learn to overcome fears and imbibe courage and hard work.