Adama Salihu is the brains behind Clayfields and Harrow, a facility management firm. In this interview with Eric Dumo, she speaks about her growing up, passion and how she manages to strike a balance between work and private life
How was your childhood and which part of the country did you grow up?
I was born in Minna, Niger State, to a
retired policeman and a mother who was just a housewife. I am the last
child of eight surviving children, five females and three males, all of
who are well established in their own ways.
I attended a public primary school
before proceeding to the Federal Government College, Minna. After that, I
went to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where I did a diploma in
Banking before going for a degree in Business Administration. I
graduated in 1998. I grew up with brothers and sisters who had the time
to correct my mistakes and lead me on the right path. I was very loved
by my father and was his pet because I was literarily the only child
that he witnessed its birth and so sometimes, my elder siblings would
bully me because of this.
My father was in the Railway Police and
so he was always on the move and was hardly ever around, so he never
really witnessed the birth of any of his children except me. I was born a
year before he retired and so he became very fond of me.
That must have translated into a lot of pampering for you?
Well, that’s what my siblings say and
feel but I do not always agree with them. They feel I was the only one
that got away with all what they never could with our father. I was very
close to my father and as a result, he instilled in me a lot of
confidence and discipline. Being close to him made me believe that I
could become whatever I wanted to be in life because of the confidence.
Did growing up under the roof of a disciplined police officer in any way affect the woman that you have grown to become today?
My father wasn’t a hard man but he never
tolerated mischief. He had a way of fishing us out when we tried to
pretend or lie about something we had done wrong. So, because we knew
that he would always discover our mischief, we tried to be as upright as
we could.
It was not as if he had a horse whip
that he used on us, it was the psychological hold he had on us that did
the magic. The basic fact was that it instilled discipline and all the
right values into us as young boys and girls.
Were you deprived of doing the things girls your age did especially coming from a home where discipline was the watchword?
I had a very memorable growing up in
that regard. My parents weren’t rich but life under them was fun.
Sometimes I wish my daughter could have the type of childhood I had. In
our time, you could run to the streets and play. It is not now that we
live our lives in individual enclosures. I feel sorry for my daughter
today because I cannot release her to go and play in the streets from
morning till night. During our time, you played from one friend’s house
to another all through the day. Everybody knew each other. It was a
society of people who had conscience, who didn’t discriminate. If for
example another girl’s father saw you doing the wrong thing, he would
beat you and your parents would go back and thank him very well for
rebuking you in such a manner.
I wasn’t deprived of anything and it was
so much fun. I really wish I could afford my daughter such opportunity
but sadly life has changed a lot.
As a young girl, what ambitions did you set out for yourself?
My ambition changed every day because my
father said and believed that any of his children could be whatever
they wanted to be in life through hard work. Until my late teens and
early university days when I began to narrow my mind towards a few
areas, I didn’t see anything as being impossible. At that stage, I knew
the options were mine, they were limitless.
Of course because I was talkative as a
child, a lot of people felt I was going to end up as a lawyer. I really
wanted to be successful, that was the biggest ambition I had as a child.
Having come from a modest home, were there struggles putting you through school?
My father didn’t pay a penny for my
education, so there was no struggle in that regard. Of course if he had
to pay, there would have been a struggle because we were eight and he
would have been stressed sending all of us to school with his small
pension. It would have been very tough. The state government took care
of everything and we even used to get some stipend and free books.
But it is heartbreaking that this same
country cannot provide enough learning materials for its students today.
I attended public schools all through my life but the standards are no
longer what they used to be in our time. People like us would have been
on our knees if we were born in this generation. It makes me feel bad
when I look at all of these today. So, a child who would have had the
propensity to succeed during our days, won’t be able to achieve that
today because the standards are no longer there in the public schools.
In those days, public schools were well
funded and the teachers were very qualified. Beyond academic training,
there were a lot of other trainings especially on survival that the
public school system provided in our days. It was an all-round training
in our days.
How old were you when you went to the university?
I was about 19 when I gained admission to Ahmadu Bello University. I was quite young then.
Weren’t you naive or afraid
to leave home at such a young age for a completely new environment where
you would be responsible for yourself?
Despite the bullying from my elder
siblings, especially my brothers, there was a good side to it. It made
me tough even at such a young age. When you allow a child to go out and
play on its own, there are certain lessons they learn which become
useful later in life. It helps to build independence and wisdom in you
in some way.
To a large extent, the experience from home helped prepare me for my journey into the university at 19.
You must have been wooed a lot by men during your younger days especially at the university, was that the case?
I had just a friend all through my
university days and that was because we had a common love which was to
make first class even though we ended up with a two one. I never went to
a party and didn’t miss anything. I am not a very social person and
that’s why you would hardly catch me attending a party at weekends.
My mother used to make social life look
like an act of irresponsibility. She could not understand why somebody
should wake up in the morning, bathe, get dressed and go about visiting
friends or attending parties. She felt only unserious people engaged in
such. She made it sound that bad and we all grew up with that mentality.
I had almost lost friends as a result of
my quiet life. So, I had a male friend all through my university days,
people knew us so much that a lot of other guys kept off. Many people
felt I was taken already but that was never the case. I survived.
So, at what point did you establish Clayfields and Harrow?
I started off my career at Zenith Bank
and later went for my second Master’s Degree in the UK after taking a
one year study leave in 2003. I left Zenith in 2005 for Accenture where I
stayed till early 2007. I set up Clayfields and Harrow in late 2007 and
we are into facility management.
I didn’t plan my entry into this
industry, it happened because I had snippets of the qualities needed to
thrive in the sector. Facility management is about predicting problems
and solving them before they happen. It’s just about somebody putting in
effort to ensure everything works.
What has been the challenge operating in this industry?
To start with, facility management is a
male-dominated profession. But the real issues are the people who work
for you and these are men, I mean artisans who can be so annoying and
ready to frustrate your efforts. It is tough.
Naturally, managing people comes with
its own challenges, let alone artisans, it can be crazy. These are
people coming with their own attitudes and peculiarities.
But then I get by. I see myself more as a
boss than a woman. When everything works, nobody remembers the person
whose job it is to make it possible but the moment something goes wrong,
that is when everybody becomes furious and wants to know who that
person is. But again that is how the job is and you must deal with it if
you must remain in business.
Also, we have been able to come up with a
new concept called ‘Rent a man’. It is a vision I have had for some
time. I felt facility management shouldn’t be restricted to businesses
who could afford it alone but also homes that required professional
intervention in terms of maintenance.
For example, rather than deal with an
artisan you don’t know or trust, we can provide you with a reliable and
trusted workman who would fix whatever problems you need in your home
without fearing for whatever reason. It gives you an extra comfort of
your liabilities being on the company and not the guy who comes into
your home to fix your air conditioner or generator. You just pay a
little extra for the ease and comfort we have brought to your doorstep.
Considering your hectic work schedule, do you ever find the time to relax?
One relaxation technique I use is that I
block out Sundays regardless of what the occasion is. I simply don’t go
anywhere on Sundays, I am at home all through. Everybody has complained
and finally adjusted and accepted me the way I am.
I use Sundays to calm my nerves and it
helps me rejuvenate for the coming week. There is a quietness that comes
with Sundays and for me it is a good time to relax. In my house, I do
my best to put everything that makes me comfortable.
Also, I read a lot because I like to
enrich myself with knowledge. Sometimes I go to the beach only to read.
If there is anything I miss in my life today it is that I am not able to
read as much as I used to.
Typically, what does your weekend look like?
I hardly go out at weekends. I have my
spar, massage bed, steam bath and even salon in my house. In fact, I
have not been to the salon in the last five years because my stylist
simply comes to my house to make my hair whenever I need her to. I have
everything I need in my house, so most weekends, I hardly go out except
it is extremely compulsory.
How much of a fashionable person are you?
I like to look good and so my tailor is
always on ground to do nice outfits for me from Ankara fabrics. These
days, I mostly wear native attire. I am not the type that would spend so
much on a dress, bag or shoe. I go for items that soothe my style and
taste but I try not to be lavish and wasteful in doing that. I like to
look good but do my best to stay simple.
Where is your favourite holiday destination?
I am in love with Barcelona in Spain. It
is a very beautiful place. For me, till date, it is the most hospitable
place I have visited.
I love to travel because I am always
interested in learning new things. You don’t appreciate life sometimes
until you see certain places.
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