Dozy and Toye represent the finest breed of business visionary dreamers
Both have created wealth, burnt billions, run into tumultuous trouble and have seen their dreams burnt like the proverbial Icarus who flew too close to the sun
Sitting down with Toye and listening to him is like listening to the best curated orchestra
His dreams, his ideas, his vision are so expansive almost at the level of Galileo or whoever it is that first said that the earth was round
Dozy is like that – a total dreamer whose feet are never on the ground. He talks massively, engages massively and is imbued with an overdose of optimistic energy
They both built fantastic vehicles that impacted society, created jobs, pushed the boundaries and both came crashing down so glamourously that their fall continues to rankle the business environment shaking Entrepreneurship and leaving massive dents
So let me ask, why do you think this happened? Why did they lose billions so spectacularly to the point, especially in Dozy’s case with international ramifications
It’s simple – a lack of respect for corporate governance as it relates to risk management, controls, practical accounting and collective responsibility and decision making
Let me drop this first. Every economy or system cannot progress without the Toye and Dozy type of Entrepreneurs
Every major business initiative is usually arrowheaded and birthed by dreamers.
Businesses are usually started from a vision of the promoter who like an artist sees very clearly what he wants to achieve and what solution he would be rendering to society
The very successful ones, when u listen to them you begin to query their sanity.
They speak not of this world, push excitedly as they seek funding and float in the air with ideas
Name it, all the biggest firms in this country, the world all started like this
Imagine what Fola Adeola would have told his potential investors when he and Tayo mooted the idea of a GTB as a new bank that would play ethically in a corruption-vested system
I am sure, they would have looked at them as mad and walked away
Now the difference between Fola and Dozy and Toye is that, the moment Fola got the capital needed, he immediately built a strong corporate governance structure around them and the business
What this means is that they subsume power to structure, push in a Board and allow themselves some level of subordination to a superior authority – The Board
From my outside – inside look at Toye and Dozy, I didn’t really see the corporate governance structure working
In the Toyes case, the structure was in place but was never allowed full authority to function
In Dozy’s case nothing like any structure or controls. Power began and ended with him and most decisions emanated from him and must be executed without dissent
Now it’s easy to quickly shoot blame but then again, you must understand what I want to call the impatience of geniuses
These geniuses get easily irritated with a system or structure that does not move at their pace
The seeming slowness of checking and cross-checking, of consulting and debate is something most geniuses find very irritating so they just bypass it and move
Business graveyard is littered with the graves of businesses that were ruined by their very brilliant promoters
We cannot deemphasise risk management and controls and audits esp in rendering true financial positions of companies
The genius promoter is flying in the sky, looking for markets to conquer, making multiple decisions all in a bid to push the vision and doing all of these with his flanks open
I met a genius promoter during the week. I wanted N50m to publish my book and he saw the book and was excited
We will give you. He pointed at his officials – work with Edgar, give him the money
What he saw was the margin, the impact on the brand and the impact on society and what the book would do to power and influence
But his strong support system thought otherwise.
They took me through very stringent procedures, credit check, collateral verification, source of repayment, domiciliation of proceeds and all of that
You see the difference in approach between the genius promoter and the stringent risk management structure he has put in place?
Risk management and controls are key in the institutionalisation of processes leading to sustainable growth in businesses
This is why in some businesses the Chief Risk Officer reports directly to the Board and has a dotted line reporting to the MD
Others have approval limits for the MD or promoter and anything above that, they would need a Board approval and where they cannot get the whole Board to sit, they have Board Committees so that approvals can come out relatively very fast
Genius promoters are a key ingredient in the expansive push towards wealth creation and they must be protected by all means by the system, regulators, shareholders and their Boards
The system must take into consideration their need for fast-paced decision-making while also not allowing itself to be railroaded into decisions without really considering them
Dozy and Toye remain some of the finest business brains in the country but their lack of transparent handling of risks, reporting, controls and collective decision-making sent their dreams and visions crashing to the greater loss of this country
Dozy was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and was about to buy a Premiership club while Toye had built one of the most expansive Energy Parks on the continent, imagine if internal regulation and controls were tight?
Imagine
*Read more articles of this nature on the AlvinReport.com
Joseph Edgar
Founder
Barnaby&Edgar