Adetowubo Oluwakoya, CEO Dipod Insurance Brokers Ltd faced overwhelming odds from his childhood.
His father who hailed from Ijebu Ago Iwoye had given birth to him while working at Owu Ijebu as a drug dispenser.
He thus named him Adetowubo, a tribute to his place of birth, which means gift from Owu.
Unfortunately he did not live to watch him grow to become a man. He died when Adetowubo was barely 3. His mother took ill thereafter to the point that she could no longer play the motherly role.
Those were the realities that first confronted him.
It was an uncomfortable beginning. And it was not certain reprieve would come soon. He had to make do with the benevolence of family and friends.
Journey through school
He attended three primary schools in a row before he got admitted to Ijebu Ife Community Grammar School all in Ogun State. That was where the reality of the long journey ahead dawned on him.
But God was good. His friends soon took him in and introduced him to their parents who saw him as one of their own.
But he had to go home during holidays to help out in the farms of his uncle. With time he began to join some of his friends to work on construction sites to make some money during holidays.
For five years in secondary school his life rolled out with palpable uncertainty. His mother still could not do much to support his upkeep even when she got out of sickness.
Adetowubo however did not wear his pain. “I was blessed to have supportive friends while in school. That made it difficult to link me with poverty. Things were tough. But nobody knew because my look also did not show I was going through challenges.”
Indeed, Adetuwobo is blessed with a good complexion and an inviting signature smile that endears him to people. This suffering and smiling visage has been with him right from his childhood.
Confined to Ijebu
Unlike many of his classmates, he never had the grace of coming to Lagos or any other major city. He was always in Ijebu towns and villages until he was 19.
So he had this utopian view of Lagos. “In those days, those of us who were stuck in Ijebu used to see Lagos as London. I was 19 years old old before I ever travelled to Lagos.
“But my friends who lived in Lagos often came back to tell us stories about life in the city. They also gave accounts of some of the movies they watched in cinema houses when they came to school after the holidays. It was always exciting listening to them. And I used to wish I too would have the privilege of coming to Lagos.”
Journey to Lagos
Living in Ijebu however did not stop him from excelling in his academics. He made good grades at one sitting in WAEC. But he could not get admission immediately. It was while prospecting for admission that one of his uncles came to pick him to Lagos.
“The first plan was to get me a job in Lagos. But when my uncle saw my result he was impressed and said the proper thing to do was to continue my education. He believed taking up a job would derail me.” he recalled.
In a short while , he got admission at the then Lagos State College of Science and Technology where he studied Insurance.
He confessed that he so much fell in love with Lagos that he didn’t want anything that would take him back to the village.
“I was so serious with my academics to a point that my uncle was worried that I was getting unduly serious. In my mind I did not want to disappoint him. The fear of going back to the village kept me serious. I could not even keep a girlfriend.”
Adetowubo completed his programme at LACOSTECH, He started off with Niger Insurance, to Guinea Insurance where he spent 8 years and later joined Express Insurance where he served as the Ikeja branch manager.
in between his career he earned several certificates that qualified him to be member of many professional bodies. They include Commonwealth Executive Master of Business Administration.
He is an Associate Member Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Associate Member Canadian Institute of Marketing (Chartered) and also Member National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria.
Dipod Insurance
After putting in years in the industry he began his own brokerage firm. But he did not have to start from the scratch. He bought into an existing brokerage firm called Dipod Insurance Brokers company Limited which had been redundant for years and helped to revive it. He runs in the company in partnership with some other people.
Today, he has grown the firm to an enviable height. He attributes this to the grace of God. He says, “I must give God the credit for the way he has been helping us. We don’t have to run around. We just get the leading from God on what to do and where to go. It has been a struggle-free operation.”
A member of the council of Registered Insurance Brokers of Nigeria,Adetowubo says operating in the insurance industry has changed his perspective about life and helped him to have deeper understanding of people. “Many don’t know the benefit of insurance that is why they stay away from it. But if they are educated on the benefits, they easily come on board.”
He also noted that the communal lifestyle of Nigerians have also made the business less attractive until recently. “Nigerians have a way of sympathising with their neighbours who experience tragedies. That makes it difficult for insurance to thrive. People believe they can always get support from their friends. But the harsh economic climate is making that difficult these days.”
He recalled he has had his fingers burnt on a few occasions incurring a lot of avoidable costs in the course of rendering brokerage services.
But God has compensated him. One of the clients he had sacrificed his funds for is now one of the greatest contributors to his insurance firm.
He reasons that insurance is a hard sell because of its intangibility. “It’s a service. Not a physical product. So it’s not easy for people to appreciate it almost immediately. It takes a lot of persuasion to get people to buy into insurance.”
He noted however that things are changing. “some insurance services are statutory. That has helped to keep the industry afloat.”
How to succeed
He believes the first step in the ladder of success is self discovery. “You have to first discover who you are and what you are cut out for. And then you have to be focused. Challenges will come but as long as you’re focused, you can be certain that you will succeed.”
The insurance expert who is the Pastor of the Lekki Zone of the Living Faith Church, known as Winners Chapel says his encounter with Christ in 1992 changed the story of his life.
“That is one area of my life that I can’t do without talking about. In the midst of confusion and uncertainty, I met a lady who told me he wanted to introduce somebody that could help me to navigate life’s challenges.
“I was excited. It turned out she was talking about Jesus. I decided to give Jesus a try and that was it. I have since been hooked to him from that time till now, no regret.
“He has been my sustainer. I can say boldly that only God deserves the credit for the various lifting I have experienced. He has used people to bring progress to my life. Without him, I won’t be where I am today.”
Challenges
He recalled how on one occasion his wife was to put to bed. “I had taken her to the hospital and she asked me to go back to work that she would be okay. I left for work and was hoping that by the time I come back she would have put to bed only to find out she had been referred to Ayinke House in Ikeja.
“I got to Ayinke House and saw my wife by the door side of the hospital. Because she was not their regular patient they said we had to deposit N10k before she could be attended to. Then I had just about N300.
“That day, it was a classmate of mine that saved the day. I went to his house and met his wife who just made available the money. I can never forget that gesture in my life. He was one of the instruments God used in my life. Also grateful to Otunba Kamar Owode who God used for me in my school days.”
Married to Deaconess Oluwatoyin Oluwakoya, a fellow of the institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Adetowubo tells the story of his first attempt at getting married which made him run away from women until he was persuaded to make another try.
‘I am grateful I married to a God-sent woman. Going by my first attempt, I probably would not be married by now. What the lady did left me in shock. I can’t believe she would go to the extent of double dating even at the point we were about to marry. Thank God she was exposed before we married. I would have carried a liability.
“My joy is that all women are not the same. I must say my wife has been a source of inspiration and strength. God has used her greatly in the family and its been bliss ever since we got married.”