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- Former PR manager turns drinks vendor
Posted by : Unknown
Saturday, December 1, 2012
’NONYE BEN-NWANKWO and COMFORT OSEGHALE relate the sad story of a former public relations guru who is currently facing a hard time
About two decades ago, Nathaniel Iyanda,
63, was well known to many petroleum marketers and other key players in
the oil and gas sector, who always sought his services as a public
relations and advertising expert.
Iyanda was a pioneer member of the Board
of Advertisers Association of Nigeria. Until May 1997, he was the
Public Relations/Advertising Manager of the defunct Texaco Nigeria Plc
(now MRS Plc).
At the peak of his career, he lived in a
one-wing duplex in FESTAC Town. And before his exit from Texaco, he was
the chairman of a major oil marketers’ public relations committee.
Indeed, it was Iyanda who directed the
first and only country-wide public education campaign on the usage of
engine oil, which was jointly sponsored by Agip, AP, ELF, Mobil,
National, Texaco, Total and Unipetrol.
Now, Iyanda lives in Ibafo, a community
on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. Gone is the luxury and the comfort that
he was once accustomed to. Instead of enjoying retirement with his
family, the former PR guru lives from hand-to-mouth and manages to earn a
living by distributing beverages to restaurants around the community.
Looking quite frail, Iyanda cuts the
picture of anything but the top-notch corporate executive that he used
to be. His home is simple and modest. The only giveaway is his diction
and in-depth knowledge of the petroleum marketing industry.
“I started working at a young age.
After leaving secondary school, I sat for the London CAM Diploma
examination in public relations, advertising and marketing. At 23 years,
I was working with the Marketing Research Department of the United
African Company. That was between1969 and 1975. After that, I moved to
the defunct Texaco, where I spent over 20 years.
“I left Texaco in 1997. The company was
downsizing at the time. Actually, what happened was this: the company
wanted to let go some senior executives, but it found itself in a
dilemma. So, the management came up with this idea of retiring everyone
who had worked in the company for over 15 years. That was how I left the
company. Many good hands left at the time,” Iyanda recalled.
Although he was paid off, things began to go down the hill from that point.
“I invested about N1.5m in stocks and
another N1m in fixed deposits. Although a public relations consulting
wasn’t really an accepted practice at the time, I was fortunate to be a
guest speaker on the subject at several events. I was even retained by
Texaco as an external PR consultant.
“The string of misfortunes began when my
contract with Texaco was discontinued. Even as an external consultant,
the Managing Director still felt threatened by me and so, I left. After
that, I went into multiple streams of businesses; at a time trading in
calcium, a raw material used for paints. Then I moved into the sale of
beans and maize.
“The calcium trade is uncertain because
your profit is dependent on those who pulverize the calcium. If you own a
pulverizing machine, then it is much more profitable. My partner, who
owned such a machine packed up; as if that was not enough, I was
defrauded of N300,000.
“It was tough trying to break into the
beans trade. I have discovered that there is a cabal in charge of
everything in this country and once you are not a member, you are
eventually frustrated out. By 2002, I had hit rock bottom.”
Meanwhile, all through the years, Iyanda
had yet to have a child. Despite the difficulty, he never for once
considered breaking up his home on that account. His wife, herself an
only child, did not find the situation easy. But the couple held on to
their faith and continued to trust in God.
Miraculously, when life had become most difficult for Iyanda, his wife eventually became pregnant.
“We had been married for 27 years before
my wife got pregnant. It was not easy waiting all the while, but my
parents and my in-laws were staunch Christians. So, they stood by us. In
2003, my wife was delivered of a baby boy. By then, I was broke and had
no money. My stocks had been made useless by the crash in the stock
market and the fixed deposit account I had was gone because the bank in
which the money was saved, failed. My wife and son were in Ibadan at
the time. So, after discussing with her, we decided to sell our home in
FESTAC town and move to another place,” Iyanda said.
Armed with the proceeds from the sale,
Iyanda moved to Ibafo, purchased a parcel of land and began to build a
small house. Despite his financial constraints, the building contractor
allegedly duped him of a large sum of money, leaving him with nothing
with which to begin life again.
“The plan was to build a small house
and start another business with whatever was left, but the building
contractor cleaned me out. The news went round the Ibafo community. By
the time this house was completed, there was nothing left.
“As God would have it, while we were
still in FESTAC Town, my wife had converted our garage into some kind
of store where we sold drinks. So, she suggested that we go into that
line of business. That was how we went into partnership with a lady
friend at Agege, who is a major distributor of soft drinks. We have been
doing that for seven years now but all we get from it is just enough to
go by every day. I finally have a child but there is no money to
adequately take care of him. Things are so bad that paying school fees
is really difficult. Yet, I cannot give him up because we have waited
for a child for so long,” Iyanda lamented.
Until help comes his way, Iyanda will continue as a drinks vendor, living each day at a time.