ESUA : TRENCHANTLY FOCUSED

There are books and there are books. In this age of Fast Cash, many Nigerians do not read especially when all they need to drive big cars and drink exotic wine is paint all sorts of obnoxious deals with the Yahoo brush. There is trouble waiting for everyone.

I am glad Offiong Esua took pains to put his experience in writing. He is not poor and did not make money by shortchanging others. Yes, this man lives in the United States and has worked hard for all his money, both at home and abroad.

His book, ‘Trenchant Focus : Dollar For  Dollar,’ is trending. What stands him out is that although his family background helped in the beginning, Esua did not let that turn him into a new kid on the fast lane. America can ruin spoilt kids who enjoyed the best of life before landing into an independent environment.

He penned his father’s influence. ” I did not spend all my monthly allowance emanating from Dad’s Private Banking International Account in New York. He would later purchase a brand new Nissan 200 SX for me from Tom Gray Nissan, Houston. That was my prefatory start in the United States. I had a nice cash liquidity and functional cushion of sorts, within my first twelve months, in Houston.”

Some others blessed with monthly pay from dad would sit back, paint the town red and end up broke. Esua did not dare that. He was making extra cash serving at Lancaster Hotel, where at the end of everyday, an extra 100 dollars boosted his account. And just as he earned, the young man saved regularly.

Ever willing to make more money, Esua did extra jobs right from his undergraduate days at the  University of Houston, to post graduate studies at the University of Houston – Clear Lake. Today, you find him in Real Estate, Security and numerous investments even after retiring from the Texas Department of  Criminal Justice.

Making money drew questionable attention. A top official of Chase Bank thought the Nigerian was into drugs. The book opens up: “So I asked to meet with her. At the meeting, she was direct and non – plussed, retorting that I had the nerve to launder drug proceeds through the bank. 

“Alas! It hit me – she thought I was a drug dealer. Also, I was very sure, she was not oblivious to the fact that I received a monthly stipend from my father’s Chase Private Banking International Account in New York. What threw her for the loop were my incessant daily cash deposits. Unbeknownst to her, I bussed tables at Lancaster Hotel.”

From those savings, Esua did not relent. He spent 20 years at the Department of Criminal Justice and retired as a Senior District Parole Officer. And his eyes were always at home to invest. Real Estate gained much, especially in Lagos. This is detailed in ‘Trenchant Focus’.

“I purchased four contiguous plots in Ajah, Lagos, several years ago. Today, the course way is the gateway and route to the Dangote Refinery and a proposed airport. The fenced lots are today valued at 500,000 dollars.”

By dint of hard work, life can only get better. Retired but not tired, Esua still goes out everyday in search of daily bread. He is a Front Desk boss at three high rise complexes in the Galleria area of Houston. And his bank account tells the story.

“I have been able to accrete a six -figure bank saving at the Chase Bank in Houston, Texas, of 205,000 dollars in cash of which 71,000 dollars is the current cash value, from a 104,000 dollars interest – bearing account and have gotten a 70,000 dollars lump sum payment on retirement from the Parole Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).”

Some may argue that Dr. Eyo Esua buttered his son’s bread. Yes, to some extent. There have been cases of billionaires’ children who squandered their father’s wealth. The truth is that Offiong did not rely entirely on what was given him by the family. However, he acknowledges that support.

“The truth is that stellar maturation in any field of endeavour starts with one step. Even the high – flying apotheosis of wealth – the Rothschilds, Vanderbilts, Carnegies – had a progenitor who was actionable and performative in the early going. Wealth, riches and material success, are not the sole preserves of any privileged medley.”

In some way, I liken Esua to Gen. Emeka Ojukwu. Both men were close to their fathers, spent time in Lagos and attended universities abroad. They veered off the courses they were admitted and pursued Masters degrees. Ojukwu abandoned Law for History at Oxford. Esua dumped Architecture at Houston.

The book reveals more. “I got admission to the School of Architecture at the University of Houston. I passed to the second year. To the consternation of my father, a medical doctor, I changed my major. Cutting clipboards to make building models and the the obligation time mandated in the design studio, did not help with my itinerant persona. At times, I wonder if I should have stuck with it. But deep down, I think I was more validated in the hustle.”

Ojukwu was Igbo and bore Emeka. Esua is married to an Igbo woman and has a son named Emeka. Ojukwu was an Army officer. Esua’s Medical Doctor dad served in the Army as an officer. Ojukwu’s half brother, died in battle as an Army officer. Esua’s brother, Eyo, retired from the Army as a Colonel.

Ojukwu spoke fluent Yoruba. Esua does not only speak the language, his mother was Yoruba, daughter of Justice Olumuyiwa Jibowu, the First Nigerian High Court judge. Sir Louis Ojukwu lived in Lagos, heading the board of many corporate organisations. Dr. Eyo Esua, operated from Lagos, as proprietor of Ada Hospital.

I have enjoyed every bit of ‘Trenchant Focus : Dollar to Dollar’. It is on Amazon, it is on eBay. I am going to ask the author for one big favour. Copies of the book should be donated to schools in Cross River, his home state, Ogun, his maternal state and Enugu, the land of his wife.

The bottom line is that people should believe in themselves and not rely entirely on manner from parents. Esua comes from a well to do family. He attaches so much importance to that name. Grandfather Eyo Esua ( The First ), conducted elections in the First Republic. The old man refused to dance naked, like the present Mamoudian INEC.

BY Emeka Obasi

@SATURDAY VANGUARD.