Can we meet you ma?

I’m Alhaja Anike Olajogun, the Chief Executive Officer of MATAAN Group of companies. I’m also a Nurse in the United Kingdom.

 

As a Nurse, wat led you to hospitality business?

I can say categorically that business runs in my family. I was born in London and I relocated to Nigeria in 1963. My father died 1967 and after his demise, I grew up at my grandmother’s house who happens to be a successful businesswoman. It was through her that I dabbled into business.

 

Can you tell us how you came up with the idea of MATAAN?

I love cooking and I practicalise it but when I got married, my husband did not allow me to go into catering. I worked in Manchester Club for 2 years in England and that was where I gained the idea from. Although, being a trained nurse doesn’t stop me from hospitality business, although it is not easy to establish a big hotel like this. One day, I just woke up and told to my husband that I want to set up a hospitality business and he asked if I know what it means and I told him that I have got ideas to do it and he said okay no problem and that was how I started.

 

With the current economy meltdown facing the nation, how are you been coping?

The present problem is terrifying and it is affecting the business now but I thank Almighty Allah for been there for me. As we all know that the exchange rate is bad for about a year now and it is affecting the hospitality business but God is on my side. I’m hoping to God and the federal government that everything will regulate itself.

 

Businesswoman are now dabbling into politics, will you like to join politics in the future?

God forbid! I am contented with what I have. I don’t have passion for politics and I never dreamt of going into it.

 

We realize that some of your children are in the entertainment industry, what do you have to say about this?

I can say I am their role model because I started it right from my youth. It was when I got married that my husband stopped me. I have appeared in many musical videos and advertisement.  So, I’m not surprised that my children have passion for entertainment. My son is a hip-hop artiste and I pray to Almighty Allah to expand his coast.

 

When your son ventured into music, what was the reaction of your husband?

Ah! I didn’t tell him right from the beginning. He thought he was doing his Physiology course in United Kingdom. You see, we are in computer age and children of nowadays are slow and steady, you cannot push them into something they did not like. When my son informed me that he would love to join Nollywood and that he wanted to come to Nigeria, I felt somehow but I dont have choice than to allow him. So, I later inform my husband and he agreed.

 

As a businesswoman, how do you relax?

I don’t relax. I am still working as an auxiliary nurse in the United Kingdom. I work four days a week, I also sell textiles as well at Gbagi in Ibadan as well.

 

How are you coping with your job and family?

It’s only God! To be frank, my mother is the pillar of my success. She is the one that look after my children. Presently, she stays in my shop with my workers at Gbagi. She’s a very strong woman, she’s my role model and a loving mother and I cannot thank her enough. Although, she is 79 years old now but still waxing stronger, she brought us up singlehandedly because she relocated from England in 1963 and she lost her husband in 1967 with three kids. It was around 1973 that she got married to an Ijebu prominent man.  

 

Where do you intend to take hospitality business to?

Ah! I intend to take it to the peak level and I’m planning to spread my wings across the country. I am praying to Almighty Allah to give me the strength to extend my business.

 

What advice do you have to give to people who intend to engage in this type of business you are into?

Hospitality business is a good business but they should try to have time to oversee it by themselves. It is not just a business that you will establish and put someone in-charge. They should create time for themselves and it also depends on how you can manage it.

 

Do you imbibe with an idea that if female becomes the President of Nigeria there would be a solution to Nigeria’s problem?

I don’t like politics and I don’t like to discuss about it. But let me be blunt, women and men in Nigeria politics are the same and I don’t believe in anybody. Who is the woman that will solve all these problem? If there is a woman who has good ideas, will they allow her? President Muhammadu Buhari has good intention for this country but are they allowing him to do it well? It is only God that can intervene. No woman can solve Nigeria’s problem.