A Life of Transformation

1. Who is Chris Odor? 

I am a Christian and Minister in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). I was born in Lagos in the year 1971 to the late Mr. & Mrs Sylvester and Comfort Odor from Delta State. I am happily married to Mrs Oluwakemi Pauline Odor (Nee Makinde) with 2 children (boys). From what I have heard people say about me, I would opine that I am decisive, ethical, and trustworthy. Together with these qualities, many people consider me a strong team leader.   I find learning new skills pleasurable, and this is because I get bored easily with routine activities. I am an avid lover of teaching – an act which has not only helped me to impart knowledge considerably but led me to the path of self-development and growth.   The experience and skills I possess provide me with the edge to successfully manage different resources at my disposal effectively, and most efficiently, toward achieving desired goals and objectives. I have a strong work ethic; I communicate effectively with all levels of society and I can work under pressure. Over the years, I have worked with diverse groups of people in the hospitality cum financial investment industry. This has not only made me an excellent problem solver but imbibed in me the skills required to adapt to various occupational situations.  

2. What was your childhood like?  

  I was born into a family of 8 children (5 girls and 3 boys) in a street called Edalere at Fadeyi Bus Stop, along Ikorodu road in Lagos. This area and my street were known as some of the most dangerous places to live in Lagos. My street was known for rioting, thuggery, and street fights accompanied by charms. I saw a situation where a man was hit furiously with a cutlass in a fight yet sustained no form of injury; it was the cutlass that broke into pieces.   Thank God for my dad who was loved by all because of his philanthropic gestures. He provided free water tanks to people in the community whenever there was a water supply outage. He worked for an American owned company in San Francisco called Foremost Dairies Limited (SAMCO) but had its factory and office in Lagos where my dad grew in rank from being a sales motor boy to a manager in the company.   In addition to this, my dad would provide ice blocks, party pops and big deep, ice cream, yoghurts, orange, chocolate milkshakes and pineapple drinks at children’s parties for free, and would help some parents to buy at discounted prices. Based on this, he was known and nicknamed “Baba SAMCO”.   Each time the gutters were blocked and there were signs of flooding when it rained, he would pick up his rakes and shovel to clear the rubbles piling up in the gutter for the water to flow freely. Apart from this, he was a disciplinarian; a man who didn’t spare the rod on his child or any other child. He was well respected by all, and as his children, we enjoyed full protection from the bad guys and gangsters.   My dad, during lunchtime, would leave his office sometimes to check up on us, especially when we were on holiday from school. This was to ensure that we were not outside playing or hanging out with the wrong crowd.   I attended St. Patrick’s Primary School and later moved on to Morocco Military Primary School. Though I came top in school, I loved to play hard to the extent that I would pull off my clothes to fully enjoy my temporary freedom. Each time my dad was at home, no one dared to go out to play or else he or she would have a good taste of his blue leather belt, and if you were not well padded…..   My dad showed us love; he would take us to the beach, the amusement park, for shopping, and take us to the children’s Christmas parties at his office. My mum was a very good cook. She cared for us and comforted us each time we were punished by my dad. However, she had her tactics for punishment too, and never tolerated any form of uncultured behaviour.   Going on to Secondary School, my teenage life began at St. Timothy’s College, Onike, Yaba but to put an end to the life we were living at Fadeyi, my dad relocated us to his new house far away at Iju after Agege where I attended Iju Grammar School, before going to the higher institution. It was a very peaceful area, but it was pretty strange. It was difficult adapting to the new location because we found it very boring, but we eventually adapted.   I had to start taking up jobs to earn money for myself immediately after my secondary school education because my dad had to retire from work unexpectedly because of serious health conditions (stroke) a few years before I finished. I almost lost the hope of furthering my education. However, I became stronger and determined to pull through. I took up the responsibility of financing my education by myself and came out victorious through the help of God who did not only bless me with a job at the most critical points but also empowered me to help those in need.  

3. What did you want to be when you got older and why? 

  I have always wanted to impact lives positively, teach, and see people grow. From childhood, my happiness has always revolved around seeing people happy. As I grew, I knew it was only necessary for me to seek a career platform where I could channel these desires toward transforming lives and businesses. If there was one thing I always desired, it was to create a world of happy people and live among them.  

4. On life’s journey, we gather experiences that shape us. What experiences have shaped the person you have become?  

  My spiritual life as a Christian, childhood, parents, education, family, relocation to Europe after getting married in 2004, the companies I have worked for, and the bosses I have worked with are all critical factors that have made me become who I am today.  

5. You have a background in Finance, what led you to take on Finance as a career path and your experience in Finance?  

  Growing up, I built aeroplanes with pieces of cartons and battery-powered engines from toy cars. I wanted to be an aeronautic engineer but because of some circumstances beyond my control, I had to go for Accounting and Finance in school.   From my days as an undergraduate, till I graduated as an Accounting and Finance student from Yaba College of Technology, I had a job with a finance company (A Financial Intermediator and Portfolio Managers) where I learnt about LPO financing, project management and financing, wood export financing, commercial papers, bank guarantee, preparing feasibility studies for a new project or business venture, project supervision, managing cash flow, handling bank transactions, managing an office, among other related activities. I was later seconded to start up a supermarket and Pharmacy Store in Isolo, which I did successfully after presenting my feasibility study to the company’s chairman.   The business expanded with another branch opened around the same area. Afterwards, I left to work for UAC Plc in the BPP/Kalamazoo Division, where I was responsible for planning factory productions at Dockyard Road, Apapa; and later seconded to work at the Mr Biggs Division Head Office on Oregun Road, managing the central warehouse and distribution network of materials to about 100 outlets across Nigeria and Ghana.   However, before I joined the finance company, I worked for a hospital, Osuntuyi Medical Center, distributing medical bills and collecting cheque payments from banks that had retainerships with the hospital. At that time, HMOs were not yet in existence. I was in and out of banks on Lagos Island during that period, where we had the head offices of most banks including the UBA building and sometimes on the Lagos mainland. I was given an official car and driver to help me do the job more efficiently at a very young age. I was about 21 years old.  

6. In your previous job after one year of service, you went from Hotel Accountant to Hotel Manager, how did that happen?  

  When I returned to Nigeria from Europe in 2010, I decided to go into real estate, but while I was trying to market my brand using flyers around my rented apartments, I encountered a guy and we discussed it at length. To cut a long story short, he advised me to get a job first. He took my CV, and I discovered eventually that he was working for a Human Resource company which was looking to fill the position of a Hotel Unit Accountant somewhere in Victoria Island. At that time, I didn’t have any working experience as an accountant apart from my educational background.   I was shortlisted to go for the final interview with the General Manager and the Financial Controller of Travel House Hotel in Lekki, but with 5 other candidates. I was selected to begin the job even though the pay was small and was told to resume work in Ibadan. However, I made it clear that it might not be possible for me to resume in Ibadan for some weighty reasons. Consequently, they decided to transfer the accountant in Lagos to Ibadan and retained me in Lagos. At the time I began my role in the Lagos branch, the branch at Ibadan was really doing badly and seriously running at a huge loss. After about a year of working as the unit accountant at the Lagos Hotel, and having proven to the General Manager what I could do to contribute to the tremendous growth of the Lagos Hotel, events in my life started taking a new turn.   As the Ibadan Hotel continued to run at loss, the GM of the chain hotel went to Ibadan and relieved the Hotel Manager of his job. He came back to Lagos and spoke with the Financial Controller who was my supervisor about what he had gone to do and his decision to transfer me to Ibadan as the new Hotel manager. He told him he needed his consent and mine to proceed with the plan. It was a prayer coming through for me because the Lagos traffic made me weary day by day. When my boss and the GM approached me in my office to inform me about the transfer, in my heart, I gladly accepted it but just mentioned in my response that I should be given some time to think about what I was getting myself into; a 65-room hotel in about N25 million loss.   With God’s help, within a year, we were able to turn around the hotel into a profit-making venture and even expanded the business with the purchase of another landed property behind it to begin the building of another structure for additional rooms before I left in December 2016.  

7. How did you manage that role and in what way did that switch transform you and the hotel? 

  Again, with the grace of God, I would say my array of work experiences both at home and abroad had imbibed in me relevant skills and the acumen to withstand the demands of any business venture before I assumed that role. I had become a man of many parts, ready to achieve productivity continually and efficiently. Moreover, it is impossible to take out the considerable role my previous job within the accounting and operational division in Lagos contributed to the successful management of the branch at Ibadan. I became absolutely proactive. I grew to the point that I could easily proffer solutions to any situation or challenges that may arise.   When I was transferred to Ibadan, the Hotel Unit Accountant was transferred back to Lagos to replace me, and for about 3 months, I doubled as the Hotel Manager and the Hotel Unit Manager, also overseeing Housekeeping and the Maintenance departments because they were outsourced. Not quite long, I had to train a potential staff to take up the responsibility of the unit accountant until It was centralised at the head office in Lagos.   A few months, I was directed by the head office to relieve the marketing manager of his duties. I was also fully involved in the marketing and sales drive of the hotel with strong support from the Lagos Head office.   A couple of years later, I was asked to go to Epe Resort & Spa (one of the sister hotels) for 3-4months to troubleshoot and transform the facility to the desired standard while the manager was on maternity leave, which we did successfully while simultaneously running the Ibadan Hotel after completing the Lagos Hotel F&B start-up.  

8. What was it like setting up the F&B unit and staffing the hotel, what were you trying to achieve? 

  In the first instance, the hotel’s concept was to have the chain of hotels outsource their F&B just like the maintenance and housekeeping departments or to collaborate with some of the fast-food companies around like Mr Biggs, Sweet Sensation, Tantalizer, and Dominos Pizza, among others, to provide meals to guests whenever they placed an order. Seeing the growth and improvement happen, it was decided that we could set up an F&B converting the existing underground car park into a restaurant, lounge and bar with a small size kitchen for food production. Consequently, I was asked to do a kind of feasibility study on the new idea and by the time I finished with it, I was asked to start execution. The structural designs were done; the furniture settings were designed; the equipment needed was listed for the restaurant, lounge, bar and kitchen areas; and the costing was completed for approval by the board.   The physical structure was completed; furniture, fittings and equipment were fixed; and staff recruitment was done internally for those interested in a career change, and externally. Necessary staff trainings were done and business commenced immediately. I was then asked to replicate and implement this strategy at the Lagos hotel in Lekki-Ajah, but this time, we were to pull down an old existing structure housing the then outsourced food and Beverage provider and rebuild a more modern structure right from the foundation.   We were to deploy furniture, fittings and equipment, set the F&B up, staff it, and put it in operation in 3 months. The hotel manager there was asked to go to Ibadan, at least, to understand how things were done while I took charge of his hotel for the short period to see how I could correct some of the operational defects, improve service delivery, and optimise the hotel’s efficiency and improvement in revenue growth. I successfully achieved all of these before I went back to Ibadan, and the Lekki-Ajah Hotel Manager came back to Lagos to take charge from where I stopped, giving him the platform to thrive.      

9. What was the hotel like when you joined and what was the difference after you left Travel House? 

  When I joined, only the Lagos Hotel in Lekki-Ajah was running profitably; the hotel in Ibadan and the brand were not known. The market share was very low. Its standard was undefined, had a 2-star rating, and most especially was running at a loss as the years passed. By the time I left, however, it was awarded the most preferred hotel in Ibadan, with high recognition in the State, outside the State, and on TV and radio stations. Its corporate clients’ portfolio grew to make up about 75% of the hotel’s total revenue. It moved from a 2-star budget hotel to a 3-star hotel because of high standards in its product and service offerings. The hotel became a pacesetter for other hotels in Ibadan. Hotel owners began to come secretly to stay at the hotel for more insights into how they could turn theirs into an anode of visitors and travellers too. It became the most profitable hotel in the group. Moreover, when consolidated, my hotel helped the group out of its position of loss.  

10. In over 19 years of service, what would you say has been your biggest challenge yet and how did you overcome it? 

Ah! This was when I left the comfort zone of Travel House Ibadan (MP Hotels Ltd.) to join Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi (formerly known as Protea Hotel, Ikoyi) as the first locally sourced GM since the opening of the hotel in 2006. I actually took over from a Lebanese and after several other expatriates.   I rebranded the hotel, Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi. I was not aware that the hotel was already seriously distressed, but the pay was good (4 times what I was earning at travel House). The fact is that the owners added N150, 000 to what I was meant to earn as a monthly salary during the interview which was a surprise to me. A few years later, I was offered to be appointed a Director on the Board, but I didn’t take it seriously. I just wanted to settle with the GM status, focus on doinhg the job I was paid to do, and take care of my family.   Although I knew the hotel was having managerial difficulties which was the reason my boss introduced me to them after they turned down MP Hotels Ltd (Owners of Travel House Hotel, Lekki-Ajah) request for a hotel management contract because they couldn’t afford it after going through an ordeal with Protea Management company, they were still counting their huge losses and leaving them with heavy liability to the bank running into billions.   For the first 3 months, I woke up almost every morning crying inside, thinking and asking myself: Chris, what have you gotten yourself into? First, Opera withdrew its license because the hotel was indebted to them. The hotel was running its front office manually without FMS. Suppliers were coming with numerous complaints. FIRS, LSIR, and other Tax bodies were threatening us with closure. The bank was throwing its own tantrum. 80% of the A/Cs in the hotel rooms were not functioning properly; electricity was not very stable. We were running on generator most times, and one of the 2 generators finally broke down, leaving us with only one generator that would, sometimes, overheat and shut down. Staff salary was also being delayed.   The truth is that, at the time, I wanted to abandon the job and run. Fortunately, another job offer came: a hotel with 200 rooms. The owner was ready to match the salary I was receiving at Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi, but I heard a voice from God, telling me to stay. For this reason, I turned down the new offer and continued with my job at Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi. In a way, the courage and the wisdom came to know what to do towards increasing the hotel’s profit base. Before I knew what was happening, the positive turnaround in the fortune of the hotel began in the seventh month.   I remember the day the chairman of the hotel called me to his office. This was in the fifth or sixth month of my resumption because he was worried that revenue was not growing as expected, he told me I was their last bus top that he knows I am a Pastor and that if there was anything like God juju, I should go ahead and consult. I believe he was joking seriously not seriously joking, these are 2 different things.   Nevertheless, he was happy that there had been a lot of improvements in the day-to-day operation of the hotel. The hotel atmosphere was no longer tense; the staff members were more motivated; their morale had improved; service level had improved. We engaged a new FMS immediately, together with the top officials of the Ikoyi Electric Distribution Company, and started the replacement of Old A/Cs. We stabilised and standardised the room rates, developed and established a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the entire hotel departments, and organised intensive and comprehensive staff training. Marketing and sales activities began in earnest, and a new website was launched. Our corporate clients grew from 40 to 80, engagement with OTAs and marketing consultants whose responsibility was to solely manage our social media platforms with good content and organise conferences that brought together major stakeholders in the hospitality industry, including airline operators, captains of industries, business travellers, and tourists, among others.   By the time I left, indebtedness to the bank was reduced to about N700m and if not for COVID-19, the outstanding balance would have been fully paid up by September 2021. Before the pandemic, revenue grew from a monthly average of N35m to N53m, sometimes hitting a record high of N65m – N70m in a month.  

11. It’s been 4 great months since you joined the team, how has it been so far?  

  It has been very challenging, but it is something I am already used to, trying to make the change happen as quickly as possible. Every hotel has its own peculiar issues. I strongly believe my team and I are up to the task, we just have to discover the right approach to tackling the challenges. The MD/CEO, Dupe Olusola and the team in the Abuja head office are giving the necessary support needed to get us out of the woods. However, in any case, it has been interesting getting to learn something new.  

12. What is your vision for Transcorp Hotels, Calabar? 

  My vision is to bring back its lost glory, such that the products and services become a central vehicle of sales for the Transcorp hospitality brand. In a few years, I see a brand that will become consistently profitable. We have huge plans to expand into becoming a Hotel Management company to be reckoned with by acquiring some other hotels across the country and Africa (in the spirit of Africapitalism) in the nearest future. Making the hotel technologically advanced in its day-day operations is also at the forefront of my vision.   All in all, I will be adopting a customer-centric culture, through which employees can provide excellent services to guests at all times, and in a more Nigerian style, without compromising professionalism. Under my managerial exploits, I see a brand providing top-notch hospitality services for tourists and travellers, and adopting new strategies to increase sales. Friendship, originality, empathy, courteousness and integrity will become well-knitted into the brand.  

13. What would you say to other HH Heroes and the next generation of heroes?  

  Put your trust in God alone and be resilient. Work hard. Believe that it can only get better. Learn, grow, and develop yourself. Most importantly, believe that criticism is not condemnation, but a ladder you have to climb sometimes to succeed.