Chibuzor Odega is a medical doctor with over nine years practice in the health sector. The University of Port Harcourt graduate is also an entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer of Cabigo Properties and Investments Limited. Odega spoke to Sunday Sun, about how he veered into real estate while still handling the stethoscope. He also hinted on why he chose that career path, his vision for the real estate sector, challenges and more.
You are so passionate about property, why then did you study medicine?
First and foremost, I want to let people know that medicine is not just a profession. It is a calling, that is almost like a cliché now but it is the truth. So, I have always had that calling to go into Medicine to help people. There is this joy that I derive, I don’t know if it is universal. When you come into my office with pain, you are not happy. Then I give you the necessary prescription and you start the treatment from the office. I tell some of my patients that treatment actually starts from the table, from the conversation before you even start taking your medication. They come in confused and need help. When you make them understand what is going on, they feel better. Taking the drugs now makes it easier. When they are leaving your office, that joy, that gratitude and when they start taking the medication, they come back to say, ‘Doctor thank you.’ That joy is indescribable, you can’t measure it anywhere.
How did your passion for real estate start?
I have been engaged in real estate for about six or seven years now. But the passion started when my father lost his job. I also have uncles who are in the sector, I follow them from time to time and I see what they do. Worthy of note is Engineer Jonathan, the owner of orchid’s hotels. He has specimen builders and each time I go to his office, I see how he handles things. He would go to sites and we go together. The passion started from there and I felt it was something that is doable. But, I went to school and came back. In school, they taught us about communicable and non-communicable diseases and you find that the communicable diseases spring up from environments with poor living conditions. I realized that it was because they could afford good houses.
You always find that the areas that are endemic are places that you have the poor. So, I thought it was better to provide land and houses that are affordable for them.
What influences the things you do?
I have always been versatile. I would say my dad influenced me. He worked in Savannah Bank and he was thinking about going into the real estate sector before he lost his job, when Savannah Bank crashed. It was pretty rough at that point and the capital he wanted to use was lost and that was very challenging for us.
At that point, I told myself that procrastination is an enemy. I went into medicine and now coming into the real estate sector is inspiring. I have also done designs and have my own clothing line. Interestingly, in any area that I find myself, I make sure that I am doing it for the interest of the people and not just making money.
I think that one of my God given talents is creativity. I used to watch a lot of cartoons, while I was growing up and so I love the colour combination, the different sketches and so on. Usually, I would look at you and imagine what would look good on you, how best it would fit and it would come out well. When I was doing my housemanship at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), I had a roommate who was into shoes too, and he was like me. He would pick up a piece of paper and just design a shoe.
And when he does that, immediately, an outfit that would match the shoe comes to mind. And sometimes, I could just be looking at something and the inspiration comes.
What is your area of specialization?
For now, I am a general practitioner. I wanted to be a neurosurgeon.
A lot of young people want to go into medicine but they can’t stand the sight of blood. How do you find that?
That is very interesting because if you are going into medicine, you must understand what it is all about. I find that funny but the truth is that we have seen such people in practice. They tell you that they just want to be clinical.
The first day you saw a cadaver, what was the experience like?
The first time, I saw a cadaver was in my year two. I can remember vividly standing over the cadaver, it was covered obviously, all cadavers are covered and as doctors we were surrounding different cadavers and my lecturer did this drum roll and tried to tell us that when we open the cadaver, this is what to expect. However, telling you what to expect and actually seeing it are two different things. So, when it was opened, seriously, this was real life cadaver. Some people were screaming, some people were throwing up but I stood my ground.
How would you describe the demands of our doctors, who are always threatening to go on strike?
I think that they deserve everything that they are asking for. Let’s be honest, one question that we must ask ourselves is why are doctors always seeking greener pastures. Why can’t we keep our doctors? When some people travel out for medical treatment, it would shock you to know that the doctors some of them meet over there are even Nigerians. I have had some lecturers who leave the country and go out to consult, to teach and come back to Nigeria. Why is it that foreigners appreciate what we have but we don’t? The doctors are not fighting for something that is ridiculous. The training is rigorous. Coming out of school, you also discover that the sensitivity is there.
Let’s talk about some memorable moments in your life and career?
I think that one very memorable moment for me was when I did the housemanship at LUTH. I was in the Neurosurgery Department and it was a very challenging period. In the sense that you had lots of patients, you were dealing with the human brain and you were working round the clock. We had this particular patient who had hydrocephalous and we needed to reduce the pressure in the skull by taking out part of the fluid. I saw my senior registrar do it and I asked him a couple of questions and he answered me. It’s a teaching hospital and he taught me and another day, I was making my rounds and a child was convulsing and they called my senior registrar and he was on his way. I told myself that he would be there in a couple of minutes and that I should go ahead and get it ready. I did it and the pressure reduced and I saw the baby more stable. The experience has remained my most memorable one.
In a lot of our clinics, patients who need emergency attention are rejected and asked to go and bring money first, what do you think about this?
My advice is to stabilize first. This does not mean that you are giving the patient the full treatment. Make sure that the patient is out of the woods. We say out of the woods in the sense that the condition is stable. The truth of the matter is that emergencies come in different forms, you may have the means to pay but at that moment, you probably did not remember to pick your wallet.
How do you combine medicine with real estate?
You can achieve that on a different level. It is not only by sitting in the consulting room that you can do this. You can build hospitals, make treatment affordable or build a charity organization. I must say that Cabigo Properties is also into charity. You can put smiles on people’s faces this way.
The truth of the matter is that to survive, you must be honest and stand for integrity. I would say that luckily, being a doctor has made that possible. We are disciplined professionals and we stand for honesty and integrity. For me, coming into the real estate sector is not a problem in that regard. And that is how I know that my client would have the best of services.
We are in a recession, people are crying about food and other basics, how has it been in the sector?
I must be very honest, it has not been smooth because everybody is complaining. But the truth is that we have found a way to make these things affordable. We have installment payments plan; it is flexible. It depends on what you can afford as a person.
Who are your target clients?
We have specific plans for different people. We try to cut across all levels of income. Low level, middle class and the high-class. For the low level and the middle class, we have a specific package for them.
Are you satisfied with the role the government has played in the sector?
Yes, I am satisfied but they can do better. We appeal to them to sign some of the documents on their table. They can support us and make some more lands available for us.