WHY MANY NIGERIANS ABROAD ARE AFRAID TO COME BACK HOME -Kehinde Lakanu

He had traveled abroad about 30 years ago, but Kehinde Lakanu is back in Nigeria to be part of what is happening in his fatherland.

Kehinde disclosed that many Nigerians in the Diaspora would have loved to come back into the country, but that they are held back by the situations of things in the country.

The man behind Global HR granted us an exclusive interview and expressed his mind about his pet projects and issues bothering about Nigerians in the Diaspora amongst others.

What is the background concept behind Global HR

I travelled abroad about 30 years ago and I'm glad to be back home to contribute to the development of my country.

In actual fact, this programme, Global HR that we're developing is a solid human resources programme that has been at work for many years. It was last year when I came home from the United States that I finally concluded to launch it here. I met with some solid professionals here and we partnered up. I've also got some other consultants who are knowledgeable in this field together. Of course, I questioned them and I made sure they were up to standard.

As we decided to launch the company, not only to create employment, but also to be able to recruit good hands for the business community. Nigeria is becoming global in the world's business market. I like what the future starts today and we can take it up from there.

Tell us more of your background?

I studied Sociology for my first degree and also boast a post-graduate degree in Public Administration. I have lots of certifications in Human Resources and I have a spec in Germany. I also worked for the United States government as a budget analyst and as an administrator. All of these experiences have prepared me for what I'm doing today.

What actually convinced you that this is the most auspicious time to return home and start a business?

I have been quite fortunate in the sense that I come home almost every year since I've been away. And while abroad, I kept thinking about my country and I knew that I had to come back home at some point. The truth is that most Nigerians abroad want to come back home, but due to one reason or the other particularly the state of the nation, they're still skeptical about coming back. But I tell you what, there are a lot of Nigerians in the Diaspora who are very intelligent, knowledgeable that can help this country. I call these people the Diaspora expatriates. That's one thing our company will be doing, which is to bring Diaspora expatriates here so that they can help the system. Don't get me wrong. About 40 percent of Nigerians businesses are doing very well and we need to bring ideas from Nigerians living abroad to further develop the system to meet international standard.

Can you give us an overview of what Global HR intends to achieve?

The company is a human resource programme that can help Nigerian businesses move forward. We have various aspects and different objectives. One of our objectives is training; we train employees to be better; we help companies grow their employees; we also specialize in outsourcing. We have various professional job categories that we can place out to help businesses. We have doctors, lawyers, maids, drivers, professionals in the medical field, accounting, banking in our portal. Apart from that, we also have other areas we take care of. One of them is called the mystery shoppers. What this is about is that we send people out in customer-related fields and when they go out, they pretend like they are customers and are able to analyse and look at your businesses and see who is performing and who is not. This concept has worked very well in helping our clients.

Having spent three decades abroad, what are the reservations you had when you finally decided it was time to return home?

Actually, I have a very strong family support here, so my fears were really minimal. And I also believe that if you are serious about doing something, you should not let anything stop you. I'm here to stay. Again, the opportunity to do something now actually presented itself. And it's not been too difficult to hit the ground running. One of the things we have done is the Job Fair, which held on May 11 and 18.

How capital intensive is setting up this line of business?

Capital-intensive or not, we have done our homework very well and we would do what it takes to further develop this country in the provision of productive manpower.

One major problem Nigerian companies are confronted with today is the dearth of good manpower to recruit. How do you plan to address this challenge?

What you must realize is that there are a lot of well educated people in the country. Most of them left simply because they cannot find good jobs here. But what I've found is that the people here are ready to work if the opportunity comes. I was talking recently to a gentleman, who has a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering. Talking to him, you'll know he is very intelligent, but he doesn't have a job. Those people, we need to bring them together; we need to find a resource for them; we need to create something for them, so that they can contribute to the development of the country. What we do is that we scrutinize the curriculum vitae (CV), fix them and by so doing, they would be productive members of the society.

There is this notion that most of today's graduates are unemployable. What is your take on this?

I disagree with that school of thought. I have done my research and my findings revealed that the contrary is the case. What Nigerian graduates need is to work and be able to prove their worth. Nigerians are hardworking people. The country is blessed. In the US, some of the best professionals are Nigerians. Quote me on that.

Earlier, you talked about the Job Fair, but experiences of the part showed that the results of holding such fairs are nothing to write home about. Have you thought about this?

What we are doing is different. This is a new concept in human resource consulting.

Have you had any culture shock in terms of transition to the Nigerian way of life since you returned?

Like I said, setting finally in Nigeria has been more easier than I even thought I still have a lot to learn. For instance, I still can't drive in Lagos yet. And I understand if you can drive in Lagos, you can drive anywhere. I still need to adjust here and there.    

May 27, 2013