By Martin Ekpeke
The Chief Executive Officer of CWG Plc, Mr. James Agada has debunked the insinuations in some quarters that since 2013, when the company got listed on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, CWG’s operations has not been stabilized, leading to several management restructuring in the last five years.
Agada, in an interview, insisted that going public has not affected the operations of the company. Rather, it has been a source of strength which has helped CWG to set institutions and begin to set Corporate Governance structures that have today boosted its Operational practices.
He said, “Going public has not in any way created challenges for us. Rather, it is a source of strength because we are moving forward and have institutionalised every structure in our operations.” He narrated that as far back as 2010, the journey for CWG had seen it begin to act in a more standardized version in preparedness for it to be made a public company; one with a strong board convergence, governance practices and operational practices in place.
Agada, who assumed the position of the Group, Chief Executive Officer of the company two years ago, explained that the organisation was bigger than any one person and so the setup of institutions was to also help the organisation out-live the persons running them, particularly after 25years of continuous growth and full economic impact.
Citing success stories like that of IBM and Microsoft, which he noted have outgrown their founders because of strong institutions that were built over the years, Agada asserted that there is a roadmap for CWG to be listed in New York or London or NASDAQ, saying its original goal was to be listed in NASDAQ and this was still being pursued.
Speaking of the changes that brought him in as Group CEO of CWG, Agada emphasized it was never as a result of management challenges, but a planned transition, which he referred to as an important step in trying to institutionalise the CWG’s business. “There is nothing extraordinary about me becoming the Group, Chief Executive Officer of CWG. Everything that is happening is known to everyone, but what we are doing like we have always done is to reinvent ourselves and take advantage of the situation we found ourselves,” he reassured.
The organisation believes in internal progression and it is possible my successor could be anyone amongst the numerous experts we currently have in-house. These management changes are all very strategic to fit the operational needs and external economic requirements and know-how.