Some opportunities don’t announce themselves; they disguise as inconveniences, favours, or disruptions. Ibukun Awosika learned this the day a bank client asked her to source heavy, bulletproof doors – a detour that would define the next 25 years of her career.
Speaking to an audience, the entrepreneur, author, and founder of The Chair Centre Group reflected on how a simple “yes” redirected her life and tested her mantra: never live another person’s story. What followed was a journey that turned chance into calling and a transaction into a transcontinental enterprise.
“It was accidental,” Awosika said, her voice both amused and matter-of-fact. “My security door business – I did not sit for one second to think about getting into the security door business.” Yet that accidental start would become a defining pillar of her industrial presence across West Africa.
The story begins with a routine client interaction. While servicing banks with furniture, Awosika received a call. A friend, Takun, asked her to source the bulletproof doors used at bank entrances. “I was doing a favour to my friend, my brother, and a client,” she recounted. That favour led her to Italy, where she navigated suppliers’ reluctance, local regulations, and logistical hurdles to deliver a solution. Even when the Italian company initially refused to sell in Africa, she persisted. “I had customers that I was committed to for maintenance.
The only thing of integrity I could do was to ensure I could continue to keep my word,” she said. That persistence eventually led her to secure a West African dealership and, years later, acquire the Italian factory itself after the original manufacturer went bankrupt.
Awosika’s approach to business blends pragmatism with spirituality. Her decision-making is guided not only by market opportunity but by a sense of divine orchestration. “Some are accidental, but there are no accidents in our lives,” she reflected. “God will unfold different things at different seasons.” She described how a spate of bank robberies in Nigeria highlighted the urgency of her venture. “It was like a light-bulb moment,” she said. She boarded a plane the next day and met the factory owners, turning a chance favour into a durable enterprise.
Her journey, however, was never about luck. Raised in a Muslim home before embracing Christianity, Awosika credits her faith, diligence, and a commitment to ethical practice for her resilience. “The experiences God permits will always have a purpose in them,” she said. “When I take a wrong turn, there are things on the route of the wrong turn that I would never come in contact with except I took that wrong turn.” That perspective transforms setbacks into opportunities for learning and growth.
Awosika’s lessons extend beyond the boardroom. “There are no failures, only lessons,” she said. “What makes you feel you have failed? Because people around you think so. The journeys of our life are not the same. The experiences God permits will always have a purpose in them.” Her philosophy emphasizes long-term preparation over short-term gain, a principle she likens to the growth of the palm and bamboo trees: slow, steady, and often invisible until the moment of dramatic emergence.
For 15 years, she watched competitors take shortcuts while maintaining her principles. “I would feel like, ‘God, I’m better than this person. I know this business more than this person.’ How is it that when they get the job, they need my help to do it?” Yet her integrity eventually paid off. “It was almost as if my cup had to be full. When we got to that point, everything just moved.”
Beyond The Chair Centre Group, Awosika is a leader in nurturing other leaders. She founded the Ibukun Awosika Leadership Academy, convenes the International Women Leadership Conference in Dubai, and leads the Christian Missionary Fund, a faith-based initiative across Nigeria. Through these roles, she advocates service-oriented leadership: “Don’t walk through life with a sense of ‘I have failed.’ Consider your life as God has ordained it.”
Her advice for entrepreneurs and leaders is grounded in preparation, responsiveness, and humility. “Seek counsel, do your research, do your SWOT test, do your due diligence,” she said. “When something isn’t working, check what you’re missing.
Don’t be arrogant about what you think you know. And birth everything in prayer – let the Lord lead you and guide you.”
In an era that celebrates rapid disruption and overnight success, Awosika’s narrative is a corrective: opportunities come unpredictably, and lasting impact comes from preparation, faith, and integrity. “It’s not about who started fast,” she said. “The winner is the one who crosses the line.”
For Ibukun Awosika, the line was never immediate; it was long, winding, and illuminated by purpose. Her story: born from a simple act of generosity – is now a 25-year testament to how accidents, when met with courage and conviction, can become legacies.
