Before she founded Obathomps Integrated Enterprise, a thriving farm, Mrs Tinuola Thompson-Ajayi had tasted the banking world where she flourished for almost two decades, rising to the peak of her career and taking charge at the helm of the Association of Professional Women Bankers (APWB).
However, she readily put aside her accountancy degree and banking career to become a farmer due to her strong conviction that agriculture is more beneficial to society. In this interview, she explained to The Nigerian Xpress, the depth of her love for agriculture and where she is heading.
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How did you end up in agriculture?
Agriculture has something that concerns everybody. Irrespective of age, position, condition, colour and race, man will have to eat. You can be anybody in the world and have all the money in the world, yet you will need to eat. Therefore, you are either paying money to buy food or you are producing the food for people to buy or you are processing the food for those who will prefer it sophisticated. Somewhere along the value chain, food affects all. I have always been interested in agriculture. When I was in banking, I had a little farm I was managing. After I left the bank, I faced it squarely. It became my major preoccupation.
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But was farming your ambition while growing up?
No, I never imagined myself being a farmer. I studied Accounting. I wrote Banking professional exams and I also studied Information System to become a certified information system auditor. Back in secondary school, I was in science class studying to become a doctor. At Regan Memorial Baptist Secondary School, Yaba, I was the best graduating science student of the 1982 set. I also did my HSC at Lagos Anglican Girls, my focus was still science courses. Thereafter, I went to study Accounting in 1984. Subsequently, I went into banking.
Why did you change from science?
Having passed my school certificate exams, I wrote the JAMB exam, but I was offered Pharmacy instead of Medicine at the University of Benin. I rejected the offer because I wanted Medicine, not Pharmacy. That meant that I had to try again the following year. In the meantime, I decided to study for my A’ levels.
My elder brother advised me to apply for admission in as many institutions as possible so that I would have options when the result is released. I did as he told me, diversifying the courses. I applied for Accounting and other courses in different institutions. The first admission letter I got was from Yaba College of Technology to study Accountancy. At the time, one of my brothers was already studying the course. I never did Accounting in secondary school; I never saw a ledger; I was nowhere near Accounting classes in secondary school. But I decided to take up the admission. In the first class I attended, we were taught Financial Accounting One. The lecturer drew a ledger, balanced the credit and debit sides of it. This continued until the third day. I was baffled by the simplicity of the course. It was not like chemistry where you have to cram the titration formula. When I got home and talked to my brother, he told me that the future of the world was banking and that I could study both simultaneously––write Banking exams while still studying Accountancy. I found Accounting so easy that I could do it in my dreams, although, I did not graduate with first-class, because I was busy writing my professional banking exams. Consequently, I graduated with an upper credit, just three points below distinction.
So, eventually, did you enjoy Banking?
I choose to be happy in all I do. It was hard work. I was in banking when it was fun to be a banker, until recently, when it became tedious. In the past, we used to close early, but later, closing late became inevitable.
Now, how is your life as a farmer?
I don’t wake up in the morning and say what do I do as a farmer. I have a lot of other things I do. Nonetheless, anytime I go to work on the farm, I dressed up like a farmer: in boots, overall and gloves. I work like every other person. If we want to plant or harvest, I get involved. I want to understand everything because I didn’t study Agriculture, I don’t know much about it. Hence, now that I am into it, I try to know the much I could know about it. I try to know all the details even down to the seedlings. I bring my management skills into all these. So, I would not become the subsistence farmer who just digs, plants and harvests without a plan. Other things you will see me do on the farm are weeding, cutting vegetables and planting.
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In animal husbandry, for instance, I know when you have to separate pigs from each other. Pigs don’t grow at the same time. You will see piglets born on the same day having different sizes and some growing faster than others. If you don’t do so, you will see them fight and maim themselves in the process. To avoid such things, you have to separate them. When you do that, strangers will also fight. To avoid that also you need to put someone in charge to constantly separate them until they understand each other. Overall, it is a brand new world for me.
What trainings have you had since becoming a farmer?
When I decided to go into agriculture, I started getting close to people who were already seasoned farmers. I asked them questions. I visited as many farms as I could that have the things I am interested in. When I have problems, I call them to know how to solve it. Then I read the little I can.
Where do you see your farm business in the next 10 years?
I always tell people that we have not started. There is a Thompsons Farm abroad that is targeting to rear 100 four-footed animals in six months. That is our model. For each section of four-footed animals, the farm has thousands of them on the farm. I see us enlarging our coast.