Finding a way to leverage my Nigerian heritage and good fortune in the United States to give back in kind/goodwill to both communities in my life has led me to endless search for export/import (Defense - General Consulting Services and Agribusiness offerings) that will influence economic development that create good jobs not only in Charles County/Maryland/USA but also in Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa at large.  To that end, arduous business development efforts of MESMO Inc. (MESMO) leadership Team led to the formation of MESMO Africa Limited (MAL) in September 2016.

My story began decades ago when America granted me the opportunity to immigrate to her shores.  I’m an Ijan-Ekiti-Nigerian by birth and through my good fortune I came to the U.S. and soon joined the U.S. Army.  My 23 years with the Army gave me opportunity, American citizenship, a great education and a host of important life skills.

Some of those life skills and my own entrepreneurial motivation led me to start a small business in Waldorf soon after retiring from the U.S. Army.  My idea was simple and based on a perceived local need.  I saw that our military, the State Department diplomats and their family members stationed across the globe as well as Waldorf and the surrounding communities had a multi-ethnic population but few online stores to meet unique African and other ethnic grocery tastes.  So, I founded Multi-Ethnic Shopping Mall Online (MESMO) with a warehouse in Waldorf.

Like other entrepreneurs my start-up idea soon morphed into another enterprise and better aligned with things I learned in the Army.  I soon abandoned the Multi-Ethnic grocery business and started offering language translation services.  After all, I was a trained and experienced foreign affairs officer in the US Army and understood then that our government needs language translation services.  So, I used my connections within the immigrant communities and my understanding of US Government language requirements and contracting to build a services business which eventually morphed into management, logistics, budgeting and associated administrative management services across US Government agencies.

It was tough at first developing new business especially in the middle of the recession and more recently as the federal budget contracted (sequestration).  But with the help of other Waldorf business leaders, friends at the local Small Business Development and Technology Center in Charles County, and my armed forces contacts success started to come my way in starts and stops.

The success I enjoy is attributed to my simple business philosophy. I take a very conservative approach to developing business by hiring the best people at affordable salaries, spend limited funds on the essentials, and never compromise my ethics with Government clients, employees, partners and/or vendors. MESMO corporate values guide our every effort.  I insist upon competency, integrity, respect and responsiveness.  That’s a challenge in the highly competitive government services business but I’m here to tell you it’s necessary because I want MESMO’s brand to reflect those values which ultimately will bring in more long-term clients.

Our mission is to deliver superior service solutions while striving to build relationships that rest on mutual trust, respect and accountability.  That’s why MESMO’s motto is: Customer First, Our People Always.  I recognize that my young business has many challenges ahead.  It’s my intention to let our dedication to these values and mission that will ultimately determine whether MESMO continues to succeed in the present business climate and into the unpredictable future.

My story isn’t as yet one of rags to riches.  But I’m on that glide path thanks to the opportunities given to me as an American Soldier and now as a small businessman here in Waldorf.

MAL’s Management Directors and I will stand ready to apply the same ethics and principles enumerated in the paragraphs above to develop and grow MAL into a leading agro-allied company whose operations will span the large-scale cultivation of oil palm (from small/medium to large scale multi-locational plantation sites), the processing of its produce at Ijan-Ekiti and merchandising in national and international markets