Chief (Dr) Richie John Onaiwu, is the Chief Executive Officer, RichieRich Global Ltd. The popular business mogul, among other issues, explained to SEGUN KASALI, the reasons for his soft spot for entrepreneurship.

TELL us something unique about your name, “Onaiwu”?

It is a name from Benin. So, I am originally from Benin. The name -Onaiwu means this would never die. It means eternity or everlasting. Growing up was okay. I was opportune to have a good mum in as much as I lost my dad when I was quite young but she was a powerful woman. In fact, I was born into a believer’s home and that helped to put us in a right direction. Up till now, it reflects in us. At the same time, it would have been better if my dad was alive. My Dad was wealthy. After he passed on, it became a single mum with four children. I am the third amongst my siblings.

How was growing up under a single mum like?

We are Christians and because I am from a Christian background, that played a lot in our lives. She was a disciplinarian, absolutely. She was a civil servant not always home. Once we hear the sound of her car by the time she comes back, we all adjust. She had zero tolerance for misbehaviour. Even till now. She is about 80 years old. She is still a no-nonsense woman up till today.

Do you remember an offence you committed and she punished you for?

When she tells you to wash the car, but you did not by the time she returned, you would not eat that evening (laughs). There was a time I went to play with friends and I think my left hand was affected. Instead of her to be empathetic and all that, she hit me on top of that hand as well. Like, why were you careless? Why did you have to hurt yourself? I got the beating of my life before she took me to the hospital for me to be treated. So, that’s the kind of person she was. But I tell you she is very lovely.

Academically?

Averagely, I was just there. I won’t say I was the best (laughs). I went to one of the best schools in Nigeria back then – it was Ebenezer Primary School. In that case, I would say it was okay.

What informed the choice of course you studied, Business Management?

I was business-oriented right from the time I was young. My dad was a businessman. When I was in school, I bought a BMS bike. I used to trade with it in school. You would drive the bike up and down and you would pay me. That was how I started. So, I just developed that love for business. I knew my direction right from there. I studied Business Management. I started from Newham College, UK.

And what’s your UK story like?

It was my mum that insisted I must further my studies. Amongst us, my mum sees me as somebody who would make a difference. In addition, I would say I was a bit stubborn. At a point, she used to work in Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. For her, being a powerful woman in the church, she needed me to go abroad and continue my studies. That would help protect her name, she believed. So, that’s one of the reasons I actually went abroad to study.

But, what’s your untold UK experience?

When I came to the UK, I was staying with my in-law, my aunty’s husband. When I was coming, I had the image of the way we were back home: big house, garage, cars and everything. But,  when I got to the UK, and started staying with my in-law, it was a different story entirely. It was a one-bed apartment. We were about five in that apartment. The name of that man is Chris. But he also had his impact on me. He made me to be very strong and determined. First, after two weeks of staying with him, I started paying rent. I didn’t have work, but he said you would be on credit. Mind you, I was sleeping in the living room. So, I had to start paying for sleeping on the couch. Those things gave me a sense of responsibility, because growing up,  then,  my parents had their own houses. I didn’t have to experience anything with tenants. So, this gave me a different narrative that: “Now you are a man. You always have to endure; if not, you will be on the street”. As God would have it, he helped me to get two jobs: one in the morning and the other at night. It was a cleaning job. That was how I started.

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When did you veer into the entertainment space?

From cleaning job, I migrated to being a security at the club. Being a security man, it gave me a sense of entertainment in the country. From there, I negotiated to have a cloak room, which became mine. Since I have an experience in cleaning, I lobbied for the contract and I got it. So, for doing the cleaning and cloak room, that was how I got into the entertainment business.

Where would you say you hit it in entertainment?

I would say from Julius Agwu. He came here to have the UK version of ‘Crack Your Ribs’. He started in Nigeria and it was going to be once a year [show]. His very close ally, Don Chichi, brought me in because of my car.

Your car, how?

Yes. It was because I had a very nice car among everybody. They said, “Oh, Julius is coming and we would like to use your car.” I was using the Jaguar XF. So, they brought me into the entertainment side for logistics purposes. It was just a favour they asked, not about pay me I pay you.

The AfroKings of Comedy UK Tour 2026 just wrapped with a grand finale in London. What inspired you to bring Okey Bakassi, Destalker, Busy Mouth, MC Yannis and Warri Bros together for this edition?

I needed to go across the age gap. Okey is the older generation. What motivated me to do Afroking comedy was that we have been doing a lot of comedy shows,  but they belong to people’s brands. “Crack Your Ribs” belongs to Julius Agwu and “AY Live” is AY. So, we didn’t have something we used to have in those days like “Nite of a Thousand Laughs”, which anyone can participate in it. So, I wanted to create something that will bridge Africa and the UK. So, the name-Afro doesn’t belong to Nigeria. The vision is to get some people from Nigeria and other countries, even British comedians, bring them together and create nice entertainment. The first time we did it was three years ago and that had to do with “I Go Die” and, of course, Okey Bakassi and Gordons. It was very successful. People now know the name and buy the idea. I’m not sure if you know about it, that Okey is a King in the East and in the comedy sector, Okey is a king as well. So, I needed somebody in the middle class. That was why I said let me do Destalker. Destalker is very vibrant. He is a guy that can be on stage for hours. With my research, people love Destalker and they wanted him back.

You’ve done annual tours like AY Live and one-offs like Mr CumCum and MC Edo Pikin. What has changed in UK-Nigerian comedy audiences from 2005 till now?

What changed? These days, there is entertainment left and right. Those days, they used to be one or two. There were even a few clubs that belonged to the African minority back then. In those days, if you do entertainment, there might be one or two in a year. But now, there are events to go. The number of clubs owned by Nigerians now are many. Things have changed from that time till now.

Looking back, is there anything you would never forget?

One of the things that helped us then boils down to this saying in Nigeria back then, that one parent does not train a child but the community does. This means if you do something wrong, they will call you and correct you. They disciplined us and that made us become disciplined in terms of you don’t just do things anyhow. I have some uncles that grew up with us and they played the father figure role in our lives. But was that a good experience? Now, I would say “yes”. But, back then, it was a no because of the way we were beaten.