The Watchdog Sniffing Out Deception

Kola Olugbodi has never let his disability keep him down. The entrepreneur is leading the way in rooting out corporate fraud.

- Peace Hyde

I told myself maybe I am not meant for business after all,” says Kola Olugbodi, Chief Executive Officer of Background Check International, Nigeria’s first exclusive and broad spectrum background check organization.

Olugbodi’s candid, yet curious, admission is characteristic of the 52-year old’s straightforward manner, as well as his approach towards business. His statement is interesting because he counts the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dangote Group, Citibank, ExxonMobil, as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as some of his clients.

His success is all the more remarkable when you consider the difficulties he faced growing up. When he was a child, Olugbodi was diagnosed with a crippling disease.

“At the age of two I had polio. I am now 52 so that means for 50 years of my life I have had to cope with this disability which of course left a big impact on my life. I felt I could not do what everybody else was doing. I felt I was limited, even in terms of the courses I could do in school and the places I could work,” he says.

“I got over it when I was 10 years old and we went to the village during Christmas. I have nine siblings and during a masquerade festival in the village, the masquerade came out of nowhere and scared everyone and everybody took to their heels. I wanted to run as well but unfortunately, my legs could not move as fast as everybody else and I called to others to help but nobody would come. I was just 10 and from that time I made up my mind that if I was going to make it in life, I needed to depend on myself.”

With a different perspective on life, and new rules to follow, Olugbodi began moving forward.