Mr. Solomon Chukwu is cast in the mould of a distinct ennobling character whose personalities symbolise the good, better and best. It was this inspiring pill that fascinated and drove Prof. Wole Soyinka to craft a literary line in his “Jero and Metamorphosis,” as “There are eggs and there are eggs.”
To many acquaintances and close friends of Chukwu, this line actually pigeonholes the person of the man, a waste manager per excellence, philanthropist, the peoples’ leader who is Managing Director of Solochuks Group of Companies.
For his footprints, paths and trails, he was recently singled out among many of his competitors for honour and award. He was conferred with Personal Merit Award for Youth Empowerment in Orile-Agege Local Council Development Area (LCDA), while his company, Standard Purity Enterprises (SPE) was honoured as the Best Waste Management Company in Orile-Agege.
The voice of the people is said to be the voice of God. What do people think about him?
Alhaji Yusuf Agboola, Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDSC) said Chukwu was a very diligent person who does not toil with his job and has also contributed immensely to the empowerment of youth in the area.
John Akhigbe Edward:
Solochuks is a responsible man, humane, God-fearing, an entrepreneur. And again he is a person who encourages others to grow. Since I know him, he has been a very good friend. As regards cleanliness, he has been a great champion and every sphere of business he finds himself; he has always made others to grow. I respect him, he is good friend.
Does he deserve the two awards he is receiving today?
Yes he deserves it and his organisation deserves it too. And if you look at him, his efforts have made others to grow, he has many people on his payroll and this is what the nation requires today, someone who can grow others, employ others and earn a living and that is what solochuks stands for.
Mr. Kamoru Jatau:
He is my friend, he is very responsible, kind, and I don’t know how to put it. He renders help when you need help. In my own business, I know how he has been supporting me. He is a very good and nice person. He is like a brother to me, he even calls me daddy. We are very close. When you have problem, before you even say it, he had felt it and came to your rescue. He is an open-minded person, plays with everyone. He has many people in his payroll. He always assists people and God will assist him.
Segun Okewusi-Branch Manager-UBA:
I am speaking on behalf of myself not UBA. He is somebody we respect so much. He is a very good customer of the bank. He is a good friend. He is someone worth emulating. The way he treats people on one-on-one basis is worth emulating. He is someone we will like to follow his footsteps in terms of business etiquettes, the way he interacts with people is outstanding, he is very open- minded. His contribution to society is great, from standard purity to solochuks, even solochuks benefits the immediate environment, brings development to the area and even the youths, he has a club, he is into youths development as well.
Mrs. Bello Akanbi-LAWMA Official:
He is a nice person, very diligent, hardworking. I don’t have much personal relationship with him but I rather call it a working relationship. To the best of my knowledge, he earned what he is being given today; he had worked very hard, extremely hard. He hardly relaxes, he is always working. He creates job. On his employment list, if I am not exaggerating, he has up to 50 people on his payroll that means a lot to the society. I know him to be very hardworking man. That is his simple description.
Ajanaku Kamoru-SABJET Nigeria Enterprises-Ojokoro:
Solochuks is my friend, my younger brother. He deserves the award because he is a hardworking man. I wish him long life so that he can continue with the good job he is doing in the community so that everybody will continue to enjoy him. The community knows that they have chosen the right person for the award. I congratulate him and ask him to continue to make the society proud.
Mrs Precious Solomon, Wife
He is a very lovely husband and a humble man. When you marry a humble man, it is the best. My husband is a good man, when it comes to the society, he does not look down on people, and he helps people a lot. He can even deny himself many things in other to help people. He is a good man to the core.
He even deserves more than this award, for the kind of person he is, he deprives himself of many things just to attend to people. He deserves it. I believe he will get more awards for his humanitarian acts.
My husband sees himself as a youth, because there are some things he did not get while growing up, so he is trying his best to see what help he can render to the youths.
He is a lovely father. If he travels for a day, the children will start missing him. They will know that he is not around. Before he goes out every day he will talk to them, likewise before he sleeps.
Baruwa Mustapha-Controller Commercial LAWMA
He is one of the pioneer operators we have since we started the PSP programme in 1999, so since then he has been with us and he has improved tremendously. He is one of the good operators we have as at the moment. He is our pioneer. He has performed very well, the award is well-deserved. He is an operator working with us and a very good one for that matter.
He is a gentle man to the core, and he always abides by the rules and regulations of LAWMA and he is an operator I can boast for. We don’t hear complaints about him. He deserves the award because of the impact he has made in the society.
Solomon Chukwu-The Man Himself
We can see you have a cordial relationship with CDC, what are the unique features of Solochuks that so endeared him to people?
The award is due for standard purity as a company and for my person. Standard purity has been working in this neighbourhood for the past eight years as a waste management company. I think the consistency in the business has formed a solid synergy between us and the community.
What are your challenges?
It has not been smooth all through. We live in a country where challenges are part of life. The major challenge is payment. You will render services and the people involved will not pay you, it becomes difficult for them. That is the most challenging aspect of the business.
I am highly impressed that those who we render service to saw us worthy to be given an award that is very exceptional. In this part of the world people doing you a favour is rare but for those who pay for services and still believe that we deserve an award, am most grateful to. I am very happy.
Recently there was this tariff increase, how have your company been able to manage it?
Even those who we render services to believe that the tariff increase is long overdue but if you don’t give them service, they will kick against it but in our own case, we give them services. We make sure that they get what they are paying for, so there is no complain about the increase.
Having been given an award today, what’s your massage?
My message simply is, be committed in whatever you are doing because with time you will reap the fruits.
What’s the impact of standard purity on the community or society in general?
Our primary assignment is to clean the environment and we have been diligent in doing that. We have impacted the society by cleaning the environment and getting employment for youths. I have more than 40 persons in my employment. The award is an encouragement to do more.
