From an Army Officer to a Multi-Millionaire – How Dr Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase Cracked the Code

By Arise Arizechi - Konnect Africa

The ability to persist on a given path regardless of setbacks, unexpected events and resistance; to continue steadfastly in spite of conditions is a trait common to those who made it.

Dr Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase was born in December 31,1950 to Edo state parents. They were based in Osogbo, Osun state. He attended the University of Lagos where he graduated with a diploma in Mass Communication. 

He is a business coach, pastor, author and business mogul. He is the founder of Complete Communication Limited, the company behind Complete Sports newspaper.

Sunny started from very humble beginnings.

After completing his basic education, his parents couldn’t send him to a secondary school because they had no money. He tried mastering a number of crafts – from becoming a mechanic, to learning typing and shorthand for six months, to finally learning the printing job.

He was still not fulfilled so he applied to join the Nigerian Army because at that time, the civil war was on.

He was successfully enlisted into the Nigerian army. For him, this was his escape route out of poverty.

But joining the army did not change much. If it did anything, his situation worsened because he went into big debt as a result of pool betting. To his mind, he thought pool-betting would lead him to financial freedom. On the contrary, it almost ruined his life.

The Turning Point

A turnaround came when a friend of his gave him a pamphlet to read titled ‘Seven laws of Success’ authored by Albert W. Armstrong. After his encounter with that book, he gave his life to Christ and voluntarily left the army in 1978.

Dr Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase said,

“when I read this book, I discovered that I had to set goals for myself and I had to acquire specific knowledge along with five other keys, which included having faith in God, persevering, taking care of one’s health, and much more.”

Career Journey

After being discharged from the army, he enrolled for the General Certificate Education (GCE) exams and he made it. His love for English made him think of becoming a sport journalist since he loved sport right from the beginning and was a basketball player.

So he started as a freelance sport writer with Herald Newspaper and later moved to Daily Times in 1979 as a sport reporter. Here, he was a full-time staff.

He moved again to The Guardian in 1983. At that period, he came across two books “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill and “A Positive Mental Attitude” co-authored by W. Clement when he and his wife visited his uncle.

After reading these books, he made a decision to reach for something more than a salary. He desired a fulfilled life.

Business Life

He started publishing his first weekly sport newspaper, sports souvenir in 1983 after quitting his job as a sport reporter for The Guardian and was selling it personally.

A year later, he went further and published Complete Football which was the first Nigerian all-coloured monthly football magazine. In 1995, he launched Complete Sports, the first daily sport newspaper in Nigeria.

That same year, Success Attitude Development Centre (SADC) was created. It was under this NGO that Success Digest magazine was born.

Today, Dr Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase has touched so many lives in Nigeria and beyond. He brought the idea that information is money. He conducted so many life changing empowerment programs and trainings under the auspices of Success Attitude Development Centre (SADC).

When Dr Sunny was asked why he chose the idea to publish a sport newspaper and not any other niche, he said that after travelling to different countries, he found out that every country he visited had a sports newspaper but Nigeria has nothing like that. So he saw the opportunity and use his experience from all the companies he has worked for to launch his business.

When he was looking for funds to start the sports magazine, people said it wouldn’t work. After all, normal newspapers also contained sport stories, so who was going to buy a sport magazine?

But he turned deaf ears to their voices and followed his vision. Today, the rest is history.

He is a renowned business coach who has lots of experience in different businesses ranging from information marketing, network marketing and much more which he has made millions from.

He has authored two books ; 'How to Make It in Nigeria –Building Your Wealth from Ground Floor Up', and 'How to bullet proof yourself from Poverty, Ideas – The Starting Point of All True Riches' .