Cosmas Maduka

Cosmas Maduka CON (born December 24, 1958) is a Nigerian businessman, philanthropist and evangelist. He is the founder and chairman of the Coscharis Group.In 2015, Maduka was featured in Forbes Africa TV Series “Worst Day with Peace Hyde” and was estimated to be worth $500million USD. Maduka has also appeared on CNN Marketplace Africa interview by Zaner Asher. Quotes I was born on December 24, 1958 at Jos, Plateau State, to Mr Peter and Roseline Maduka. I had my early life in Jos. With the vague eye of a child, I still remember my father carrying me in a car. Whether it was a rented car or his own, I cannot remember, but we went to buy bread from some white men who owned a bakery. The Cosmas Maduka interview: My success secrets My own desire was for me to discover for myself what made her tough. I was an altar boy and I served mass in the Catholic Church. I started the Region of Mary in our compound. At a time, we were told that Mary visited three children at Fatima. The Cosmas Maduka interview: My success secrets My boss opened a branch in Jos and that was how I went back to Plateau. Our store used to be at 4/5, Drimi Street, very close to the motor park. I stayed under a bungalow where we were not allowed to enter inside the compound. I did very well in Jos and he moved me to Sokoto. The Cosmas Maduka interview: My success secrets One fateful day after I had turned 14, we were having a camp meeting and it was our third day of fasting, and my uncle got to know that I locked up the shop for three days. The Cosmas Maduka interview: My success secrets Of course, after my encounter with my boss, I went back home to join my brother and together we formed a company known as Maduka Brothers. We worked together and within six months, we started to differ in ideology, and we agreed to part ways. With the profit we had made and what I got after I had settled with him, my money was either N316 or N346. The Cosmas Maduka interview: My success secrets When God created a man, he never gave him a wife without giving him work. In Genesis 2: 15, God put a man in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2: 18, God said it was not good for man to remain alone. He made a wife for the man. The wife was made to be a helpmate. The Cosmas Maduka interview: My success secrets If you are 60 and beautiful, then we can say you are truly beautiful, because we can wind back time and see what you were like at 16. My wife sings well; when she looks at you and laughs, her eyes glitter. When I was wooing her, many people were on the line and I was the least in terms of what it would take to compete, but I had the strongest faith amongst them. She did that and she was very helpful and instrumental to the growth of the business. I am good at working hard and making money, but she is good at administering and making sure we keep the money well, even though I would say I taught her some of those things. I’m comfortable preaching on streets despite being a billionaire – Cosmas Maduka One of the highlights of my childhood was when my father would drive me to a white man’s bakery to buy bread. They were the bakers at the time. Jos was a beautiful place, and I vividly remember the cold weather. I was only four years old when my father passed away, and life became rough as we had to return to the village. His death was another unforgettable moment for me. I recall that after my father’s death, there was a festival at our house with masquerades and a large crowd. I remember the double-barrelled gunshots fired in his honour and how I ran around, picking up the empty shells. I grew up at a time when rice was considered a festive delicacy, but on that day, I ate so much rice that I wished the day would never end. But amidst the celebration, I saw my mother, devastated and in tears. I couldn’t understand why she was so sad while everyone else seemed happy. Much later in life, I realised that it was my father’s funeral, but as a child, I didn’t comprehend the concept of death. Not long after, the civil war broke out. It was after the war that an uncle came to the village and brought me to Lagos. He had a small shop that he managed. I was so small that my uncle thought I wouldn’t be able to lock the shop, so he would always lock me inside and go home. I worked for my uncle for six years, after which he settled me with N200. Under apprenticeship, nothing is negotiable. When he offered me the N200 as a settlement, my brother advised me not to accept it. I asked him if he had anything else to offer me back home, and when he said no, I questioned why he wanted me to refuse it. One of the days, before leaving my uncle, I was travelling with him on a night bus to buy merchandise, and as we passed the Leventis building, I pointed at it and said, “One day, I’m going to own a building like this.”