Iquo Ukoh joined Nestle Nigeria Plc. as a Medical Representative over 30 years ago and rose through the ranks to become the Director, Marketing Services. Interestingly, she has recorded a number of firsts in the organisation: She is the first female marketing manager of Nestle Nigeria and also the first female on the Board of Directors of the organization, a feat she achieved through hard work, perseverance and intelligence.
She spoke with NaijaTalkTalk on her childhood, her family and her passion for interior decoration, among other interesting issues.
Could you tell me a little about your educational background?
I started my primary education in Benin, Edo State; then, I continued in Aba and eventually finished in Lagos State. It was because my father was working in the Ministry of Communication. In those days, it was common for civil servants to be frequently transferred from one place to another within Nigeria. For my secondary education, I attended the Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, Lagos. Then, I later studied Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Why did you opt for that course in the university?
In those days, career counsellors were invited by schools to talk on different professional courses that were available in our universities, thereby allowing us to make informed choices. I remember the chief dietician of the University of Lagos was one such person that gave a lecture on this field. Whilst everybody was going for Law, Medicine, Nursing and so on, I thought Nutrition and Dietetics was different and food just held some attraction for me. I would say it’s about me being different. This was how I attended the University of Nigeria to study Nutrition and Dietetics.
How was it like studying that course in the university?
I had initially applied to some schools in the United Kingdom since few schools were offering the course, locally. I was admitted into a school in the UK. But unfortunately, my dad could not afford to send me abroad at that time. With further investigations, I discovered that the course was being offered at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, so I applied and was admitted.
Could you recall the number of students in your class then?
We were three in the class, but by the time I was graduating, the students’ population per class had increased to 20.
What fond memory of your childhood can you share with me?
Children were allowed to play freely with neighbour children. Then, the fences of the houses in Lagos were low. There was nothing like security challenge. Also, I would walk from my primary school, Methodist School, Surulere, which was very close to Lawanson, to our house at Adeniran Ogunsanya. It was fun; we could move around freely.
How was it like when you moved from Aba to Benin and finally to Lagos?
As a child, we didn’t have a choice. When your dad moved, you had to move too. The benefit for me today is that I speak Igbo and Yoruba languages fluently as a result of those movements. I’ve taken that from the experience of moving from one place to the other.
What was the first job you did after graduation?
My first job was when I did my dietetic internship at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos. I worked for a few months there and also worked for some few months at Bristol Hotel on Lagos Island. For my National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, I was posted to the National Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos. Nestle has been my only real job and I’ve been here for over 30 years.
How has it been like working in this organisation for this long?
You studied Nutrition and Dietetics, yet you are now in marketing. How do you explain this?
Nestle is a company that affords you the opportunity to thrive where you have the best potential. Of course, my background is Nutrition and Dietetics, but I didn’t know I had this creative side, which is an advantage in marketing. Luckily, an opportunity presented itself in 1990 and then I started core Marketing.
Did you go for any training in marketing?
No, I didn’t. Nestle is a training school of some sorts. It offers you the training needed in whatever area you find yourself so that you can excel in whatever role assigned to you.
Who were you closer to between your father and your mother?
While we were growing up, you couldn’t have anybody you could be close to because both parents spoke with one voice. My mum was the one who made sure you were well groomed as a woman to be a good homemaker, a good cook and so on, while my dad was the one you went to for your school assignments. There was nowhere you could run to if you misbehaved; you couldn’t say you would run to daddy or even mummy to cover up. Both of them meted out their punishment if they needed to. Both parents were very strict in their own roles. When the issue bordered on your academics, my dad would make sure you conformed and if it was about house chores and housekeeping, my mum would make sure you were aligned.
How has your growing up impacted your lifestyle?
I came from a very disciplined background. There was a time to wake up; there was a time to play; there was a time to do revision and there was a time to eat. So, all this has followed me through life, in terms of discipline. I remember my dad had to drop us off in school before heading for work and if you were not in the car at 6.a.m., you would find your way to school. That was the kind of discipline we had; and today, I have a problem when people are late for functions or meetings. I don’t know African time, even for social engagements.
As the Director, Marketing Services, what are your efforts to ensure that Nestle maintains its share of the market?
Nestle is an organization that is consistent and persistent with marketing. What Marketing Services Department does for the rest of the business is to ensure that all our marketing activities are implemented flawlessly, thereby allowing the consumers we are targeting to interact with our brands. That’s what we help the company to do; that is, to ensure that our entire plans are executed professionally and excellently such that we get the best for the money we put together for all these activities.
What are the challenges you’ve faced so far?
There are not too many challenges, except when you are working with third party because they don’t have the same orientation and training as we do. To get them aligned with the Nestle standard is sometimes very difficult. Of course, we are training and re-training and it’s getting better.
What made you start the food blog, 1Q food platter?
First of all, my kids are not at home; they are all in the university. And I’ve reached a stage in my life that I need to give something back to the society. I carry out some mentoring with young women. But as I interact and understand women, particularly the young women, I found out that a lot of them are challenged with the food area. Some of them are confused about what they should eat, how to cook it and so on. Certainly, when I get home, I have some time to myself because I don’t have kids to cater for anymore. Against this backdrop, I thought I should devote time to sow back. I started the blog to provide a platform for women, particularly young women, to be able to pick up ideas on Nigerian recipes and other information about food and health. For me, it’s not only about the recipe, but it’s about recipe and healthy living.
Ever since you started the blog, what has been the response of followers of the blog?
I’m amazed. For instance, last week, I had a lady who wrote back to say, “Thank you so much for this blog. I’ve learnt a lot; I’ve forwarded the tips to my children and have also gotten my friends on the blog”. Another one says, “Now, I can cook my husband all the food I didn’t know I could cook.” I can say at this point that this blog is touching lives and that’s what social media help you to know instantly if what you are doing is yielding positive results. So, I can see that it is really yielding the desired results.
Would you say it is the informal training you had in the kitchen with your mum that allows you to share the ingredients and recipes on your blog?
Maybe it is my interest. I’ve been fascinated about food and the role that food plays in our lives and how we can use it to stay healthy, instead of taking drugs. For me, it’s not just about cooking edikaikong or egusi soup; rather, I want to know what the ugwu in edikaikong would do for me, what portion of edikaikong should I eat for it to be good for me, in addition to the quantity I should eat it so that it is not harmful to me. For me, it is not just about what is on the plate, it is about the content of that thing on my plate. This is what I’m sharing with women and men that are following me on the blog. Dietitians are not necessarily good cooks. But maybe because I have some Efik blood, the culinary expertise of an average Calabar woman, as Nigerians would say, and the scientific aspect of food and the role it plays in health have all combined well for me.
Did you go for any training in cooking?
I did not. It’s just about interest. So, when I look at food, I also look at the international market. If somebody from France wants to try and eat a Nigerian food, I won’t want to slap it on the plate. This is because if I go to eat in a French restaurant, they have a way of presenting the food. Besides the science and the love of food, my role as a Nigerian is also to help get Nigerian food onto the international arena. There is something exciting about Nigerian food that is yet to be discovered and that also is one of the reasons I created the blog.
Do you see yourself running a restaurant later in life?
Certainly, I’m not going into restaurant because I don’t have the energy for it. The opportunity to share recipes with young Nigeria women and West African women is what I will continue to do.
Did you plan to stay this long in Nestle?
Nobody plans to stay long anywhere. From time to time, if you are good at what you do, you have job offers. But when I look at these offers and consider them, I have always come to the conclusion that Nestle is where I want to be.
If you are not working with Nestle Nigeria, where else would you have worked?
If not working with Nestle, I would have worked in my own company where I would be doing a lot of interior designing. I do interior designing on a part–time basis for friends. It’s not something I want to do on a full-time basis. I will still hold on with the food blog and anything that has to do with food.
What is the lesson life has taught you?
First is that hard work does not kill and to strive for excellence in what you do and allow your work to speak for you. Besides, you should also understand that climbing the corporate ladder is not easy, but with dedication, consistency and self-development, you will get there. It’s not just about coming to work, but what you are doing on your own to improve yourself. Besides being in an organization, it’s about developing oneself, reading and understanding one’s world. So, I think all this helps at the end of the day.
What’s your take on the saying that no career woman can get to her peak of career without compromising?
Because I’ve always worked with Nestle, so I can only talk from my experience here. Nestle is a company that gave me the opportunity to move from Nutrition and Dietetics to Marketing. This is a company that gave me the opportunity to rise in marketing to the highest position then, which was the Marketing Manager,, . This is a company that has brought me on to the Board of Directors; I’m the first woman to sit on that Board. That’s where I go back to excellence and professionalism. None of this comes easily, but by consistency. As I said, I can only talk about Nestle Nigeria, where I have been given the opportunity to excel.
As a mother, what does it take to keep a home?
I must say that the Nigerian family system is one that helps a lot, particularly for career women. But a lot of planning goes in managing the home front. I remember when I had to do a lot of travelling-and of course, I still do travelling. But now, as I’m travelling, I don’t have kids to bother about because they are in schools. But when they were younger, I had my siblings to fall back on.
Of course, there are challenges, but I thank God for the GSM phone, which enables you to track the kids at any particular time. At the end of the career, you have the family to fall back on. While also growing in your career, you also ensure that you are not living the kids behind; you check their homework and when you are asked to appear in a child’s school, you make an effort to go there. It is not something you do every day, but your employers will be sensitive enough to allow you go for your child’s open day.
There are little things you can do for the child to help his or her development. But apart from this, my children know that I’m their mother and their friend. When I’m a mother, I put on the mother’s cap; when I’m a friend, the kids are open enough to tell me many things that bother them. If I stop at just being a mother, I might not get the best out of them. I balance the two roles of mother and friend.
How do the kids feel when you are not at home?
It was planning between my husband and me. When I’m out, he’s in and when I’m in, he’s out. But of course, there were times, for job exigencies, that he also had to be on the road. That was when the family came in; that was when my sister or my brother was there to help me.
What would you say qualified you for the chieftaincy title that you were honoured with sometime ago?
I was sitting quietly in my office when I got a card from the Obong of Calabar that he wanted to honour me with a traditional title. He said that I had done a lot for the Nigerian women, including the Efik women. It was a way to encourage me and also send signals to young ladies and men in the Efik kingdom. So, I called to ask what it was about and was told the Obong was trying to honour some people. He told me later that he had been tracking my progress and that was it.
How have you been able to keep your shape?
Good food, healthy eating, healthy living and good exercise. I exercise three times a week. Fortunately, there is a gym here. So, when I close from work, I spend 30 to 45 minutes here. So, I balance out my eating and the exercises.
What’s your beauty regimen?
It’s beauty from within. I believe what I eat is what really matters; then, how I live my life and nothing in excess. It’s just moderation in everything.
What’s your philosophy of life?
I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ absolutely. For me, I always ask myself if whatever I do mirrors Jesus Christ. If it does, I’m fin
Nestle is a company that affords you the opportunity to thrive where you have the best potential. Of course, my background is Nutrition and Dietetics, but I didn’t know I had this creative side, which is an advantage in marketing. Luckily, an opportunity presented itself in 1990 and then I started core Marketing.
Did you go for any training in marketing?
No, I didn’t. Nestle is a training school of some sorts. It offers you the training needed in whatever area you find yourself so that you can excel in whatever role assigned to you.
Who were you closer to between your father and your mother?
While we were growing up, you couldn’t have anybody you could be close to because both parents spoke with one voice. My mum was the one who made sure you were well groomed as a woman to be a good homemaker, a good cook and so on, while my dad was the one you went to for your school assignments. There was nowhere you could run to if you misbehaved; you couldn’t say you would run to daddy or even mummy to cover up. Both of them meted out their punishment if they needed to. Both parents were very strict in their own roles. When the issue bordered on your academics, my dad would make sure you conformed and if it was about house chores and housekeeping, my mum would make sure you were aligned.
How has your growing up impacted your lifestyle?
I came from a very disciplined background. There was a time to wake up; there was a time to play; there was a time to do revision and there was a time to eat. So, all this has followed me through life, in terms of discipline. I remember my dad had to drop us off in school before heading for work and if you were not in the car at 6.a.m., you would find your way to school. That was the kind of discipline we had; and today, I have a problem when people are late for functions or meetings. I don’t know African time, even for social engagements.
As the Director, Marketing Services, what are your efforts to ensure that Nestle maintains its share of the market?
Nestle is an organization that is consistent and persistent with marketing. What Marketing Services Department does for the rest of the business is to ensure that all our marketing activities are implemented flawlessly, thereby allowing the consumers we are targeting to interact with our brands. That’s what we help the company to do; that is, to ensure that our entire plans are executed professionally and excellently such that we get the best for the money we put together for all these activities.
What are the challenges you’ve faced so far?
There are not too many challenges, except when you are working with third party because they don’t have the same orientation and training as we do. To get them aligned with the Nestle standard is sometimes very difficult. Of course, we are training and re-training and it’s getting better.
What made you start the food blog, 1Q food platter?
First of all, my kids are not at home; they are all in the university. And I’ve reached a stage in my life that I need to give something back to the society. I carry out some mentoring with young women. But as I interact and understand women, particularly the young women, I found out that a lot of them are challenged with the food area. Some of them are confused about what they should eat, how to cook it and so on. Certainly, when I get home, I have some time to myself because I don’t have kids to cater for anymore. Against this backdrop, I thought I should devote time to sow back. I started the blog to provide a platform for women, particularly young women, to be able to pick up ideas on Nigerian recipes and other information about food and health. For me, it’s not only about the recipe, but it’s about recipe and healthy living.
Ever since you started the blog, what has been the response of followers of the blog?
I’m amazed. For instance, last week, I had a lady who wrote back to say, “Thank you so much for this blog. I’ve learnt a lot; I’ve forwarded the tips to my children and have also gotten my friends on the blog”. Another one says, “Now, I can cook my husband all the food I didn’t know I could cook.” I can say at this point that this blog is touching lives and that’s what social media help you to know instantly if what you are doing is yielding positive results. So, I can see that it is really yielding the desired results.
Would you say it is the informal training you had in the kitchen with your mum that allows you to share the ingredients and recipes on your blog?
Maybe it is my interest. I’ve been fascinated about food and the role that food plays in our lives and how we can use it to stay healthy, instead of taking drugs. For me, it’s not just about cooking edikaikong or egusi soup; rather, I want to know what the ugwu in edikaikong would do for me, what portion of edikaikong should I eat for it to be good for me, in addition to the quantity I should eat it so that it is not harmful to me. For me, it is not just about what is on the plate, it is about the content of that thing on my plate. This is what I’m sharing with women and men that are following me on the blog. Dietitians are not necessarily good cooks. But maybe because I have some Efik blood, the culinary expertise of an average Calabar woman, as Nigerians would say, and the scientific aspect of food and the role it plays in health have all combined well for me.
Did you go for any training in cooking?
I did not. It’s just about interest. So, when I look at food, I also look at the international market. If somebody from France wants to try and eat a Nigerian food, I won’t want to slap it on the plate. This is because if I go to eat in a French restaurant, they have a way of presenting the food. Besides the science and the love of food, my role as a Nigerian is also to help get Nigerian food onto the international arena. There is something exciting about Nigerian food that is yet to be discovered and that also is one of the reasons I created the blog.
Do you see yourself running a restaurant later in life?
Certainly, I’m not going into restaurant because I don’t have the energy for it. The opportunity to share recipes with young Nigeria women and West African women is what I will continue to do.
Did you plan to stay this long in Nestle?
Nobody plans to stay long anywhere. From time to time, if you are good at what you do, you have job offers. But when I look at these offers and consider them, I have always come to the conclusion that Nestle is where I want to be.
If you are not working with Nestle Nigeria, where else would you have worked?
If not working with Nestle, I would have worked in my own company where I would be doing a lot of interior designing. I do interior designing on a part–time basis for friends. It’s not something I want to do on a full-time basis. I will still hold on with the food blog and anything that has to do with food.
What is the lesson life has taught you?
First is that hard work does not kill and to strive for excellence in what you do and allow your work to speak for you. Besides, you should also understand that climbing the corporate ladder is not easy, but with dedication, consistency and self-development, you will get there. It’s not just about coming to work, but what you are doing on your own to improve yourself. Besides being in an organization, it’s about developing oneself, reading and understanding one’s world. So, I think all this helps at the end of the day.
What’s your take on the saying that no career woman can get to her peak of career without compromising?
Because I’ve always worked with Nestle, so I can only talk from my experience here. Nestle is a company that gave me the opportunity to move from Nutrition and Dietetics to Marketing. This is a company that gave me the opportunity to rise in marketing to the highest position then, which was the Marketing Manager,, . This is a company that has brought me on to the Board of Directors; I’m the first woman to sit on that Board. That’s where I go back to excellence and professionalism. None of this comes easily, but by consistency. As I said, I can only talk about Nestle Nigeria, where I have been given the opportunity to excel.
As a mother, what does it take to keep a home?
I must say that the Nigerian family system is one that helps a lot, particularly for career women. But a lot of planning goes in managing the home front. I remember when I had to do a lot of travelling-and of course, I still do travelling. But now, as I’m travelling, I don’t have kids to bother about because they are in schools. But when they were younger, I had my siblings to fall back on.
Of course, there are challenges, but I thank God for the GSM phone, which enables you to track the kids at any particular time. At the end of the career, you have the family to fall back on. While also growing in your career, you also ensure that you are not living the kids behind; you check their homework and when you are asked to appear in a child’s school, you make an effort to go there. It is not something you do every day, but your employers will be sensitive enough to allow you go for your child’s open day.
There are little things you can do for the child to help his or her development. But apart from this, my children know that I’m their mother and their friend. When I’m a mother, I put on the mother’s cap; when I’m a friend, the kids are open enough to tell me many things that bother them. If I stop at just being a mother, I might not get the best out of them. I balance the two roles of mother and friend.
How do the kids feel when you are not at home?
It was planning between my husband and me. When I’m out, he’s in and when I’m in, he’s out. But of course, there were times, for job exigencies, that he also had to be on the road. That was when the family came in; that was when my sister or my brother was there to help me.
What would you say qualified you for the chieftaincy title that you were honoured with sometime ago?
I was sitting quietly in my office when I got a card from the Obong of Calabar that he wanted to honour me with a traditional title. He said that I had done a lot for the Nigerian women, including the Efik women. It was a way to encourage me and also send signals to young ladies and men in the Efik kingdom. So, I called to ask what it was about and was told the Obong was trying to honour some people. He told me later that he had been tracking my progress and that was it.
How have you been able to keep your shape?
Good food, healthy eating, healthy living and good exercise. I exercise three times a week. Fortunately, there is a gym here. So, when I close from work, I spend 30 to 45 minutes here. So, I balance out my eating and the exercises.
What’s your beauty regimen?
It’s beauty from within. I believe what I eat is what really matters; then, how I live my life and nothing in excess. It’s just moderation in everything.
What’s your philosophy of life?
I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ absolutely. For me, I always ask myself if whatever I do mirrors Jesus Christ. If it does, I’m fin
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