Happy 50th Birthday to Mo Abudu – Entrepreneur per excellence, Great Motivator and role model to aspiring Nigerian Entrepreneurs .

| September 11, 2014 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Dr. Mosunmola Abudu,born 11 September 1964, usually known as Mo Abudu, is a talk show host, TV producer, media personality, human resources management consultant and entrepreneur.

Mo was born in the UK. At age 7, her family relocated to Lagos, Nigeria and she was sent to stay with her grandparents at their cocoa farm in Ondo State, to learn about African culture.

At age 11, she attended Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School. At 12, shortly after her father died, Abudu returned to the UK and attended Hammersmith County Secondary School before moving to the Ridgeway School in Kent where she lived with her guardian in Tunbridge Wells. From there, she went to West Kent College and MidKent College. She has a Masters Degree in HR Management from the University of Westminster, London.

As Mo gradually came into her own as a young adult, she was extremely ambitious. Thinking back on it now, she realizes that she had always been ambitious and a dreamer. In fact, she dreamt so hard that she just knew she had to actualize those dreams. Finding her life’s purpose has been her key drive right from those early days. She worked so hard, trying her hands at so many different things and working many jobs — some she did in order to make ends meet, others because of her passion for them or because they gave her a sense of purpose. She loved working in the Human Resource field, affecting people’s lives and careers positively. This she did tirelessly until the even bigger dream came along to Inspire Africa!

As a self-confessed ‘big dreamer’, Mo stands out from the crowd in that she goes beyond dreaming to achieving by getting others to believe in her dreams and working hard to make those dreams come true. After building a reputation as an accomplished human resource specialist, Mo moved into television a few years ago with the aim of establishing effective media platforms that would give voice to her passion to inspire Africa and to showcase the real face of the African continent—in all its beautiful and multifaceted dimensions—to the entire world.

Mo eventually moved back to Nigeria in 1993, armed with the skills and experiences she had gained as well as the successes she had recorded in such a short time in the UK. She was recruited by Arthur Andersen for Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Limited (now ExxonMobil) to head up their Human Resources and Training unit. She served in this role until the turn of the century (year 2000), when she successfully executed her responsibilities as a member of the ExxonMobil HR Transition and Merger team in ensuring a smooth and seamless transition process.

Recognizing the growing need for a well trained and highly motivated work force to successfully take Nigerian businesses into the 21st century, Mo decided to take advantage of her established reputation as an HR specialist to establish a privately-owned specialist human resources development company known as Vic Lawrence & Associates Limited (popularly known as VLA). Resigning from ExxonMobil, she focused single-mindedly on steering VLA through various critical stages of development to become one of the most successful and fastest growing Nigerian-owned outsourcing and people management consultancy firms in Nigeria.

While running VLA as the Managing Director and engaged in other business activities, Mo recorded another landmark achievement with the successful commissioning of the Protea Hotel, Oakwood Park in August of 2004. She conceptualized and initiated this innovative project which involved raising investment partners for the development of an executive training centre that also offers first rate residential and recreational facilities.

Mo is the Executive Producer & host of a TV talk show, Moments with Mo, which is the first syndicated daily talk show on African regional television.

By October 2009, over 200 episodes had been recorded and aired with numerous topics ranging from lifestyle, through health, culture, politics, entertainment, tradition, to music and inter-racial marriages. Guests have included celebrities, Presidents, Nobel Laureates, and the 67th US Secretary-of-State Hillary Rodham Clinton,[3] Abudu says the show “highlights the life and accomplishments of a usually well known, but sometimes an undiscovered African individual who by his or her own tenacity and determination has accomplished something, overcome something or been a catalyst for something that makes her or him a role model to others.”

Aired on M-Net with TV coverage in 48 African countries, the show now also airs on terrestrial and cable TV in other parts of the world.

The Debaters

Abudu is the creator and executive producer of “The Debaters”, a reality TV show. Funded by Guaranty Trust Bank, it launched on 3 October 2009. The show focuses on “giving Africa a voice” by promoting oratory.

Inspire Africa Foundation

Abudu is the founder of The Inspire Africa Foundation, a human investment arm of Inspire Africa Ltd. It is registered as a non-profit organization focused on raising funds to implement society-transforming initiatives.

In January 2009, the Inspire Africa Foundation alongside Moments with Mo, the Lagos State Government and UNICEF held a telethon and a charity benefit concert with the theme “Rock with a Conscience”. Donations from the concert have gone towards the protection of street children.

The Foundation has opened a charity store branded “The Designers Outlet for Charity”, which opened on 5 December 2009 in Lagos, Nigeria. The foundation is also developing a children’s shelter called “The Harbour”.