By Morenike Taire
Ebun Ejirinde Emelogu was 33 and, interestingly, heavily pregnant when she plunged into the uncertain world of business, but her journey did not begin there. Long before entrepreneurship, she had been unconsciously preparing for it.
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“I literally grew up going to work with my mum, which exposed me to the professional world from as early as age four. I admired her deeply and dreamt of working just like her someday,” she revealed to Vanguard.
At 17, everything changed. She lost her dear mother, and her world fell apart.
“I lost interest in studying and desperately needed something, anything, to distract me from the grief. That was how my career journey began.”
The multilingual young Ebun became a freelance translator, working and translating documents from Italian to English for two years for the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO in Italy. The experience showed her the power of skills, how what you know can empower and sustain you. It also inspired her to pursue a degree in History and International Studies, with a dream of becoming a diplomat.
“I graduated as the best in my department and went on to compete with over 300 candidates for what became my first post-graduation job at First Registrars. I loved everything about it; the rush, the pressure, the diversity, the exposure. I worked hard, learned fast, and soaked up every bit of knowledge I could. My language skills again, opened new doors for me, introducing me to people and opportunities across different industries.”
Over time, she worked in different roles, as a personal assistant, conference hostess, and relationship officer across finance, development and hospitality before eventually berthing with education. According to Ebun, she gained skills in negotiation, relationship management, data analysis, marketing, and customer experience. Representing a foreign institution was to become the turning point for her, introducing her to the world of international education, a field that would later define much of her professional identity.
Emelogu pointed to motherhood as a major drawback for women in careers and business. She explains: “I loved my work, but my body needed rest. It’s a vulnerable stage for many women, the point where you can easily lose yourself, focus solely on childbearing and forget who you are professionally. I needed flexibility, but back then, remote work wasn’t common. I found myself caught between being a new mum and surviving a demanding workplace.”
After her first child, she had slipped into postpartum depression.
“My life had completely changed, and I was trying to find balance between my home, my baby, and my career. I eventually got fired, a painful experience, but one that became mentally liberating. That moment forced me to ask: Who am I? Why is my value not making impact?
“It also taught me a hard truth; leadership can either build people up or break them down. A good leader can inspire, while a poor one can completely erode confidence and potential. I knew I had to rediscover myself and this took time”.
By 2015, she was back on her feet, working with a highly reputable and high-performing organisation. Though fulfilled, she began to sense a deeper calling.
“I realised that despite the success around me, one size doesn’t fit all. Clients had different challenges that generic solutions simply couldn’t solve. That thought stayed with me. I wanted to create something bespoke, something that truly understood people’s needs, helped organisations grow, and build human capacity in a more impactful and meaningful way.”
That was the spark that became Dixon & Ricks
The Spark
In 2016, as a penniless professional with no savings, no computer, no funding, and no team, she resigned from her lucrative job.
“All I had was an idea and faith. I wrote proposals to some organisations, and after four months, I received a call from one of them to deploy. That first contract literally gave life to the idea and that’s how Dixon & Ricks was born.”
What started as a thought in a season of uncertainty became the foundation of a galloping, growing pan-African enterprise with global footprints, focused on bespoke consulting, education, and human capacity development.
“Looking back, I now see that every experience, the pain, the pressure, the passion was preparing me for this moment.
My philosophy of business is simple but deep. You must be 100% convinced that what you are doing makes sense.
“Entrepreneurship can be lonely, uncomfortable and sometimes painful, but your conviction must remain solid. If your motivation drops, everything else will drop. For me, staying motivated and constantly reminding myself of my ‘why?’has been key.”
Emelogu is the first in her entire family to embrace entrepreneurship, having emerged from a family of technocrats.
“My mum worked in oil and gas and my dad was in the medical field. My uncles and aunts are all professionals, not entrepreneurs. So, I didn’t have a role model, framework, or template to follow. I started from zero and learned along the way.”
Over time, she began to shadow Africa’s richest man.
“I developed an admiration for Aliko Dangote and how he has built a pan-African conglomerate with multiple subsidiaries, some even in unrelated industries yet all contributing to the continent’s development. As a pan-African organisation, we are modelling Dixon & Ricks Group along similar lines, building multiple, sustainable, and profitable subsidiaries. We are well on our way.”
She has never seen her gender as a limitation. “It’s not something I have dwelt on or even thought much about. I was raised to believe that I am capable, not because I’m a man or a woman, but because I am able, ambitious, driven, and blessed. So, I’ve always focused on my work, my impact, and my goals. People close to me often describe me as a workaholic and they are not so wrong.”
For Dixon&Ricks, innovation is endless and non-negotiable. They created the Y.A.P Career Centre, born from a desire to help young Nigerians, and by extension, young Africans become more employable. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they digitised most operations and continue to do so.
“Our platforms, materials, and delivery models are all customised to the selected target, which has always been our strength.
“We also introduced language learning as part of our Career Centre offerings because I personally know the value of that skill. I speak four languages; English, Italian, French, and Yoruba and that ability has shaped my own career and professional growth in ways I can’t overstate.”
NYSC not enough
Sharing ideas about escalating rates of unemployment, Emelogu proposes implementing a national internship policy mandating every organisation to take on a minimum number of interns each year, particularly graduates who have completed the NYSC programme. In her view, such a policy could reduce unemployment, build practical skills, and strengthen the local workforce. Additionally, she suggests introducing education-focused grants and offering lower interest rates on business loans, which would go a long way in helping small and growing enterprises like ours to scale and thrive.
“As a social enterprise focused on impact and capacity-building, we are ready to do the work; to train, place, and prepare young people for the job market. But we need supportive policies and structures that enable and encourage these efforts,” she said.
“It’s been intensely challenging, painful, expensive, and, as I mentioned earlier, sometimes lonely. But it has also been an incredibly beautiful journey of self-discovery, grit, and courage. Seeing the impact we have made on our clients and students, is truly priceless. From a small consulting firm, we have now built four subsidiaries; our consulting arm, our education support services arm, the Y.A.P Career Centre, and most recently, The Edgar International College, a pathway institution for pre-university and pre-masters students.
It’s always been about growth, innovation, impact and self actualisation.”
Ebun puts her success down to her years in paid employment, saying they gave her the structure and experience to build effectively.
“If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I would have started earlier, afraid, perhaps, but I would still have started,” she said. “I still have so much work ahead of me, and I’m deeply passionate about the journey. No regrets; just gratitude, growth, and purpose,” she said.
Vanguard News
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