Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli 
Five months after returning to McKinsey post my MBA, I was basically sitting in my apartment in Chicago on a Saturday morning in February 2000 when I received a telephone call from a successful Nigerian entrepreneur and philanthropist – Fola Adeola, the co-founder and the then managing director of Guaranty Trust Bank. He basically said that he heard that I wanted to move back to Nigeria and that he wanted to offer some jobs to me. I had met this amazing entrepreneur and banker a year earlier at the Harvard Business School when he came to serve as a case protagonist to discuss the series of case studies on Guaranty Trust Bank.
During the call, Mr. Adeola basically mentioned four positions in the Nigerian private sector, and the 5th option was that he needed someone to help him start a non-profit focused on creating wealth in Nigeria through entrepreneurship development for youths. (Without any mention of interviews! Hmmm??? Convinced about a God-decision yet?) I clearly knew that I was not interested in anything but the fifth option.
Then and there, I told him about my vision for Ndu Ike Akunuba (NIA), and my plans for establishing something similar for Nigerian women when I was 35. At this time, I was almost 25, and this was part of my ten-year plan. We went back and forth about the merits of helping youth versus women…and neither of us could convince the other. Before I realised what I was saying, I heard myself promising to give him an answer in a month!
During that month, I consulted with my mentors, family members and very close friends. The reactions and advice that I received were very mixed. Some said, ‘This is a great opportunity, it sounds just like NIA, go for it, life is too short.’ Others said, ‘Ndidi, if you are going to join an organisation in Nigeria, why don’t you consider going through a more formal and robust recruiting process so that you can compare your options’ ‘What if this successful entrepreneur – Fola Adeola – runs out of money?’ ‘We hear he is a devout Muslim and you are a strong Christian…hmm, is this really a good move?’ Yet, others said, ‘What level of Nigerian society do you want to come into? Stay at McKinsey for a couple of years and then you can return to Nigeria as a minister of finance or trade, instead of joining a nonprofit.’ Still, others said, ‘What is pulling you to Nigeria? Is there a man that we don’t know about?’ and to them I responded, ‘I wish.’ (Isn’t it always true that whenever you decide to move to a new state or new country, you suddenly discover all the gems in your own back yard…or they discover you…)
From a financial perspective, the options were equally complex. McKinsey had given me a salary advance for Business School, and I was committed to staying with them for two years for the loan to be forgiven. (1) Stay at McKinsey until Oct. 2001, that way I will owe the firm nothing and have tons of savings. 2) Stay at McKinsey until at least December, by then I will only have worked at the firm for 14 months, use the fat end of my bonus to repay my remaining debt to the company 3) Leave now, take a 70% pay cut by joining FATE, and repay McKinsey at least $45,000.
From a spiritual perspective, I felt completely at peace! Every time I prayed about the option, I felt a sense of urgency about the need to make a move immediately…and by May 2000, I DID!
…To be continued next week.
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is the President/CEO of the ONE Campaign. She has over 27 years of international development experience. Nwuneli started her career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in Chicago. She returned to Nigeria in 2000 to serve as the pioneer executive director of the FATE Foundation. In 2002, she established LEAP Africa to inspire, empower, and equip a new cadre of principled, disciplined, and dynamic young leaders in Africa. She is the co-founder of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition – West Africa’s leading agrifood ecosystem consulting firm and AACE Foods, which produces a range of packaged spices, seasonings, and cereals for local and international markets.
Nwuneli serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, Chanel Foundation, Stanbic IBTC Group, Forum of the Young Global Leaders, and the Bridgespan Group.