How Obiora Anthony moved from being ‘nwaboy’, hawking shoes in Idumota to owning Greenlife Pharmaceuticals
Born on 18 July 1963 in Anambra State, Obiora Anthony Chukwuka was the last child and the only male among seven siblings. His early years were marked by modest means. After secondary school, unable to afford university education, he chose apprenticeship instead of waiting idle. At age 17, he moved to Lagos to become an apprentice in his cousin’s ladies-shoes business at Idumota market.
In 1983 his settlement from his apprenticeship included goods and a shop. A few years later, in 1984-85, this business was disrupted when the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) campaign led to the demolition of many shops in Idumota—including his. Undeterred, he sold off what remained of the shoe business for ₦10,000 and pivoted into pharmaceuticals. “I sold the shoe business and opened Leton Pharmacy,” he later told an interviewer.
By 1995 his firm was incorporated as Greenlife Pharmaceuticals Limited, which would go on to become a major indigenous pharmaceutical company in Nigeria. In 2011, the company introduced a mobile-authentication service (MAS) for its anti-malaria drug product to fight counterfeit medication in Nigeria.
Chukwuka returned to formal education later in life. He matriculated at the University of Lagos at age 40 and later earned a Master’s in Corporate Governance from Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom. He also holds an honorary doctorate from Commonwealth University, Belize.
In his own words:
“The secret is that when you want to start life, start with a vision… If making money is your primary focus you will not go far.”
Greenlife now boasts a broad product portfolio across antimalarials, anti-infectives, multivitamins and other therapeutic categories, distributed nationwide. Over the years, Chukwuka’s business interests expanded into more than eleven subsidiary companies and he has created thousands of jobs across sectors.
Chukwuka established the Eziafakaego Foundation in 2003 to support youth and women empowerment, free health services, and construction of hostels in schools.
