The Lagos Polo Club was founded in the early 50's when we had the colonial
masters in the country. They were the people that brought Polo into the
country through the Emir of Katsina, Late Emir Dikko. The game came
through Katsina to Lagos. Actually, the game was introduced to Lagos and
was first played about 105 years ago here. Soldiers played it and they
weren't called the Nigerian Army at the time. They were called the Queen's
Regiment who acted as the soldiers then and this was a form of recreation
for them then. So, Polo started here in Lagos and has since grown to the
enviable height it has reached today.

When was your first contact with the game?

I started riding at the age of nine in Zaria before I went to the United
Kingdom. I took up a bit of riding there (UK) but because of my studies, I
couldn't ride as much as I would have loved to at that time. When I came
back to Nigeria finally, Alhaji Sambo advised me to take up riding more
seriously and I started playing polo as early as 1994, fourteen years ago.

How expensive is it to maintain playing this game which I know is the king
of games and the game of kings?

It's getting more and more expensive because those horses are imported;
even what we call locals are not available in the country. Our locals are
imported from Sudan and every time they bring a horse, they tell you that
they bought it in dollars and because of the naira's devaluation, by the
time you convert it into our local currency, it's a lot of money.

Have you been involved in any major accident while playing?

In the first tournament I played, I had a fall in Kaduna, which resulted
in dislocation and damage to my ligament that I still feel the pain up
till this moment, fourteen years on. On September 2002, I got this scar
under my eye, which almost cost me my eye.

So, why do you still play despite these risks?

The love of the game. You still drive despite the risk of having an
accident. Is that not so?

Now, who is Francis Ogboro?

I am like any person around and I will be 54 this year. I started business
in 1979 in the UK. Initially, I was supplying uniforms to the Nigerian
Army and Nigerian Police. I made some money and I thought I would make
some investments where I lived at that time. Being involved with so many
people in the UK, I met a friend who was trying to sell off his
restaurants and return to Marbella, Spain at that time. The restaurant was
on Queensway, a very popular street in London. It was very well known to
Nigerians, especially those who visited the UK regularly. They patronized
it a lot. I bought one there and I bought another one in an area called
Fulham in Chelsea from the same person. I also had two health clubs and
all these were the businesses I was running abroad. But when I wanted to
relocate, I sold some and retained a couple of them. Since those
businesses were cash-oriented and it was very difficult to keep tabs on
them, I decided to sell them and invest my money where I am.

I know that you're the Chairman of Boots Pharmaceuticals but apart from
that, what other businesses do you have?

I have Rockshall International, which is a consultancy outfit. I'm the
Managing Director of Options International, which is involved in telecoms.
We've built exchanges for Nitel in the past and we do private work now. I
am also the Chairman of a trading outfit that imports generator and
air-conditioners. One of the companies is called HBM and the other is RS.
They are involved in the importation of generators and air-conditioners.
Also, I'm the Chairman of Bimbo detergent.

You are known to be very close to a lot of influential Nigerians and many
people think you met these people in the course of playing polo?

A lot of people have asked me this question so; I will use this
opportunity to clear the air. Most of these people I've known many years
before I started playing Polo. Most of them I met in England because of my
position there. Most people that visited got to know me and I was very
friendly with them so, when they returned to Nigeria and had friends
coming to the U.K, they would recommend that they should contact me on
arrival. This was even before I bought the restaurant and some of them
helped me with businesses that enabled me to buy the restaurant. I had
friends in the Nigeria Airways and when people wanted to return home from
the United Kingdom and encountered problems, they got in touch with me to
assist with the airlines or in any way possible. So, that endeared a lot
of friends to me. I was doing it then, not for any financial gains but
because I knew that people mean wealth, the more people you have, the
wealthier you are. Sometimes, you can't buy this. I realize that my
position in life today has been helped by my friendship with all these
people.

Before you started your own business, where were you?

I started my business in England when I left university. I never worked
for anybody. Before I started business however, my work experience was
with a bank and this was way back in 1979.

Which bank was that?

Bank of the North. That was before I went to study banking. But when I
finished, I did not return to the bank.

Why banking?


Yes, just like every other kid at a stage in life, it is either you want
to become a doctor, lawyer et cetera. I developed interest for banking
having seen a few of my friends, my elders in school, one or two of them
who became very successful after their graduation. I took certain exams
and I performed better in it. Of course, one didn't have the opportunity
of getting a career advice at that time. I gained admission to study
Banking at the Institute of Administration, Zaria, but then, most people's
ambition was to go abroad. So, with my qualification and admission to
Ahmadu Bello University to study Banking, I was easily accepted into the
South West London College and when I finished there, I went for a year's
course in Administrative Management in England as well.

Where do you hail from?

I'm from Igarra in Edo State. I'm number 2 in a family of seven. I have
one parent alive, my mother.

You are married to Tonia Ogboro, the lady behind Face Facts Studio, how
did you meet her?

I met her in England while she was studying. I'd just started setting up
my business in the U.K. We met in 1982 and got married in 1990, and we've
been together since then.