By Ajong Mbapndah L
With offices and a growing network of partners across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, it is with sense of vindication and unbridled optimism in the future that founding CEO NJ Ayuk is stepping down from the leadership of the Centurion Law Group.
From very humble beginnings, the Centurion Law Group has set new standards for the way law is practiced on the continent. Buoyed by a strong vision to offer Africa something different, NJ Ayuk defied the odds and progressively built and blended a cast of brilliant Lawyers and the result is the solid firm with a global reputation that Centurion is today.
From its base in Johannesburg, South Africa, the international trained lawyers, and advisors of Centurion have excelled in advising governments, foreign investors and local companies. With language proficiency in English, Spanish, French, German, and other African indigenous languages, Centurion is primed to provide choiced services to a broad range of clients in diverse sectors.
For a firm that he was literally synonymous with for decades, stepping down from leadership is not something NJ takes lightly, yet he believes that the best days of Centurion are still to come. In the immensely qualified, and supremely competent new leadership team led by CEO Zion Adeoye, NJ Ayuk says Centurion is in safe hands and will continue to exceed expectations.
Why the decision to step down from Centurion at this point?
NJ Ayuk: I think I have so much energy to give; I have so much legal work to do. I enjoy the work tremendously with the clients; do not forget our client base and the energy industry that we represent with Centurion have made me who I am today. But, I also thought about myself being an African, myself looking at leadership across what we have built. I did not want to be like one of those African leaders in businesses that have to stay into their 60s and 70s and then they find a family member to come in. I thought it was the right moment. When you look across Centurion, we have been able to train and develop a lot of young lawyers who have also understood the basis of law. We have been able to put the right kind of system, processes, and tradition in place.
It is only important that you pass the ball to the next generation and look at young people who are coming up within the firm and say pick it up, roll the dice and get to work. I am going to continue being involved in one way or another, but it is high time to be a coach. At this moment, I need to coach the other young guys; I need to help them grow. I have led and I have been led but I think this time is a really important time for them to lead me. It is the only important time for me to explain to them day-in-day-out what were my failures, where I succeeded the most and where I also see the firm going.
This younger generation has a lot of ideas, a lot of innovative ideas that can turn the legal industry upside down. It is important to create that space for them to work and sometimes what you have done is great, but you also have to let others do it. So, I thought it was important for me to take a step back and let others lead, let us grow the firm because together we can get it stronger.
Also, the work that I do at the Energy Chamber is very demanding. We have grown the Energy chamber to 4 million members today. I must dedicate more of my time to this work of life because where we see Africa going today with the energy transition, we want a just transition in which we want to see Africans respected, that we want to see Africa industrialize and we want to see our continent be a continent people are proud of. If I can be one of those people who can contribute in my little way, I think this is a really important time to do that. It is going to hurt me financially because I am not going to get the big payouts from Centurion anymore, but I think that there comes a time in life when you have to dedicate yourself to something bigger than your interests. And this is one of those moments for me.
May we get a background into Centurion, what was the vision you had in starting the firm and how has this evolved over the years?
NJ Ayuk: The vision in Centurion was simple. We wanted to be the premier legal service provider in Africa. We saw what people have done in America. We saw what people have done in Europe. We saw what they’ve even done in the Middle East. And we said, in Africa, we can’t just have mom and pop shops, because what you see outside South Africa and Nigeria, what you see across Africa is lawyers with their really big egos, trying to have a small law firm, a small shingle with 2 or 3 of them, and sometimes they started fighting. We said we could build something big in Africa, African owned, Pan-African pro-business, Pro-energy and pro young and pro-growth and pro-development. But it has to be a group, it has to be a team. But we will never, ever be possible. We will never, ever be able to give our true meaning to the market. Think about the old story of the centurion, the Roman Centurion soldiers. This was always a band of 80 soldiers fighting at 100%. So that name Centurion is very important for us. We felt we could build something big in Africa, serve the energy industry, really serve Africa, but also demonstrate Black or African excellence at its best. And that was the vision around Centurion. That vision stayed. That vision kept us going to train, develop Africans and build them today. I’m so proud of that because that vision did not only transpire with a lot of young lawyers staying in Centurion, but it did transpire in us going and taking these young lawyers whom we train, develop and work with us, them becoming general counsels today with, with um, with various multinational organizations, multinational corporations, and big African institutions. There are some countries where you wouldn’t go to and not see a lawyer or a judge or a prosecutor, corporate counsel that hasn’t gone through a centurion training. That is so important because we are living through the true meaning of what we want to develop Africa by building brick by brick at its best.
In what shape is Centurion today as you leave and how do you situate the importance of the firm in the continent today?
NJ Ayuk: I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish. We took an African company, and within a short time, we made it grow so big with 160 lawyers across the continent, and 14 offices now we even moved into Europe, having offices in European cities and being the first African firm to be listed in the German stock exchange. That is something amazing, and because it has been listed it belongs to the people, it belongs to every African. That is how Africa embraced us, embraced our firm and the work we do. The state of Centurion is stronger now than ever, we are more enthusiastic about the work going forward.
We are driven because right now, every young man, lawyer, tax adviser or business adviser coming to this organization knows that there is no ceiling. You can start from the bottom and become the boss tomorrow. That gives a bigger drive to say if you work hard, you play by the rules, there is nothing that you cannot accomplish within Africa.
What message do you have for those who may be sceptical about the future of Centurion with your departure?
NJ Ayuk: They have been skeptical about us all the time, but we kept just exceeding expectations and beating them all the time. Centurion is going to go from strength to strength; it is only going to get better, because the leadership that is coming is even better, stronger, and more conscious about Africa than I have ever seen. I am not worrying about the skeptics because when we came into this market most people did not want to give us work because of the colour of our skin. After all, that was another African law firm, and they are going to mess it up.
Most Africans did not want to give us work because they preferred to give it to a guy coming from Europe or America. We have always lived with this type of skepticism, and when we started doing well, even my brothers from Cameroon, some of them lawyers, were my biggest critics. Even when we were doing well, Africans were always our biggest critics, but we kept going on and we know despite the insurmountable odds that have been placed against us, we stayed the course.
I do not expect us not to have skeptics; I know some are saying that Mr Ayuk is not there, and this firm is not going to exist. We are going to surprise them; there is big news that is coming next month and next month we are going to expand. Centurion is going to have new offices, it is going to take on big cases; a lot of African countries, and multinational corporations are reaching out to Centurion to serve them across the continent.
We welcome the skeptics but know what I like about this generation of Centurion lawyers, they are history writers; they are changing the rules of the game. It is better to be like what Mother Theresa says a pencil in the hand of God writing your history than being the critic that nobody will ever remember them in history. We welcome our critics, but we are going to write our history and we are going to write the next chapter.
On the choice of Zion Adeoye to lead the firm, what are some of the attributes or reassuring traits that made him the ideal choice to replace you?
NJ Ayuk: The guy is solid. He’s one of the best you have in the continent. He’s one of the best. He is just good. You know, most people, most people have been critical. Like he didn’t bring this person or that person. This is Ivy League trained Columbia Law School in America, Nigerian trained, went to one of the best Nigerian law schools, University of Ibadan did oil and gas in Dundee. He’s been with the firm. He understands the firm through and through, but as a lawyer he’s one of the best tax, oil and gas and corporate lawyers Africa has, bar none. He is just the best at what he does. He’s solid, very good, temperament compassionate, cares a lot about the little guy coming into the firm and growing up, and client oriented. So, I’ve never worked with somebody who is so dedicated to the client. Even when this guy is sick, he shows up at the office on Saturday, he’s there on Sunday. He’s busy trying to plan the agendas of the client, but he’s calling around different offices, trying to empower them and build capacity, bringing everybody together.
He’s a team leader and gives everybody space to thrive. The ego is not there. He is just a driver. So, I think Zion has personal qualities, leadership qualities, but also the education and professional qualities are there. Most people that have written him off do that at their own peril. He’s tough as a rock and I think that the firm is in good hands. But don’t forget, it’s not just about Zion. There is Oneyka Ojogbo , who is also a solid lawyer in her own right. Columbia University trained and he went to law school in Nigeria as well, taken some of the toughest cases and won. She is also there on the side. The country offices, some tough team. So, I’m very I’m very confident that we have the right man and the right woman, and we have the right team that is going to carry forward. I could not have been the kind of leader or CEO that I am with Centurion without them right now. They just coming out of the shadows, and they are going to shock everybody.
What are some of the major challenges that you faced in building Centurion into the continental giant it is today?
NJ Ayuk: Skeptics, skeptics. You always face skeptics. I am not afraid to say that being African it was always a big skeptic with people looking and thinking that you cannot make it or do it. We also have to look at the legal environment across Africa; there is a severe lack of legal infrastructure, and skill set is a problem. I had to bring lawyers from the United States, and Europe to work with me and build Centurion. To be able to draw African talents to different countries was sometimes very difficult because we are sometimes quick to not give visas to Africans to go represent clients in other jurisdictions, but it is easier for Europeans to have.
We also have to address some of the difficult issues; some of the corruption within the judiciary has been a problem to drive up things and move things. We face a payment crisis on the continent; it was always difficult to get clients that paid, and we continued to rely on our big base which has been foreign multinational corporations that have trusted us and African Independent Corporations that continue to work with us.
When you deliver and you get the job done, people might not like you, but you are winning. So, our clients got tired of winning; we won in difficult decisions, some of the toughest cases across the continent. You might not like me, but you will like my results. For me, it has always been about results, because if it was about likeness, I don’t look like Leonardo Di Caprio, Messi or Beckham but I will beat them on a difficult case and I think our results have made a difference for us. That culture of winning, that culture of getting results is what has helped us overcome difficult times throughout my leadership as the CEO of the firm.
NJ Ayuk is never short of ideas, what next for you after the Centurion chapter?
NJ Ayuk: I want to put a black satellite up there; maybe we will have to put a black satellite on the moon. Centurion is going to have a big future. I have seen the plans that the new CEO and his team are putting together, and I am amazed. You go to bed feeling good because you see what they have, you see where they are driving you, you say you know what, I built it, I climbed up that mountain but I didn’t just climb but I passed a rope to a young climber and I told him to keep climbing and I am going to watch him climb even better than me because I have other mountains to climb.
The fight and struggle for a just energy transition, investment in our oil and gas in Africa, creating financial vehicles for Africans to benefit from their resources, building up local content, ensuring that women are not the last hired and first fired in the energy industry and empowering Africans to be true owners, not because they are Africans or resource nationalists but being able to use African ingenuity.
We are going to see Africans acquire assets from international companies. We are going to see Africans build Africa stronger and better by doing gas-to-power projects, doing petrochemicals, small-scale LNG, and working with international partners whether from Europe, Asia, Russia, or America to bring finance to this continent. That is what is going to be the struggle of the next phase. I don’t feel tired and anybody that feels like I am going to be tired; as long as the good Lord continues to give me strength, we are going to continue doing. I am very thankful that a lot of Africans see this at this time.
At this moment, we have the sole obligation to this continent. It is not going to be getting some radical populist stuff. I don’t do radicalism or populism. For me, it is about free markets, limited government, and low taxes because when we cut taxes in Africa, we improve small businesses to be able to invest and hire more people.
I am dedicating my time to the Chamber, and we are going to continue pushing for an enabling environment and making sure that businesses have a stronger voice to grow in Africa. When the business community is stronger, when investors are feeling comfortable, they hire more people, more money goes around Africa, and we push intra-Africa trade. Get ready for a big push on intra-Africa Energy trade. It is important right now.
*Culled from February Issue of PAV Magazine
