Okwudili Ijezie felicitates with Cutix Plc on 40th anniversary •Commends it for weathering the storm of times
At the dinner party to flag-off activities marking the 40th anniversary of CUTIX plc on Thirsday, November 3, 2022 at Pearl Golden Chinese Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos, Chief Blakey Okwudili Ijezie (Ite-Ozubulu) thanked the Founder, Board of Directors, Management and Staff of the company for its longevity.
He went memory lane to reveal that two Non Executive Directors the company, Chief Ike Okonkwo and Engr. Matthias Umego, were his classmates at Christ The King (CKC) College, Onitsha, in 1976 during their higher school days. And both of them were instrumental to bestowing him with the name BLAKEY, to acknowledge his Additional Mathematics prowess. He said the name has stuck with him since 1976 to date. BLAKEY, according to him, is or was a great mathematician and author.
Blakey Ijezie also recalled with admiration how his contractor, when he built his country-home house in Ozubulu Anambra State in 2008, insisted on using CUTIX plc cables, despite his (Blakey’s) preference for imported cables.
According to him, the contractor, a Canadian trained engineer, stated that CUTIX plc electrical wires and cables were much better than the imported ones. And he said that he is ever grateful to the contractor for his professional opinion.
Blakey rounded his encomiums by applauding the great vision of the founder of CUTIX Plc, Dr. Ajulu Uzodike, who set up this indigenous firm to manufacture electrical cables in 1982. And the Co-Founder, Ambassador Okwudili Nwosu, who is now the Non Executive Chairman of the Company.
CUTIX Plc flagged off the celebration of her 40th Anniversary yesterday, with the theme ’40 YEARS OF STRIVING FOR A COMMONWEALTH.’ The anniversary will be celebrated over a two-year period with series of activities that started yesterday, Thursday, November 3, 2022 till 2024 when the Grand Finale will take place.
The theme was chosen in view of the fact that: “An investment in CUTIX grows with the Investor. To buttress this fact, a N10,000 (ten thousand naira) investment in CUTIX in 1983 is worth N89,108,928 (eighty nine million, one hundred and eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty eight naira) as at 31st Oct, 2022. This is exclusive of increasing dividends declared every year from 1989 to date. Annual Profit After Tax has increased consistently over the years.”
CUTIX Plc was incorporated on November 4, 1982 and commenced commercial production in May 1984. It was set up with a charter at inception to:
(a). Be a very profitable, fast growth, high quality, ethical, social responsive, international (with Nigeria as hone vase) manufacturer of electrical wires and cables;
(b). Move rapidly to exploit emerging technologies and capabilities in product improvements and diversification;
(c). Use mainly Nigerian manpower and as much Nigerian value added in materials and technology;
(d). Use chiefly internally generated funds to grow;
(e). Provide returns fairly to all stakeholders — Founder, Co-founders, Owners, Directors, Management, Staff and third parties like Suppliers, Distributors, Government and Public.
The startup capital of the Company after placement by 18 shareholders in mid-1983 was N400,000 (four hundred thousand naira). The Company later went to the capital market, through the Second Tier Securities Market, to raise funds in 1986. The total share capital raised by CUTIX plc since inception to April 30, 2022 from both the private and public bonuses stands at N1.761 billion (one billion, seven hundred and sixty one million naira). The market value of the Company was N8.595 billion (eight billion, five hundred and ninety five million naira) as at April 30, 2022.
Due to the sustained efforts of the Company towards achieving excellence, her Cables are rated as one of the best in the Nigerian market. Some notable awards and certifications received by the Company include:
• International Standards of Excellence award for the best world class cable manufacturing company of the decade by World Quality Alliance in October 2022.
• The only Cable Manufacturer recognized by the Institute of Oil & Gas and Hydrocarbon Studies (IOGRHS) on excellence in cross-linked polyethylene, low voltage power, armoured & non-armoured cable manufacturing, marketing and distribution during a Product Forum in Abuja on 2021.
• The Nigerian Content Equipment Certification by the Nigerian Content Development& Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for Oil & Gas Industry since 2019.
• Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) award for all sizes of armoured cable in 2019.
• Consistently retained NIS certification awards by SON on product quality for all products up to gold categories and have never failed since 1993.
• Seven times President Merit Award winner by the Nigerian Exchange Limited before it stopped.
• The National Automobile Council (NAC) Award for quality in 1999.
• SON award on conformity to requirements of NIS ISO 9001:2000, 9001:2008, and 9001:2015 on Quality Management Systems.
Cutix Plc believes in local value addition and only look outside the Company when there is no other option. Cutix has 100% Nigerian workforce and engineers from inception and has achieved laudable quality standards. The Company uses her technical team for design of tools, installation of imported machines, trainings and assembled some of her manufacturing equipment lines to complement the earlier imported version to increase the local technology content.
