My journey into entertainment -Lagos Jump-Off founder, Mbonu

Obumneme Chinenye Mbonu is the CEO of CNM Entertainment, which organises Lagos Jump Off, an annual shindig that brings fans and celebrities in December under one roof. The 2025 event took place in Awka, the capital of Anambra State and the next edition will be hosted by Enugu. Obumneme, a versatile business entrepreneur talks about his life in this exclusive interview with ORJI ONYEKWERE.

Can you give us highlights of the event, Lagos Jump Off, which held in Awka on 28th of December. Did it meet your expectations?

It was a good event. We had all the celebrities. We had major celebrities like Jeriq, Charles Okocha, Harry B, Zubby Michael, Rachel Okonkwo aka Nkoli Nwa Nsukka, Zanzino, a whole lot of them. I don’t think Awka has seen a cluster of celebrities in one space. That CNM entertainment managed to pull under one roof this number of stars. It was an incredible experience.

So as far as challenges, every business faces small setback, you need to be more positive. The turn out we are looking for wasn’t that great, but at least we made an impact.

Are you planning on taking the event round the country on yearly basis?

Next one, we will want to do it in Enugu, that’s our next plan for Enugu.

Let’s look at your journey into entertainment. Tell us about the passion that brought you into entertainment business.

I’ve always been extrovert. I like a good gathering, and I’ve seen the possibilities and the opportunities that entertainment can create in terms of fostering businesses. For instance, these celebrities that we use, that we engage, if a real estate company or an individual wants them privately, they’ll charge them an arm and a leg. But seeing that CNM Entertainment has brought them under one umbrella, different companies can leverage that opportunity and bring traction and exposure.  It’s through entertainment that most of these businesses can be exposed and traction can be gained. So entertainment, to me, is an inevitable bedrock that gives birth to other bigger stronger businesses that elevate and expose.

So that’s my journey to entertainment. I’ve always looked at it as a conduit or a platform that can give birth to other branches of businesses. It brings together different platforms: banking, real estate and agriculture etc. So, I think entertainment for me is a base.

Do you have plans of investing in any genre of entertainment like running your own music label or going into movie production?

As the spirit leads, it’s all part of the entertainment. So, if the opportunity presents itself, and I weigh the opportunity carefully, if it’s something my spirit accepts, why not? If I see potential in what I’m doing, we’ll put our full energy into it.

But have you received proposals?

We have received individual offers, though some of them are a bit mediocre. But, you know, we ask a few questions. But I believe as we progress as a company, the right fit will emerge at the right time,

Do you think we are doing well in the aspect of packaging and projecting our entertainers well in the international circle?

You have to look at the management company in question and the personality of the MD or the CEO or the managing body of the companies. Some companies, I have to give it to them, like Marvin Records owned by Don Jazzy. Their artistes are global. They push their artistes beyond the borders of Nigeria, right?

That’s because they have a CEO, that’s Don Jazzy, who is exposed, who understands that Africa, and African talents, especially Nigerian talents, have global appeal.

So, he invests in pushing his artistes or making music that is appealing to the global audience.

Therefore, you can have a homegrown artiste and still push him to Toronto – Canada or the UK, and you have a global appeal.

So, it all depends on the managing body in question and how versatile and proactive they are.

You are involved in security, logistics and other businesses abroad, are you thinking of coming back to Nigeria to invest?

Home is where the heart is. You know, at the end of the day, we’ve gone overseas and we’ve gathered the experience and the exposure, but we are Nigerians, and we need to invest back home. You can see the global shift of attention towards Nigeria and Africa.

So, we have to, you know, prepare ourselves and be in the frontline. Definitely, investment in home is welcome, and it’s something that we are looking forward to. To answer your questions, yes, I support, or I’m in support of bringing back investments back home.

Your father, Professor Okechukwu Obiora Mbaonu, is a well-known Professor of Surgery, an international figure. How has his legacy opened the door for you?  Secondly, one would have thought that one of you would have taken after your father by going into medicine?

My late father Emeritus Professor Mbaonu was a great man, a great surgeon. He dedicated his life to medicine and mentored and tutored doctors and surgeons. He was an amazing person who focused on the welfare of people around him, and he put Africa and Nigeria on the map when it comes to medicine.

In terms of the influence of my father regarding any of us going to medicine, my father always had a free mind in the sense that he wasn’t one of those fathers that say you must do medicine. He let you follow your heart. He let you do what you know, what you really wanted to do. There are only three us. I have an elder sister who lives in Canada. She’s a great author, renowned children’s book author, Ngozi Elizabeth Mbaonu and of course, my late brother, late Obiora Ikechukwu Mbaonu, he was an accountant, and then myself, who is into business and entertainment.

So, we all thrive in our different fields. I think as a parent, you shouldn’t force or try to project to your children what you want them to be, right? That was the position of my father, but he had a major impact medically as a refined and renowned surgeon. He sat on many boards, on the presidential board, on different foundations. In fact, Bishop Mike Okonkwo Foundation, he sat on a presidential medical team, accrediting team, among others.  So, he was very accomplished, legacy wise. I’m proud to call him my father.

Coincidentally, on the day of this event, I mean the Jump Off, I also officially launched the Emeritus Professor Okechukwu Obiora Mbaonu Foundation. So, we’re going to be having our first medical outreach in April, in Awka, Anambra state, where we’ll focus on free diabetic care, high blood pressure care, eye care, liver, kidney care, check and urinalysis, basic welfare to widows and the less-privileged. So, this is going to be our pioneer kick-off in April.

So we are just getting our documents in a row with regards to our CAC documentation for the foundation. We have His Royal Majesty Igwe JP Anogo as our grand patron and we have other medical giants. On the day of the launch, we had the Vice Chancellor of UniZIk, represented by my father’s protege, Professor Emechelu. The Chief Medical Director Nnamdi Azikiwe University was represented by his Chief of Staff, Jackson Njoku and we had the CMD of Amaku General Hospital, also present at the launch including my father’s colleagues and close friends.

EPOOM Foundation launch was a very big success. So, these are all legacy clothing frames for my father that we have set up to make sure his name remains relevant.

Let’s look at what entertainment stands for in helping to project our cultural values.

As an Igbo person and someone that grew up around my grandfather, around my father, my uncles as well, culturally, I was involved growing up with the Awka tradition.

I remember when the red cap title was conferred on me by my late grandfather and that was Ajaijah, red cap title conferred on me by my grandfather, I was in school, and an urgent call came. A driver came to pick us to the field where there were about 500 men with their stools, Oche Ajaijah with the encrypted chieftaincy fan

What does that mean in Awka land? I mean Oche Ajaijah?

It’s the seat of the Chief. In Awka land, when they confer on you the first title as a red cap chief, they give you a small stool, the stool, the red cap and the encrypted special crafted hand fan with your title in it. We sat down, I and my late brother and some of my uncles were crowned with our titles. From a very young age, I have always worn the red cap and I am a titled man in Awka with the title “Ochi na- nwata.

The next title will be Ozo if I decide to. So culturally as Igbo, it’s important to understand and see the relevance and understand our roles

Let’s look at your childhood memory that you cannot forget? 

As a child there were different experiences I can never forget. My grandfather married three wives, so anytime we came back for Christmas; we all sat and he would tell us stories and our grandmother would cook for us. That whole experience of community and communal life anytime we came back for Christmas, that sharing gave us a sense of belonging and a sense of oneness.