Godwin Robinson is an alumnus of the prestigious University of Lagos . A multi skilled entrepreneur and project manager with vast experience in water engineering and agribusiness. Godwin is a prolific writer and a public analyst with a deep passion for a 360-degree parenting, enduring relationships, household management, and family dynamics.
Economy

I Went for Pasta. I Left With a Masterclass on Succession./Apostle Godwin Robinson

February 9, 2026
Sycamore Times

I Went for Pasta. I Left With a Masterclass on Succession.

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It was time for dinner, and my friend had already promised to take me to an Italian restaurant that had been around for over 100 years, one known for pasta prepared with a deeply traditional Roman touch.

I enjoyed the meal, but not without questions.

How does a business survive for over a century and still feel authentic?
How does family ownership endure without being diluted by ego, entitlement, or internal politics?

As someone from one of the enterprising ethnic nationalities in southeastern Nigeria, these questions were personal.

While touring the restaurant, I noticed a wall filled with currencies from customers across the world, stories frozen in paper.
Then I saw the Naira.
It stood out.
Different denominations, quietly saying: “A Nigerian has been here.”

But the most fascinating thing was not the food, the décor, or the global footprint.

It was their succession architecture.

For over 100 years, leadership had passed on—not by emotion, not by convenience, but by preparedness.

No circumstantial leadership.
No accidental CEOs.
No “because he is family” logic.

Each generation was trained early, tested thoroughly, and exposed broadly.
Leadership was not inherited—it was cultivated.

That was the moment it struck me:
Most family businesses don’t fail because of external pressure.
They fail because they refuse to confront succession honestly.

Where leadership is handed over to preserve peace rather than performance, complexity wins.
Where succession is shaped by feelings rather than fitness, decline is inevitable.

A legacy that survives centuries is never sentimental.
It is intentional.

And if a small restaurant can design a succession model that survives whims, caprice, and politics for over 100 years, then no family business has an excuse.

The future does not belong to founders who build.
It belongs to founders who prepare successors better than themselves.

-OdogwuGNR

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