Hosa Okunbo! How He Conquered the Land, Sea and Air at 59

It is often said that if you can actually count your money, you are not really a rich man. Captain Idahosa Okunbor can’t actually count his money. And very soon, he will lose track of his achievements too. He is indeed a very rich man. Captain Idahosa Okunbor cuts an inspiring portrait of class and peerless entrepreneurship. For instance, in a move considered to be in alignment with the federal government’s bid to diversify the nation’s economy, he recently packaged a N150 billion ($750 million) agro-enterprise, named Wells Sam Carlos Farm, a 9,000-hectare concern, in Edo, his home state.

The farm will provide 25,000 direct jobs and 60,000 indirect jobs to the youth. This is besides a 20-hectare greenhouse, (by the Benin by-pass) also in Edo, which is calibrated to produce 600 tonnes of vegetables monthly. Between the agro-enterprises and the companies he owns, Captain Hosa, as he is fondly called, is responsible directly for the employment of no less than 30,000 Nigerians. If his interests in other companies are factored-in, his businesses have created no less than 100,000 jobs in the last 30 years.
“This is what I call my vision, what I call my legacy, something that has been in my dreams for some time. I have been nurturing it, working on it for over five years now. We have just started. This is very important to me because at my very young age, as a pilot, I conquered my profession at the age of 30 and I left. I went into business and by the grace of God, I have done well. With over 60 vessels in the seas, I think I have conquered the sea. And coming to land, I said that before the land takes me, I want to conquer the land. I have started already with a 20-hectare green house at the bypass,” said Idahosa.

He celebrated his birthday last week, as usual quietly. A man of humble beginnings, Idahosa was born in Benin to the family of late reverend Robert Amos Okunbo, a clergyman and teacher. He attended Government Primary School in Benin city, after which he proceeded to Federal Government College, Warri. As a youngster he had always wanted to be a pilot thus he followed up this desire when he went to study at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Training Centre, in Zaria. Subsequently, he became a professional and commercial pilot at the age of 21 after graduation. He later attended Acme School of Aeronautics, Fort Worth, Texas, in 1983, where he obtained his airline transport pilot license. He is married to a beautiful woman, Nosa Okunbo.

REVEALED! LAGOS CHIEFTAINCY UNEARTH OANDO BOSS, WALE TINUBU’S EDO ROOTS
In time, old beef simmer like spent tiff. And the raucous of feuding fiends peter to an inaudible clatter. Such is the situation among dissenting chieftains of Lagos. The latter that previously kicked against the investiture of Alhaja Bintu Tinubu as the Iyalode of Lagos by paramount monarch, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, have learnt to swallow their dissent and accept the leadership of the mother of Oando boss, Wale Tinubu. The event which took place at the Iga Iduganran, the palace of Oba Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, drew the ire of several chieftains and families across Lagos, particularly folks who felt she had no right to the title and honour.

Findings revealed that most Lagos indigenes were indignant at the choice of the new Iyalode of Lagos because the title was an exclusive preserve of true Lagos indigenes, and one that should be conferred on women who have impacted positively on the state. Alhaja Bintu, the new Iyalode is however, a native of Benin city, Edo state, but she was married to Wale Tinubu’s father, Kafaru, for over 45 years before his death in 2003. But they have since accepted Alhaja Bintu’s leadership as the new Iyalode of Lagos. Pundits aver that she won them over by her humility, compassion and constant readiness to always help the needy.

EXPENSIVE LOVE! PERO ADENIYI DONATES KIDNEY TO SAVE MOTHER’S LIFE
•HOW TUFACE IDIBIA’S BABY MAMA SHOWED PRICELESS LOVE TO MOM
She wears in her heart, the inextinguishable fires of love. Indeed, no degree of affection beats a daughter’s undying love for her dying mother. Ask the vessel of life that brought Tuface Idibia’s baby mama, Pero Adeniyi, into this world. The latter’s mother recently enjoyed a second shot at life by her immeasurable sacrifice and steadfastness to keep her alive.
Pero recently saved her mother’s life by donating one of her kidneys to her. Pero’s mother, Princess Biola Adeniyi, had been suffering from kidney failure for more than a year before her body’s immune system began to attack her kidneys. Faced with the possibility of losing her mom, Pero who had three kids for Tuface, went to Maryland to remove one of her kidneys to save her mother. It was learnt that Pero’s siblings also offered to donate their kidneys for their mother but it was Pero’s organ that matched the requirement.

It is noteworthy that Pero’s mother also battled breast cancer about nine years ago but she miraculously got healed and was cleared of the cancer. Predictably, Pero’s bold move to save her mother has been eliciting showers of adulation from family , friends and well wishers. Pero’s mother was indeed, shocked and overwhelmed at the depth of her daughter’s love for her.