Olalekan Ilori : I Believe in Giving and Helping the Society

People

The Chief Executive Officer of Throne Investment Homes, Olalekan Ilori was recently in Nigeria to inaugurate the “Estate Gate” located on Idu Train Station Road in Abuja. The event was graced by notable faces in the entertainment industry who are also brand ambassadors to the company. The likes of Richard Mofe Damijo, Sharon Ooja, Osas Ighodaro, Ayoola Ayolola, Nas Boi and Brain Jotter. The high point of the event was the issuance of land documents the brand ambassadors. In this interview with Azuka Ogujiuba, Ilori, a businessman with admiration for the entertainment industry talks about his Throne group of companies and life journey

What is Throne group of companies all about?

We are involved in automobile, logistics, properties and agriculture. We have offices in Abuja and Lagos. In Abuja, we have more than a thousand houses built in different locations. Some of the locations are Idu, Apo and Lugbe. We are working in Gikwe as well. Right now, I make sure I see to the daily activities in all the offices, sometimes I have to work in two different time zone, it is a lot of work we are putting in.

You recently endorsed some influencers for your brand. What is this all about?

Yes, Idu Estate Gate House was inaugurated and we also did ground breaking in Lugbe Estate and we had a lot of celebrities as ambassadors such as Osas, Sharon Ooja, Ayoola, Last boy and we have our guest as Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD). It was a great event during which we told people what we intend to do and how we want to do it. Starting from making house affordable for people who think they can’t afford it and telling them how they can make the payment in installment. No matter what they think their income is, they can have a house or a land in our estate. We break it down to the level where anyone who is really interested in having property in our estate can afford it. The payment starts from N200,000. With that amount, they can make payment for any of our properties. There is also a raffle draw to win a car for outright payment owner.

Is there a special reason why you use influencers to promote your real estate business?

Yes, they are our ambassadors and we engaged them for our brands to be known because they have a lot of followers and you can only participate in what you know about, if you don’t know about us, how will you know what we can offer? So, we use them as a mouth piece to reach out to people so that they can understand what Throne always have for them in terms of making it easy for them to buy a land and build a house gradually. It is achievable for anyone who is really interested. Moreso, we have a track record of giving, we support our ambassadors by giving to them, we get to understand that they don’t have much to show for what they have worked for. We give them the opportunity to have a house- all the ambassadors we signed. We gave them a plot of land in our estate to secure their future. We also gave Tajudeen Oyewole popularly known as Abija and Ogidan a car on their birthday just to support them.

Are you one of those kid who grew up being passionate about the entertainment industry or you were just doing it for commercial reasons?

Let me say both because even this Throne we are talking about today was originated or established for record label which is an entertainment industry. I have had that in me for a life time, which is to be part of the entertainment industry. Apart from ambassadors and celebrities, I believe in giving and helping the society. In 2018, we launched a foundation in my state which we donated N5 million for commencement. We want to create a maternity home to help mother and children during child birth, we will carter for them by giving them food and clothing during that period of time they will be at the maternity.

Your area of specialization is vast, what are your plans on farming and agriculture?

We used to have poultry and maize farms but we discovered that due to the insecurity in the country, the farm was not safe, sometimes you get to your farm and find it under attack. We had to cool down a little bit on that because we don’t want to get ourselves involved in the attacks.

Before venturing into real estate business, what have you been doing?

I have been in business all my life. When I was in secondary school, I had some friends who go to the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University to check the weight of student in the hostel on a scale for N1 per person. After the day’s business, they deliver the money to the owner of the scale. I told them ‘what about me getting you all scales and you deliver the money to me too’? I followed them one day to different hostels and I made up to N100. We buy a fairly used scale then at the range of N30 and above, the only scary thing then was that no matter how much you make, you cannot come home to tell your parent you made more money. I went to the back yard to dig a hole and kept my money there. After that, I moved to buying cassettes which they call video clubbing and I also did cattle business. I have some Aboki who goes to the north to buy and inspect the cow. Unfortunately for me, one day they told me they robbed them on the way and all the money was gone. I also invested in the saw mill business which is the reason I know different names of wood. I bought big timber and take it to saw mill where they are fixed for different purposes. I also market cars for people and they give me commission, from there I moved to Abuja, I travelled to China to bring some goods and equipment into Nigeria, all these oven that you see around now, I was one of the first person to bring them into this country. After that, I moved to America to venture into logistics where we ship a lot of car in and goods as well.

I discovered that property is something if one knows well, can’t get wrong with it, no matter how much you invest in it. Even though you did not sell it immediately, you can only make more money than losing everything. I look at the logistics and import business, government policy and different problem all the time, so I look at what I can divert into and that why I ventured into agriculture and real estate. So far so good, real estate has been a wonderful business which is what people pay more attention to.

When you are not busy, how do you spend your leisure time?

I like to travel and hang out with friends, to discuss business and new ideas. I pick one or two idea from the conversation and mull it. I try to create something out of it.

What your greatest fear?

Being poor.

If you are to go on a luxury vacation, what are the five thing you will likely take along with you?

I will take my family first (My wife and three kids) and friend majorly.

Who influenced you most between your mum and dad?

I will say both of them, they are very hard-working, my mum does not pamper kids and takes no nonsense and my dad is encouraging and supportive in anything I want to venture into, if he has to borrow the money to support me, he will do it. I can remember when I just finished secondary school, I told him I wanted to start timber and saw mill business. He gave me the money and did not care if I was going to lose or gain in the business. I also remember when phone was new in Nigeria, they were selling Nokia 3310 for N16,000 and SIM card for N15,000; he gave me N32,000 to buy the phone and SIM card. The price of phone and SIM rose up to N100,000. As a business man, I said this price cannot continue to rise, so I sold both the phone and the SIM at N90,000. My mum was not happy with me but my dad said she should leave me alone. After four to six month, the price of phone came down to N4,000 and SIM card was free. My dad said he liked what I did and he doesn’t care whatever I do with the money.