Ascending Odu’a Company Beckoning Southwest Development Commission

Tunde Akanni PhD

From the presidency in Abuja came the news of the appointment of a nine-person board for the newly enacted Northwest Development Commission Saturday September 28, 2024. Same day, friends and associates of the immediate past Chair and Group Managing Director, GMD, of Odu’a Investment Company, Dr Segun Aina and Mr. Adewale Raji respectively, spared the entire evening to honour the great duo.  It was the very first time that any such event was organized by the management of the seventy one year old company. 

As far as the current Chairman of OICL, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, was concerned, adorning new appointees with congratulations rather smacks of illogicality. “We should always wait to see how well they have performed to determine whether they deserve it or not because only good work should earn congratulations, not sheer appointment” He added :“Our honourees tonight are the perfect candidates for honour and congratulations” .  Ashiru was emphatic that the OICL model was their own gift to public service rating in place of parameter-blank, fleeting and patronage seeking and rather unfounded praise singing often preceding formal assumption of duty. Ashiru was loudly applauded by the audience obviously populated heavily by fellow southwesterners.  It was like a precocious cautionary note to friends of those that may emerge as appointees to the board of the forthcoming Southwest Development Commission such as announced for the Northwest Development Commission that Saturday.

Interestingly, with the event of September 28, the retiring GMD was becoming a serial honouree for excellence. As recently as August 18, 2024, the University of Jos Alumni staged another fanfare for Raji and a few other high achievers among them.

Like Saturday Sept 28, 2024, like August 18, 2024. Regaled in snow white flowing agbada and pumping hands of friends and other folks who had come around to felicitate, Mrs Raji fittingly glowed with smiles and head nods acknowledging everyone who had come to honour the hubby. On hand and duly recognized by the organisers were the sitting chair of OICL, Otunba Ashiru as well the incumbent GMD, Mr. Yunusa leading the select management staff including the ebullient Victor Ayemotoro and vivacious Nike Ajobo, both of corporate affair department.

Such was the grandeur of the Unijos alumni event that the proud Lagos chapter of the Unijos Alumni flew into Lagos, the current vice-chancellor, Prof Tanko Ishaya. For the Unijos Alumni, there was no constricting the inspiring stories of the righteous Raji and others listed for honour on that day to Unijos alumni alone.  It was good enough for anyone interested in narratives of diligence, commitment to professionalism and respect for omoluabi ethos that their darling Adewale Raji symbolises. They therefore ensured the gracious presence of select friends and associates of the honourees peaking at the loudly celebrated adoption of Otunba Ashiru as a ‘honorary’ alumnus of Unijos.

Raji as the star honouree was celebrated for his sterling leadership and rather uncommon spirit of integrity with which he successfully coursed through the ranks at PZ Cussons to emerge as a managing director. The association beamed with steaming pride that one of their own had captained the business legacy of the entire southwestern region with a most inspiring mien.  As Raji’s citation was being rendered while made to stand tall for all to appreciate, the venue reverberated with thunderous claps which punctuated the highlighted distinctions for which Raji should be eternally appreciated.  At PZ Cussons for instance, Raji ingeniously pioneered the creation of Distribution Service SBU.  This was in addition to nurturing and managing an innovative supply chain blueprint for the delivery of a consonant nationwide operation of logistics and first class distribution networks.  This enterprise alone was estimated at N120 billion (domestic sales) and N3 billion (export sales) as of 2014.

A Fellow of the Association of Corporate Governance Professionals of Nigeria (FCGP),   the Institute of Logistics Management of Nigeria as well as the Institute of Entrepreneurs, it was not for nothing that Raji got appointed to the prestigious Board of the University of Ibadan School of Business.  Raji, as a most distinguished alumnus, is a BOT member of the national body of the University of Jos Alumni Association.

This distinguished Unijos alumnus’ transcendental destiny of distinction echoed on.  Then came  the evening of September 28 for his southwest kinsmen to further appreciate their own even as what Nijel Lardner, one of his friends, calls his cool mien of a teacher, helps to sustain Raji’s humility and stability, never to be carried away by his serial successes.

Raji hit the ground running on assumption of office as GMD of Odua. As he activated the cleansing of inherited rots, he did not lose sight of the ultimate marketability of the entity for further expansion for enhanced earnings.

Promptly, the former multinational chieftain just berthing at OICL triggered the application of the mathematical inflection point theory to energise for digitech compliance, the company’s  public image management.  This was decisively done to properly showcase the envisioned accruals to his relentless commitment.  For Raji, the journey to to bring glory to the commercial bond uniting all the states of the southwest of Nigeria had commenced and would be driven with all passion possible. He was as meticulous as he was futuristic resisting any stampede, rather sticking to being self-styled.

Notwithstanding the lean human and material resources available, the compassionate GMD revved up the OICL machine  to such an enviable level that it’s statistics commanded sufficient attention from the Lagos State Government. A major accomplishment of the Raji regime that will remain an enduring pillar of OICL was the creation of about Nigeria’s biggest property company from the pre-exisiting WEMABOD. This he did by facilitating the consummation of the multi-billion Naira joint venture development of the luxurious Address Home by WEMABOD Estate at Ikoyi Crescent as well as the construction and commissioning of Westlink-Iconic Villa in Ibadan.  In 2018 therefore, LASG formalized its interest and became a shareholder like the rest of Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo. Thus emerged at least a commercially strengthened southwest which today constitutes the fourth largest economy in Africa. Southwest, with its security also substantially boosted by Amotekun, today remains the region to beat in Nigeria!

To reinforce Raji’s performance and strengthen the conglomerate further, the owner states sought to deepen corporate governance initiated by Raji and persuaded a most versatile player in the corporate circles with multidimensional experience of decades in the person of Dr Segun Aina.  Dr Aina has had “three decades of distinguished banking career…was president and chairman of Council of Chartered Institute of Bankers, CIBN,…West African Bankers Association…Chairman of Global Council of Banking Education Standards Board, GBESB…” to mention only a few.

To avoid the likes of a ludicrous situation of some lethargic board members wishing away parts of the legendary conglomerate for paltry compensation, Dr Aina spearheaded a merit driven recruitment to the board routing barely literate political jobbers.  No sooner had this commenced than the results began to manifest.  Subsidiaries that had gone comatose roared back to life even as no fewer than three new ones were created namely, South West Agricultural Company, SWAgCo; South West Innovation and Tech Company, SWIT  as well as BITA Exploration Limited which has since secured the BITA marginal oilfield.

Today, from the daunting indebtedness that Raji inherited in 2014 has since emerged a conglomerate that has managed to muster the payment of dividends of over N300 billion naira to   the owner states. The current board chair, Bimbo Ashiru, has promised to take this even further

Obviously in full endorsement of the duo of Aina and Raji who have come a long way to renew the enviable position of the southwest among all the regions, the Oranmiyan Hall venue of the unprecedented shindig was filled to capacity with top players across all sectors including top government officials and others like the foremost LASU benefactor, Alhaji Makanjuola of Caverton Helicopters. Of particularly special significance perhaps was Aremo Segun Osoba who defied all his odds to make it to the event and expressed his utmost excitement at the upswing of Odu’a to the delight of all including the aged but delectably attired mother of the retiring GMD, Adewale Raji. 

Living up to the nomenclatural epithet of the home state of its headquarters, Oyo, therefore,  Odu’a Investment Company has come to present a most reassuring readiness for shrewd management of the imminent Southwest Development Commission coming after those of other regions of Nigeria. Ajisebi Oyo laari…

Tunde Akanni is an associate professor of journalism at the Lagos State University. Follow him on X via @AkintundeAkanni