PROPERTY CZAR & CAR COLLECTOR EXTRAORDINAIRE OLU OKEOWO MOVES POWERFULLY INTO LOTTERY TOO

Sir Olu Okeowo 

Baba Ijebu, the stinkingly wealthy Nigerian lottery Czar, that's talking about Sir/Chief Kensington Adebutu opened the way for all others to see and follow, as he showed to all and sundry, the kind of money and wealth that's available in the lottery or gaming business. Baba is reputed to be a billionaire many times over. Some have even rated his wealth to be in the range between $100m to $450m dollars and it could be more or far less. Fact though is, all his male kids (sons) are multi-millionaires in their own rights.

In a clime such as ours, where the harsh reality is such that, the division or better put, the divide or separation between the haves and have-nots, the poor and the rich, is a major gulf that's nearly impossible to bridge. We can then say categorically that the poor, the suffering ones, those living below and slightly above the poverty line, are as much as 90 plus percent.

So one of the ways some ingenious ones, have come up with the ideas to bridge such a gap, is by creating a platform for hope and one of such platforms is via lottery/betting. Those who play lottery or are regular players or better still die-hards, are of the sense that, luck would soon smile on them one day & if they continue to try and if lady luck does do smile on them, they can one day just jump the divide from not having at all or just barely surviving or managing to have, to being well sorted out for life with careful planning. So the more they play, the more they believe their chances of winning grows too, so they are permanently hoping. So from the pool of several players who can run into hundreds or thousands or even tens of thousands, who are already hooked on hope like being hooked on drugs, a little drop from such an ocean, is what is then paid back to a tiny percentage of the same pool that created the ocean. This is done to continually feed their hopes and keep them glued in the cycle. Some would even call it a vicious cycle.

In the last few years, those who have created the lottery/betting platforms have increased exponentially and dramatically too and they have become very big too by virtue of the fact that those who play too have increased dramatically. What feeds this pool is never decreasing. You cannot but make money from it, especially if the thing is well packaged and well manned, it's a virtual goldmine, that's the tree that is would perpetually sprout money.

We can tell you about a young married dude, in his early 50s, who owns one such platforms, in fact a quite popular one at that too, who is literally swimming in unbelievable money too. So filthy rich is this dude, that is brand sponsored a show not too long ago to the tune of about a billion Naira. This dude has so much loose cash, that he is even said to have gone ahead and bought a 1st division Portuguese football club all by himself too a few years back! The dude we are talking about is set to launch an airline brand, that would send shivers down the spine of most and cause panic amongst the hierarchy of the wealthy.

As we speak, the man by yhe initials KS, who we would unveil on his own in another story, would soon unveil VJ airline either before 2019 ends or early 2020, he is said to have bought 7 (seven) brand new jets already, so the business is in fact very ready to launch powerfully.

One very big personality who has since joined the bandwagon of owners of a lottery/betting company unbeknownst to most, is none other than the already stupendously wealthy, car collector extraordinaire and property czar of incredible proportion, in the person of Sir Olu Okeowo, the Knight of John Wesley Church. This incredible man of immense means, in fact a colossus by all standards, who is undoubtedly one of the top 3, highest collector of Rolls Royce cars probably in Africa, has since opened his own betting/lottery brand said to be known as G-bets. Those who know about the lottery brand, actually claims that, it is one of the fastest growing lottery/betting brands in the country, since it began operations about a year ago.

Now just imagine that Sir Olu Okeowo, who owns the most humongous & in fact mind-boggling edifice- all of 16 rooms wonder palatial mansion, that sits atop a landmass said to be valued at about a billion or in fact more, inside the exclusive Parkview area of Ikoyi, Lagos and who also owns several blocks of other multi-million Naira valued properties, all rated to be worth several billions. For those who know ehat it means to have a home in Parkview or Banana Island, they would then understand far better, the value estimation.

It is in fact reputed that the mouth-opening Palacios de Okeowo that took him just 11 months to construct from scratch to finish, was built for between 2 to 4 billion Naira only. The edifice houses all the amenities that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. A private chapel, a private club/lounge, a massive sized swimming pool, a lawn tennis court, a massive air-conditioned garage and what have you. Let's not describe the vulgar display of wealth that the interior shouts at those who would encounter. It is actually flamboyance at the zenith of it.

It is this same one person who also owns cars, whose collective estimated value cannot be less than N2billion Naira; Just imagine someone owning at least 6 topmost of the range Rolls Royces, cheapest of ehichbis most likely between $150,000 to $2500,00. 3 Bentley sedans, one of which is a limited edition one, having only 50 of them made in the whole world, that's the 'Bentley Mulsanne Extended Body Limited Edition Sedan', which we have since christened as 'Bentley Okeowo'. Then there are the other cars like his one in town Range Rover, the exquisite topmost of the range G Wagon-moat likely a G65, then there's his special Escalade and even more!

It is this same billionaire, whose wealth some have estimated to be in the region of at least $250 million dollars, that is now the chief promoter of a lottery brand now too. So you can now imagine how if he could have excelled so much with his property and construction company known to the world as Gibraltar Construction and his other unknown investments, how far too he would take G-Bets to then!

Like it is commonly said by the Yorubas that, money is never enough for the rich, Olu Okeowo might soon quadruple his worth soon, all things been equal. 

NIGERIANS FLAY MTN FOR EXTENDING XENOPHOBIC WAR TO NIGERIAN BUSINESS

Have you by any chance tried to call the MTN network from a Glo line of late? While some are lucky to get through at the first attempt, others try up to five or six times or more before getting through! And for us, that's a big shame! We had thought that maybe it might just be us alone experiencing such an issue and so we asked few friends, in fact we had put the issue to the general public on Facebook, which is one of the best ways to quickly feel the pulse of the general populace over an issue.

And then the answers we got showed that it was in fact a  highly irritating and annoying issue, that had affected many who use Glo lines and who had tried time and time again to place calls to those using MTN lines. The annoying rhetoric sometimes was "unfortunately the call cannot be connected at this time. We regret the inconvenience. Please contact your provider"

And so we began to wonder at what was going on? Could this in fact be a case of deliberate sabotage' on the part of MTN? And if that be the case to what purpose is this sabotage? What could they hope or are they hoping to gain from such a despicable practice?

Who could be so desperate to want to sabotage the effort of the only Nigerian, wholly owned Telco brand Glo? Thank God for Glo in Nigeria, we knew how totally expensive it was to make calls and do data before, but the minute the Nigerian brand came on board and allowed the best international practice to prevail in the sector, making the customer king, by offering "per second billing" as a norm, which the other Telco brands had tried to pass off as something impossible. That really opened up the market and showed to the world, those who truly cared about the hearts of the Nigerian people. It wasn't just going to be business and profit making alone. It now became the battle to serve Nigerians with the best of services they needed and wanted.

With the kind of infrastructure that Glo has invested in the country so as  to make sure that Nigerians can get the best of the type of services they get anywhere else in the world, it would be a shame if another brand in that same sector would try to sabotage their efforts or would be allowed to do so at all. 

What's the issue at hand, if we may even ask? Or has this become the extension of the persistent 'XENOPHOBIC attacks' against Nigerians in South Africa to the business sector?

Why are they doing it to the same Glo that helped to bring the price of voice calls  down and helped to drastically reduce the cost of data, thereby giving Nigerians the opportunity  to enjoy low tariffs on voice calls and data? Can outsiders love us Nigerians as much as we love ourselves? That's the question we need to ask ourselves and quickly too at that. MTN must be called to order immediately to stop this unnecessary attack, as Nigerians would not take it lightly again with them.

You cannot be shortchanging a country that has been so nice to you. If not for this same Nigerian market that you are treating anyhow, it could have been impossible to declare the kind of humongous and extraordinary profit of the last several years that you have declared consistently. So what we are only asking you for, is to allow a level playing ground and also give us fantastic services commensurate to the love we have shown to you. And also please, and we say it again, please leave our national brand-Glo alone for us !

GTBank Announces Full Year 2017 PBT of N200.24Billion

Segun Agbaje, MD/CEO GTBank

Guaranty Trust Bank plc has released its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2017 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.

A review of the results shows positive performance across all financial indices, reaffirming the Bank’s position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria. Gross earnings for the year grew by 1.1% to ₦419.2billion from ₦414.6billion reported in the December 2016; driven primarily by growth in interest income as well as e-payment revenues.

Profit before tax stood at ₦200.2billion, representing a growth of 21.3% over ₦165.1billion recorded in the corresponding year ended December 2016. The Bank’s loan book dipped by 8.9% from ₦1.590trillion recorded as at December 2016 to ₦1.449trillion in December 2017 while customer deposits increased by 3.8% to ₦2.062trillion from ₦1.986trillion in December 2016.

The Bank’s balance sheet remained strong with a 3.9% growth in Total Assets and Contingents as the Bank closed the year ended December 2017 with Total Assets and Contingents of ₦3.845trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦625.2Billion.

In terms of Assets quality, NPL ratio increased to 7.7% in December 2017 from 3.7% in December 2016 largely as a result of classification of a single exposure within the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry. However, non-performing loans would moderate to 4.6%, which is below regulatory threshold, if we exclude this name from NPL ratio computation. Overall, asset quality remains stable with adequate coverage of 119.6%, while Capital remains strong with CAR of 25.7%. On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 35.4% and 6.2% respectively. The Bank is proposing a final dividend of 240k per unit of ordinary shareheld by shareholders in addition to interim dividend of 30k per unit of ordinary share bringing total dividend for 2017 financial year to ₦2.70 per unit of ordinary share.

Commenting on the financial results, the Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said; “2017 was a pivotal year for the bank. We delivered a strong result in a challenging environment; achieving record growth in earnings, carefully managing cost margins and leveraging our digital-first customer-centric strategy to deliver world-class services that are simple, cheap and easily accessible.”

He further stated that “The result demonstrates the fundamental strength of our franchise as well as the progress we are making in transforming our organization into a platform on which our customers could build their businesses, connect with their consumers and access all the resources that they need to make their lives better.”

GTBank has continued to report the best financial ratios for a Financial Institution in the industry as revealed by its return on equity (ROE) of 35.4% and cost to income ratio of 38.1% evidencing the efficient management of assets and operational efficiency. Overall, the Bank has enshrined its position as a clear leader in the industry. In recognition of its innovation and hard work, the Bank received over 20 international awards in 2017.

CAN THE POLICE TOUCH THIS VIRTUAL UNTOUCHABLE? THATS TALKING ABOUT OTUNBA DR MIKE ADENUGA

Otunba Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr

On the Forbes magazine list of Africa's wealthiest, a list many have come to count as an official stamp, Otunba Dr. Mike Agbolade Adeniyi Ishola Adenuga Jr. is rated as the 2nd officially most liquid Nigerian and by extension top 7 richest African too, with a networth of about $5.5 billion dollars. The man variously referred to by many tags, chief of which is "the Bull", for his never say die attitude and extraordinary strength of purpose has retained these 2 positions in Nigeria and Africa for many years, and he is sure never to go down at all.

His awesome resume is the type that gives hope to people who are not scared to work hard. Just imagine a man, who while in America drove taxis and from what he earned began to trade and from that humble beginnings, has grown to who he is now, a billionaire many times over!
Apart from owning the 2nd national carrier, Glo, his investment portfolios in real estate, oil and gas, finance etc are staggering to say the list.

But even with all his wealth/resources, connections around the world and wherewithal this particular season seem to be a trying one for him. According to unsubstantiated reports he is reported to be indebted in tune of some staggering amount. Like a late former billionaire was quoted to have said years back, "the bigger the head, the bigger the hat that would fit that head too", so someone of Adenuga's wealth and Caliber is expected to have huge debts, it's expected in business!

The very first sign of seeming unease was when his Glo licence in Benin Republic, our neighbouring country where the brand had grown to a sizeable chunk with over a million subscribers was not renewed so the brand was sent packing out of that country. The report claimed that they were sent packing because of their inability to pay the requirements to renew the licence! For someone who had built the sort of reputation that money is not an issue, when it comes to lucrativebusiness/investment opportunities many were shocked! But however any one sees it, it's not just a loss for Glo in Benin republic, but also a major loss for that country too!

More after the break.