NIGERIA'S MOST GENEROUS, MOST BENEVOLENT RICH MAN-DR. TAIWO OLAYINKA AFOLABI CLOCKS 57.

Marriott Ikeja GRA

Even the heavens are celebrating. They are rejoicing on this day without reservations, that's the birthday of 'Dr. Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi', the Executive Chairman of Sifax Group. There's no gainsaying about this man's benevolence. His generosity is incomparable. If he would have allowed, which he would never ever do, we can tell you that the garlands that he would  have received from the too many of those he had helped, on such a day like this would just have been too too many.

It seems also that there's something so extra special about April 29. At least we know 2 people born on that day or date that are billionaires. Apart from Otunba Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr, who is 66 today, the other person we also know, who is also a very liquid fellow, is the one that is the subject matter of this write up, in the person of Dr. Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi, who was born on April 29, 1962. Making him 57 year old today.

This lawyer by training, having graduated from the famous University of Lagos with a law degree, is man who by the dint of hardwork and God's benevolence has risen to become one of the richest Nigerian presently today.

His Sifax Group, which he set up in the 80s, 1988 to be more precise, after he left paid employment in a company owned by his uncle, is a growing super conglomerate that is into shipping, oil and gas, haulage, aviation & hospitality. One of the subsidiaries under the group, Sahco just last week was listed by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

If everything goes according to plan, the brilliant barrister at law, who while growikh had wanted to be an Accountant, would be opening to the world, a 5 star, 251 hotel in Ikeja, GRA that would be called the Marriott Ikeja GRA. Like we had said before above. Dr. Taiwo, whose doctorate he got from the University of Jerusalem, rose from a humble beginning and got his initial entrepreneurial training from his mom, Alhaja Ayisat Afolabi, who he refers to as a '1st class trader'. Then later on in life, he fell in love with the maritime sector, when he worked for his uncle's freight forwarding company where he quickly climbed on in rank to become a 'Clearing Manager'. From that time on, he never looked back again and the sky from then had just continued to be his stepping stone.

From Akowonjo, a suburb of Lagos now to Osborne, Ikoyi where he owns a sprawling edifice amongst several properties he owns. His sprawling land on Alexander Road, Ikoyi, Lagos is where his beloved daughter, Mariam Afolabi, who is the Executive Director, Compliance, Sifax Group uses for her many businesses away from her 9 to 5. Amongst other things that Mariam does, she's an award winning designer formerly known as Mademoiselle Aglaia. One of Doctor's other sons, is 'Damilola AbdulRazak Afolabi', the famous musician better known as L.A.X, a protégé of Wizkid known very much for that popular song Caro. He now owns his own label Rasaki Music Group. His eldest son, Yinka had one of the top 3 biggest weddings of 2018, that spanned Ibadan and Lagos.

Dr. Afolabi is married to the equally highly cerebral, Mrs. Folashade Afolabi.

Happy birthday boss. Long may you live. May your generosity never cease. 

IN SALUTE OF THE SEEMINGLY ENDLESS DEEP POCKET OF SIR KESSINGTON ADEBUTU, THE BILLIONAIRE LOTTO KING

Sir Kessington Adebutu 

DONATED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS TO BOTH BOS & DAPO ABIODUN'S CAMPAIGN.

If what we have heard is truly anything to go by, then the King of Lotto in Nigeria, known to most as Baba Ijebu, Sir Kessington Adebutu is surely one generous man whose type might be hard to find again in this our clime. That the man is probably a billionaire is not in doubt, what the people might not really know about is how deep, a deep pocket the great man of Ijebu extraction is.

According to the gist, the super liquid man, who must have contributed a cast amount of money, which couldn't have been less than N500 million towards the failed Gubernatorial ambition of his son, Hon. Ladi Adebutu in Ogun State didn't just keep the largesse in house, but also embraced the ambition of both Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu and that of Prince Dapo Abiodun.

According to the unconfirmed gist, Sir Kessington Adebutu, who is said to have spent between N200m to N300m to host his daughter-Temitope's superlative wedding a while ago, contributed not less than N600M, towards the ambitions of the new Governor-Elects. If that staggering amount is not massive, then we don't know nothing then. The truth is, what is N600 Million not including how much he must have contributed towards his own blood son's ambition, to a man who once confessed to have lost over 1 billion Naira in a single game in one day!

The renowned octogenarian, he would be 84 come October of 2019 as he was born in October of 1935 is probably one of the most generous Nigerians alive. He is the "king of Lotto" business having been at it now for several decades, it is in fact the business that made him colossally wealthy. He rose from a very humble beginning from his homestead in Iperu-Remo, in Ikenne LGA of Ogun State. He attended Wesley School in Iperu, before coming to Lagos to attend the famous Baptist Academy, Lagos, he went back to Ogun State, Sagamu to be more precise to finish his Secondary School education. After that he began work as a Sales Person and rose to become a Sales Manager, from then he began to think of what to do for himself after stumbling on a book where he read that having a business of his one was the way forward. But without capital, the future looked uncertain but grace worked for him and from that beginning to where he is today.

To really understand how well to do Sir Adebutu is, then you look at how wealthy some of his kids l, likes of Segun Adebutu is. Years back to celebrate his birthday then, the young moneybag flew his family and friends in good number, all expenses paid, nothing spared to have a colossal party and time. That party was a talk of the time at that time.

We hear that all Papa's kids no matter how already made they are, still collect a very generous monthly allowance from their very loving dad. What a way to go. The gentleman of means dotes so much on all his kids and wouldn't allow them make a misstep that could be costly, evidence of that was shown in how he became a guardian angel for Ladi Adebutu who had gambled on the wrong side during the Ogun State Gubernatorial Election 2019, who when he had failed to dislodge Buruji Kashamu to get his party's flag to contest, decided to disrupt the apple cart any way he could, when he placed all his bets on Senator Ibikunle Amosun's candidate, Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, who later lost the election to the now Governor Elect, Prince Adedapo Abiodun, the multimillionaire owner & CEO of Heyden Oil. It was Sir Kessington Adebutu, that engineered the peace move between his son, Ladi and Prince Abiodun, making the 2 men to bury the hatchet or whatever they had between them.

KOLA ALUKO, THE CAT WITH 9 LIVES

The last few months or should we say few years have been a trying period and have not been easy at all for this dude, but like a strong General that he is, in fact like a war veteran of note, especially one with extraordinary adaptive abilities, one of the most visible African businessmen ever in the world by name Kola Aluko who has had to face so so much has seen it all and from the little we hear, from the depth of near absolute despair he is gradually getting back on his feet, slow and quite steadily.

It hasn't been an easy road to tread at all for him in anyway. Imagine from he being someone so very well celebrated across board by all and sundry, such an African global rising star in the eye of all, in fact an icon to many at that, to suddenly become someone in the eye of the storm. A near fugitive, like a pariah sort of, the one that those who used to fawn about, now try avoid or even run far way from. But like all strong people, he gallantly withstood the storm, though the thunder struck and the whirlwind bellowed and raged, he stood his ground like a warrior. Like it has been said and we paraphrase, It is only where the battle rages the most and the  trouble is very much that we see a gallant warrior and that we would get to know the stuff of which such warriors are made.

From owning some of the best, most jaw dropping properties and things across the globe, being able to enter just about anywhere at the drop of a hat, being a friend to all the noted who-is-who businessmen/women, celebrities, Government Officials across the globe, suddenly things went awry, so much so that he had to hibernate and has had to go deep into his cocoon, to go restrategize. It seems like that alone period has worked somewhat and from the little we are hearing, he might be on his way back from hell and he is gradually climbing back as he was then..

From all indications though, it's not ever going to again be business as usual as it used to be then, that boy about town of then, who was always in the limelight for just the fun of it, that hell-raiser of yore, whose philosophy then was to work very hard and play equally as hard too, if not more, has since become a much more matured man. So watch out for a new improved much circumspect Kola Aluko. No ooooo, he ain't gonna charge from being his super generous, very giving, very caring, very friendly, very selfless self. But now, he would be far more calculative and more careful.

Salute to quintessential good dude. In fact a man for all seasons.