By Reuben Abati
June 27, 2010
I started writing this on a day when Nigeria received two heavy blows to its image: one in football with the Super Eagles, the country’s national team crashing, woefully, out of the 19th edition of the World Cup in South Africa: the flat-footed, pounded yam-affected, disoriented, careless and unambitious performance of the Super Eagles is a reflection of our national character: if anything has been seen at this year’s World Cup it is how football is about national identity and character.  The sad message about Nigeria, represented by Sani Kaita and his colleagues, and their inability to rise to the occasion, is that this is no longer a nation of winners in football as in many other areas. It is perhaps not an accident that the same day, a scuffle broke out at the National Assembly with members of the House of Representatives turning the Chambers into a wrestling arena, with lawmakers losing their clothing, receiving wounds to the head, and a female lawmaker beaten (by shameless men!) and dragged out, with her feet jumping off and on the ground. The House leadership has apologized to Nigerians but who needs their apology when we do not yet know what other acts of infamy they may yet come up with? But it is not about this failing set that I set out to write.
This as the title indicates, is about the life of a man who grew up and lived, and helped to build a different Nigeria where values still counted for much, and men were praised or chastised on the basis of their efforts, not necessarily the positions they occupied. Alhaji Jimoh Odutola who died last weekend was a frontline Nigerian entrepreneur, a pioneer in many respects, a pacesetter, a man of quality, a good man. The last time I saw Baba as I called him, was in March, a few days before his 105th birthday. He had stopped by at The Guardian as usual to see me: I was one of his favourite boys, he was very fond of me, it is a friendship that I will forever cherish.   
For many years, even in his nineties, he would climb the stairs at Rutam House all the way to the Editorial Board, with no one assisting him. If I offered to come down to the car to see him, he would disagree and insist on coming upstairs. Even at 100, he was strong. But last March, he could not climb the stairs. He sat in the car, his voice was not as energetic as it used to be, his pace had slowed down considerably. He had always been such a strong and hardworking man, it was difficult to imagine him in a weak state. When I returned to the office after promising Baba that I’d find time to see him in Ijebu-Ode later, I told my secretary: “Baba is getting old; he is now an old man.” “He is just getting old at over 100?,” my secretary quipped. She knew Baba very well; we all used to admire Baba’s energy level up and down the stairs, much younger men would climb the same stairs and pant.  It didn’t take long to figure out part of Baba’s secret. He was a compulsive workaholic. Even if any serious illness wanted to settle down in his body, it would have had a tough time finding home. It turned out that our meeting in March was the last.
I wasn’t privileged to know Baba Odutola in his younger days, but the little I saw of his winter years gave me an idea of the kind of man he was.  He commuted between Ijebu Ode and Lagos regularly either coming to the courts in Lagos in pursuit of one land case or the other, or to attend to other obligations. He had invested heavily in real property, and where there were issues of conflict, Baba Odutola was always quick to head to the courts. He valued justice and he pursued it till the last minute. He used to remark that he could not stand cheats and that in his business dealings, honesty was always his watchword.  He was a quiet, self-effacing man; he avoided partisan politics with as much passion as he hated the idea of chieftaincy titles. He often remarked that he was contented being simply Alhaji Odutola. He was a devout Muslim. To mark his 100th birthday in 2005, he had built a big mosque and also renovated the primary school which he built many years earlier.
I recall that at his 100th birthday anniversary held in the vast grounds of his home in Ijebu Ode, he was pleased that many dignitaries honoured his invitation, including the then Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. In a country that so easily forgets its heroes, it is easy to see why Baba Odutola felt that way.  A stickler for details, he was well-organised almost to a fault. He kept a phone book; whenever he had a meeting, his secretary who always travelled with him, was on hand to take notes. When you met him again or he spoke with you on phone, he had a capacity to recall the details of the previous meeting. He always wanted everything to be done right. He dressed well always. He also knew how to keep relationships. If he didn’t hear from me for a long time, he would phone just to ask after my work and family. In the last month or so before his death, his number would show up on my phone but there would be no sound at the other end, my “Hello”, “Hello” was greeted by silence. It is painful: that silence is now permanent. It was his phone number that I saw again and I picked up my phone, excited, when I heard a voice at the other end for the first time in about a month, but it was the voice of a young lady, a granddaughter, breaking the news of his departure.  I miss him.
Baba Odutola is a national legend although unknown to many young entrepreneurs of today, in part because they no longer teach history in the schools and so many of our icons are under-appreciated.  Alhaji Jimoh Akitola Odutola started his business career in 1921, after completing his apprenticeship under Sanni Bilesanmi, his stepfather. Bilesanmi had set him off with a capital of six pounds, adding only one pound to the original amount that Odutola’s mother had invested for his training. This infuriated the young Jimoh Odutola and he had considered taking his stepfather to the local traditional court, but an elderly man advised him against taking legal action: “Take it light. That is enough. Go, my son. God will bless it.” That prayer was answered as Odutola ended up turning the six pounds into an enormous business empire. By the end of 1921, he was already a successful textile trader, in 1927, he ventured into the transport business, by 1929, he went into cocoa produce merchandise, achieving great success both in terms of resources and reputation. In 1932, at his mother’s instance, he went into partnership with his brother, Adeola Odutola, who had been a court clerk and a part-time trader, with considerable experience as an administrator.
The two brothers established the Odutola Brothers. The partnership was electric. The brothers were involved in produce marketing and export, weaving, gold mining and by 1941, they won a wartime quota and had contacts in Europe.  But in 1948, the partnership failed with each brother going his own way, they became each other’s rival, their rivalry was bitter, but both men helped to promote Ijebuland, and to establish the Odutola phenomenon as one of the high points of business and industry in Nigeria in the 20th century, and to lay the foundations for modern business in Nigeria along with the likes of Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, Lawrence Omole, Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, Igwe Mathais Ugochukwu, and J. K. Ladipo.  In Ijebuland and the rest of the Western Region, the Odutola brothers were the pathfinders for the later generation of entrepreneurs including the likes of Otunba Subomi Balogun and Otunba Michael Adenuga. The collapse of the partnership between him and his brother may appear to be a sore point in the story but in retrospect, the Odutola brothers together will always be remembered for the industries that they built, the opportunities that they created and the brands that they established which will always form a part of the Nigerian story.
In 1950, Jimoh Odutola lost interest in buying and selling after one of his expatriate friends had told him: “any fool can buy and sell, but not every fool can produce.” That year, he set up J.A Odutola and Company Ltd as the corporate umbrella for his business. Four years later, he set up the West African Tyre Retreading and Company Ltd, the first tyre retreading company in Africa, so successful was this company that Jimoh Odutola was invited by the governments of Ghana and Kenya to come and set up factories in their countries. In 1960, he was awarded a pioneer certificate by the then Governor General of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. Odutola was also a pioneer in the manufacturing of rubber and plastic foam with his establishment of the Nigerian Rubber Foam Company in 1958, and the Nigerian Plastic Foam Company in 1960. He also got a pioneer certificate for this. Till the end, he remained actively engaged in business and investment, long after the failure of the Nigerian state, wrong-headed government policies and the corruption of staff had crippled his factories. He devoted much of his energy to philanthropy and he was quiet and humble about it. These days, when a Nigerian nouveau riche donates a miserable borehole to a hamlet, he spends more money advertising it on national television. But that was not the Jimoh Odutola style.
Jimoh Odutola did not enjoy the benefit of formal education, but he had the discipline and ambition of an educated genius. By 1951, he had opened an office in the United Kingdom, in Oldham. In 1967, he was awarded a certificate of merit as the first African to visit the North Pole. The same year, he was the first African to fly on Lufthansa Airline from Tokyo to Alaska, Alaska to Copenhagen. He made sure that all his 24 children were educated to the best of each person’s ability. He built a school and he supported many universities and educational causes without making a hue and cry about it.  God blessed him with the gift of longevity, but he was also a man of Spartan self-discipline. It is surprising that later-day Nigerian governments did not deem it necessary to include Jimoh Odutola in the national honours list. He was a good man and a patriot. Goodbye Baba; thank you for your friendship.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/reuben-abati/jimoh-odutola-1905-2010.html

I have read a lot about the odutola brothers, a very good write up by Reuben Abati.
There are no role model in this country.

Ovularia:

By Reuben Abati
June 27, 2010
In 1950, Jimoh Odutola lost interest in buying and selling after one of his expatriate friends had told him: “any fool can buy and sell, but not every fool can produce.” That year, he set up J.A Odutola and Company Ltd as the corporate umbrella for his business. Four years later, he set up the West African Tyre Retreading and Company Ltd, the first tyre retreading company in Africa, so successful was this company that Jimoh Odutola was invited by the governments of Ghana and Kenya to come and set up factories in their countries. In 1960, he was awarded a pioneer certificate by the then Governor General of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. Odutola was also a pioneer in the manufacturing of rubber and plastic foam with his establishment of the Nigerian Rubber Foam Company in 1958, and the Nigerian Plastic Foam Company in 1960. He also got a pioneer certificate for this. Till the end, he remained actively engaged in business and investment, long after the failure of the Nigerian state, wrong-headed government policies and the corruption of staff had crippled his factories. He devoted much of his energy to philanthropy and he was quiet and humble about it. These days, when a Nigerian nouveau riche donates a miserable borehole to a hamlet, he spends more money advertising it on national television. But that was not the Jimoh Odutola style.
Jimoh Odutola did not enjoy the benefit of formal education, but he had the discipline and ambition of an educated genius. By 1951, he had opened an office in the United Kingdom, in Oldham. In 1967, he was awarded a certificate of merit as the first African to visit the North Pole. The same year, he was the first African to fly on Lufthansa Airline from Tokyo to Alaska, Alaska to Copenhagen. He made sure that all his 24 children were educated to the best of each person’s ability. He built a school and he supported many universities and educational causes without making a hue and cry about it. God blessed him with the gift of longevity, but he was also a man of Spartan self-discipline. It is surprising that later-day Nigerian governments did not deem it necessary to include Jimoh Odutola in the national honours list. He was a good man and a patriot. Goodbye Baba; thank you for your friendship.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/reuben-abati/jimoh-odutola-1905-2010.html

May his soul rest in peace.

That is Nigeria for you, National Honours are for politicians without any concrete achievement other than ability to get into position via rigged elections and stealing of public funds.

As sad as it is, everything must come to an end. Having grew up in Ijebu -Ode myself, even though i didn't know the Odutola brothers personally, i alwas admire their contribution. Factories everywhere. There is the legendary crown products (makers of soft drink crowns). It has been sold long time ago. But a good friend of mine still works there today.

After school, in Ijebu Ode Grammer School, it was always a pleasure to stop at Odutola Stores along Abeokuta road and buy some snack or biscuit.

There was also the Odutola Biscuit factory that belongs to the older brother. These guys are true pioneers. I have always believed that manufacturing is better that buying and selling and reading this piece goes further to cement that notion.

How i wish i could have interviewed the man and better have the type of relationship the author had with him? That would have been extra-ordinary.

May his soul rest in peace.

Kunle-A:

As sad as it is, everything must come to an end. Having grew up in Ijebu -Ode myself, even though i didn't know the Odutola brothers personally, i alwas admire their contribution. Factories everywhere. There is the legendary crown products (makers of soft drink crowns). It has been sold long time ago. But a good friend of mine still works there today.

After school, in Ijebu Ode Grammer School, it was always a pleasure to stop at Odutola Stores along Abeokuta road and buy some snack or biscuit.

There was also the Odutola Biscuit factory that belongs to the older brother. These guys are true pioneers. I have always believed that manufacturing is better that buying and selling and reading this piece goes further to cement that notion.

How i wish i could have interviewed the man and better have the type of relationship the author had with him? That would have been extra-ordinary.

May his soul rest in peace.

AMEN