MY WALL OF FAME: CHIEF BODE OLADIMEJI AKINDELE (2 JUNE 1933 – 29 JUNE 2020)
Any successful person’s genuine identity is shaped by their level of passion and determination. They can guide anybody on a path to greatness, and many have achieved success by laying the groundwork on these two keys.
Chief Bode Akindele was one of the oldest Nigerian business magnates and genuine billionaires.
Apart from being a longtime successful business magnate, he was also the Parakoyi of Ibadanland.
His vast wealth and successful empire are known across Africa, Europe and America, as well as his philanthropic and generous nature.
He had an estimated net worth of $1.19 billion, according to a survey conducted by Ventures Africa and published in 2013 by The Daily Telegraph. He was ranked the 16th richest person in Nigeria according to BuzzNigeria.
Akindele was born on June 2nd 1933 in Ibadan, a town in the South-western part of Nigeria. His father, Pa Joshua Laniyan Akindele, was a Chief Tax Clerk for the entire defunct Western Region, a position that can be equated to that of the Chairman of the Inland Revenue today.
His mother late Alhaja Rabiatu Adedigba was a well-known wealthy and successful trader and opinion leader in the ancient city of Ibadan, who set Chief Akindele on the path of success being raised by a strong and successful woman before she passed away in 1976. His mother was a wealthy and influential trader from Ibadan who was said to be the first Ibadan woman who travelled to Mecca for pilgrimage.
Akindele began his education at the Olubi Memorial School, Ibadan, and then proceeded to Lisabi Grammar School, Abeokuta for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). He initially applied to attend Abeokuta Grammar School or Baptist Boys High School with his friends, but he was denied due to his inability to pass the arm test. Upon completing his secondary school education, he travelled to the United Kingdom to study law.
Bode Akindele was interested in starting his own business instead of studying. He used the money given to him for school and Passport in purchasing a sewing machine, which he later sold at a good profit.
In 1952, he received his first paid employment as secretary to an assistant district officer and later became a cadet manager with the United Africa Company (UAC), where he later rose to the rank of an Assistant to the Expatriate Manager. Akindele then left United Africa Company for the Western Nigerian Union of Importers and Exporters.
Bode Akindele was a businessman who knew how to follow his heart, go after his goals, and make a name for himself. The founder of Madandola Group didn’t rely on his parents’ wealth. This man was well aware of the greatness that lay ahead of him.
He didn’t allow the difficulties in Nigeria stop him, nor did he stop growing as an entrepreneur and spreading his influence beyond Nigeria’s borders.
Bode Akindele’s business sense was unquestionably passed down via his family. Entrepreneurship was an important part of his family’s culture, and he grew up in an entrepreneurial household.
Chief Akindele made his first major venture into business in Sweden where he bought a Swedish match manufacturing company which he later shut down and gained full control of the match world market, making him the controller of over one-third of the world match market being one of his greatest achievements.
He owned one of the biggest indigenous conglomerates in Nigeria known as Modandola Group of companies which operates across various sectors such as manufacturing, real estate, maritime, and agriculture, making it among the list of his top biggest achievements. Among the subsidiaries of the Madandola Group are Standard Breweries, Ibadan, Diamond Foods Ltd, Ibadan, United Beverages Ltd, Ibadan, Associated Match Industry, Ibadan, which merged with Ilorin, Port-Harcourt and Lagos to form a company with a large share of the Nigerian market and Standard Flour Mills in Lagos.
Chief Akindele also owned Fairgate Group a top international company worth billions of pound sterling, dealing in real estate and property and headquartered in Bond Street, London in the United Kingdom. The company owns several properties across the country currently being rented by some of UK’s foremost retail stores such as Asda Wall Mart and Sainsbury. Apart from the large Fairgate properties empire, he also owns personal properties across the UK and substantial investments in the property market and top blue chip companies in the United States.
The billionaire business magnate who hails from Ibadanland in Oyo state Nigeria was worth an estimated $1.2 billion and was one of Nigeria’s foremost respected billionaires and richest men of all time.
Chief Bode Akindele died in his Apapa, Lagos home on Monday 29th June, 2020 at the age of 86.
Power, wealth, and reputation all go hand in hand. Everything worked out for Chief Bode Oladimeji Akindele. The late Chief Akindele was long regarded as one of Africa’s wealthiest men.
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| Femi Ladapo (Femolad) writes from Ibadan, Nigeria |
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