Otunba Babatunde Odunuga is a top Lagos socialite and business man of repute. He was a major distributor of Michellin and Dunlop’s tyres at the time when the two giant tyre manufacturers were operating in Nigeria. He is also an Executive Director with many Oil and Chemicals Ltd, Lagos. Right from his younger years, he’s always had a passion for business and having worked in the automobile arm of UAC, he soon found himself drawn to the tyre business. He left no one in doubts as to his determination to grow the business and make a success of it.
And despite that Otunba is gradually slowing down in business, owing to the fact that he’s not getting any younger, he still remains a major force in the tyre industry, especially on the Mainland where he operates. City People’s WALE LAWAL got the successful businessman and tyre dealer to share with us his humble beginning and the journey so far.
Tell us a bit about yourself, sir.
My name is Otunba Babatunde Odunuga, I was born on the 10th of August 1950. My parents are late Pa Michael Olawole Odunuga, from Odogbolu and my mother, Mrs. Felicia Durodola Odunuga nee Segun from Ijebu Ode. I started my primary education at St. Paul’s Breadfruit School, Lagos and I ended up at St. Jude’s School, Ebute Meta in 1964.
Were you born here in Lagos, sir?
Yes, I was born and bred in Lagos, at Isale-Eko. So, I’m an Isale- Eko boy with a difference. Afterwards, I moved on to St. Anthony’s Grammar school, Ijebu Mushin, where I completed my ‘O’ Levels. Then I had my higher school certificate at St. Gregory’s College, Ikoyi, Lagos.
How did your journey into the business world begin?
After completion of my higher education, I worked briefly at American Life Insurance Company, now known as AIICO. I was there briefly from 1971 to 1972. I resigned in 1973 and went in search of the proverbial Golden Fleece when I travelled to the United Kingdom (UK) and was enrolled at Southwest London College. I did my business studies and got a diploma certificate in Marketing. I returned to Nigeria in 1976 and joined the UAC as an Assistant Manager. I held several positions there including Product Group Manager before I finally became the Marketing Manager, that was at Niger Motors Federated Industries, one of the business units under UAC. I was at the spare parts department.
I resigned voluntarily in 1988 and set up my private business called Durodola Commercial Stores. The firm specialised in procurement of various automobile tyres. At the time, when the country’s economy was on the up swing, course the firm a was franchise dealer with Dunlop Nigeria Ltd. When things got really rough, Dunlop left Nigeria and we had to resort to importing all sorts of tyres. It is very unfortunate that at this stage, decades after independence, Nigeria still cannot boast of a tyre manufacturing company.
It is sad. We now depend on imported tyres. It is a scary situation because if you look at the market now, we are now bringing in all manner of tyres to the general market. I was a very vocal agitator of what the FRSC is now making such a big deal on, and that is the issue of date code, which is the date a tyre was manufactured. I was a one of the crusaders for it when I was dunlop’s major dealer. Simply put, this indicates that the four digit figures embossed on the side wall of tyres represent the expiration of the warranty on the tyre.
Many will find it hard to believe if I tell them that there really is no such thing as a tyre getting expired, but what you have is the expiration of the warranty placed on the tyre. At the time, the issue of expired tyres started getting serious in Nigeria, one of the major manufacturers of tyres in South Africa, Somotec, issued a letter to this effect stating very clearly that there is no such thing as expired tyres, rather, what we have is the expiration of the warranty. What this means is that once a tyre is over five years old, the company can no longer give you a guarantee on it because it’s already growing old, not that it has expired and must be disposed off immediately.
Tell us about your family.
Well, I’m happily married. God gave me my wife, Chief (Mrs.) Oyenike Abiodun Odunuga, nee Arioye from Osun State. We are blessed with beautiful children, most of them are already graduates. I am also a very happy grand- father and I thank God for that.
Share with us, sir, what were the challenges at the time you left the UAC to set up your company, considering that you were not somebody, who had millions of naira, waiting for him somewhere to start business?
As I said earlier, Nigeria’s economy was quite good at that time. That was the early eighties. We started with little capital. What I did then was to ensure that I stayed focus on the business with no distractions at all. I knew the business very well. I knew the terrain even before I ventured into it because I was already involved in it when I was in service. One of the first things I did was to source for selected fleet operators, who sourced for my dealership. As I said, the country was quite okay at that time, you didn’t need such a massive capital to start your business. The naira was much stronger then. You could still get a tyre for between N1,000.00 and N2,000.00 back then, unlike now when a tyre sells for about N40,000.00. Clearly, it was our infrastructure that was poor then. I say this because I know for a fact that Dunlop then was running on generator for 24 hours ever y day. Once it was ready for production, it went on generator. Now, that’s a huge cost of diesel and also raw materials that we’re talking about here.
Now that you’re no longer doing business with manufacturers such a Dunlop and Michellin, how have you been able to sustain the business, being a major tyres dealer?
Yeah! What happened was that another company came on board shortly after Dunlop left. They don’t manufacture tyres, they only import. They operate under a brand name called Falken tyres. I was appointed as its dealer, but now it also has challenges, now that the exchange rate has shot up. Prices have gone up so prohitively that the firm has to put supplies on hold. It hasn’t imported anything since the 3rd quarter of last year. I have not received any fresh stock from them since September last year.
Let’s look at your life as a socialite, you’re one of the very popular figures in the Lagos Country Club, and even outside it you’re well known in social circles. How did your life as a socialite begin?
I would say I’m a chip off the old block. My father was a very good socialite. I can remember when he joined the Island Club when I was young. This was between 1957 and 1958. I had been exposed to clubs then because anytime there were events that accommodated children, he would take us along. That was when I made up my mind that later in life.
I would also join a social club. And I joined the Lagos Country Club first in 1986 and I have been privileged to hold several positions since I joined. I was vice- chairman table tennis section. I held the position for about two-and-half-year before I moved into another senior position in the club. I was elected the Bar Secretary of the club. That was before the position of Bar Secretary was scrapped because the club wanted to have a full General Manager.
Last year I was elevated to an elder of the club, I was made a Life Member, and what that means is that I don’t have to pay subscriptions anymore and now I belong to all sections. I thank God that when I was in the committee, we initiated the welfare scheme. It was our committee, during the tenure of President and now trustee, Chief Kola Are Oyefeso, that we also initiated the club’s clinic and the welfare scheme.
In 1976, I joined the Yoruba Tennis Club, I’m a bonafide member of the Yoruba tennis Club. I belong to a special corner called Table of Honour and Nobility. It consists of retired judges, eminent people such as retired Justice Tajudeen Odunowo, Chief Iyiola Omisore and chairman of Eagle Paints, Chief Taju Disu. They’re all members of the honorable table, including my very good friend, Chief Olugbenga Joseph Obasa. I was the co-ordinator of that table for several years, I just recently relinquished the position to a very junior member, who also happens to be the club’s Social Secretary, Mr.
Obafemi Oduwole. I was the co-ordinator for almost eighteen years. Without meaning to sound immodest, I can tell you that I have dined and wined with some of the most prominent Nigerians you can think of, I can go on and on reeling out names to you. If you know the caliber of people in the Lagos Country Club and Yoruba Tennis Club, then you’ll understand what I’m talking about. And by the way, I am an Anglican and by the grace of God, I will die an Anglican.
As I said earlier, I was born in Isale-Eko. We are the real Lagosians. I can remember that myself and Chief Dele Fajemirokun were born in the same house at Isale-Eko. My late father and his late father lived in opposite rooms in the same house. I am the Baba Egbe of Young Christian Fellowship in my church and also Baba Egbe of Ifelodun Society of my church. I am a community man, an Otunba.
We were the first set of Otunbas in my mother’s town. I got my first title, Otunba Odasosiledoye 1 of Imoru Ijebu Ode in 1989. In 1991, I got another chieftaincy title from my very good friend, Kabiyesi Engineer Isiaka Ajede, he is a member of the Lagos Country Club and a Life member as well. He gave me the title of Otunba Robake 1 of Ilodo Ijebu Mushin. And I have done my best to contribute to the development of my community and the country in my own little way, even though I’m not a politician. But I know I’ve contributed my best to humanity.
How do you relax, sir?
I love table tennis, that’s my favorite sport and favorite way to relax. I told my son in the United Kingdom (UK) to get a table tennis in the house, so that when I get to my house in the (UK) for holidays I can also play while I’m over there. I also love to socialise with my friends, with good wines on the table. I go to parties much to unwind. I also sleep early and wake up early. I have also stopped rigorous business operations when I turned 65 years. I thank my son, Adetokunbo Odunuga, a finance consultant in the UK, who insisted I must slow down, get a driver and slow down on operations. I also travel a couple of times every year, just to go and relax.
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