As you read this, Hon. Ladi Adebutu is in a happy mood. He will be 60 in a few days time and he has begun celebration. It is a week-long-affair, that will culminate in a big thanksgiving party that will attract all the who-is-who in Nigeria, and it will hold in Abeokuta.
The programme of activities marking his 60th birthday began last week, Tuesday, 15th February, 2022 with the Ladi Adebutu Good Governance Symposium (3rd Edition) at His Place Event Centre, Ota. And on Friday, 18th February, 2022 there was a Jumat Service at Ijebu-Ode Central Mosque. Reception followed immediately at Ijebu-Ode Club. On Sunday 20th February, 2022, he worshipped at The Christ Apostolic Church, Odogbolu. Reception followed immediately.
And on Monday 21st February, 2022, he is to celebrate decades of overflow at His Place Events Centre at Otta. Entertainment of party faithful was at Honda Place, Otta. On Wednesday, 23rd February, 2022 he will be hosting a Remo Event, which is the celebration of 6 decades of overflow at Remo Golf Course.
On Friday 25th February, 2022 he will be hosting a Private Event, which is the formal commissioning of ultra modern Meat Processing Plant. And on Saturday, 26th February, 2022 he will be celebrating 6 decades of overflow at Abeokuta Sports Club.
Entertainment of party faithful will be at PDP Party Secretariat, Abeokuta.
On Sunday 6th March, 2022 he will be hosting a Thanksgiving at The Celestial Church of Christ, Sagamu.
In a way, his 60th birthday celebration will herald his campaign for governorship on the platform of the PDP.
It’s no longer news that Hon. Ladi Adebutu, a former member of the House of Representatives will be running for Ogun Governorship come 2023. We can reveal that to you authoritatively. We can also reveal that he has been working on it for the past few years.
But over the last few months he has intensified his efforts at reaching out to stakeholders in the state. He has also been on the road reaching out all the elders of the party.
We hear he is likely to come out to run from Odogbolu, his mum’s home town and not Iperu Remo, his dad’s hometown.
His mum is a Princess from Odogbolu.
Let’s tell you more about this rugged politician who has been in it for decades. Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu was a member of the House of Reps, representing Remo Federal Constituency. He is the son of popular businessman, Chief Kessington Adebutu, popularly called Baba Ijebu.
He was one of the active members in the House of Reps.
But he didn’t make noise about his activities.
He has always believed his work at the lower legislative chamber in Abuja will speak for him. Even when he is asked to tell the whole world a little about what did in Abuja, he is usually reticent. His favourite reply is let them find out. That is why the achievements of this man, who represented Ikenne, Sagamu and Remo North Federal Constituency are unknown to many. Only few know that Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu sponsored several motions on the floor of the House then, calling attention to some critical areas where legislative and executive actions are required.
For instance, he raised the pertinent matter of the Sagamu-Ogijo-Mosimi-Ikorodu road, a 23 km Federal Highway linking Ogun and Lagos states which hosts several economically strategic installations such as the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC). The highway is a major distribution route for petroleum products to various parts of the country, but its abysmal state, poses grave danger to lives and property. He has also highlighted the structural challenges relating to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Sagamu-Ore-Benin Expressway and their negative impact on motorists, pedestrians and host communities alike.
He called for relevant repairs and pedestrian bridges to be constructed along the routes to increase safety for all road users.
Hon. Adebutu has consistently championed issues of safety on Nigeria’s major highways and said that he would like to see an improvement in their condition as a way of reducing the high incidence of injuries and fatal road crashes.
As Chairman of the House Committee on Rural Development, Adebutu regularly spoke on behalf of rural dwellers that form a large percentage of the population and are responsible for food production in Nigeria. He stressed the need to develop a new approach towards Rural Integrated Development in Nigeria.
To add weight to his views on this, he sponsored a motion urging the Federal Government to give due attention to the rural populace by accommodating their needs in Budgets and National Planning. As a member of several House committees such as National Planning and Economic Development, Local Content, Basic Education Services, and Urban Development and Regional Planning, he made regular contributions to discussions and fully participated in strategizing on oversight activities for Ministries, Depots, and agencies.
During the House debates on the 2016 Budget proposals, Hon. Adebutu made a robust contribution on the floor of the House calling for effecting necessary change that would improve on living standard in rural areas.
Agriculture is also an area of interest to him. During a recent media parley in Abuja, he observed that Nigeria must now, as a matter urgency, adopt wholesale agribusiness as a strategy to earn revenue from processed agricultural exports.
Hon. Adebutu has also translated his concepts for good governance into several empowerment and welfare schemes for members of his constituency. These range from skills acquisition programmes, community development projects to trade establishment and scholarship schemes. He has the support of his father.
For those who don’t know Ladi’s father, let’s tell you something about the man many simply call Baba Ijebu. His real name is Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu. He is the Chairman of Premier Lotto Limited, He is over 80.
He is the founder of Kessington Adebukunola Adebutu Foundation, which caters for the less privileged and supports patients and indigent students. A philanthropist to the core, he went into the pools betting and gaming business in the 60’s after working for a while.
Though known largely in the pools betting and gaming business, he has over the past several years gone into several other areas of businesses including property, agriculture and entertainment with notable successes in all. His lotto business venture has brought hope to the hopeless and great support to the needy in the society. His managerial skills can be visibly perceived in his highly efficient workforce and outstanding organisational profile. His philanthropic gestures range from offering scholarships to indigent students, offering free medical treatment to the less privileged, building schools, hospitals and developing mosques and churches for the masses. That is the kind of man Ladi has as a father.
Kesington was a very brilliant pupil who came top of his class in the First School Leaving Certificate Examination and was offered a scholarship to train as a teacher at Iwo Baptist College but he turned it down. He rejected the scholarship because he wanted to stay in the neighborhood for his studies and also wear school blazer and tie as other students. He opted for Baptist Academy in Lagos in 1951 and stayed till 1953 when he moved on to Remo Secondary School in Shagamu from 1954 to 1955. His classmates at the Baptist Academy included the late Chief Molade Okoya -Thomas and Justice Holloway (Rtd.). He was a reputed jolly good fellow in school and always in the company of friends whom he often took home to his mum after school hours. He shared a few things he had with his friends and never withheld from them. He was always eager to commit what he had to helping others. He grew up being taught that others were more important than himself where human needs were concerned. In spite of all these, he was rascally and he was a truant as a little boy. His mother, however, helped him to surmount these problems.
Before establishing his business ventures, he had worked at Cable and Wire as a Clerical Officer, and at Clafin Chemicals Limited as a Salesman. At Cable and Wire, he built relationships with powerful expatriates and successful persons who came to make calls in his office. From the job, he discovered that you could become anything you want to be if you were hard-working, sincere and honest. Those who made the strongest impressions on his mind were the young business entrepreneurs who were determined to make it in honest business and were honestly struggling to make headway. Through them, he learnt to realise that industry was the key to success.
A natural administrator and born manager, Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu is an astute businessman. Though he did not attend any of the great business schools nor did he pursue any formal training for business management; he has made success of every business he puts his hands on. He is regularly guided by his personal values and instincts and his gift of the power of intuition rather than business theories.
Doggedness and persistence have been the whetstone of success in whatever he does. This is the spirit that has seen him through difficult times. Even under the strongest emotional tempests and business failures, he remains steadfast believing that ‘where there is a will, there will always be a way’.
Chief Kesington Adebutu has achieved so much by dint of hard work and his intuition. Since 1969, he has been working so hard and even now that he is in his 80’s, he is not slowing down. When asked when he would retire and hand over to one of his children or anyone else, he wondered why he should retire. He looked at himself and asked, “Retire? Why should I retire? Well, I will retire when God says I should. He went further, wondering: “Retire and stay at home and be doing nothing? No! No! No! I am still very fit and healthy. So the above are the lessons Hon. Ladi has learnt from Baba Ijebu.
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