Three months after the demise of Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the erstwhile Ooni of Ife, and the kingmakers of Ife have chosen Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi of the Giesi ruling house as the 51st Ooni of Ile-Ife.
The Osun State government announced his emergence as the new Ooni of Ife in a press statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti. The statement reads: “The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has approved the appointment of a new Ooni of Ife. He is Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi of the Giesi Ruling House of Ile Ife State of Osun.
This choice follows the completion of the due process by the kingmakers and the communication of their decision to the Government.”
The new Ooni’s profile:
Ogunwusi holds a Higher National Diploma in Accountancy from the Polytechnic of Ibadan. He is a member of professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), an Associate Accounting Technician and a certified member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria.
He has been involved in Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) locally and internationally for over 12 years and he has also been actively involved in the development of over 2,500 housing units with various consortia of developers/promoters over the last 8 years in Nigeria.
He was a co-organizer for Ondo State Economic Planning and Implementation Committee. He led the Government delegation team to Canada in 2002 for strategic alliances and partnership with Ondo State Government on solid mineral potentials of the State (Bitumen, Dimension Stones, Granite, etc.) which led to the formation of Amalgamated Mining and Exploration Company Limited – wholly owned by Ondo State Government. He was involved in the facilitation and development of Sparkwest Steel Galvanizing Plant (the only Steel Galvanizing Plant in Nigeria), National Iron Ore Mining Company Limited and Jakura Mines resuscitation projects, which has eventually become the major limestone feed stock to Obajana Cement Plant in Kogi State, Nigeria.
He began his strides in the Real Estate sector with various dredging and land reclamation projects in Lagos State. Adeyeye is the initiator of EssentialHomes, a real estate product launched in January 2014 formed to deliver affordable upscale homes to the middle and low income earners. The 1st phase of the product (The Southpointe Estate, Lafiaji Road, Lekki, Lagos State) started in February 2014, and has been successfully delivered within one year with about 60% occupancy recorded.
In addition, Ogunwusi has successfully undertaken more multi-billion Naira projects across Lagos and environs; Jacob Mews Estate Yaba, Lakeview Park I and II Estates Lekki, the ongoing Golden Leaf Estate Lafiaji, Lekki and Grand Lake Estate Ajah, Lagos.
Ogunwusi is presently an employer of over 300 indigenous youth at the Inagbe Cocowood Factory – EssentialHomes Furniture brand, first of its kind in Nigeria using 100% indigenous raw materials for production. He has over 450 direct employees across his various companies, and over 3000 indirect employees.
Ogunwusi is a Director on the Board of Directors of Imperial Homes Mortgage Bank Limited, (formerly GTHomes), a leading National Mortgage Bank and former subsidiary of one of the biggest banks in Africa, GTBank Plc. He is also a Director, FinaTrust Microfinance Bank Limited, one of Nigeria’s foremost Microfinance Banks focusing on SMEs and micro credit facilities. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Gran Imperio Group, the holding company of Real Estate and Construction, Manufacturing, Facilities Management, Leisure and Tourism companies in Nigeria.
He is loved and highly respected by the people of Ile-Ife. As a Prince, he has stayed and is very much in touch with his roots and tradition.
Ogunwusi takes over from Oba Sijuade, who died on July 28, 2015 in a London hospital.
[divider]