It’s another special day for the Ibadan born industrialist and philanthropist, Chief (Engr.) Jubril Dotun Sanusi (JDS). His well wishers who are in multitudes will be jostling to wish him their heartfelt prayers having clocked fifty Six years on earth today. The reason for the outpouring of prayers for Chief Dotun Sanusi, the Jagunmolu Olubadan of Ibadanland and Asiwaju of Ona-Ara is not far fetched, he is someone whose name is synonymous with development and positive turn around. I had decided since last year immediately after his 55th birthday celebration to write about the quality that placed him far above other political office holders and elective office seekers in this part of the world. Considering the various news emanating from the camp of ICAST School’s proprietor regarding his governorship ambition, I felt this a good time to dissect Chief Dotun Sanusi’s rare leadership qualities . However, after reading an article written by Barrister Bayo Mutalubi Ojo (SAN), Chief Dotun Sanusi’s childhood friend recently, urging the Industrialist to heed people’s call and declare his intention to run for Oyo State number one office, I decided to make a U-turn and instead change the topic with a view to contributing the little knowledge I have about his core beliefs in humanity. In Barrister Bayo Ojo’s article, I read and learned for the first time the humongous contributions by Chief Dotun Sanusi to the electoral victory of Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu now late when he was contesting for the post of governorship in Ondo State.
Such is Chief Dotun Sanusi’s penchant for lending helping hands to people regardless of their classes in the society.
Chief Dotun Sanusi’s is like a proverbial elephant which is impossible for anyone standing in a particular position to give its apt descriptions. Different people, depending on which sides of the elephant they stand, will give different accounts of what they think the elephant’s physical characteristics are. None can give a total and accurate description of the elephant due to it’s vastness in physicality which is incomprehensible from a glance.
Some couple of years ago while on my way to Ilaji Resort, I boarded a motorcycle with a man in his mid thirties. The bike-man took off from Amuloko and after few seconds drive, we got to Oke-Eleshin area, a hilly portion of Amuloko-Akanran road. The driver who was on a rollercoaster ride due to the descending nature of our transition away from Amuloko market was relishing his ride just I was also enjoying the breeze and was totally absorbed in the spectacle scenery Oke-Eleshin offers it’s passers by. The deep voice of the okada man got me back to the reality of the mode of transportation I chose that morning, “Opelope Ilaji to wo wa se laanu, to je ki oke-Eleshin yi o se rin bayi” (thanks to Ilaji Resort Owner, Chief Dotun Sanusi that showed us mercy which made the once dreaded Oke-Eleshin portion of Amuloko-Akanran-Ilaji Resort axis now motorable. Before then, I later learned that, Oke-Eleshin was once a notorious death trap. Several people had lost their lives including a pregnant woman. Oke-Eleshin is hilly but the potion was made worse due to it’s clayey composition. Motor accident was not only frequent but fatal especially during the rainy season periods as most trucks most times got skidded backward whenever they are trying to ascend the hill leaving the motorcycle riders and their passengers the victims of societal neglect. Having defied series of ‘structural solutions’ the community’s financial capacity could muster, the stakeholders decided to “deify Oke-Eleshin, appeasing and offering sacrifices to the ‘spirits’ residing in the hilly part of the road hoping that the appeasement will persuade the blood sucking spirits to halt the untimely deaths of commuters plying the road then”, those were the words of Pa Kola Bolomope, the President of Ona-Ara Development Union when he was thanking Chief Dotun Sanusi after he had asked his Engineer to fix Oke-Eleshin potion of the road. It was a mini project that cost Chief Dotun Sanusi several millions of naira back then in 2017. Chief Dotun Sanusi later partnered with Oyo State government to renovate the whole axis of the road which spanned about 17 Kilometers.
So, this was the state of the road the okada rider was commenting about. The man barely stopped when the passenger he carried with me snapped, “I suspect Ilaji to have a political ambition”, he paused, and then probably realizing the lack of substance in his statement, he continued, “he is fixing the road because of his companies now. He knows that if he doesn’t fix it, it would affect the companies’ (Ilaji Resort & Ilaji Farms) customers’ patronage”. Once I was sure he had exhausted his arguments as the reasons behind Chief Dotun Sanusi’s philanthropic gestures in Ona-Ara local government as a whole and Oke-Eleshin in particular, I decided to ask him few questions. I chose to make use of Socratic method of questioning to make him a Judge sealing his own fate; I asked, “are there not any political office holders from Ona-Ara before now? “Yes, there are a couple of them” was the answered he gave. I then proceeded, “Did any of them embark on all these community development programmes that Chief Dotun Sanusi had embarked on? His answer was “No”. I asked him another question, “do you know that Ilaji as you referred Chief Dotun Sanusi to, did not limit his philanthropic activities to this local government alone? He said he learned from reliable sources that Chief Dotun Sanusi finances similar philanthropic projects in order places too. He paused for me to ask further questions but when he realized that nothing was forth coming from me. It dawned on him that I wanted him to see the stupidity behind his initial outburst through his own answers. He thereafter murmured some words, “infact, it is someone like Baba Ilaji that we want as our representative. With him, we know that Ona-Ara will be at the fore fronts of development not only in Ibadan but Oyo State as a whole”. Once I knew that he had realized his own idiotic thinking I quickly took my phone out and i made no further statements until he alighted at Akanran.
I soon realized from his conversations he had with someone who called him on phone before he alighted that he is a active member of one of the leading political parties and during his conversations he mentioned one of the active politicians from Ona-Ara as his leader. To him and people of his ilks, Chief Dotun Sanusi is a threat to them if he ever decided to heed the overwhelming calls of the people who had realized that what our state needs, at this critical period, is innovative thinking in public governance.
So,it was a good news for people like us that Chief Dotun Sanusi has eventually succumbed to the calls of the majorities. What people like that man and few others like him do not know is that Chief Dotun Sanusi’s philanthropic gestures was not an act orchestrated with a view to achieving a political ambition, the Asiwaju Ona-Ara is merely fulfilling the pact he made with his Creator some decades ago when he was still in his teens. How did I know this? You are not far from knowing the secrets of Chief Dotun Sanusi’s consistent and relentless philanthropic activities
In late 2017 when Ilaji Resort was still in it’s embryonic stage. Chairman asked me one day when he was leaving Ilaji for an appointment he had in town to hop in his car. When we got to Orita-Aperin, the area in which Chief Dotun Sanusi grew up, he looked around and because providence wanted me to learn something very important. He said that when he was young, he used to play around the area. In that area, some houses stood out (due to their architectural designs and the paints used) giving a clear impression that their owners must be the rich ones living within that neighborhood. He pointed at one of the houses and he said that one day while passing Infront of the house, he prayed to God to bless him greatly, pledging that if God bestowed him with His wealth, he would use the sizeable part of it to bless the people around him as well as his community.
The young Jubril Dotun Sanusi did not, however, wait until God bless him before he started impacting on the people around him. He started the ‘ministry’ immediately. The first one that got me emotional was the day one of Chief Dotun Sanusi’s younger sisters was celebrating her fiftieth birthday. Aunty olopa (She is a police officer) as we normally call her narrated in an emotional laden voice that Chief Dotun Sanusi’s penchant for helping others was as far back as when they were in primary school. She recalled one particular incidence amidst tears of joy when the then young Dotun rescued her from unruly male students who were hell bent in punishing her. She said, she didn’t know how her brother got wind of their plans. According to her, the young Jubril was following her all about to the point of staying behind the goal post when she was keeping a goal post during a football match that was played that day. She added that her brother practically abandoned what he was doing that day and ensured that she was safe until she got home.
Another incidence worth mentioning was the one I witnessed during the fifteenth year wedding anniversary of Chief Dotun Sanusi and his darling wife, Chief (Deaconess) Joyce Bellema Sanusi. The toast was said by one of Chief Dotun Sanusi’s university class mates, Mr. Tunde Vaughn. They were in the same Petroleum Engineering department in University of Ibadan. While eulogizing Chief Dotun Sanusi’s for his epic philanthropic activities, he declared that it was a trait he had been exhibiting since their university days. He disclosed that, Chief Dotun Sanusi’s were fond of defending the defenceless in their department. In his words, “Dotun had this habits of defending the vulnerable ones in the department. He would go at length to defend the girls from the male oppressors to the point that people were thinking he was dating them only for them to later realize that he was dating none of them. He was just carrying out his own part of the pact he signed with his Creator.
Even now, if you want to see the other side of Chairman as we do call him, treat your subordinates with disdain. He once told me to leave a superior that he suspected was behaving rudely to me. When he saw that I was still moving with this said superior, he told a colleague why I found it difficult to stop mingling with someone ‘who found solace in disrespecting me’. To Chief Dotun Sanusi, age is not a sufficient reason why a younger and junior colleague should be disrespected and mistreated by his Superior.
I will round off this article by citing another incidence that happened in a church programme which Chief Dotun Sanusi was invited to grace by his good friend, Dr. Abeeb Olamitoye. I had the opportunity of following Chief Dotun Sanusi and his late friend, Mr. Babatunde Olaniyi to the program.
The programme was organized by Dr. Tunde Oginni at his Church’s headquarters some few meters away from The First Technical University. It was an event meant to showcase the mental strengths of our physically challenged people. Some physically children who would have been thrown away by some people due to their severe conditions were seen displaying their God-given abilities even with their extreme physical conditions. At a point, Chief Dotun Sanusi could no longer controlled his emotions and when it was time for him to make his speech he grabbed the microphone and he said and I quote, “today is not a day to make speech, today is a day of action..” He immediately announced several wheel Chairs for some of the physically challenged. He went further to declare that he would be donating a specific amount every month for smooth operations of the outreach. He dropped the Microphone and what followed was a whirlwind of applause. Journalists present in the occasion swarmed his seat for comment, but he politely declined and directed them to go and talk to the organizer.
After the program, Chief Dotun Sanusi, his friend, Dr. Abeeb Olamitoye and late Mr. Babatunde Olaniyi all exchanged banters but on getting back to his car, his mood was reverted to the one witnessed while making his speech, he drove without uttering some words for some minutes. It was evident that what he saw really got to him.
