“How have the mighty fallen and the weapons of war have perished!”
I was away from this page in the month of July for an overdue rest and much needed bodywork. A few days after my last column in June, the Grim Reaper struck with a vengeance, taking away a number of prominent personalities from us. Among them was Sir (Chief) Bode Akindele (CBA), Parakoyi of Ibadanland, Knight of John Wesley, Baba Ijo of Methodist Cathedral, Agbeni, Ibadan; founder of Modandola Group (Nigeria), Fairgate Group (Europe), and a global business icon. His gallant exit is an occasion for the celebration of his life and unique business model.
Born in 1933, by age 10, while still in elementary school, CBA had developed his business sense, following in the footsteps of his mother, a successful business woman of her era. He started by saving part of his pocket money and diverting it to the business of buying and selling coconut candies to his peers. According to the elders, omo ti yio je Asamu, lati kekere lo ti n jenu samusamu. Morning shows the day. This was one element of the CBA model: Start early, start small. I once discussed with him my plan on starting a business after retirement. He laughed it off and warned against investing my retirement benefits in a venture that will fail. “Stay in your lane; it’s too late to venture into business”, he said with the finality of an expert.
A second aspect of his business model was “godliness.” We cynically mock the combination of godliness and business. The goal of business is profit maximization, which entails charging exorbitantly and disproportionately to cost. Surely, this cannot be godly. Yet, a businessman whose focus is godly business has ample resources for guidance. “You must not act deceptively or lie to one another” is God’s injunction in Leviticus 19:11. In verse 13 of the same chapter, we read that “the wages of a hired hand must not remain with you until morning.” Luke 10:7 declares that “laborers deserve their pay.” Above all, the Golden Rule is as applicable to the business world as to the non-business world. CBA knew that he had to be in tune with his God, and he made God’s instructions his guidelines in business and industry. Thus, his autobiography is appropriately titled “I Did it God’s Way.”
A third element of CBA’s business model is what has become known in recent times as corporate social responsibility. However, prior the recent popularisation of this concept, CBA had been in the lead in taking responsibility for the less privileged among us. For, as a child of God, he has internalized the teaching of his Master in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goat in Matthew 25:31-46. Here, Jesus taught that when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick and the prisoner, and take in the stranger, we do it for him. And if we don’t, it is counted against us, and the consequence is eternal condemnation.
Without fanfare, Bode Akindele Foundation (BAF) undertook numerous charity projects for the benefit of educational institutions, church organisations, and non-profit organisations that cater for the less privileged and the least advantaged. A good number of them offered testimonials with hearts of gratitude in the events that celebrated his life last week.
A final aspect of CBA’s business model that I would like to identify is neutrality in partisan politics and an aversion to partisanship. CBA knew that it was never in the interest of business to mix it with partisan politics. Indeed, it appears that it was not just the mixture of business and partisan politics that he was averse to. He was wary of partisan political competition, period. I recall that a well-intentioned effort was made to attract me to electoral contests early in this republic. The respected political leaders involved had approached Chief Akindele so he can talk to me about it. However, before he even talked to me, he had counseled against the idea. And when he talked to me, he told me that he had told them that he did not support the idea. He gave them the reasons which he also gave me. I agreed with him.
Note here that the emphasis is on partisan politics. For politics, in its generic sense is inescapable, even for a godly business. After all, political decisions impact business in spectacular ways. Indeed, one of the political decisions of the military administration in the early 1970s was the indigenisation decree, which promoted indigenous businesses. And with Nigeria’s pariah status in the 90s, indigenous businesses suffered tremendous hardship. Therefore, businesses naturally have an interest in policies coming out of governmental decisions. And they can have influence on such decisions if they are not seen as partisans. This was Chief Akindele’s model of business-government relationship.
Furthermore, CBA was also a democrat to the core. Not many Nigerians were aware of Chief Akindele’s contributions to pro-democracy struggles against the military after the annulment of the 1993 presidential elections.
He didn’t make any noise about it, but he supported wholeheartedly with his resources. Indeed, he was a great benefactor of Egbe Isokan Yoruba in Washington, DC.
Of course, good intentions did not always turn out well in the realm of politics. That was the case with his willingness to patriotically answer the call to invest in the privatisation program of the government in the early years of the Fourth Republic. The efforts of his group to buy NITEL were frustrated, and it was not a good experience. In January 2009, mid-way between his 75th and 76th birthday, CBA reflected on that experience with a public thanksgiving in which he gave testimony to the faithfulness of God for seeing him through that dark hour.
“How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished!” This was the reaction of young David to the tragic death, in battle, of King Saul and his son, Jonathan. The Philistines had killed Jonathan and wounded his father. Saul, not wanting the Philistines to have the pleasure of killing him, requested his armor bearer to do it instead. When he refused, Saul fell on his sword and died. The armor bearer followed suit.
An Amalekite man, wanting to take credit, ran to David to give him the “good news” falsely claiming that he had killed Saul at Saul’s request. David was devastated. He tore his clothes in mourning for Saul and Jonathan. He turned to the young Amalekite and asked: “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” Though Saul had pursued David with untiring efforts to kill him, David saw Saul as God’s anointed, and he ordered the Amalekite killed for “confessing” to killing Saul.
David paid glowing tributes to Saul and Jonathan. They were warriors of national and international repute. “Jonathan’s bow never retreated. Saul’s swords never returned unstained.” Now, the mighty have fallen. The weapons of war have perished. As a man of war himself, this was David’s sorrow.
We are aware of the exploits of Chief Bode Akindele in global business and industry. He was not awarded the title of Parakoyi for nothing. Traditionally, Parakoyi is the Chief of commerce in Yorubaland. He carried that title around the world with diligence, dignity and integrity. In his tribute last week, General Oluwole Rotimi recalled that his own brother had withdrawn from working with CBA because, according to him, CBA was like “a slave driver.” Well, the truth is that CBA drove himself like a slave. That was his work ethic: Eniti ko le se bi alaaru lona Ijebu ko le se bi Adegboro loja Oba.
As David himself demonstrated with his victories, the weapons of war did not perish with Saul and Jonathan. Let us pray that with Parakoyi’s transition to glory, diligence, dignity, and integrity, the tested weapons of godly business, have not been interned with him.
You earned your rest, Baba. However, Oku olomo kii sun. You must watch over your loved ones as they stay in the path of diligence, dignity, and integrity. Adieu!
