J.F. Odunjo, the renowned Yoruba literary icon and writer of the popular Yoruba textbooks, Alawiye, died about 45 years ago, but his works continue to retain the importance and allure they had when he first wrote them.
No Yoruba child worth his/her onions in the last 50 years would say he or she studied in Yorubaland without drinking from the well of wisdom, which the Alawiye series have been to the study of Yoruba language.
With different stories and poetries that taught deep values and imbued generations after generations with ethos of Omoluabi, for which the Yorubas are renowned, Alawiye remains remarkable for sapient sayings and unchanging wisdom from Yoruba oral tradition.
From the many evergreen poems of Odunjo, including “Ijuba,” “Ise l’oogun ise,” “Iwa,” and so on, one always stands out for me. While I can’t remember its title at the moment, it is a poetry of eulogy for an illustrious child. It reads thus: “Kaka ki n’bi egbaa obun, maa kuku bi okan soso oga, maa fi yan araye loju, maa ro’un gbera’ga.
“Se okan soso araba, kii se egbe egbaa osusun; omo to jafafa kan soso, o san ju igba irunbi omo
“Akuku’bi san ju radarada; ka’ku l’omode ko ye’ni, o san ju ka d’agba ka toro’je lo.”
As a child, I recited this poem with excitement, even when I didn’t fully grasp its meaning. It is in my adult days that I have come to fully understand this poem, which we all knew like the back of our palms. And, all thanks to a certain Dele Ajaja, whose translation of the poem into English helped to drive the meaning home. In Ajaja’s translation as sighted on Facebook, he said: “Instead of breeding two thousand filthy ones, I would procreate an exceptional child, I would have something for the world to envy, I would have something to be proud of.
“A single cotton tree is appreciable than two thousand cane-shrubs; an outstanding child outstrips multitudes of unproductive broods. Infertility is better than begetting hopeless progenies; to expire reverentially at a young age is better than begging to eat at old age.”
In the Yoruba version and Ajaja’s translation, I found a deep meaning to a poetry that appeared to clearly speak prophetically about an individual I have come to have so much respect for, Oloye Jubril Dotun Sanusi, the Bada Olubadan-designate, who is the chairman of Ilaji Hotels and Sport Resort.
Oh, what were you thinking? You thought the piece o about a review of Odunjo’s body of works? No. It is about the Okan Soso Oga, Jubril Dotun Sanusi, the Ibadan-born philanthropist, whom the universe has chosen to honour due to his honourable ways.
This Ibadan man, born into the lowly estate of Pa Ganiyu Oladosu Sanusi of Olugbade Compound, Oja’ba, Ibadan, has become a cynosure, catching the attention of the Source and rising to take his garlands for years of service to Yorubaland and to humanity, as he is being installed as the Okanlomo Oodua of Yorubaland by no other person than the Arole Oodua himself, the Oonirisa.
Through His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, the universe has risen to honour Ibadan and Oyo State’s Okan Soso Araba, JDS, who has become a source of great pride to Ibadanland and to Oyo State, having demonstrated that men can, indeed, work solo, make money and spare nothing in making impact on society with their hard-earned resources and that, when they do, even nature will give them their accolades.
While I was privileged to read Alawiye from Primary One to Primary Six, I only heard folktales about Salami Agbaje of Idikan Ibadan fame and later about Chief Lekan Salami, the Ibadan man who lifted Shooting Stars with his personal wealth. But in Jubril Dotun Sanusi, I have been privileged to see the practical manifestation of these two great men and philanthropists. Unknown to me, however, Sanusi’s milk of human kindness has flowed beyond Ibadan, reaching the shores of Yorubaland and even unto other corners of Nigeria and the world.
A man whose life relived the poetry above, Sanusi had decades earlier, proved himself as “omo to ja fafa kan soso, ti kii se egbe igba irunbi omo,” when he worked diligently in the oil sector, traversing different international companies such as Halliburton Nigeria Limited, an American oil and gas company; Saipem Drilling, an Italian oil and gas company; Beckfield Drilling Services from Hanover, Germany; Measurement-While Drilling, Directional Drilling Services; Kasolute Nigeria Limited and Gyro Precision Survey Services.
The Okanlomo Oodua continued his trajectory of hard work and diligence even when he decided to start his own business about 26 years ago, with the establishment of his first-ever company, Tasaniola Nigeria Limited, TNL, which provided oil drilling services and attained the enviable height of becoming a technical partner to Sinopec Services, the richest oil and gas company in China and later a partner with Henan Petroleum Drilling Services and Oil and Gas Land Drilling Services and Rigs, which consults for Shell Petroleum, Agip, ExxonMobil, Adax, Seblat.
For a man who made his money by a sheer dint of hard work and diligence, Engr Dotun Sanusi chose a path less travelled by most businessmen, opting to give back to the society and humanity even when he had no interest in politics. The erudite man of the people started off with contributing to building a better society when he established the International College of Arts, Science and Technology (ICAST) in Port Harcourt, River State and in Ibadan, Oyo State. He, however, proved that running the school was not about profit making when he began to build roads in the Elebu Area of Ibadan, where ICAST is located.
The Okanlomo Oodua soon followed his venture into educational philanthropy with the establishment of Ilaji Farms, through which he provides eggs to sickle cell patients and the underprivileged in the society.
Soon after, Sanusi established the biggest tourism outfit in the entire South-West known as the Ilaji Hotels and Sport Resort, and in doing so, he did it in the most unimaginable way possible. The magician in Sanusi went to the remotest part of Ibadan, Akanran, to begin a global revolution, which has now become a centre for sports and tourism in the entire Oyo State. By doing this, this Okan Soso Araba proved himself as one of the greatest lovers of Ibadanland by not only opening up an entire local government, Ona Ara to development but by also repositioning Ibadan and the South-West on the global map.
The man now, being honoured as Okanlomo Oodua had also as part of his philanthropy, reconnected over 84 communities in Ibadan to the national grid by procuring transformers and installing them. He has uplifted many homes and given hopes to countless boys through the sport arm of Ilaji Resort, with the Ilaji Soccer Academy becoming a veritable platform for making global football stars and taking thousands of children out of poverty and restiveness.
Indeed, JDS as he is fondly called, had also contributed to restoring peace to Ibadanland through his initiative aimed at empowering youths in various communities to dissolve into community watchmen groups and channel their productive energy to making society better.
It is for remarkable initiatives above, which aimed at making the society better that Jubril Dotun Sanusi has become renowned as a man on a mission, who is determined to make a marked difference. It is for such initiatives that he stands shoulders above of the “egbaa obun” in Oyo State and Yorubaland, scores of men who had golden opportunities to make a difference but chose to fritter away the chances. It is for the initiatives seized and opportunities used to rebuild society and make it a better place that the Ooni of Ife spotted Dotun Sanusi and the revered monarch, Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Senator Rashidi Ladoja stood in agreement that his golden son, Jubril Dotun Sanusi, is indeed, worthy of the title of Okanlomo Oodua.
Today, Ile-Ife and Ibadan will stand still for this Ibadan golden son, and the four corners of Oyo State and the South-West will feel the vibes. Thousands of residents will celebrate the Okanlomo Oodua, the man I call the Okan Soso Araba, who appears to be the best man for the job of moving Oyo State forward in 2027, despite the “egbaa osusun” parading themselves as the best thing, grandstanding by using the emi lo kan slogan carelessly and ridiculously. This is also, despite the serial letdown, many such of such people have been with the opportunities they have had over the years.
.Akeseegun writes from Agbofieti, Ibadan.
