The untold story of Jubril Dotun Sanusi and Ilaji Resorts by Mutalubi Ojo ADEBAYO SAN
JCI Senator Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN, is Asiwaju Ita-Ege & Idi-Aro, Ward 5, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, Oyo State of Nigeria & Agba Ofin of Orile-Igbon Kingdom, Orile-Igbon, Surulere Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria. +2348033275495, +2348181585848. Email: adebayoojo90@gmail.com.
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My humble self and another mutual friend of ours, Kazeem Adekambi, brought Dotun to Ibadan to make some investments in Ibadan and perhaps in Oyo state.
Both Dotun and Kazeem were my juniors at the Wesley College Practising, Elekuro, Ibadan. I was a year ahead of both of them and we also later met at the University of Ibadan.
Dotun studied Petroleum Engineering while Kazeem read Chemistry, but ended up being a banker until he retired in 2017. He has now relocated to the USA.
Sir, NBA held a conference in Port- Harcourt in 2012 when I was the Attorney-General of Oyo state. Dotun was then based in PH and decided to host me. He lodged me at NICON Hotel in PH and also invited me to visit his palatial house, big educational institutions, estates and companies in PH and Akwa Ibom.
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At his oil servicing company, I saw several expatriates working for him, who were then over 80, foreigners of various nationalities.
When we went out later at night to unwind, I took him up on why he had not given it a thought to replicate some of those huge companies in Ibadan, too. I told him that he should have at the back of his mind that Nigeria may likely break up in the future. He told me that Kazeem expressed similar concerns when he visited him during his vacation earlier in 2012.
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There and then, Dotun agreed with me and gave me and Kazeem a blank directive to look for large expanse of land which could be used for farming and also serve as a training farm for our teeming Ibadan unemployed graduates and school leavers.
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We hit the ground running, and a vast parcel of land was procured at Akanran, the headquarters of Ona-Ara local government, which is a common local government. Dotun promptly paid for the land and also settled our law firm – Adebayo & Gbadamosi Legal Practitioners’ professional fees, as well as the commission of the land agents who sourced the land.
Dotun is a different specie of Nigerian businessmen. He will never cheat any person in any business dealing and will always ensure that everyone gets what they are entitled to, fully. It is heartbreaking when he was hijacked later by some unscrupulous professionals who were extorting him in some real estate deals by padding prices of land transactions they did for him. Dotun was aware that he later had trust issues with them.
After we purchased the vast expanse of land at Akanran, Dotun hit the ground running, and a large-scale poultry farming took off at Akanran. Dotun named it “Ilaji Farm,” which is the name of his maternal ancestral home in Ibadan.
He insisted that local content must be applied by giving priorities to indigenes of Ona-Ara local government in terms of employment on the farm as well as the trainees to be recruited on same. His directive on local content was strictly adhered to.
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The poultry business, though not a profit-oriented one, didn’t succeed as Nigeria happened to it. Massive stealing and theft became the order of the day on the farm by not only the workers and the trainees but also by very close relations of Dotun.
Dotun abandoned the poultry farm for them and ventured into the resorts and hospitality business, which he named Ilaji Hotels and Resorts. More and more lands were acquired by our law firm – Adebayo & Gbadamosi, (A&G) while Kazeem Adekambi became the unofficial supervisor of the massive construction works going on at Ilaji. The resort has become another town within Akanran and also a new town within the city of Ibadan.
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Ilaji Resorts is a complete and total resorts – home away from home sort of and which is located in a completely serene part of Ibadan city and far away totally from the hustle and bustle of the city of Ibadan. It was fashioned after those great resorts of Kenya and other great resorts of East Africa.
The initial setback for Ilaji Resort was non- availability of electricity supply because prior to the birth of Ilaji Resorts, the entire area from Omowumi to Olorunsogo, Ogbeere, Asolo, Amuloko, Odeyale, up to Akanran, including the headquarters of the Ona-Ara local government, had been off the national grid for over 10years because the electric cables transmitting powers to all the areas had been carted away and NEPA and its successors – PHCN and IBEDC had both abandoned and neglected the people of the area (very densely populated) to their fates. Similarly, successive governments in Oyo state also chose to ignore the inhabitants of the local government whose population is close to 1 (one) million.
But Dotun, being a man with genuine milk of human kindness and being God-sent to his people, engaged the authority of IBEDC and provided the requested humongous fund by the IBEDC and electric supply was restored to Ona-Ara local government. On that project, too, Dotun was exploited and extorted by some dishonest staff of IBEDC, but he was not deterred. He kept his eyes on the ball and till today, remains focussed. Due to the singular efforts of Dotun, the entire Ona-Ara local government is back on the national grid after over 10 years of sabbatical and consignment to total darkness.
Another challenge that Ilaji faced was a very unmotorable road from Olorunsogo to Akanran, which is a distance of over 10km. Dotun took it upon himself and rehabilitated the road for the benefit of the visitors to the resort and also for the use of the inhabitants of the area. Smiles, laughter, and real hope were brought back to the faces of all persons that use the road – commutters and pedestrians alike as the road has now become motorable.
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Lest I forget, Dotun also established multi-purpose primary and secondary schools in Elebu area of Oluyole local government area of Oyo state. The schools are named ICAST Group of Schools and also at present has an HSC or Advanced Level section. ICAST is a top grade school set up primarily as a non-profit oriented entity.
Dotun reconstructed the entire roads in the area with paving interlocking stones. The hitherto waterlogged area of about 5km was constructed singlehandedly by Dotun.
Both Ilaji and ICAST have become household names in Ibadan in particular and Oyo state in general.
I make bold to say that there is no politician of note in Oyo state who has not been to Ilaji, either for relaxation and/or to solicit for Dotun’s support for their political careers. None of them was ever turned down by Dotun. He assisted all and sundry both morally and financially.
Dotun’s acts of philanthropy are second to none. Ilaji has become Mecca and Jerusalem to all and sundry and people from all walks of life continue to troop to Ilaji for all sorts of assistances, succour and support. Ilaji is always a beehive of activities all year round.
Without being immodest, no indigene of Ibadan and perhaps Oyo state (except and of course, Alhaji Ahmed Adeniyi Raji, SAN) has made landmark and significant contributions and developments to our communities, societies towns and her citizens like Engineer (Oloye) Jubreel Dotun Sanusi since the advent of this nascent democracy in 1999.
Dotun does his bits for humanity and mankind without expecting anything in return. My Leader, Hero, Benefactor and Role Model, Senator Abiola Ajimobi asked Dotun in 2012 to tell him what he actually wanted him to do for him after Dotun’s massive support for our government, but Dotun told my Boss that he was merely contributing his own token for the growth and development of Oyo state.
Dotun supported massively the dream and ambition of Aketi to become the governor of Ondo state at my insistence and deliberately chose not to visit Aketi and or Ondo state to secure anything in return. I stand to be contradicted by anybody.
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Governor Seyi Makinde and Dotun are bosom friends, but the support of Dotun to the election of GSM in 2019 and his re-election in 2023 were massive to the extent that the history of GSM ‘s successes at polls would be incomplete without according Dotun his right of place.
Similarly, Dotun unreservedly placed and deployed his resources to support the ambition of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023. I do not know any other individual who is not a politician who expended as much as the resources deployed by Dotun for PBAT in that election in Oyo state.
Dotun is an all-rounder, very compassionate, humane, sincere, honest. He genuinely loves our town, our state and our people.
The most trusted person by Dotun is our mutual friend and brother, Dr. Kunle Bamidele, a psychiatrist consultant based in the United Kingdom and I have enlisted Kunle’s support to call on Dotun to accept the call to run for Oyo gubernatorial election in 2027.
May the good Lord allow and permit Jubreel Dotun Sanusi to heed and accept the requests of those calling on Dotun to throw his hat into the ring and run for the governorship of Oyo state in 2027 so that he can take our state to the next level. Nobody is as qualified as Engineer Jubreel Dotun Sanusi (JDS), the Apesin of the Source, the Otun Apesin of Ibadanland and the Jagun of Ibadanland to lead Oyo State in 2027.
Apesin, kindly accept the offer and bring good governance to berth in Oyo state in 2027.
