Jonathan Adioobafemi Olopade
You are still very fit at 90, how do you do it?
Well, I feel strongly that faith plays a prominent part in one’s life. If God has said you will live long on earth, and you wish yourself same, he will answer your prayer. From childhood, I’ve always thought that, I would live long enough to see my children, my grand children and my great grand children, even though I started late. I had my first child exactly a week after I turned 45. I have seen all my children through University, 15 of them, nine girls and six boys. So I strongly believe that faith has an important part to play. Asides that, you must take care of your body. I don’t smoke or drink, but I enjoy good food and good company, both male and female and I like a conducive atmosphere where I can do things easily. My mother died a few years ago, at the age of 102, and I was the last child. The bible says in Genesis 6:3, that ‘’Our days on earth shall be a hundred and twenty years’’ and I believe that I should live to be a hundred and twenty years. Ask God, if he feels you deserve it, he will give it to you.
Quite a lot of people refer to you as Mr. Integrity, how did you earn that reputation?
It’s a submission of many things. Let your word be your bond. I am very honest with people. In business it pays to be honest with your business partners, associate, customers, and clients. I like that and I’ve lived up to it. Thank God I have and that’s how I live and make friends, I don’t have too many but the few that I have, I am proud to have them and I think they are proud to have me as a friend too.
You have a background in Structural Engineering; did you ever explore it before going into business?
Yes of course. As a matter of fact, I still practice it. I built my house, from the foundation to the roof. I had a very good construction team. I don’t build houses I build homes. There’s a marked difference. A home is a place where you will enjoy the life you want to live. I built my home, and I’m proud that I did. When people come here, they ask, “Chief, who’s your contractor?” and I laugh and say, I built it. I also built my home in Abeokuta. Structural Engineering was what I decided study and I still use it. Back then I had a construction team in Republic of Benin and then, we transferred to this place. I built the Nigerian Embassy there. A lot of people don’t even know that. When I told one of the ambassadors, he was shocked.
So what other business do you do?
Well, I have interests in Finance and Manufacturing. I manufacture tissue paper, hand towels and disposable syringes. I’m also about to commence manufacturing condoms. My products are all health related. I feel rightly or wrongly, that one’s health is one’s wealth, and if you are healthy, there’s nothing you cannot do.
Was it easier doing business back then in the country?
Well, business is not difficult to do at anytime. As a race, we like to cut corners. We are not honest with ourselves neither are we honest with others. I’m a very lucky person. People have assisted me, without demanding one kobo from me, and it’s in my book, my autobiography. That was the honesty of the people those days.
With all these issues on ground, how do you advice a young person about starting up a business, putting into consideration the current state of the economy?
I think the young ones too, with due respect, tend to reason the way the politicians reason. They believe that everything has its own price. That’s not correct. A young person who wants to start a business thinks first and foremost, that they have to bribe somebody to achieve their goal. Also, today, the young ones want to buy what they call ‘designers’. I also hear some go to a restaurant and spend N35,000 in one night. There are young men who do not have two blocks, talk less of a house, and yet they want to travel first class Lagos-London. When you are running a business of your own and you are paying out of your pocket, make sure that you spend your money wisely and judiciously. I’m really sorry for this generation. I tell my own children, the opportunities are here for you, and things have improved tremendously. If you are honest with yourself and you do good business, you’ll make it. You may not be a billionaire or a millionaire, but you will make sufficient money to keep you abreast among your friends and counterparts. You would also be able to move freely in and out of this country. You don’t have to have millions to be comfortable. With a good partner, good house, good children, what else do you want? You can’t buy happiness. Nobody sells it. Some of these young men who do businesses don’t seat freely, they have fear. 30 years ago, there was no such thing. Today, it’s the order of the day. There are too many things that are wrong with this generation. You don’t say thank you, you don’t use the word please. Even your houseboy who cleans your shoe, how many times have you said thank you to him? You don’t. You’ll say, you are paying him. It’s not proper! What he’s doing, you cannot do it for yourself, that’s why he’s doing it, thank him/her for it. Some youngsters have to go back to the drawing board, like we say in Engineering, and learn the ethics of business.
What do you think brought about this ‘Get Rich Quick and Keeping up with the Joneses’ attitude, and how do you think we can retrace our steps?
Well, there’s a Yoruba saying, that in horse racing, the horse behind looks at the speed of the horse ahead of it. So if that one is fast, he chases. The young ones see some people make money without sweat or labour and say to themselves, I want to make money like Mr. Jones. Just because some people have gotten away with it doesn’t mean the same will apply to you. I’ve always told my children, don’t pray to be as rich as Mr. X, pray to be as rich as yourself and as God wishes. If you sin in 2016, you have to pay for it in 2018. You can’t escape it. There’s no way out, anyone who commits an offense, receives it here on earth. I’m happy today, that most of you go to churches, but unfortunately, it seems as if, when you go to those churches, they tell you what you want to hear but they don’t tell you what you ought to know. So you are tied to what the so-called pastor tells you. We have to do a bit of rethinking and spend more time in knowing our values. Is it the most expensive clothing, the most expensive shoes or your relatives who need education and also financial and moral support that you have to consider as your priority?
Chief Jonathan Adio Obafemi Olopade OFR was born in 1926 to Pa Jacob Ali-Balogun Olopade and Madam Adeline Aina Thomas Ige-George. Of ten children, he was the last. After secondary school, Olopade’s first job was working as a draughtsman for an Italian construction company called Dolcino and Michallete after which, he got another appointment as Sub-Inspector of Lands. He later left Nigeria for the UK in 1955 and moved to Brighton to study Structural Engineering. Whilst abroad, Olopade was involved in politics and student union activism. He travelled a lot visiting various countries all over the world. He met a lot of personalities like Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya, Martin Luther King Jnr, Andy Young, Sir Tafawa Balewa to name a few. But it was not all work and no play with this dapper gentleman. He led a very active social life, enjoying rock and roll, jiving and meeting girls. Olopade returned to Nigeria in 1967 and a few years after paid employment, set up his own Consulting and Construction firm, International Engineering Consultants. Since then, he has excelled in several endeavours too many to mention and whilst doing so, remains a shining star and inspirational example to the younger generation. At 90, his air of youthfulness, which bellies his actual age, strikes one. An interaction with him gives more credence to the phrase ‘age is nothing but a number’! Recently he spent an enthralling afternoon with Konye Chelsea Nwabogor, where he talks about the joys of turning 90 and reminisces about life in the yester years. PhotograPh by TY Bello My mother died a few years ago, at the age of 102, and I was the last child. The bible says in Genesis 6:3, that ‘’Our days on earth shall be a hundred and twenty years’’ and I believe that I should live to be a hundred and twenty years.