UNLIKE many investors of his ilk whose preoccupation is profit-making, he has placed himself in the league of philanthropists who have shown that genuine entrepreneurship lies in human and community development.
This new form of entrepreneurship was well painted by Thomas L. Friedman when he said “one of the newest figures to emerge on the world stage in recent years is the social entrepreneur. This is usually someone who burns with desire to make a positive social impact on the world, but believes that the best way of doing it is, as the saying goes, not by giving poor people a fish and feeding them for a day but by teaching them to fish in hopes of feeding them for a lifetime.
I have come to know several social entrepreneurs in recent years, and most combine a business school brain with a social worker’s heart. The triple convergence and the flattening of the world have been a godsend for them. Those who get it and are adapting to it have begun launching some very innovative projects.”
His activities have brought the low and the mighty together in Oyo State today. Chief Dotun Sanusi is a consummate entrepreneur who has taken the business world by storm. The graduate of the Petroleum Engineering Department of the University of Ibadan and the Mogaji of Olugbade Compound, Oja’aba, Ibadan, is a foremost investor and a philanthropist par excellence. He has used his wealth to develop, socio-economically, the communities God has exposed him to. Places such as Oyinloye area in Elebu, Olororo area at Challenge-Elewura and Ona-Ara local government have experienced God’s favour firsthand through Chief Sanusi’s kindheartedness.
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Many have continued to wonder what this man really wants but Chief Sanusi has consistently left no one in doubt that he is only fulfilling a covenant with his Creator. According to him, as a youngster with a longing for a life of success and service, he had promised God that if He blessed him, he would use the endowment to bless others around him. Besides, being raised by a kind-hearted mother, Madam Muslimot Abegbe Sanusi, of blessed memory, little Sanusi watched his mother, whose alias then was Ilaji (the name he has immortalised through the establishment of Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort, a hospitality cum recreation outfit) lending helping hands to the people around her. Sanusi is today exhibiting the greatest legacy his mother had bequeathed to him.
He has used his entrepreneurial skills to transform what was hitherto a jungle into a foremost tourist centre in Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort. Due to Sanusi’s entrepreneurial ingenuity, a place once referred to as a desert of employment opportunities has become a hub of economic activities. Over 200 people (direct and indirect) earn their living at the Ilaji Group (Ilaji Farms and Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort) on a daily basis. The economic activities of Akanran town and its environs which were comatose for 14 years due to the absence of electricity have started picking up since power was restored to the communities by Chief Dotun Sanusi early this year.
Nigeria’s football legend, Kanu Nwankwo and foremost traditional rulers in Oyo State have made Ilaji Resort their number one destination for recreation. The Alaafin of Oyo and Olubadan of Ibadan are among the traditional rulers that will be in attendance during a cultural renaissance of Ona-Ara this Saturday at Ilaji Resort.
Starting from November 1, 2019 about 10 clubs representing major towns of Oyo State will be present at Ilaji Resort on a weekly basis to participate in Ilaji Premier League. This is a multi-million naira league that is solely financed by Chief Dotun Sanusi.
Today, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, will be at Ilaji Resort to inaugurate Ilaji Art Gallery, which boasts the best collections of Ibadan and Yoruba nation’s historical relics. The traditional ruler will seize the opportunity to mark his birthday with his birthday mate, Chief Dotun Sanusi, at the prestigious Olugbade Hall of Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort.
A happy and prosperous 51st birthday to Chief Dotun Sanusi, the Chief Executive Officer of TNL, Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort, Ilaji Farms, ICAST Group of Schools.
Ayansola is the head of media at Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort, Ibadan.
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