Wale Babalakin pays tribute to Bode Akindele, great entrepreneur and man of courage

I was very shocked to hear about the passing away of Chief Bode Akindele (CBA). I had seen him regularly at social functions and he never looked an inch older than 70 years even though the last time I saw him, he was 87 years old. His carriage was solid and he always responded to my greetings with his trademark smile.

I had greatly debated with myself whether I should write a tribute to Chief Akindele. This is more so, considering that my close relationship with Chief Akindele was for about five years. I believe that there are so many people who knew him for a longer period of time and thus are more qualified to write a proper tribute.

I resolved to write this tribute primarily to inform the younger generation about the great vision and strides a confident Nigerian businessman can make on the global stage especially when the individual is focused and determined, rather than being weighed down by perceived disadvantages and other misconceptions.

Four Nigerian businessmen have had great effect on my entrepreneurial interest. Chief Bode Akindele was one of them.

The other individual whom I will mention in this tribute is Mr. Wilberforce Olusegun Odulate. It was Mr. Odulate who made me realise that academic disposition and entrepreneurial activities were not irreconcilable. Having been brought up in a family of professionals, all I was primed to do from youth was to be a successful legal practitioner and be elevated to the Bench or remain as a practitioner in the Bar.

Mr. Odulate had studied physics in a University in England. He had a very good job but opted to reinvent his father’s business in producing Alabukun powder. At some point, Mr. Odulate was writing a textbook on Physics in England whilst also involved in the business of producing Alabukun in Nigeria.

I met Mr Odulate through his son, Koye, who was my contemporary and friend at Cambridge University. Koye used to pick me up from Cambridge to London and we (i.e. Mr. Odulate, Koye and I) would spend an entire evening till the early hours of the morning discussing Greek Philosophy and sometimes business strategy. These interactions with Mr. Odulate were very unique to me. How could a philosopher be a very successful businessman? I remain grateful to Mr. Odulate for opening my eyes to see that scholarship and business are not irreconcilable. May his entrepreneurial spirit continue to rest in peace.

I met Chief Akindele through a banker who had supported most of his industrial projects in Nigeria. Chief Akindele’s primary legal adviser in Nigeria had just passed away and he had so many legal issues that he wanted resolved. The banker nominated me to Chief Akindele. I can still vividly recall the reaction of Chief Akindele when he saw me. He was expecting a man in his middle age and not a 30-year-old boy. After the first assignment our firm carried out for Chief Akindele, he stopped seeing me as a young man and we simply got on like a house on fire.

Chief Akindele had so many unique qualities and capacities that cannot be described properly in a short tribute like this. I will only highlight a few. Chief Akindele had enormous self-confidence and never felt overwhelmed by expatriates. He could not be a stooge for anybody no matter how highly placed. I saw this attitude displayed when he decided to pull out of a major construction company. Chief Akindele owned 50% of the company and was not going to kowtow to anybody. The severance was a battle which played out in Lagos, London and Switzerland. His adversaries had a barrage of lawyers from all these jurisdictions.

It also had the support of some high-ranking members of government. I was with Chief Akindele, as his lawyer, at every forum. This was very encouraging to me. On many occasions, Chief Akindele will say to me, “Wale, I can bet that you can take them all together and carry the day”. That was a great encouragement for, and confidence in, a 30-year- old man! The Managing Director of the company was so browbeaten by Chief Akindele and his team that he told me at a later stage that in his entire business life, no one had totally dominated him in any sphere of business like Chief Akindele.

Chief Akindele loathed the idea of fronting for anybody. He felt it was very belittling for anybody to be a front. Fronting in Nigeria’s context means that you present yourself as the owner of a business while you are simply a lackey to the real owners. Chief Akindele could not understand why anybody could do such a thing when one could build or acquire the business for one’s self.