Jobi-Fele, ex-Oodua chair, dies at 70

Palpable grief hung in the air at the Adeniyi Jones home of industrialist and former chairman of Oodua Investment Company Limited, Otunba Mohammed Aliu Jobi-Fele yesterday, following his demise in Abuja on Thursday night.

Jobi-Fele, who would have been 71 on May 20, was said to have travelled to the nation’s capital on Thursday morning on a private visit. A source close to the family of the Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State High Chief confided in The Nation that the industrialist on Thursday evening made phone calls to some family members and a few of his employees, noting that he was in very high spirit while he made the calls, and that he promised to be in Lagos on Friday. The source, however, expressed shock that one of the people he had called later broke the news that he had died.

The source said: “Papa travelled to Abuja on that fateful Thursday. He lodged in a hotel and between 7.00 and 7. 40 pm, he called some relations and a few close employees. He discussed with them and cracked jokes in his usual way. He was obviously in high spirit. But not more than 15 minutes after he ended the phone call, the last person he chatted with was called from Abuja and informed that the person who spoke just a while ago was dead.’’

A family statement described him as an industrious individual who never allowed the wealth into which he was born to spoil him. He studied Textile Technology at the Salford College, now University in the UK.

He was until his death the chairman of Jobitex Group of Companies. He was appointed chairman of the Board of the Odua Investment Company on February 5, 1997. He was a recipient of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), and held a traditional title of Otunba of Ikare Akoko.

Reacting to the news yesterday, Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, commiserated with the family of Otunba Mohammed Aliu Jobi-Fele and the government and good people of Ondo State on the death of their son, an industrialist and philanthropist.

He said Jobi-Fele’s demise had robbed the country of one of its pillars of commerce whose contribution to the nation’s economy would not be forgotten by coming generations.

Fayemi, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Friday, described Jobi-Fele’s death as a big blow to the Yoruba race, noting that the deceased’s tenure as Chairman of Odua Investment Limited lifted the industrial profile of the Southwest.

The Management of Odua Investment Company Limited also expressed shock at his death. Jobi-Fele served as the Group Chairman of the conglemerate between 1997 and 1999.

In a statement by its current Chairman and Group Managing Director, Senator Brimo Yusuf and Mr Adebayo Jimoh in Ibadan yesterday, the company described the deceased as an astute businessman and a stickler for integrity, adding that he made landmark achievements in turning around the company during his tenure. Yusuf described the death as a great shock to Odua Group and the nation as a whole. He remembered the turnaround roles Otunba Jobi-Fele played from February 1997 to June 1999 when he held the fort as Odua chairman, saying he set the conglomerate on the path of prosperity.

According to him, available records showed that Jobi-Fele was a stickler for thoroughness, transparency and accountability.

Jimoh described the deceased as tall in brain and integrity. He said he sanitised and restored the conglomerate to its noble position as a pioneer profitable and highly reputable holding company.

The GMD noted that the former chairman did everything humanly possible to enhance works standards and productivity. He said Jobi-Fele would be fondly remembered by all members of staff of the conglomerate.

“Durig his tenure as the Group’s chairman, he distinguished himself as an industrialist of repute, a quintessential businessman and an astute administrator,’’ he said, adding that ‘’he contributed to the upliftment of the company through his high sense of business acumen and sound business judgment which was unquantifiable.”

When our reporter approached the management of Transcorp Hilton, the hotel’s Public Relations Officer, one Mr. Shola, who talked to our reporter on the telephone declined comments.

He said the hotel was under obligation not to disclose information about its guests.

But the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command spokesman, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, a Superintendent of Police, claimed that Otunba Jobi-Fele did not die in the hotel.

He told The Nation that he took ill and sought the help of the hotel staff to go to the National Hospital for treatment. He said the industrialist died on the way to the hospital

Survived by his wife, Mrs. Anike Jobi-Fele, children and relatives, Jobi-Fele is to be buried today is his Ikare-Akoko ancestral home.