Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, Chairman, Elizade

In continuation of its 41st anniversary, Elizade Nigeria Limited, penultimate Friday in Lagos, treated its customers and friends to a sumptuous dinner in an apparent show of appreciation for their loyalty and patronage over the past four decades.

Appropriately tagged, ‘40+1 Anniversary Customer Appreciation Dinner,’ the event featured the presentation of awards and gifts to 41 outstanding customers of the company. The awards saw 10 customers each in the bronze, silver, gold and platinum categories carting home various gift items while the winner of the diamond award, United Bank of Africa (UBA), was rewarded with a brand new Toyota Avensis 2.0 litres engine.

Speaking at the occasion, the founder and chairman of the company, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, lauded the customers for staying with the company, saying “what we are celebrating today is your willingness to trust us with your money.” The chairman also praised the staff for their loyalty over the years as he recalled how the company started with only two employees at inception in 1971 to the current staff strength of over 1,000.

Ade-Ojo, who also expressed his appreciation to God for providing him with children he could depend upon and who have taken after him, used the occasion to remember his late first wife, Elizabeth Wuraola, whom he described as “a jewel of inestimable value,” as a minute silence was observed for the repose of the soul of the woman with whom he started the business 41 years ago.

In his remarks, the Managing Director and first son of the chairman, Mr. Demola Ade-Ojo, said there were “enough reasons to appreciate the forces that have aided our ascent,” adding ”we have  come to appreciate the powers-that-be and adequately reward every deserving contributor to our sustained growth.”

Maintaining that Elizade is a brand that is close to his heart, he expressed delight and humility that the historic occasion was “coming at a time posterity has bestowed on me the task of driving this enviable brand.”