As the Industrial Giant Clocks 80

As the Industrial Giant Clocks 80

Mary Nnah

Chief Razaq Akanni Okoya, the industrial mogul of the famous Eleganza conglomerate has a larger than life image.

He has a Midas touch having run his conglomerate successfully for over five decades recording tremendous successes. As he turns 80, the industrialist and philanthropist, evokes hard work and wealth.

Everything fits him perfectly. Chief Okoya who is synonymous with the famous Eleganza group of companies, is one of the most successful amongst his contemporaries.

No doubt he is a businessman who has continued to make significant strides in his endeavours. Okoya is admired and adored by many so much that his fame as a traditional title holder, billionaire business man, philanthropist, a socialite have continued to glow and many have tagged him a rare gem.

The Aare of Lagos means different thing to different People: To the less privileged, he is a great philanthropist whose milk of kindness flows ceaselessly. In the business community, he is a man with a Midas touch because his business acumen was unequal.

Like an old wine, he continues to get better with age as he has not rested on his oars. Eleganza has been around for over five decades controlling Nigerian markets and even extend its tentacles to other West African countries.

Five years ago, he floated another company tagged the new Eleganza Industrial City Limited, which is built on 35 acres of land in Ibeju-Lekki. It is new, big and better.

The whole idea of the newly established EICL according to him is to have household items in one compound. Not only that, they want to be able to give Nigerians and the West African countries what they produce locally at affordable price and not only that to become a household name, which has been one of his dreams.

The Oluwaninsola Landlord’s life is synonymous with charity and the business magnate’s impact extent beyond his immediate family as his philanthropic gesture has impacted many beyond Lagos and beyond. These days, many of his activities revolve around religion and service to humanity through his philanthropy.

This cut across the various sectors of the society. At various times, he has supported medical establishments and hospital homes by donating lifesaving equipment. His contributions to the manufacturing sector and the economy in Lagos are immeasurable by giving employment to thousands of people.

Currently, he has thousands of people under his employment. Having achieved what he wanted to achieve right from his young age, he has continued to give back by assisting many people in establishing various business ventures. He also organises annual pilgrimage for Moslems and feed over 2,000 under-privileged every week.

In recent years, he has thrown his weight in support of the Nigerian educational sector. Several undergraduate students have benefited from his Alhaji Akanni Okoya Scholarship Awards a few years back when he gave out 100,000 Naira each to extraordinary brilliant undergraduate students picked across four tertiary institutions in Lagos State. At 80, he has achieved beyond human expectations.

At 80, he is still very active. The secret lies in the passion for his business. As he turns 80 tomorrow, one can learn several lessons from his exploits. Consistency, perseverance, hard work, commitment, passion and integrity are the only vehicles that can drive you to success and not by cutting corners.

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