•••As Obasanjo Urges Nigerian Youths To Aim At Achieving Worthy Life Goals
| The Daily Crucible | Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Tola Sanusi, one of the children of late Egba icon and foremost Industrialist, chief AbdulRazak Olajide Sanusi has given insight into what more the children left behind can do to keep the memory of their father alive from generation to generation.
Chief Sanusi who was born in January 1932 to the family of Idowu Agbabiaka Sanusi and Seliat Agboola Anike Sanusi, hailed from Olowu Titi near Alabata in present day Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State. He died in 1997 after many landmark achievements in business, manufacturing, marketing and service to humanity among others. He was the third Asiwaju of Egbaland.
Speaking with The Daily Crucible during the 25th remembrance of their father at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokkuta on Monday, Tola said that the things the children could do to keep the memory of their father alive continually include being more united as one big family and building on the legacies the late Asiwaju left behind.
Citing her father's many inactive companies, she said their lines of businesses are still viable today, adding that most of the items they were manufacturing then are still in demand and use today in the country.
According to her, the market is there to be harnessed and harvested for business profitability if those companies were rejigged to life.
She said, "When you read the tribute that I wrote concerning him, it would bring tears to your eyes because every day when I think about him, and when I see him...I used to dream and I used to see him and I would say to myself that this man that is dead what is saying about his children and the legacies that he has left behind. Upto now, we have issues but by the Grace of God, I want to believe that with him looking down on us and with the prayers we will get everything resolved and the legacies that this great icon and this great Egba man, has left behind will be more than what he has done and he will be proud of all of his children.
"One of the things the children can do to keep him alive is to be more united and build on the legacies he has left behind. He has left many companies behind; Sanusi Brothers Big Ltd(SBN), Sanusi Steel Industries(SSI), Nigeria Product Agencies Company (NIPACO), Sanusi Rubber Works Ltd(SRW) and others numerous to cite here what they were manufacturing things in those days and even upto now those things are still very marketable, they are products still in use today. If you looked at Sanusi rubber works, they do rubbers and tyres. People are still using bicycles today, motorcycles and the rest of that. It is still a viable business.
"We have Sanusi Steel where they manufacture building materials. Those are some of the things that my father worked for. All the previous administions of government in Nigeria, he worked with them in industrial areas. So, that market up till today is still there to harvest. I will hope that the children will be able to come together and that the spirit of their father that he was an industrialist, a marketer and an astute businessman who used his own money to trade and do business, he never borrowed money from the bank and used his own profits to build what all of us will have the acumen and be able to build on those legacies for the coming generation."
And despite the changing business climate locally and globally, Tola is also looking forward to seeing her father's inactive manufacturing companies and other business concerns bounce back to life and productivity.
"Things are not the way they used to be and the environment is not as it used to be. So, every company or business will reinvent itself and will be able to find a niche within the current prevailing market. Yes, we have problem with electricity, cost of importation make it imperative that we look inward and use local materials but the local materials we want to use are they available? And at what cost? However, any body that has a business mind will always find a way to address challenges. Elizade is still there, they may not be at the level they were before but they are still around and are still manufacturing. By God's grace, people will work through those problems and still be standing. That is what I want for my father and his legacies," she said.
In a moving tribute, Tola described her late father as her "mentor, foundation and her all in all," also recalling that people all over the world ate at his table and gave the best education money could give to his children when it eluded many at thate time.
"Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure. Not for once have I not missed your presence because you gave me my life," she stated.
Speaking earlier at the remembrance attended by many dignitaries, including the Deputy governor Osun State, Gboyega Alabi, Egba Muslim leaders, ex - President Olusegun Obasanjo extolled the virtues of late Sanusi, saying he was a self made man and industrialist.
Obasanjo expressed worry over the dearth of self - made people in the country as role models and who surmounted obstacles to leave worthy legacies behind like Sanusi did.
He, therefore, advised Nigerians particularly the youths not to allow whatever challenges they face to hinder them from attaining worthy life goals.
The elder statesman gave the advice while speaking as chairman of the occasion.
Obasanjo advised Nigerians to always give a thought to what they do while still alive and the type of legacies they would also leave behind at the point of death.
He auded the children of the late Asiwaju of Egbaland for keeping the memory of their father alive, saying Sanusi was a self - made man who despite his handicap in education was able to achieve far beyond what his generation who acquired university education could not accomplish.
"As you remember my friend and brother today, may your children also remember you. If there was any self made man, Abdul Rasak Sanusi was a self made man. If there was an industrialist, he was an industrialist, if there was a philanthropist, Abdul Rasak Sanusi was a philanthropist. He was a lover of his town, his family and his friends.
"The question we should be asking ourselves now is that why are people like Sanusi now scarce to come by these days. He was handicapped by education but he did not allow that to be a hindrance, he surmounted the challenges of education and achieved what even those who went to the university could not achieve.
"And what lesson do you learn form that; Alhaji Sanusi surmounted all the challenges that he encountered. To me, in an occasion like this, we should learn the right lesson and the lesson is that whatever we do while alive we will live after us. What we are celebrating is what Alhaji Sanusi did while he was alive, they were not buried with him. Though he is in the grave, his deeds are not in the grave. His deeds live after him."
The Daily Crucible reports that the remembrance was facilitated by AROSAF Foundation and it witnessed 12 students, two class teachers and Principal of Alabata Community High School in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, bursary, learning lots and HP laptops.
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