Idowu Sowunmi
One of Nigeria’s foremost industrialist, Chief Bode Akindele is dead.
Akindele, who until his death was the Chairman of Madandola Group, died at the age of 88 on Monday in Lagos.
He was a renowned businessman who in his latter years was involved in philanthropy culminating in the establishment of the Bode Akindele Yield Initiative (BAYI) targeted at youth development and empowerment.
Akindele, who was Parakoyi of Ibadanland, was often described as businessman extraordinary and plenipotentiary, who had Sainsbury, Asda, Walmart, and others as tenants on his properties in London.
A successful entrepreneur and a renowned industrialist, Akindele was born on June 2, 1932. His father, Pa Joshua Laniyan Akindele, was a Chief Tax Clerk for the Western Region and as such his position could be equated to that of the Chairman of the Inland Revenue today and his mother, Rabiatu Adedigba, was a wealthy Ibadan trader who was politically influential. It’s a known fact that Alhaja Rabiatu was the first woman to go to Mecca in Ibadan.
Akindele’s business empire operates under the name Modandola Group of Companies, named after his mother, which translates to ‘God, if you give me the wealth, give me a child that can take care of it.’
Madandola Group spans from maritime to properties, manufacturing, real estates, investments, finance and flour milling with its headquarters in the United Kingdom.
The Fairgate Group, (a company owned by Akindele, located on Bond Street, London, England), deals mainly in properties. Some of its tenants include giant retail stores like Sainsbury and Asda Wall Mart. As at the last quantification, Fairgate Group was said to be worth over a billion pounds sterling.
Among the subsidiaries of the Madandola Group making waves in the business world include: Standard Breweries, Ibadan; Diamond Foods Limited, Ibadan; United Beverages Limited, Ibadan; Associated Match Industry, Ibadan; merged with Ilorin, Port-Harcourt and Lagos to form a company with a large share of the Nigerian market and Standard Flour Mills in Lagos.
