Our family’ll soon be more than a community – Son of late Enugu man with 68 wives, 400 children, grandchildren

 

History was made in Aji community in the Igbo-Eze North Local GovernmentArea of Enugu State on Tuesday as a native doctor, Simon Odo, well known as King of Satan, was buried in a new car inside hiscompound.

 Married with 68 wives, over 200 children and more than 200 grandchildren, according to his close friend, Chief Joseph Ugwu, 74-year-old Odo (also called Onuwa) built houses in several places within the town to accommodate his large family. Until his death, about 62 wives were said to be living with him.

Our correspondent, who visited the community on Wednesday, observed that the King of Satan had three palaces located in different locations within the community – each with several houses where his wives and children live.

One of his sons, Arinze Onuwa, described his father as a jovial person and disciplinarian, who didn’t discriminate. 

Arinze said, “He loved to see us educated. Some of us are studying abroad while many have graduated. When people report us to him, he would not support us. Later, he would tell us that he acted like that in order not to create an impression that he was supporting his children because he was mighty. He built the greatest kingdom that I don’t think would exist in Igboland. The way things are, our family will soon be more than a community.

“Our father adopted the name Onuwa which means ‘what the people or the world say’, because he didn’t care about what people say. He knew all his children. Our father knew all of us. That was one of the unique things about him.  All his children live and enjoy themselves together in peace. We don’t quarrel or fight one another.”

 When asked about the number of children his father had, he simply said, “In our place we don’t count children.” 

Odo’s bosom friend, Ugwu, who led our correspondent during the tour, disclosed that Odo was famed for treating diseases, describing him as a good man.

 

He said, “Onuwa was my bosom friend.  He facilitated my marriage to a second wife and bought a motorcycle. I was alsoinvolved in the marriage of some of his wives. He was generous even to his wives and rewarded any of them that introduced a beautiful woman to him for marriage. He would give such N50,000 immediately for helping him to secure a new wife.

“He once married a Hausa woman from Kano but they only lived together for a while before he sent her packing because he did not like the way she behaved. He married from different parts of Nigeria. He was not doingnative medicine for rituals. He was only treating ailments of different kinds.”

Ugwu explained that his friend married many wives because he was the only surviving male child of his parents.

 He added, “He recently married the 68th wife. He has over 200 children and his grandchildren are more than 200. Throughout his life, Onuwa allowed his children who didn’t want to follow his footsteps as a traditional religion worshipper to attend church.”

 

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Rilwan Atiku: The Bullish Entrepreneur

One of the fastest rising business profiles in Lekki Peninsula, Barr. Dr. Rilwan Atiku is building his flourishing business empire along the family tradition which bespoke excellence and fearless nudge at set goals. 

In this exclusive Cover Page Interview with Lekki People Magazine, this industrious, Media-shy tycoon led us through his life-lessons and the simple secrets to his success. LEKKI PEOPLE

Q. Aside what is in the media, who is Dr Rilwan Atiku?

 Rilwan Atiku is a young Nigerian who has always believed in his dreams and has always walked and worked towards achieving it gradually. Apart from what is in the media, Rilwan is an easy going person, optimistic and a humanitarian at heart, he is also a lover of peace and nature. 

Rilwan was born over thirty years ago at Igbo Efon community located in Eti Osa Local Government, Lagos State. He started his nursery education at Nigeria Air-force primary school at Bonny camp Victoria Island. From there and due to the desire of his father his school was switched to Mayflower Primary and Secondary School Ikenne, Ogun State. Rilwan completed his basic education at Mayflower Senior Secondary School where he was among the best graduating students in the 2007/2008 West Africa Examination (WAEC). 

Thereafter, Rilwan proceeded to the famous University of Ghana for his higher education where he studied Political Science and History. He bagged a Bachelor of Science Degree. Not satisfied yet with his educational achievements, he advanced to the prestigious University of Birmingham in United Kingdom where he enrolled to study law based on his desire to be a legal practitioner. Rilwan secured his law degree in flying colors and later proceeded to Nigeria Law School for his compulsory professional legal education. He was called to Nigeria bar in 2016.

Q. What are some of the growing up experiences that taught you the most valuable lessons of life? 

Well, (recalling) my change of school from Air-force in VI to Mayflower in Ikenne, Ogun state, was a turning point in my life. Unlike the Air-force school, Mayflower was a boarding school and you know the experiences of a Nigerian boarding school. 

"It taught me valuable lessons which includes; survival, friendship, intelligence, and ability to be self-independent. At Mayflower, I learnt how to deal with the basic elements of everyday living and it gave me my first real taste of life. "

My second valuable experience was at the University of Ghana, it improved my perspective on the basic knowledge I learnt from Mayflower school.

Q. You were one of the brightest and most promising young talents in the legal practice before you embraced full time entrepreneurship. 1 us more about this part of your life sir.

 For those that knew me, education was never my problem. I have always been naturally gifted in education. I see it as a gift from God. Just to put things in perspective - I finished from my secondary school as one of the best students, then at the University of Ghana I also finished as one of the best foreign student. At the University of Birmingham I also finished my law degree in flying colors, as well as the law school where I finished in good grades, so education has never been a problem for me. I also know in my mind that I would  have been a very good lawyer if I had chosen the legal part. 

"However I come from an entrepreneur background and also possess an entrepreneur spirit which I inherited from my parent. I knew one day there will be a clash between my profession which is law and my passion which is entrepreneurship, what I didn’t know was which one was going to have the upper hand at the end of the day. I guess we have the answer now (laugh)."

Q. You are engraving a positive mark in the Business world, what is your motivation for achieving these successes? 

My motivation is simple, I come from a family of high achievers and a lot of people with high expectations. I cannot afford to let them down, that is my motivation.

Q. Kindly speak on some of your recent recognitions and Awards

 Being someone that is averred to unnecessary social recognitions and awards, I have always try to hide from it, (shy face) I guess I cannot hide forever as the works are beginning to speak for themselves. Recently I was honored by the Chattered Institution of Public Resources Management and Politic, (CIPRMP), Ghana. I was inducted based on my contributions to Real estate and Business in Nigeria.

I recently also got an honorary Doctorate Degree, I guess now you can call me a Barrister Doctor (smile).

Q. What attracted you into the Real Estate Business?

I come from a family with real estate background. Our family business is largely real estate and I have been part of real estate all my life, so it not surprising that I just naturally gravitated towards real estate

Q. RIVETON HOMES AND PROPERTIES came onto the scene with a big bang on property sales, and has become one of the fastest growing premium housing providers in Lekki peninsula, what's your niche in the market?

Thanks for the compliment (He smiles). I didn’t know that we have gotten to that, to be regarded as one of the fastest growing real estate company. We are just only trying to deliver service, good service in the Real Estate sector, I must say. 

"For our niche market our core policy in our company is to provide value hence, our real estate products are always value based product, that is our modus operandi."

Q. It is said that 'Behind a successful man, there's a woman,' who's the woman behind the scene? 

Read full interview here:

  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xiu9HZzcgc9Tx1DO243nYV78BTN1R673/view?usp=drivesdk

LAGOS SEEK $15bn FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday disclosed that given the rising population and limited geographical space of the State, Lagos will require about $15 billion over the next five years for infrastructure. Speaking at the third Lagos Investors' Roundtable and launching of Deal Book organised by the Office of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Investment, Governor Sanwo-Olu called on investors to optimise the advantages of the opportunities in Lagos State toward the goal of developing a 21st Century economy as projected by his administration. 

At the investment roundtable, which was attended by foreign diplomats, members of business communities, captains of industries and members of the State Executive Council, among others, Governor Sanwo-Olu also called for partnership with investors and private sector, saying the implementation of the development strategies of his administration demands partnership and contributions of private investors. He said: “We strongly believe that the continued growth and success of Lagos is premised on the strength and diversity of our partnerships. It is such strategic partnerships that account for Lagos being by far the leading recipient of local and foreign direct investments in Nigeria. It is estimated that, in the last few years, about 80 percent of the investments into Nigeria, has come into Lagos. “These investments remain vital to our economic growth and wellbeing, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and livelihoods across the city. This is the reason why a forum like this is so important – as a platform for harmonising our respective visions and targets and agreeing on key actions that will not only strengthen existing investment partnerships but also initiate new ones.”

 Governor Sanwo-Olu stressed further that “As a government, we understand the value of these relationships in fostering economic resilience, particularly during times of uncertainty, like this one we are in, marked by the combined effects of a global pandemic, climate change, global inflation, the burden of poverty and social and economic inequality, among others. “As a low-lying aquatic city with over 22 million citizens, confined to the smallest landmass in Nigeria, Lagos is especially vulnerable to all the challenges of a sprawling, densely populated, climate challenged, fastgrowing Megacity. “We believe that given the rising population and limited geography space that we have, Lagos will indeed require about $15 billion over the next five years on infrastructure alone. $15 billion is about five times the budget that we currently have. Lagos budget is about $3 billion today.” While assuring investors that Lagos State is open and ready for investments, innovation and collaboration, Governor Sanwo-Olu assured investors and private partners that the State Government will create enabling policies and environment for them to thrive in Lagos and for their investments to be safe and secure, as well as ensuring that innovation thrives.