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Judge Bola Ajibola, Founder and Proprietor of Crescent University, Abeokuta was not ungrateful to have written a testimonial on the 18th October, 2010 about Sir Adebutu in the following words:
Some years ago when Crescent University was in the grip of financial constraint and I had to scout for people to assist and support us financially, I decided to write letters of appeal to many of our affluent friends all over Nigeria. Most unfortunately, the response was terribly poor and indeed very few donated very little.
“Fortuitously, however, it so happened that on the occasion when Kesington was launching his endowed science laboratory at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, he specifically invited me to the occasion. As I sat by him, something kept urging me to request for an endowment to our University too since we were eagerly looking for someone to endow us with a library.
“Finally, I screwed up my courage by placing the proposal before him for the endowment of our library. He agreed to do something unhesitatingly and with alacrity. He then asked me about the rough estimate which I said could cost between Twenty-five to Twenty-seven Million Naira. On that day, he was called upon to launch the endowment, he came with a cheque of Twenty-seven Million Naira with which we have accomplished our mission of building the new library that we are commissioning today.
“This definitely explains why library we are commissioning now is named after his mother, Late Alhaja Seliat Olasimbo Adebutu”.
Sir Adebutu’s life has been a catalogue of love , the altruistic instinct in him to care for the less privilege is incomparable, truly love never goes out of fashion, I have seen it best displayed by him
Born 88 years ago, it is a great privilege that he is alive today and a testament that God wants him to do more for humanity
Sir Adebutu, a rare personality, whose love for humanity goes beyond the language of the heart, his obsession to give life to the fainted and hope to the hopeless are evidences that God knew he would channel his wealth appropriately and that must have been the reason God has endowed him with riches and wealth, even at the age when many are Pensioners, God keeps him alive to fulfil His assignments through him to humanity
Quoting his word ” lotto is the stock exchange of the common man
today his brand has employed thousands of Nigerians directly and indirectly and same brand has given greatly and enormously to humanity
I remember one of my private encounters with him, I had an appointment to see him on a Tuesday in his office at western avenue, now Funsho Williams avenue, I arrived at his office right before time and I was shocked by the numbers of people who intended to see him, I filled the visitor’s form and I was ushered into his office, I sat for hours and I watched him attend to the cries of the people. from health challenges and other bills, his response to people that day was okay, consider it done, he gave his time and wealth on that fateful day to bless the less privilege, I later got to know that he spends his tuesdays attending to people with life threatening challenges and education as well
Another great touch of his benevolence was the day he rescued a family I met in LASUTH, I saw this young woman who had submitted to fate and prayed that God should take the life of her child if there would not be help from anyone, I heard her utter such a miserable prayer then I said to her, I may not be able to help but I will direct you to a philanthropist, I advised she should visit baba Adebutu’s office on a tuesday, she was there on a particular Tuesday and gladly she narrated how her case was passionately attended to and the payment of 3.5m for her child’s hospital bill, these are just the few he has done for humanity
Then came my personal tap from his kindness, 11 years ago, I went to him to drop my wedding invitation, after he went through it , he asked me to guess what happened to him August 18 , some years ago, I could not think of any, he jokingly said with a good sense of humour that, he got married to late Mama Dame Adebutu that same date many years ago, the rest I will keep to myself but I left his office with my 32 ( dentition) fully opened.
Sir Adebutu grew from a very humble background and rose to the pinnacle of his career, Chief Omolade Okoya Thomas once said, when he was leaving for the UK to further his education, he jokingly said to him that he would have become a millionaire before his return to Nigeria, with such belief and zeal that statement came to fruition
Today the lotto business he started as a young man has given birth to others, he has taken his entrepreneurship skills into banking, agriculture, oil and gas, hospitality, aviation, charity , construction and just to mention a few
Charity, we say, begins at home, Odole Odua has not taken people from his home town for granted, he cares for his people, irrespective of religion or political affiliation, his projects are spread across the town
The joy of every man is to see his progenies succeed while alive, Sir Adebutu has witnessed this, his children have taken after him , giving back to the society, their father love for humanity, a testament that giving is genetic
Few of his many projects are listed below
1. Iperu Palace.
2 Adebutu Civic Centre
3 Covid 19 support.
(a) Ogun state 100million
(b) Lagos state 300million.
(c) Oyo, Ondo, ekiti Osun all got well equipped ambulances
4 Renovation of the National stadium
5 50 million to support the super eagles
6 KAAF health centre at Osuth
7 Ultra modern auditorium at the university of Ibadan
8 ultra modern radio station for LASU and OOU
9 Emergency centre at Babcock university
10 donation of 50m for OOU law facaulty
11 250m for OOU sport complex
12 20m for 0OU mass communication building
13 Diabetes centre for college of health
14 payment of school fees for hundreds of indigent students
15 A building for abeokuta sport club
16 Administrative complex for gateway ICT polythecnic sapaade
17. Blocks for classrooms for school in ogere
18 Olympic size swimming pool at St saviour school ebutte meta
19 facaulty of law building in Houdegbe North America university
20 laboratory complex at Mapoly
21 vocational centre and technical laboratory at Tai solarin University
22 fully equipped Maternity building at Unilag
23 secretariat for Nigeria union of teachers
24 library complex at Crescent university
25 club house for Remo club 1937
26 donations of millions of Naira to Lagos country club, Association of friends, yoruba tennis club, Island club etc
27 monthly provision for medical outreach
28 sole sponsor of under 18 football competition both in Lagos and Ogun
29 sponsor the Nigeria football league
30 100m naira for ultra modern radio station in lasu
31. #350m KAAF Auditorium, Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics at University of Ibadan
32. 50m e- library for Baptist Academy obanikoro
33. 100m towards Oyo state education trust fund under Ajomibi
In addition to these are personal donations to different associations, religious bodies, corporate, state and federal government donations, individuals and businesses, Baba is a living legend
Today I join families and friends to say more power to his elbow and more life to live
88 GBOSAS to a unique and a great man of our time
Ale ti so Yi ju owuro lo , your latter years have been more worthy than your early years
Congratulations to a noble Octogenarian, whose life is a catalogue of benevolence and worthy of emulation
Contemporary can witness this, so shall posterity speak greatly of Baba
My take from Baba Adebutu’s Personality is LIVE LIFE, BEFORE YOU LEAVE LIFE.
Baba Adebutu has lived, still living life to the glory of God and service to humanity
Adun ba ri ma to shi, He who walks with him smells no penury. Dondodawa
Charity is contagious, it is not surprising that the younger Adebutus have taken after their father
Happy birthday to Sir Kessington Adebutu, CON, CFR, a father whose kindness is not a strategy but a way of life.
