He started as a saleman of a pharmaceutical company after his secondary education in 1955. While with the firm, he rose to the position of Sales manager for the then Lagos and Western region, made up of the present-day Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states. But in 1963, he left the company to start his own small business. This was influenced by a book he read which encouraged entrepreneurship.
“I worked briefly with Classic
Chemical Limited, a pharmaceutical company produced Andrew’s Liver Salt,
Cafenol and all of that. I worked as a salesman and rose to the position of
Sales Manager for the Western Region and Lagos. I stumbled on a book which says
whatever job you are doing, you have to leave, either you quit or they give you
the boot. It went further to say that in a little business of your own, when
you leave it, you leave it to yourself. That inspired me and I decided to be on
my own,” he noted in an interview with Sunday Vanguard.
He chose to be an entrepreneur in an
odd area. Having no capital, he looked for a business that required
little or no capital and what came to his mind was to be a pools agent.
He started his life as an
entrepreneur- a pools agent. Later, he went into partnership with his friend,
the late Chief Solomon Adebayo Ayoku, and, within a short time, they
became household names with their famous Face- to-Face Pools.
Many people know him as Baba Ijebu
but his real name is Kessington Adebutu. He sits atop the multi-million Naira
betting business – Premier Lotto (Baba Ijebu).
Adebutu, a project management and
business development expert, has full ownership of investments in a number of
organisations like Face- to-Face Pools, Kessington Industries, Afri-Prints
Limited and Kessington Foundation.
He was born on October 24, 1935 at
Iperu Remo in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State. He completed his
primary education in 1942 and had his secondary education between 1951 and
1955.
The billionaire is currently the
Financial Director, Premier Lotto Nigeria Limited PLL.
PLL, also known as Baba Ijebu,
is a gaming company incorporated in 2001 and was established to carry out lotto
business in Nigeria.
“The public gave it to me. Funny
enough, people have forgotten my family name. People think that is my name.
It’s not my making. It’s not the name given to me by my father. It’s a nickname
from the public and our satisfied customers and, of course, I am from
Ijebu; maybe that explains it better,” he said about his famous Baba Ijebu
alias.
Obviously, the prudence with which
he managed his resources has helped him in his journey, especially during
challenges. It has not all been rosy for him in the lotto business as
many think. The business has suffered losses on many occasions; in fact, in the
early 60, more than 95 percent of pools business in the country was killed when
the entire coupon won. Even the Federal Government-sponsored Niger Pools
couldn’t survive the loss but Adebutu is still standing tall.
“I started with pools, so I am used
to the shock in any game. We have lost over one billion naira in one game
before, but I am used to the shock. Lotto is like mutual contribution, so we
get commission as the collector. People win certain percentage of our total
gain. Definitely small percentage is left for us”.
He loves pools gaming, lotto gaming
and he does not see it as fraudulent. He believes that lotto has
empowered a good number of young people and dissuaded them from heinous acts.
“The influence of gaming is
enormous. People that have reservations are getting it wrong. I keep saying it
that gaming is the stock exchange of the ordinary man on the street. At the
stock exchange, people buy shares and, as we have seen, the shares crash at
times. Similarly, when you game, you can win or lose but, at least, it gives
the ordinary man hope and that stops them from any nonsense. We have also taken
so many thugs out of the streets and they are useful to themselves, their
families and the society at large,” he noted further.
To underscore his point, he
disclosed that six of his children are working with Premier Lotto.
Baba Ijebu, as he is fondly called,
will join the octogenarian club in October. On how he keeps fit and able to
manage his companies at that age, he states, “The secret is that everything in
moderation. Everything should be in moderation. I do all the ‘evils’ in the
world but in moderation,” he said with a smile.
The billionaire pools magnate urged
young entrepreneurs to learn how to grow their business.
“Young people should learn to crawl
before they walk. Young people are always too much in haste but you must learn
to crawl before you walk,” the multi-business owner submitted.
A philanthropist to the core, he
established the Kessington Adebutu Foundation to cater for the less privileged.
The foundation also provides supports for hospitals and schools. He has built
many structures across the country, including the Kesington Adebutu House in
Abuja donated to the Radio, Television and Theatre Workers Union (RATTAWU); an
accident and emergency centre at Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilisan
Remo; Science laboratory block at Tai Solarin College of Education; a radio
station for Lagos state university (LASU) to mention a few. Adebutu sponsors
secondary school debate, football competition and there is also a vocational centre
for training the youths in vocation of their choice.
He said that he is always willing to
give back to the society as a way of showing appreciation to God, whom he noted
has blessed him beyond his labour.
“It is God’s grace, that is why our
office reception is full of people. I should appreciate God. That is why I give
back to the society, the less privileged. God has done wonders in my life. Some
people work harder than I do and not getting the result. At my age, I should be
living on my reserve, my pension, but I thank God, at my age, I’m still making
money. Im very grateful to God, I don’t hide it,” he added while receiving an
award from Chioma Lina Okafor-led Youth Advancement for Qualitative Education,
promising to support the group in its drive to advance the cause of qualitative
education in the country.
(c) Vanguard
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