ILLUSTRIOUS SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF ILOBU, 26TH EDITION
My focus is on a man that rode majestically
into the heart of many within a very short period of time. His brand of
affection was rear; not minding who you are, what you do and where you come
from. He was always ready to solve whatever problem is presented to him. The
kidsfondly called him “Baba Elesin”.
Sulaiman Alabi Hassan Olajoku was born in
Mushin in the year 1947 to Alhaji Kehinde Hassan, a cocoa merchant who hailed
from Olosaoko’s Compound, Isale Imole, Ilobu but resided in Mushin, Lagos. As a
young lad, he was filled with noticeable zeal and determination to lead his
peers. He attended the famous Funmilayo Ransome Kuti Primary School in Lagos.
He had his secondary education at ADS Grammar School, Surulere, Lagos between
1964 and 1968. He worked for four years at the National Bank of Nigeria, Broad
Street, Lagos before travelling to the United State of America.
At the USA, he proceeded to the Virginia
Community College and later to the prestigious George Washington University,
where he bagged a degree in Business Administration in 1976 and a Masters
degree from the same university in Finance and Investment in 1978. He returned
to Nigeria for his NYSC programme in 1979.
His craze for self employment made him to
quit his job at Industrial and Development Credit Corporation in Ibadan and
floated Lone Star Consulting Limited with specialization in Management
Consultancy in 1983. He was a complete business man with chains of businesses
and companies.
Hassan Alabi Olajoku love and helpful heart
endeared him to people and paved way for his huge political impact. He suddenly
became a force to be reckoned with in the politics of Mushin Local Government,
having joined politics in 1987. He worked with Asiwaju Hammed Tinubu, Ogbeni
Rauf Aregbesola and a host of other notable politicians to form Alliance for
Democracy.
His determination to develop Osun State
brought him to Ilobu where he suddenly rose to become the talk of the town with
his philanthropic gestures to individual, groups and religious bodies. This
willingness to bring smiles to the lips of people and rub tears off their faces
made the entire Ilobu Muslim Community to turban him as the BABA ADINI OF
ILOBU.
He was at the forefront of financing and
campaign for the emergence of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Governor of the State
of Osun in the year 2004 before he was gruesomely killed by unknown gun men on
the 15th of May, 2005 at the popular Gbongan Junction. May he
continually rest in perfect peace, amen!
In recognition of his martyrdom and
contribution to the victory of Alliance for Democracy in the State of Osun,
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has built an International Park called HASSAN OLAJOKU
PARK at the spot where he was killed to immortalize him.
With the little time he was privilege to
spend with his people in Ilobu, he had a very good romance with them,
particularly the needy. He took many off the poverty line, renovated religious
building, placed some clerics on salary and allowed a free flow of people to
and from his house.
With a deep sense of humility, I therefore
posthumously present Alhaji Sulaiman Alabi Hassan Olajoku to the whole world
for his outstanding inputs into the growth of natives, Ilobu community and the State
of Osun in general as an illustrious son of Ilobu Asake.
Dare Alabi,
Project Director.
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