By Olumide Akinrinlola
When the world looks at you today, they see “OC General”—the sharp boardroom executive steering security firms, real estate grids, and oil and gas ventures, or the fierce grassroots leader carrying the hopes of Okitipupa/Irele. But when I look at you, my mind instantly shifts past the titles and the politics, straight back to the dusty paths of Ode Aye town and the familiar corridors of Ultimate International Secondary School.
We breathed the same air, shared the same boyhood dreams, and watched the world from the exact same starting line. Long before you were managing vast corporate portfolios or political structures, you were managing a much rarer asset: a truly generous heart.
Even back then, when we had so little, you possessed an innate, beautiful instinct to share whatever crossed your hands. Your brilliance wasn’t just found in textbooks; it was found in the way you looked out for the people around you. You never knew how to keep a good thing to yourself. That is why your rise doesn’t surprise me.
You didn’t change as you grew; you just scaled up. The boy who shared his meagre pocket change and lunches in school simply became the man fighting to share prosperity, security, and development with an entire constituency. Your success in business is admirable, but your unwavering accessibility and loyalty to where we started is what makes you truly great.
On your birthday today, 9 June, I want to honour the boy you were, the man you have become, and the brother you have always been to me. May this new year protect your vision, multiply your strength, and grant you the highest victories in both business and leadership. Walk tall today, OC General. Ode Aye is proud of you, and I am incredibly honoured to call you my childhood friend.
Olumide Akinrinlola is Canada-based Journalist and Publisher of Starnews NG
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