No doubt, the billionaire businessman Ayodeji Ismail Karim has made a name for himself in Corporate Nigeria and even beyond. His antecedents, over the years, precede him anywhere he goes and he is considered one of the most visionary corporate leaders in the country, with several awards in his kitty.
But the Managing Director of Costain West Africa was given a baptism of fire recently when he made known his intention to contest the number one job of Oyo State, through the then ruling party in his state, All Progressives Congress, APC during the last general elections. Despite his gallant loss at the primaries, the Ibadan, Oyo State-born businessman, seems to be undeterred. It didn’t take Karim so much time to get over the defeat in spite of the huge war chest he committed into the aborted project. The polo-loving dude has since gone back to the drawing board to make his dream come true in the next 2023 election, thus he has been canvassing for more awareness of the stakeholders and party faithful, with a bid to giving the populace a re-assurance that the PDP victory at the last poll was only momentary.
Given his astute corporate experience, he was able to pick the pieces of his life and immediately went back to his original boardroom job, which suffered a temporary setback during his political foray. He has not only stepped in back to regain his position within the boardroom circuit, Karim has expanded his horizon by investing heavily in the agro-allied business with focus on livestock.
Spotlight gathered that Karim’s multi-billion naira farm with a ranch is called Winchester and is situated on a large expanse of land in Egbeda area along Ibadan-Ife Expressway where they breed hundreds of cows, rams, goats and lambs. The farm also has a large poultry farm where they offer from stable to table service as well as prepare minced beef and sausage for many super stores in Lagos and other cities across the country.