Billionaire businessman and Chairman of Premier Lotto, Sir (Dr.) Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu is not your run-of-the mill businessman. The man famously known as Baba Ijebu towers above many of his contemporaries, particularly because he has been in the warm embrace of fame for many decades. Beyond his famed status as a successful businessman, he has also remained very relevant owing to his uncommon brilliance, a quality that has endeared him to many across the globe. Wealthy and influential, he has always dazzled his competitors and delighted his admirers. No doubt, his success story is such that it will make anyone green with envy. But success, greatness and fame were never thrust on his laps on a platter.
His is an intriguing story of a man who is determined to survive in life. Today, Adebutu is celebrated by all and sundry for the simple reasons that he has made hard work, self- discipline and accountability his watchwords. Aside from his exalted rank as a billionaire, the deep-pocket man’s philanthropic work is unprecedented. The Odoole Oodua of Ile-Ife over the years has been at the forefront of benevolence and this we understand has been his full- time business with the primary aim in reducing poverty to its barest minimum. However, he loathes people singing his praise over such acts of humaneness.
He is not your kind of billionaire that calls for publicity over little donations. But a good deed is never lost as he who sows courtesy, reaps friendship. For Adebutu, the honours keep coming in torrents —both at home and away— for his contribution to the growth of humanity and magnanimity. Last week, the Ogun State-born billionaire and philanthropist bagged recognition as he was among other eminent Nigerians honoured with an honorary Doctorate degree of Science by the University of Lagos during its graduation ceremonies. Adebutu, it was gathered, has in the past extended his magnanimity to several ivory towers, especially University of Lagos where he has been considered as the biggest individual donor.