“Nigerian youths don’t need Mathematics to succeed, what they need is Motomatics”, these were the words of Mr. Sijibomi Ogundele, the Managing Director of Nigeria’s foremost luxury real estate firm, while addressing the prestigious students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on an eye opening tour of Sujimoto projects.
Speaking on the meaning of Motomatics, Mr. Ogundele explained while some may be comfortable with the norm, Motomatics is a concept that means going beyond and above expectations, to deliver excellence. For him, Motomatics is being born in Agege but never allowing Agege to define his destiny. He admonished the students not to be content with the ordinary but to always dig deeper and push for excellence in order to achieve the extraordinary.
The students, who were very excited to see the King of Luxury Real Estate, travelled all the way from their University in the royal land of Ife, where the royal Father, Ooni of Ife hails, to see the luxury connoisseur and have a firsthand view of his renowned jaw-dropping projects. The Sujimoto team, led by Mr. Ogundele himself, gave the students a thorough tour of the company’s projects, starting from their first project in Nigeria, which is dubbed ‘the MediciBySujimoto”, down to their latest mind-blowing project, ‘Lucrezia De Medici.’
The Lucrezia, the edifice on which the tour was focused on, upon completion will be the tallest residential building in Africa’s highbrow neighborhood, Banana Island, and will be rich with the best fittings ranging from a luxury creche to nurse the leaders of tomorrow, to the indulgence of an infinity pool; to the immersive experience of an IMAX cinema, down to the presence of the prestigious Zaha Hadid by Porcelanosa sanitary wares, a Virtual Golf Bar with over 2500 courses among others. The students were awed by the magnificence of the building currently standing 12 floors tall.
While speaking to the future leaders, Mr. Ogundele congratulated them for being pacesetters in the educational system and always soaring above their peers. He highlighted that students of OAU are known for their hunger for greatness and their ferocity in pursuing the acquisition of knowledge.
During the tour, he revealed to them the story of his journey from a poor Agege boy to that wealthy Ikoyi developer, explaining the principles that had brought him this far. Ogundele, while broaching the subject of his success pointed out that, “I had no rich uncle or powerful aunty to sponsor my dreams. Quite frankly, all I had was ambition and a die-hard determination to succeed. I was not born with a spoon, let alone a silver one. I knew I must sleep late, wake up early, deny myself material things, prepare to be underestimated and overlooked just to set my dreams in motion.”
When questioned about the famous Motomatics formula, he explained to the curious students that the 1+1=11 is not a mathematical formula, but a philosophical one. “This simple formula is one that will open the doors of success in your life because it means, ‘Never give up.’ It is about going the extra mile to make extraordinary moments out of ordinary situations and making the impossible, POSSIBLE.”.
He reiterated that, “1+1 to many might be 2, but for us at Sujimoto, it remains 11 because we will always strive to go above and beyond the call of duty.To the students of Ife and our young generation, it’s my hope that you take full advantage of the potential of our nation and if there are no opportunities, create one.”
The Managing Director promised to give employment preference to students of OAU and to grant automatic employment to the best graduating student of class 2022. He urged the students to strive towards achieving their goals, reminding them that no one will offer them a seat at the table of opportunity and they must make their own seats. The students were treated to a sumptuous meal and donation courtesy of the generosity of Mr. Ogundele.
