Prince Sijuwade’s first assignment with the government was as Sales Director of National Motors in Lagos. He subsequently headed the management of the company with numerous Nigerian and expatriate staff under him.

In 1964, he undertook an extensive international tour to look into the possibilities of acquiring better products for National Motors. One of the places he visited was the then Soviet Union whose cars he believed would sell well in Nigeria, because they were relatively cheap and appeared durable.

When he returned to Nigeria and reported to his employers, they were not as enthusiastic about the business proposal, because the government was not at this time well-disposed to trade with the Russians. Rather than feel disappointed Prince Sijuwade, smart businessman that he was, immediately saw a business opportunity and seized it. He formed a company along with three friends; the company, WAATECO, was to become in a few years the sole distributor of Soviet-made vehicles, tractors and engineering equipment in Nigeria with at least 50 Russians on its staff and a dozen branches all over Nigeria.

This small beginning marked the start of trade with the Soviet Union in Nigeria, and for Prince Sijuwade the birth of a business empire that was to include at least 50 companies. Two years after WAATECO was set up, Prince Sijuwade offered the Soviet Union 40 per cent equity participation in the company. Of course, the Russians did not hesitate since the company was doing well. Business with the Russians was to grow many hundred folds in the next decade and a half.

It is a credit to his acumen in business that while trade with the Russians expanded, his business contacts in the capitalist West continued to grow and develop. He was being seasoned in the tough world of business. While he was setting up his own company he continued his efforts to help re-organise the government-owned National Motors and by 1965 the company began showing a profit. The political turmoil in the country following the coup of January 1966 and the counter-coup of July the same year brought his good friend, Major General Robert Adebayo (then Colonel), to office as Governor of the Western Region.

Sensitive to the possibility of having a disagreement with his fiend over a public issue, he decided that it was best to resign his appointment as an employee of the Government of Western Nigeria. He subsequently left the service of the government and went fully into business on his own. With this resolve, he now explored with fresh zeal his many contacts within Nigeria and on the international scene and revitalised business possibilities which time had not allowed him to exploit while working with the government.

Within 10 years, his activities stretched far and wide, and to keep in touch with the various commercial capitals of the world, he moved the headquarters of his operations to the United Kingdom in 1973. Now he was truly where he wanted to be in the business world; the world was, as it were, his oyster.

With his business now firmly established internationally, he decided to establish a stronger footing in his home town, Ile-Ife. He embarked on two major projects in the town, which turned out to be a wise decision both from a business angle and as a means of enhancing his image in his community.

A modern housing estate, which he built in one of the quieter and newer parts of the town, was to provide housing for senior staff of the then University of Ife, and help relieve the university’s acute staff housing shortage. It was for Prince Sijuwade not only a business investment but a contribution to the development of the university and his home town.

It was the same thinking that inspired his decision to build a first class motel for V.I.P. visitors to Ife, the Motel Royal. This also turned to be a far-sighted decision because at his coronation a few years later, when the town played host to thousands of guests, the accommodation problem was not nearly as chaotic as it might have been.

Urbane, relaxed and self-confident, Prince Sijuwade had a wealth of experience from which to draw and was at home in boardrooms both in Nigeria and in leading capitals all over the world. He had a large international circle of friends, contacts and business associates. It was often dispassionate, well informed and judicious, precisely the qualities required of a traditional ruler in a pluralistic society.

As a businessman, Prince Sijuwade maintained a diverse social, political, ethnic and ideological group of friends in Nigeria and abroad. He genuinely enjoys playing host and is equally at home in small groups as in large gatherings. He enjoys traveling and has visited most countries of the world.
He relaxes by swimming, horse-riding, table-tennis and having intellectual discussions with small groups.

The career of Oba Sijuwade can be divided conveniently into two parts: the first was as a dashing young prince and the other began in 1980, when he ascended the throne of the “Holy City of the Yoruba,” to borrow Leo Frobenius’ description of Ife.

These two segments of one active and productive life are not separate or apart, indeed, one fertilised the other. His training and experience as a prince today serve well in the great task of reigning in a society that is being increasingly modernised; at the same time, he maintains the prime position of Arole Oduduwa, the Keeper of the Seal of Yoruba.

Since he ascended the throne, Oba Sijuwade has been a worthy ambassador-at-large of Nigeria and a symbol of pride for the Yoruba. But the life of great men is not immune from the vagaries of mortal existence. There have been various experiences in the life of Oba Sijuwade that have been trying. Although, he has borne them with great courage, they have no doubt made an indelible mark in his life.

A major force in the life of Oba Sijuwade was the beloved Yeyeluwa of Ife, Olori Oyetunde Sijuwade, a remarkable woman, always cheerful and hospitable. She had for many years of blissful relationship provided a stable, enviable matrimonial haven. Thus, when she answered the celestial call in August 1986 it was a major blow. His Imperial Majesty bore adversity with dignity and composure in keeping with age-long Yoruba tradition that the Oba never mourns. He was in fact the one who consoled and pacified mourners. May her soul rest in perfect peace.

Courtesy: thisdaylive.com