Nigerian Politician Abiola Ajimobi Biography & Net Worth (See Details)

3 years ago

Nigerian Politician Abiola Ajimobi Biography & Net Worth (See Details)

Senator Isiaka Abiola Adeyemi Ajimobi was a Nigerian politician from Oyo State, south-western Nigeria. He was formerly the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company, a subsidiary of Shell Petroleum, Nigeria.

Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi Biography

Senator Isiaka Abiola Adeyemi Ajimobi is a Nigerian politician who started his career in the private sector before going into politics, former senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Former governor of Oyo State.

His grandfather was Sobaloju of Ibadan Land (chief in the royal court of Ibadan). His uncle, Hon. N.A. Ajimobi was the minister of works and transport in the Western Region. His father, Pa Ajimobi, was also an Honourable member of the House of Assembly in the Old Western Region.

Early Life & Education

Abiola Ajimobi was born on the 16th of December 1949 at Oja-Oba, Ibadan, Oyo state to the family of Ajimobi.

He started his education at Saint Patricks Primary School, Oke-Padre in Ibadan, and completed it at Ibadan City Council Primary School, Aperin.

Ajimobi moved to secondary school which was at Lagelu Grammar School. As a high school student, he was active in athletics, table tennis, and football including serving as the school’s games prefect. That was where he received the tag, the Archipelago.

Senator Ajimobi went to the State University of New York, in Buffalo, New York where he studied Business Administration and Finance and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree.

His MBA was in Operations Research and Marketing with a concentration in Finance at Governors State University, University Park, Illinois.

As a result of his academic credentials and excellent performance at the New York Insurance examinations, he was engaged in Buffalo, New York as a state-certified underwriter, by Equitable Life Assurance Corporation, which was then the 2nd largest Insurance Company in America.

Career

Professional Career

Abiola Returned back to Nigeria in 1977 at the age of 28 and joined Management and Industrial Consulting firm as a Senior Consultant. Ajimobi thereafter worked briefly with Modulor Group (an architectural firm) as the Finance and Admin Controller, before joining Nestle Foods PLC. as the Operations Controller and later as Marketing Controller.

In 1979, he joined the National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company (known as CONOIL Now) as a consumer product manager. Ajimobi was the youngest Manager to occupy such position Abiola. He later got promoted to the position of divisional manager one and a half years after he joined the company.

Ajimobi was promoted to head a newly created Corporate Credit division reporting directly to the Managing director. As a top flyer in the company and based on his problem-solving ability he was deployed to Ibadan Business District as the Area Manager to ensure the repositioning of the company’s entire activities in the area.

The Company and the district experienced landmark achievements in its modern retail network resulting.

In 1987, he built the company’s first 3 in 1 and the largest petrol station retail outlet in Nigeria. The district office built during his tenure still stands out today in Jericho, Ibadan.

In 1987, based on a worldwide international strategic positioning of the lubricants business desired by Shell International Oil Company, Abiola Ajimobi was appointed the Lubricants Manager.

He successfully built a new Lubricant division which became the most profitable business of the company and the largest contributor to the corporate profit. Having completed the strategic repositioning of the Lubricants department, he was moved to manage another troubled business arm- the aviation department.

By 1993, he had acquired broad exposure in virtually all the marketing arms of the company. As part of the grooming programme he was posted on an international assignment to Shell International storage company of Togo, serving the whole of West Africa as Chief Executive.

He was also the Operations Director of Shell Marketing Company in Togo covering some West African countries.

in 1995 Ajimobi returned back to Nigeria and was appointed in 1996 as an Oil Sales Manager.

In 1998, he was appointed to the board of the company as Executive director- Marketing, a position he held before his appointment in February 2001, as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company.

As Managing Director he substantially improved the profitability of the company and the shareholder’s fortune.

Ajimobi left the oil sector and the corporate world in 2002. He had spent 26 years as a corporate individual and decided that it was time to go into politics.

Political Career

Abiola Ajimobi is not well known when he joined Politics but the name “Ajimobi” is popular especially among the people of Ibadan, Oyo State because the family is well known.

In 2003, Isiaka Abiola Joined the Alliance for Democracy (AD) political party and ran for a Senate position to represent Oyo South Senatorial District

Ajimobi won and became a member of the Nigerian Senate, he was among the 18 senators from the AD political party that won elections in the April 2003 elections. he became a Senator of the Republic of Nigeria.

He was a principal officer in the Senate, serving as the Deputy Minority leader of the Senate.

In 2006, the AD political party faced an internal crisis among its leadership and this led some factions to join the Action Congress (AC) political party. Ajimobi was not part of this group at the time.

In 2007, he contested the Governorship election of Oyo state under the umbrella of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) but lost the election bid. He lost to Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala but he was relentless.

In 2011, Ajimbo contested again for the same Governorship election but under Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC). The Party was formed following a merger of the Alliance for Democracy and many other political parties.

Ajimobi Won the Oyo State gubernatorial election in 2011. In 2015 he ran for a second term for the governorship position of Oyo State, this time under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In his second term bid, Abiola faced many odds. Before him, there had been no previous Oyo State governor who had won a re-election bid. Also, he faced two former governors of the state at the polls, Christopher Alao-Akala and Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja.

he achieved remarkable feet by becoming the first person to occupy the highest seat twice and as well in succession. He was declared the winner of the Oyo State gubernatorial election by the Independent Electoral Commission.

Personal Life

In 1980, Ajimobi married Florence Ajimobi, Three years after he returned to Nigeria from the United States. Ajimobi said the couple had met a couple of times before they started a relationship and eventually got married.

Ajimobi and his wife were blessed with five children, Four daughters, and a son. Ajimobi’s first child also the first daughter is Abisola Kola Daisi, who is well known for her luxurious lifestyle. Abisola is an entrepreneur and the founder of The Luxury Lifestyle Market. She is also the CEO of AKD Lifestyle.

The names of Abiola Ajimobi’s other children are Abimbola Ajimobi, Ajibola Ajimobi, Ajijola Ajimobi and Idris Ajimobi.

On 19 June 2020, Ajimobi was admitted to First Cardiologist and Cardiovascular Consultants Hospital in Lagos after slipping into a coma following Covid-19 complications. He was declared dead on 25 June 2020.

Net Worth

Abiola Ajimobi is currently one of the richest and most influential politicians in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $200 million.

How Did Ajimobi die

In May 2020, news broke to the internet that the former Senator and Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, had contracted the novel coronavirus.

On 2nd June 2020, it was confirmed that his condition had worsened and that he was admitted to First Cardiologist and Cardiovascular Consultants Hospital in Lagos.

Despite receiving the best possible health care available in Nigeria, Ajimobi’s symptoms did not become any better.

However, his political party appointing him as acting national chairman on 16th June 2020, may have given people hope that he was on his way to recovering.

On 18th June 2020, there were rumors that Abiola Ajimobi had died following reports coming from Twitter. His media aide, Bolaji Tunji, denounced the story, stating:

“I spoke with those around him not long ago and they confirmed to me that he is still alive. Please disregard news of his death as fake news.”

Finally, on 25th June 2020, it was confirmed that Abiola Ajimobi had succumbed to the COVID-19 disease and died. Further details from Business Day confirmed that he was in a coma for almost a week and was placed on a life support machine since.

The official report is that the former Oyo State Governor and Senator of Nigeria, Abiola Ajimobi, died from complications to his internal organs made worse by COVID-19.