Olasijibomi Ogundele graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 2018, and is now CEO of his own company. He reflects on his early entrepreneurial activities, and his recent career path.
Sijibomi is the CEO of Sujimoto Group, a luxury real estate and construction company in Nigeria that is dedicated to redefining the luxury real estate industry with transformative experiences through intricately designed architecture.
Growing up as the son of a trader mother and watching the enterprising Igbo traders in the Oke-Arin market where his mother owned a shop, Sijibomi's passion for business was fuelled.
While helping out his mother in the market, he would assist her in conveying her goods as a wheelbarrow pusher. He would also help other traders in the market with his wheelbarrow thereby earning some wages.
As an eight-year-old, he started a bike business from his savings, and within a few years, he managed as many as six bikes.
Sijibomi's interest in real estate was sparked while living in South France in 1998 brokering deals in project management and financing.
However, his first major break was in 2011 when he bought an apartment in Paris and decided to remodel it. After completion of the remodelling, he sold the apartment for more than double the amount he initially bought it.
This experience ignited and further deepened his interest in real estate and there has since been no going back. Moving back to Nigeria in 2014, the mission for Sijibomi was to revolutionise the Nigerian luxury real estate market.
A division of the Sujimoto Group of Companies, Sujimoto Construction Limited is one of the most well-known names in luxury real estate today.
Based on his vision to redefine luxury living, the Sujimoto Group was founded in 2013 in partnership with Yazeed Alrahji, a real estate magnate in Saudi Arabia.
Today, the firm has offices in Lagos, Abuja, Accra, Riyadh, Dubai, Madrid and Paris, and is renowned for holding the fort of luxury real estate in Lagos, Nigeria.
Billionaires, multinational companies, and the biggest celebrities in the country today work with Sijibomi, with well-known Afropop star, Davido, choosing Sujimoto to construct his $1,500,00 home in Banana Island, Lagos.
In 2015, he gifted a fully furnished luxury apartment and education to a bread-seller turned model who was discovered by photographer-musician, TY Bello on the streets of Lagos. His company also gives out hampers to 10,000 women, single mothers, widows and other underprivileged Nigerians.