Abiodun Fagbemi,
Ilorin.
PASTOR Olatunde Oladokun remains a personality with a humble background but who fought his ways to the top through a dint of hard work.
As a budding star, Oladokun who was ordained a Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, (RCCG) Region Four, Province Four, Ilorin, Kwara state capital, told a story of how he once sold condensed water on retail quantities to survive as a family man.
But today, the Chairman of the popular Self-Reliance Economic Advancement Programme (SEAP), controls over 30 other conglomerates with the employment of more than 2,500 employees across Nigeria.
According to Pastor John Adefabi the Pastor in Charge of Province Four of the RCCG, “SEAP is an example of dedication, love and devotion to God. He remains a beacon of hope for many hopeless people and a very humble personality both in God’s vineyard and in his business environments.”
The quintessential personality and an industrious Nigerian celebrated his 60th birthday on Sunday, 9th February, 2025 with pomp and pageantry in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo state.
Born in 1965 to the family of Late Pa J.A. Olatunde and late Deaconess Victoria Olatunde, of the peaceful town of Okeho, Kajola Local Government Area (LGA)of Oyo state, had his elementary education at Salem Baptist Primary School and St. Paul’s Anglican Primary School, Yemetu, Ibadan.
For his post primary school education, he attended Adventist Grammar School Ede, Osun State after which he worked briefly with the Oyo state government under the late Bola Ige’s administration.
He graduated and holds a certificate of National Certificate of Education (NCE) in 1987 from the famous St. Andrews College of Education Oyo. He proceeded to the legendary Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo where he bagged B.A. (Hons), History.
After his tertiary education, he worked with the defunct Mass Mobilization for Self-Reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) as an Assistant Social Mobilization Officer and later worked briefly with Farmers Development Union (FADU).
With the little experience he had garnered as a paid employee, was Oladokun thereafter established the visionary and outstanding organization the SEAP as a Non Governmental Organization and a Micro Finance Institution (NGO-MFI) in the year 2000.
The SEAP Microfinance Institute, is a business oriented, non-profit sharing, non-political, non-religious and non-governmental organization (NGO) which started operations in 1998 with voluntary membership but was officially registered on August 22, 2000.
According to him, “the SEAP- MFI seeks to promote sustainable livelihood for the less privileged in the society. The name of the organization is derived from the values that they set out to achieve; self-reliance, economic advancement and poverty alleviation based on empathy for the less privileged especially in the rural areas.
“For the past 24 years, SEAP- MFI has been different things to different people. At the heart of our operations is the provision of credit, a broad range of value-added financial products and services, and the encouragement of personal savings for self-reliance.”.
He added, “this entails understanding the needs and conditions of members, clients and the employees, figuring out the best way to assist and give hope, while placing premium on customer service. Besides, it is in our mind always to consciously work for the growth of our members, organization and staff. This connotes resilience and tenacity in the face of challenges.”
He recalled how the business and its expansion had started at a modest office in Olorunsogo Area, of Ilorin, that was big enough to accommodate the three pioneer staff of the organisation.
According to him, “it was indeed a modest beginning and later had her headquarter in Ilorin followed by other regional offices in Ibadan, Lagos state and Ekiti state. But at present the is headquarter is at SEAP House, Western Reservoir Road, Gari Alimi, Ilorin, Kwara State. SEAP has well over 237 branches in 24 states of the Federation.
“The organization has for many years had great presence in Abuja, and some states such as Oyo, Kwara, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, Lagos, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kano, Katstina, Rivers, Edo, Delta, Enugu, Plateau, Imo, Bayelsa, Anambra, Abia and Nasarawa.”
Oladokun while reacting to the secret successes of his entrepreneurship, said God and dedication remain the anchor of his businesses. He blamed the dwindling fortunes of doing businesses in Nigeria on the outbreak of Corona Virus leading to more breakthroughs in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Besides, he said the development created avenues for many tested hands in businesses, especially the good employees to look for greener pastures outside the country. These developments have not made businesses to be stable. Economic hardships have also changed the rules of the game.
He added, “we have employees who ended up making us sad. We console ourselves with the words of Williams Shakespeare that, there is no face construction to unveil what is in the minds of men. Again, the government in Nigeria is not there for your businesses, you are on your own as an entrepreneur. The governments only remember you when they want to collect taxes from you. If not for God on our side, what could have been our story line today?
Speaking on his philanthropic attitude, he said he had in the past helped some people who ended up repaying his good intentions with evil deeds. According to him, “I have reasons as a human being to feel bad when it appears that some people are repaying my good intentions with evils. I have come to realize that human beings are limited. I have helped many people who later created more problems than the helps I rendered. How do you describe a situation where you gave employment to people who ended up stealing from you? We will not be deterred in doing the good we can. I sacrificed my life for my job. I am an ordinary person.”
For Oladokun, religious discrimination will never be his yardstick for philanthropic endeavours. He said, “my parents would always prefer to take good care of visitors or strangers than their children. As a Christian as well, my Bible asks me to love my neighbours as myself. Religious difference happens because we have various spiritual relationships with God. Good social interaction is a good way to preach your religion. Once you are born again, religious discrimination should not be in your lexicon.”
SEAP-MFI has partnered with notable individuals, government parastatals, organizations (both local and international) and various state government in Nigeria in her quest to making life better for the entire citizenry.
On his dispositions to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) he said, “our CSR policy focuses on: safety, health and environment education and communication customer relation and community development. we acknowledge the importance of education in the world and we will always ensure that the lesser opportune gets educated through our scholarship scheme that has benefited many indigents. We shall continue to put our best possible in all communities where we operate by boosting infrastructural facilities that will impact their lives. We collaborate with University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) on an annual geriatric care. We give supports to the societal vulnerables, especially the widows and the orphans and motherless babies.”
Oladokun’s impact has been felt in the following organizations in his quest to making life better for the people: the Redcross Society, the Federal Road Safety Commission, (FRSC), Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), and Nigeria Police among others.
The organization currently has 545,338 active savers and about 168,100 active borrowers who are enjoying several Credits, savings and value-added products of SEAP across the 237 branches and has employed over 2,500 youths as full-time staff.
He has attended both local and international trainings, seminars and conferences. He has received over 377 local and international awards in recognition of his excellence in his profession. He is happily married to Assistant Pastor Bukola Sanya-Olatunde (JP) and the union is blessed with wonderful children.He is a Justice of Peace with double Ph.D Honoris Causa (European-American University and UMCA theological college).
Now that he is 60 years of age he said he would continue to pursue his principles by supporting the poor and serving his God until he bids the world bye at God’s own time. We wish him happy birthday and many happy returns of the day.