The life of Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Babajide can no doubt serve
as an inspiration to many young jobless Nigerians. The product of a not-so-rich
parent, young Yetunde set out for Lagos from her Ikire, Osun State base after
acquiring her National Certificate of Education (NCE) certificate, hoping to
get a white collar job.
But after several long fruitless searches for a job, she
took up the challenge to fend for herself. After a quick meditation on what she
could do, she opted for a one-man dry cleaning service. Moving from one house
to another, Yetunde went through her neighbourhood, soliciting customers.
“After leaving school, I came to Lagos to live with my uncle. I thought I would
get a job as soon as I got to Lagos, but weeks soon passed into months, with no
sign of a job in the horizon. But after I got tired of the fruitless search, I
woke one day and decided that I would be doing dry cleaning for people around
my neighbourhood. I became a washerwoman.
“I could not just sit down and do nothing. I was very lucky
to have the kind of parents that I have. My mother sold food items in Ikire,
while my dad was a driver. We were brought up to be up and doing early every
day, as early as 4am. From that time, there would be no sleeping again, because
we would all be doing one thing or the other. My dad did not discriminate
between the boys and the girls. So there was nothing the boys could do that I
could not do. We washed our dad’s clothes and iron them. So the job of washing
clothes was not really new to me.”
With that little and humble beginning, which started in the
backyard of his uncle’s home, the business has grown into a company with five
branches scattered across Lagos. “At the beginning, I was doing the job alone.
It got to a point that I could no longer handle it alone, and I had to invite
another person. From that point, it just started growing. And it came to a
point that I had to register it as a company. I ran the company for about 18
years, with a staff strength of more than 20.”
With a thriving business, there came new challenges to be
explored. The first challenge was thrown at her by an elderly client who
advised her on the need to improve her education. And as a woman with a firm
belief that no condition is big enough to discourage a man from pursuing set
goals, she took up the challenge and went back to the university to study
business administration.
“Among my clients was an old man. He is a Ghanaian and a
lecturer at the University of Lagos. One day, he came to my office and asked if
I was educated. I told him that I had an NCE certificate. But he was not sure,
and so he asked me to bring the certificate. At first, I forgot to bring it on
the first appointed day. So when he came, he simply aid that he knew that I was
lying. I felt very sad about it, and asked him to come back the following day.
After I showed him the certificate, he said he saw a lot of potentials in me,
and that I could do better than I was doing. He said I needed to get a better
education.”
And truly, the university education soon opened her eyes to
better opportunities around her. Then she made the first move to diversify her
business, as she added a sachet water business to her profile. “I started
seeing opportunities that I didn’t know existed even before I finished the
degree course. The truth was that I didn’t go back to school because I wanted
to work with the certificate, but to expand my scope and view of doing
business.”
Her expectation of an expanded scope came to pass one day
when a seemingly impossible business fell on her laps. According to her, she
went to repair a faulty power generating set. But while waiting, a man
approached the repairer, and asked if he had any parcel of land for sale.
“While I was waiting for the man to finish the repairs, a man came and asked
him if he had any parcel of land for sale. The man replied that he didn’t have
any. But before the man left, I drew his attention and told that I have one for
sale. But the truth was that I didn’t have any land to give to him t the time.
We agreed on an appointment for the next day for the inspection of the land.”
With what seemed an impossible task, she set out immediately
in search of a land that may be up for sale. And to her surprise, the man
repairing the generating set suddenly came to the realization that his family
had some parcel of land somewhere not too far away. “I asked him to take me
there immediately. We went there with me sitting behind him on an okada, and I
saw this large expanse of land. From there, we went to meet the head of their
family to negotiate, and before I knew it, a deal was sealed. After that
business was completed, other family members began to approach me to help their
land. That is why I always say my involvement in real estate business is a
miracle.”
With a profit well in excess of N1 million, she soon
realized the huge potential in real estate business. And she promptly grabbed
the opportunity, and going back to learn the tricks of the trade from
established real estate agents around.
Twelve years after that ‘miraculous’ breakthrough, she has
grown in the real estate business, with her company, Yefadot Positive Property
Ltd, breaking the barriers in property development in Lagos and Ogun states.
Interestingly, her real estate business goes beyond building
houses and helping clients get accommodation. She has added a new thing, which
hitherto was known to practitioners of the business- advocacy and conflict
resolution.
She explained the reason behind her new-found love. “I came
to the realization that lots of people who want to build houses don’t know much
about the laws guiding the construction of buildings. For instance, most people
believe that having a Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) is all they need to own
a land. But it is not so, because that are other things they need to get. You
need to get the receipt of the family that originally owned the land.
“I also realized that there are too many land cases
everywhere. Where two parties are fighting over a piece of land, you should
know that one of the parties is not telling the truth. So, I encourage people
to always say the truth about their purchase of land any time there is a
conflict. I have been able to settle age-long land tussles involving families
and individuals in and around Lagos.”
For her efforts at resolving conflicts, the Ojokoro
community in Lagos honoured her with a chieftaincy title of Iyalode, a title
she holds close to her chest.
Her activities have also led her into politics. She is a
member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Lagos, and also a prominent
member of the Asiwaju Total Loyalty group.
The life of Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Babajide can no doubt serve
as an inspiration to many young jobless Nigerians. The product of a not-so-rich
parent, young Yetunde set out for Lagos from her Ikire, Osun State bas after
acquiring her National Certificate of Education (NCE) certificate, hoping to
get a white collar job.
But after several long fruitless searches for a job, she
took up the challenge to fend for herself. After a quick meditation on what she
could do, she opted for a one-man dry cleaning service. Moving from one house
to another, Yetunde went through her neighbourhood, soliciting customers.
“After leaving school, I came to Lagos to live with my uncle. I thought I would
get a job as soon as I got to Lagos, but weeks soon passed into months, with no
sign of a job in the horizon. But after I got tired of the fruitless search, I
woke one day and decided that I would be doing dry cleaning for people around
my neighbourhood. I became a washerwoman.
“I could not just sit down and do nothing. I was very lucky
to have the kind of parents that I have. My mother sold food items in Ikire,
while my dad was a driver. We were brought up to be up and doing early every
day, as early as 4am. From that time, there would be no sleeping again, because
we would all be doing one thing or the other. My dad did not discriminate
between the boys and the girls. So there was nothing the boys could do that I
could not do. We washed our dad’s clothes and iron them. So the job of washing
clothes was not really new to me.”
With that little and humble beginning, which started in the
backyard of his uncle’s home, the business has grown into a company with five
branches scattered across Lagos. “At the beginning, I was doing the job alone.
It got to a point that I could no longer handle it alone, and I had to invite
another person. From that point, it just started growing. And it came to a
point that I had to register it as a company. I ran the company for about 18
years, with a staff strength of more than 20.”
With a thriving business, there came new challenges to be
explored. The first challenge was thrown at her by an elderly client who
advised her on the need to improve her education. And as a woman with a firm
belief that no condition is big enough to discourage a man from pursuing set
goals, she took up the challenge and went back to the university to study
business administration.
“Among my clients was an old man. He is a Ghanaian and a
lecturer at the University of Lagos. One day, he came to my office and asked if
I was educated. I told him that I had an NCE certificate. But he was not sure,
and so he asked me to bring the certificate. At first, I forgot to bring it on
the first appointed day. So when he came, he simply aid that he knew that I was
lying. I felt very sad about it, and asked him to come back the following day.
After I showed him the certificate, he said he saw a lot of potentials in me,
and that I could do better than I was doing. He said I needed to get a better
education.”
And truly, the university education soon opened her eyes to
better opportunities around her. Then she made the first move to diversify her
business, as she added a sachet water business to her profile. “I started
seeing opportunities that I didn’t know existed even before I finished the
degree course. The truth was that I didn’t go back to school because I wanted
to work with the certificate, but to expand my scope and view of doing
business.”
Her expectation of an expanded scope came to pass one day
when a seemingly impossible business fell on her laps. According to her, she
went to repair a faulty power generating set. But while waiting, a man
approached the repairer, and asked if he had any parcel of land for sale.
“While I was waiting for the man to finish the repairs, a man came and asked
him if he had any parcel of land for sale. The man replied that he didn’t have
any. But before the man left, I drew his attention and told that I have one for
sale. But the truth was that I didn’t have any land to give to him t the time.
We agreed on an appointment for the next day for the inspection of the land.”
With what seemed an impossible task, she set out immediately
in search of a land that may be up for sale. And to her surprise, the man
repairing the generating set suddenly came to the realization that his family
had some parcel of land somewhere not too far away. “I asked him to take me
there immediately. We went there with me sitting behind him on an okada, and I
saw this large expanse of land. From there, we went to meet the head of their
family to negotiate, and before I knew it, a deal was sealed. After that
business was completed, other family members began to approach me to help their
land. That is why I always say my involvement in real estate business is a
miracle.”
With a profit well in excess of N1 million, she soon
realized the huge potential in real estate business. And she promptly grabbed
the opportunity, and going back to learn the tricks of the trade from
established real estate agents around.
Twelve years after that ‘miraculous’ breakthrough, she has
grown in the real estate business, with her company, Yefadot Positive Property
Ltd, breaking the barriers in property development in Lagos and Ogun states.
Interestingly, her real estate business goes beyond building
houses and helping clients get accommodation. She has added a new thing, which
hitherto was known to practitioners of the business- advocacy and conflict
resolution.
She explained the reason behind her new-found love. “I came
to the realization that lots of people who want to build houses don’t know much
about the laws guiding the construction of buildings. For instance, most people
believe that having a Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) is all they need to own
a land. But it is not so, because that are other things they need to get. You
need to get the receipt of the family that originally owned the land.
“I also realized that there are too many land cases
everywhere. Where two parties are fighting over a piece of land, you should
know that one of the parties is not telling the truth. So, I encourage people
to always say the truth about their purchase of land any time there is a
conflict. I have been able to settle age-long land tussles involving families
and individuals in and around Lagos.”
For her efforts at resolving conflicts, the Ojokoro
community in Lagos honoured her with a chieftaincy title of Iyalode, a title
she holds close to her chest.
Her activities have also led her into politics. She is a
member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Lagos, and also a prominent
member of the Asiwaju Total Loyalty group.
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