Life they say becomes easier and meaningful when is a shoulder to lean on but in a society like ours, this is most times, not the case as almost everyone goes about minding their own business.
It was a great wonder yesterday in Ilesha when a promising young businessman took it upon himself to sow a seed of love into the lives of the people with a load of food items that worth millions of naira.
We gathered that such moment of wild excitement has been on for the past five years where Mr. Tijani Usman, will gather people at his palatial abode on the eve of the new year mainly to give them what to celebrate the new year with.
One could tell from the joy on the faces of the people that this amazing gesture goes a long way to meet their needs and this prompted us to have a chat with Mr. Tijani on what motivated his intention to birth this act.
According to him, Mr. Tijani Usman, who is the Chairman of BELTIJ Nigeria Limited, said: “I don’t have to own the whole world before extending a hand of love to my people. It is a part of me that I can never change and as long as God blesses me I will not stop it”
“I emulated this lifestyle from the East where I grew up. There, one businessman will raise another and the one raised too will also pick some and within a short spade of time the trend will go round and everyone will be okay”
“I just hope that others who also are privileged in the society would take the gesture from me and see to helping people a priority. It is by that alone we can have a better society and a home to be proud of”
Speaking further on his contributions to societal values, Tijani said, ” by the grace of God I have empowered more than one hundred youths, I have some employed in my mining company while I support in cash and kind too training for those who choose a field of career aside what my companies do”
“I am not a politician and do not plan to be one. I just owe it to my conscience to be a reason for my people’s smile and the truth is, the more I give the more God blesses me in return”
“I have been able to change the narratives a bit from what it used to be when I newly came from South Africa where I lived for more than twenty years. Violence has drastically reduced because the notable numbers of youths have been duly engaged. I make myself available to them as a brother and when calls for a need to talk to them I do not deny them the opportunity and that is already yielding as expected”
Tijani also added that his exploits back home has motivated some people living abroad too to be considering what to do in their home town.
“The joy that I have is that people are now beginning to see why they need to come home and develop their town. When they saw part of my companies moved here and how beneficial they have been to the people, some have assured that soon they will start thinking in the same direction which if happens will to a great extent better the more the lives of our people”
“Part of my future plans as a person is to send abroad some of these youths for training. Some have indicated an interest in certain fields and I am more willing to support them to be the best the can be”
Tijani Usman is a Chairman BELTIJ Limited that specializes in furniture making, boreholes drilling, gold mining, bakery, distilled water and block factory.
Ayantoye Christopher Ayanniyi is a public affairs commentator from Ogbomoso, Oyo State
