One of the nation’s foremost indigenous conglomerates, Odu’a Investment Company Limited, at the weekend, held its staff awards and new year party, at Lafia Hotel, Apata in Ibadan, during which it took stock of successes recorded in 2011, and rewarded staff for meritorious service, and also to articulate the company’s vision and goals for 2012.

Chairman of the Odu’a Board, Alhaji Sharafadeen Alli, in his opening remarks, said he was pleased with the support of the staff and the entire management since he became chairman in 2011, and added that “we must realise that Odu’a Investment is not just a company, it is our own heritage, therefore we strive to go higher.”

Giving his address at the event, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Odu’a, Mr Adebayo Jimoh, emphasised that the Group placed a high premium on people.

The GMD used the occasion  to give an overview of the company’s 2011 performance and its expectations for the present year.

Speaking about the previous year, Mr Jimoh said the lack of significant improvement in power and infrastructure in the country, security challenges, coupled with global economic recession, had made doing business in Nigeria one of the costliest in the world.

However, Odu’a was able to make remarkable achievements in 2011.

He said: “Despite these, the company refused any level of distraction to dissuade us from moving ahead. Our activities were focused on business restructuring, seeking strategic alliance for greater profitability and expanding our frontiers in property development.”

He chronicled the feats achieved by the company in 2011 to include the following:

The Odu’a Corporate Headquarters was moved back to the 25-storey Cocoa House after 25 years in 2011. Odu’a also revived the moribund Odu’a Textile Ltd in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

The Ekiti-Odu’a Skill Acquisition Centre was established in an effort to harness the potentials of Nigeria’s growing youth population which is of key interest to the company’s management.

Life was infused into the Nigerian Wire & Cables Ltd, and O’net Telecommunications resumed operations with technical and financial partnership with Canada-based Concave Telecoms.

Significant headway was made in 2011 with regard to the construction of shopping malls, hotel renovations and estate development.

“I equally need to put on record that at the recent second peer review exercise of member institutions using Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) prudential standards, guideliness and rating system, held in Democratic Republic of Congo, Odu’a was classified as one of the top 10 best performing institutions with A-rating.”

He added that, “the company will be presented the best performing African DFI Award at the association’s coming 2012 General Assembly in Tanzania.”

The GMD attributed these achievements in 2011 to the commitment, dedication and relentless nature of staff and management.

For 2012, the company would continue to provide necessary support for its subsidiaries and associated companies, and would rigorously pursue property redevelopment, human capacity building, income generation despite the lull in the economic environment occasioned by fuel price hike.

The event was concluded by the awards ceremony for staff of the year, long-service and Omoluwabi awards for remarkable efforts in representing virtues of the Yoruba nation in the workplace.