Ooni to employ 100,000 youths, unveils OjajaMore shopping mall

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja 11, has unveiled a shopping mall, which will offer over 100,000 direct and indirect employments to the youths.

Speaking at the commissioning of the shopping mall named OjajaMore, held at the premises of the retail outlet, located at the km 10, Ife/Ibadan Expressway in Ile-Ife, Oba Ogunwusi said the initiative was also to build the confidence of younger ones in productive business and investment activities

He said the retail outlet will be replicated in the entire South West and Nigeria with a chain of over 100 stalls within the next 24 months.

The monarch further said that OjajaMore is a viable food-chain retail store dealing in groceries and other consumables.

The Ooni further stated that the establishment of OjajaMore was in fulfillment of his age long aspiration to redesign retail activities that will be gainfully driven by the Nigerian youths with a view to creating an enduring legacy for Africa in the global space. 

His words: “This is a job creation for the Nigerian youths. OjajaMore simply means where people (consumers) can pay less and get more. It is a combination of royalty and retail to create a different shopping perspective starting from Ile-Ife, The Source. The business is structured to allow personalized shopping to grow the retail business which is grossly underdeveloped in Nigeria due to reasons which include proliferation of neighborhood stores and unorganized markets among others. 

“While in Johannesburg about 15 years ago on a business visit, I saw so many retail stores, I thereafter realized that as big as Nigeria was and still is, there are only five (5) major malls with no single one in my hometown Ile-Ife that is refined, classy and affordable.

“Like we have names of people branded into companies like this in developed countries, I initiated this project to build the confidence of our younger ones in productive business and investment activities. Youths are the real drivers of economic growth.

“We have started from Ile-Ife because charity begins at home, from here we will cover the entire South West and Nigeria with a chain of over 100 stalls within the next 24 months. It will be first of its kind in Nigeria and the continent of Africa.

“Beyond grooming young minds and serious minded youths in retail business, this initiative will offer over 100,000 direct and indirect employments to our youths across the country, thereby contributing in no small means to human development and capacity building. That’s my target.”

MD/CEO of OjajaMore, Mr. Benedict Orioye, explained that high-powered technology will be deployed to ensure that customers are treated with respect and royalty as part of value for their money, beyond what is obtainable in similar outfits nationwide.

Orioye said: “Our focus is to have local content as items making up of at least 70 percent of items to be sold here, this is why we are dwelling mostly on the farm market. Everything you can think of in the farm will be sold in OjajaMore with decent packaging in line with global standard operating procedure for food handling.

“Aside from fresh and healthy farm produce, the mall will be filled with other retail items as obtainable in other malls around the world but blended with royalty. Our goods are going to be affordably cheap and environment friendly as we have concluded plans to partner with the university communities around us to ease the stress of students and other low income earners in shopping.”