For the Makanjuolas, 50 Years and Still Counting

By Olusegun Adeniyi

On 18th September 1976, a young economist freshly out of the University of Leicester married the woman of his dream. Today in Lagos, the Chairman of Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, Mr Remi Makanjuola and his wife, Yoyinsola, will mark their golden wedding anniversary. But as if one milestone is not enough, the lady of the house will also turn 75 next week Saturday, the 26th. It is therefore a season of celebrations for the Makanjuolas.

Five years ago, I marked ‘Lateephat Yoyinsola Makanjuola at 70.’ I wrote then of her uncommon humility despite an enviable pedigree, and of the many lives she has shaped as a teacher: first abroad, at the Kennedy Montessori School in Chelsea and the Melting Port Foundation School in Salford, then at home, at American International School and Adrao International School. All that before she struck out in 1985 to found ROLAM Preparatory School, built on her conviction that every Nigerian child deserves a proper foundation. Half a decade on, with a golden wedding anniversary now added to the occasion, it seems only right to return, not only to celebrate a remarkable woman but also the equally remarkable man beside her.

I met Mr Remi Makanjuola, OON, long before I met his wife but even then, I had already sensed that whoever stood beside him would have to be a woman of real substance. And she is exactly that. Daughter of the late chartered accountant and banker, Salmon Beckery (S.B) Folami, and granddaughter, on her mother’s side, of the Lagos merchant prince, Sheikh Alli Balogun, Mrs Yoyinsola Makanjuola could easily have coasted through life on pedigree alone. She chose a life of purpose instead, training in the Montessori method, teaching abroad, and eventually building an institution of her own from scratch.

Fifty years in marriage is no small work. It has taken a woman exactly as grounded, patient, and purposeful as Lateephat Yoyinsola Makanjuola to make the union work. Together, they have raised four children: Bode, Niyi, Rotimi and Lolade, who, from what I have observed over the years, carry both their father’s enterprise and their mother’s discipline. And no account of this couple would be complete without mentioning that theirs is a home good-naturedly divided along footballing lines: The wife is a committed Manchester United supporter, and the husband, an Arsenal fan like me. I have sat in their living room to watch football several times and I can testify that fifty years of marriage has settled a great many issues between this couple, but clearly not their football club!

Meanwhile, it has been quite a remarkable year for the Makanjuolas. Only in May this year, the University of Leicester brought him back to receive its Lifetime Achievement Award, fifty years after he had left its gates as a young graduate, the same year, as it happens, that he married Yoyinsola. In a citation read before the public presentation, Makanjuola was described as a man whose life’s work has shaped entire sectors – from finance and aviation to education and national development.  His academic journey in the UK (both at the University of Leicester where he earned a BA in Economics and the University of Manchester where he completed his MSc in Management Science) was said to have laid the foundation for an extraordinary career defined by leadership, generosity, and nation building. “With more than two decades in banking and finance, Mr. Makanjuola held senior roles including Executive Vice Chairman of Devcom Merchant Bank and Chairman of International Commercial Bank Senegal S.A,” according to the citation. “His entrepreneurial vision led him to found the Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, which has become one of West Africa’s most important providers of marine and aviation logistics. He also contributed to public security as Chair of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, helping to strengthen the safety infrastructure of Nigeria’s largest state.”

Widely regarded as a ‘silent achiever,’ the University of Leicester further stated, “Makanjuola’s influence is felt through the institutions he has strengthened, and the countless lives uplifted by his generosity. His legacy is one of leadership, humility, and lasting impact – making him an exceptional and deserving recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.” Standing before old classmates whose own friendships had outlasted half a century that fateful night in May, Makanjuola had every reason to reflect on how much can be built, and kept, over fifty years. This September gives him another reason to reflect, but this time from the homefront.

Something is fitting, too, in the fact that his wife’s birthday and their wedding anniversary fall within the same week every year, so that each September the Makanjuola household runs a week of gratitude. This year, that week carries extra weight: fifty years of a union, and seventy-five years of a life well spent. But whatever form their celebrations take, I join their children, extended family, and the many friends they have gathered over five decades in wishing the Makanjuolas a joyous Golden Wedding Anniversary and, next week, a very happy 75th birthday to a woman who has, by her husband’s own admission, been the ground beneath his flight. May they be granted many more years together, in good health and good company.

•Adeniyi is Chairman, THISDAY Editorial Board