For some years now, echoes of his name may not have reverberated beyond the corporate environment, but those who are still abreast of happenings in the 1990s will readily recall the name Dapo Adelegan, especially when you remember that popular annual music fiesta, Lekki Sunsplash.
As a music promoter, Adelegan made tremendous impact in the entertainment world, when he pioneered the rested popular music concert, Lekki Sunspalsh.
This graduate of English from the University of Ilorin, who became a millionaire through self-help at 26, left his very successful show promoting job to delve into the corporate world, where he has held sway as a marketing consultant and public relations expert. The Akure, Ondo State born Prince Adedapo Oluwaseyi Adelegan, fondly called Dapo Adelegan, who now sits atop Celtron Group as chairman, no doubt, has a success story to tell. The articulate and grey hair-spotting Adelegan, who is the President and Chairman, Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce, is also a politician.
Although Adelegan recently activated his “political side” with the objective of ensuring a better place for all and sundry, he’s always excited about the words of God so much so that he has not missed reading his Bible for a day in the past 30 years.
But having come this far in life and seen it all, what is his greatest goal now? Making a deep sigh, he quips, “I would say my aspiration now, God willing, is to be a major player in the Nigerian political space and my priority is to refocus the direction of the political players towards compassionate government. It is to also inject into the political space the understanding that unless compassion is at the forefront of policy formulation, there will be no development.”
I think I have told a couple of people that if you are looking for love, you probably won’t get it from your wife, may be your girlfriend. But if you are looking for support, partnership, help, you will get it from your wife.
Having become a millionaire and famous at 26, he, no doubt, set new records thereafter and remained successful. But, what does life mean to him at this stage?
He says, “The days of youth have totally gone, and we are now in the days of maturity and it’s now my legacy period. Everything I do now will speak for me when I’m gone, because we won’t live forever. May be I have another 30, 40 years, if God permits. Now, I am more in a hurry than I was 26 years ago and my passion now is how to rescue this country from the brink of collapse, and I cannot do it alone.
“I must join the structure, I must join the political formulation, I must join other Nigerians in joining my own voice. So, I have joined politics and I am discussing with the necessary quarters as to how I can also share thought and ideas with my generation about our responsibility to this country and the strategy we need to adopt in our private lives to ensure things work out. Hopefully, I will succeed in both endeavours and when I am gone, they will say he was not just a successful entrepreneur, he was also relevant to the resolution of the crisis that was affecting us and created part of the vision concerning where Nigeria should be in the 21st century.”
Asked how he was able to cope with women and other pressures when he had that financial breakthrough at such a very young age, Adelegan explains, “Don’t forget that I started life as a music promoter, Lekki SunsPlash; after six years, I aborted it and moved to corporate clients and I remember at that time that, some said I made a mistake, but I said I didn’t make a mistake. I would say I have deliberately moulded my life, my relationships, my aspiration to ensure if I die anytime, the things I want written about me are the things that will be written about me, and that’s the definition of success, a deliberate plan to walk the talk and follow your dreams.
“If I have remained level headed in spite of the success I made at that early age, it’s as a result of that deliberate action that is important to my getting to where I desire to get to. And that still speaks to the fact that I have my eyes on greater level of success and aspiration. But if you do not have a plan, if you do not have your end clearly in sight, you will mismanage your primary success and will make it impossible for you to get the secondary, tertiary and so on, because life is not a dash, it’s a marathon. There are phases. So, the fact that you have succeeded at 26 as the biggest in the country does not mean I will succeed in my 30s, 40s or 50s, except there was a divine destiny of my life and a deliberate plan of actually visualising what end is desirable for me and taking all the steps, the discipline and the sacrifice that are required to attain it.”
Surprisingly, one thing that greatly excites this entertainment and corporate world guru is attending funeral services in church. Why this strange love for this aspect of church service that many would have loved not to be part of?
“I love church. My wife would tell you that if there is a wedding invitation, it’s the church service I want to go to; I don’t like the reception. If there is a burial ceremony, it’s that part of church service I want to attend. I don’t know where that came from but when I sit in the church and listen to the word of God, it takes me to a different level. So, I thank God for that. The word of God really excites me. As I grow older, I see that, even though I have been reading every day, every morning in the last 30 years unchecked, I now have a desire to also share it. That is my first excitement. Secondly, I read a lot. Any book that speaks to any new issues or autobiography of people, I devour it and lastly, I like to travel, I’m a nomad,” he says.
Talking about keeping his home-front intact, Adelegan gives all credit to his wife, who he says has been magnanimous enough to dedicate almost all of her time to taking care of him and their children.
He reveals, “There is a saying that we do not choose our wives, God chooses them for us. I think I have told a couple of people that if you are looking for love, you probably won’t get it from your wife, may be your girlfriend. But if you are looking for support, partnership, help, you will get it from your wife. So, in terms of the home-front, I have had a co-worker and a friend who has helped.
“The kids are just lucky with the kind of mother they have because, if they had me as their father alone, I’m sure they would have grown up almost alone because I have been running my business. But I have been lucky to have a wife who, at the expense of her own development and business, she has given a lot of her time to the children and the home-front and I thank God for that. So, to that extent, I am lucky. Maybe some are not that lucky. She is more of a business person than I am but in the last 10 years or thereabout, both here and abroad, she has given up to 70 per cent to the children and their education. I’m eternally grateful for that.”
