Gbenga Ilemobayo
Chief (Dr.) John Agboola Odeyemi, the Obasewa of Ile-Ife, a former Chairman of Ecobank Nigeria Plc and Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, will mark his 87th birthday on Saturday, April 4, 2026.
He was born in Ile-Ife on April 4, 1939, finished elementary education at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School, Ile-Ife, in 1954 and later trained as higher elementary teacher at St. Leo’s College, Abeokuta, between 1956 and December 1959. In 1965 and 1966, as a student on Sandwich course in Accounting at The College of Commerce & Technology, Wednesbury, Staffordshire England, he won the Rubbery Owen Prize for the “Most Distinguished Student of the Year”; and “Outstanding Performance of the Year”, respectively.
Odeyemi is the Chairman of JKN Limited and JAO Investment Company Limited. He also currently serves on the board of Kinley Securities Limited – stockbrokers. He is also the Chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Board of Trustees.
He served on the Board of a number of other companies and was the Chairman of Ecobank Nigeria Limited from September 2006 to March 2010; was Chairman, Refuge Insurance Company Limited and Obafemi Awolowo University Investment Company Limited from January 2007 to December 2012. He was also a Director of Lead Bank Limited, Oasis Insurance Plc, Multimalt Limited, Sowsco Well Services Limited and Kajola Integrated Investment Company Limited.
He was a Past President of the LCCI, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture; and Chairman, Nigerian Accounting Standards Board from 1990 to 1995; and past President, Ife Development Board, 1995 to 2004.
Odeyemi was a member of the National Political Reform Conference from February to July 2005; member of the National Privatisation Council (Bureau of Public Enterprise), October 2004 to October 2006; member of the Committee on the Assessment and Monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals, June 2005 to October 2006; and was founding member of the Governing Board of UNESCO Institute of Science, Technology and Innovation Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He was honoured by the Federal Government of Nigeria as Member of the Order Of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2005; by the Osun State Government with the State Distinguished Merit Award For Philanthropy and Community Development in 2007; and by the Ile-Ife community with the Distinguished Merit Award in 2008.
He was given a Merit Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in 2005; awarded Doctor of Science in Business Administration (Honoris Causa) by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife in December, 2007. He was also given a special award by the Federation of Construction Industry for his contributions to the infrastructural development in Nigeria in June 2009 and appointed member of the Council of Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Osun State in September 2009. He was conferred with the Patron of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun State Council, in August 2010. He was also appointed as Patron, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers’ Foundation in October 2011.
Odeyemi built, equipped and donated a building for the museum of antiquities to the Institute of Cultural Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. He played a significant role in the linkages that led to securing the financial sponsorship of the Leventis family for the completion of the Natural History Museum. As part of his philanthropic gestures and his vision for the preservation of natural and cultural Heritage, in 2011, he donated a vehicle for field work to the Natural History museum, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. He was also honoured with an Annual Lecture on Conservation And Preservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage, the Chief (Dr.) John Agboola Odeyemi Annual Lecture by the Department of Natural History Museum, University of Ife, Osun State, effective April 2014.
He served as the Chairman of Seham Health Care Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the development of public awareness and care of viral hepatitis in Nigeria. He is one of the patrons of CAREMI (Foundation for the Care and Resettlement of the Mentally Ill).He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Down Syndrome Foundation, Nigeria, an NGO that takes care of children with Down syndrome.
He is a devout Christian and regular contributor to the promotion of evangelism. He worships at Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral Church (AVMCC) in Ikeja, Lagos.
He remains active at his original family church, St Paul Anglican Church, Ayegbaju in Ile-Ife, where he was installed as the EkerinIjo in 2004 and Balogun of the church on February 23, 2014. He was installed as the Otun Baba Ijo on November 18, 2017 and as Baba-Ijo in November 2020. He constructed and donated the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist, the Vicarage and Children Amenity Hall to the Diocese of Ife. He has contributed to major activities and developmental events in the Ife Diocese, Anglican and other Christian churches countrywide, including mentoring of St. Paul Anglican Model College Ayegbaju as Chairman, Board of Governors, and donated the school hall.
He was the inaugural Chairman Ife Diocese Endowment Fund and Chairman, Ife Diocesan Investment and Development Committee. He serves as a member of the AVMCC Endowment Fund inaugurated by the church in February 2013.
He is a member of Christian Friends Society and Torch Bearers Society of the AVMCC, Young Men Christian Fellowship, St. Paul Anglican Church, Ayegbaju, Ife and he is a patron of the following societies: Band of Mercy, Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral Church, Lagos; Christian Morning Star Society, Anglican Church of the Pentecost, FESTAC Town; Young Men and Women Christian Association, Anglican Church, Oshodi, Prison Fellowship Nigeria, Lagos Chapter.
He is a member of The Metropolitan Club, Lagos; Beachland Boat Club, Ife Metropolitan Club and a Rotarian, Paul Harris Fellow.
