His story is akin to that of a lame rising into fame. Sojourning to Lagos from Iludun Oro, Kwara State at the age of 13, armed with nothing but a mix of educational disability and strong commitment to excel and break loose from the yoke of poverty; Oyin Jolayemi, founder of the Daily Need Group of Companies is today not just an ordinary industrialist, he is an industrial icon, a quintessential entrepreneur whose stories, no doubt, provide the motivational pull for aspiring entrepreneurs

For those that are familiar with the city of Lagos, particularly the high-brow Victoria Island part of the metropolis, the name Oyin Jolayemi will certainly be a household one. It is one of the major streets in Victoria Island, which plays host to head offi ces of some of the big corporate organisations.

However, beyond being a popular street, Oyin Jolayemi is also the name of one of Nigeria's highly successful corporate icons, who by dint of hard work, strong determination to excel, courage and uncommon zeal, broke loose from the chain of poverty and deprivation to attain the commanding height in his chosen career. It is this same man that Oyin Jolayemi Street was named after.

Born in 1940 at Iludun Oro in Kwara State to the family of Pa Sangotoye Jolayemi, a man reputed as the custodian of curative services, with magical prowess and the ability to call fi re from the skies, Oyinlola, as he was then called, is the youngest of fi ve surviving children.

As a traditionalist himself, the elder Jolayemi, perhaps, forced by the circumstances that surrounded the loss of seven of his children decided to allow the remaining fi ve certain privileges like freedom to worship whatever they chose. However, the freedom did not include being allowed to go to school as their father felt it was a ploy to lure them into Christianity.

With the pursuit of academic, shut out, the young Jolayemi settled for handcraft, particularly, mat making. At infancy, those close to the Jolayemi family say the young Oyin was a bit rascally; the attributes which Business Courage learnt earned him serious reprimand, though he was closer to his father as the last child.

As it later turned out, Oyin's closeness with his father almost became a clog as he, for long, found it diffi cult to convince his father to free him to pursue a life-saving adventure outside his birth pace, Iludun Oro just like his brothers.

At a tender age of 13, the youthful Oyin Jolayemi left Iludun Oro with nothing except determination to come to Lagos and make a meaning out of life.

When he arrived Lagos, Oyin started out as a shop boy selling handkerchief and dusters on the streets of Lagos but several challenges along with the unfulfi lled promises of his boss to pay him a certain sum made him quit the apprenticeship. There and then, he decided to take the bull by the horn.

After he broke away from his boss, Oyin decided to put into practice, the little he had learnt from his boss by selling the same items he had hawked on the streets of Lagos Island. As he progressed, he added to his stock, the sale of raincoat.

Interestingly, however, the young Jolayemi had at that stage, known the importance of education as he enrolled for adult education classes which he attended every evening after each day's sales.

At the early stage of his entrepreneurial endeavour, Jolayemi was confronted with teething challenges that were strong enough to scare him away. Shortly after he broke away from his boss and opted to sell his own handkerchiefs and dusters, Oyin was hit by fraudsters who defrauded him of the entire handkerchiefs he hawked around the streets in Ikoyi. According to him, the fraudster had asked him to go and bring the rest items in his small shop, “I thought he was serious. He told me he wanted to buy many. I ran back to my shop to bring all that I had, but only for him to order me in a way that I do not know to lie down in a gutter and start looking forward and praying. He warned me to just lie there and do not raise my head until the money came, but only for me to later raise my head with courage and the man was nowhere to be found again,” he recounted.

Despite this shortcoming, Oyin Jolayemi refused to cave in. He picked up his pieces and intensifi ed his drive in the handkerchief sale until he was eventually introduced to the sale of over-the-counter drugs by Folorunsho Akosile, who as at then, dealt in Patent Medicine. This connection opened doors for him, leading to the establishment of Daily Needs Chemist at Idumota Lagos, turning him from a handkerchief seller to a patient medicine seller, the business that raised his profi le around Idumota and Ereko area of Lagos Island. Interestingly, it was this line of business that ultimately unveiled the strong entrepreneurial spirit in Oyin Jolayemi.

After running the patent medicine business for some time and becoming very popular around the Idumota/Ereko axis of the Lagos Island, Jolayemi, in 1970 opened a shop known as Daily-Need Chemist located at 134 Nnamdi Azikiwe Street, Lagos Island.

Essentially, Daily-Need Chemist was the mustard seed that germinated and grew to become an oak tree which today is the Daily-Need Group, an indigenous conglomerate which has now grown to include Daily Need Industries Limited, DNI Personal Products Ltd., Oyin Holdings Ltd., De Honey International Ventures, and Jolayemi Nigeria Ltd, with turnover running into several billions.

After two years of trading under Daily Need Chemist, Jolayemi ventured into manufacturing of “Paulina,” a beauty cream somewhere in Surulere, Lagos. This was followed by the production of Penicillin Ointment, the product that effectively launched him into full blown pharmaceutical production.

Today, Daily-Need Group has over ten quality and vibrant brands under its portfolio. The company manufactures Biovit, a syrup of Vitamin B Complex, which restores lost energy, reduces stress, replenishes the skin and enhances the well-being of the body system . Also, De-Deon's, a syrup of Haemoglobin Vitamin B12 which restores lost energy, reduces stress and enhances the well-being of the body system is another brand which has today become a must have for all families especially patients in dire need of blood restoration. Other pharmaceutical products include Uniplex Cough Syrup, for effective treatment against irritating and chesty coughs, Matthew Worm Elixir for effective treatment against round worms as well as thread worms. Vilicin Balm is popularly known for fast relief from muscle aches and pains as well as ensuring fast and soothing relief from lumbago.

In the foods sector, the group's Suppy, a beef seasoning cube is today one of the household brands which competes favourably well with its peers produced by foreign conglomerate in the country.

The company also manufactured one of the leading tooth pastes in the country way back in the 80s. Daily Need Flouride Toothpaste however, suddenly went underground but in 2008, like the mythical phoenix, the toothpaste practically rose from the dead and has since bounced back into strong reckoning. The reformulated red gel toothpaste rose from the ashes of irrelevance to which its white fore bearer was confi ned several years ago, to return into the coveted Nigerian consumer market with fanfare.

Jolayemi was also into the banking sector, but his experience in this area may have left sour taste in his mouth as his Victory Merchant Bank Limited left the worst scar on him. The bank was among the list of distressed banks whose operating licence was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 1998 and was subsequently liquidated by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

Indeed, the story of Oyin Jolayemi can simply be described as the life of a village boy who came to Lagos with nothing at the tender age but with determination, courage and focus in life became an industrial giant.

His walk into an industrial fulfi lment is quite an interesting one. Then, young Jolayemi would wake up every other morning on his 52, Balogun Street Lagos Island abode to take a view of many ships rowing in to the country, while he hoped and prayed for his to come too.

His rise from grass to grace is a story which many aspiring entrepreneurs should take a cue from. Despite not having formal education and getting seared at different points in his rise to the top of his game, Jolayemi persevered and today, he is on top of the game. He is a very successful industrialist with over three decades of robust business experience.

His background notwithstanding, Jolayemi has earned himself respect in the business and fi nancial world and his lack of formal education as he sojourned on no longer count for a man who now holds a Honorary Degree in Business Administration from Keshington University (USA). His international exposures which have seen him traverse key industrial capitals in the world like the United Kingdom, USA, the Middle East and Far East has broadened his exposure in industrial management.

Jolayemi himself admit that his desperate and dedicated spirit helped him climb the ladder of success to the present stage, “I do not look down on the elders. I always run errands for them and when I came to Lagos, I started working as a shop boy running errands. Nobody taught me to save my income and by special grace of God, I knew by keeping my income, it will put in my hands the keys to wealth and greatness. Therefore my principle was, if you want to have much, use little and save the rest.”

Jolayemi believes that what, he was taught by his parents and what he learnt by myself were good but according to him, “it was not what mummy and daddy taught that matters. What makes me different in my life is the grace of the almighty God.”

The “handkerchief boy” as Jolayemi is called by those close to him says his story is the “manifestation of God's goodness” and that is why “I tried to recollect the essence and event of my life, how God has brought me this far. I have also received a lot of help; I have received God's help. I really do have a story as it is contained in this book ‘The Pursuits of destiny' and I believe that many of us, especially the younger ones will have some lessons from it,” he said at the launch of his autobiography.

Earnest Shonekan, himself a renowned industrialist and former Head of the Interim National Government described Jolayemi as a leading light, a kind of an industrialist who has shown way to others in the country. According to him, Oyin Jolayemi was not born with a golden or silver spoon in his mouth to have climbed the height of success in his chosen fi eld of business, and as such, his rise from nobody to a status of international recognition should serve as a lesson for younger Nigerians not to have an excuse to be poor.

The founder of the Daily Need Group is a fi rst class philanthropist. Despite his towering status, Jolayemi did not forget his cradle, particularly in the area of providing infrastructural support. Among other things, Jolayemi is said to have repaired and tarred the road networks in his home town.

He had also at one time, donated Bronchoscopy equipment to the paediatric unit of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for treatment of children with cases of foreign body injuries. Bronchoscopy is a technique utilised to visualise the inside of the airways for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. He also donated a complete laundry unit to the Massey Street Children Hospital, Lagos.

The signifi cance of Jolayemi's donation to LASUTH was properly situated by Thoracic Cardiologist at the LASUTH; Dr. Bode Falashe who observed that while at least 500 children die from foreign body injuries in the United States of America, there is no accurate data in Nigeria as only very few of the patients are seen in the hospital. Several lives have already been saved since the donation of the equipment. “When a child's airway is blocked by foreign bodies, it is not easy to remove like in adults due to the tiny size of the airway which may lead to complications and even death. Most times you fi nd ear rings, fi sh bones etc; these things block the lungs making it impossible for the children to breathe well. But with this equipment in place, it is easy to remove such foreign bodies,” Falashe noted.