He spent the early part of his life with his grandmother, who in her own right, was a ‘successful’ farmer and trader. And all the teachings, stories and practical lessons on the farm in his native Ijebu Ogbogbo community in Ogun State have combined to form the man, Kehinde Olusegun Odeneye.
Though he was born in Lagos where his parents were resident, he was, however, ‘dispatched’ to a rural Ijebu, Ogun State, town to be imbibed with native intelligence and virtue. "We go to farm to help mama. I know how to fry garri, prepare palm oil and several other things in the farm. One particular thing that I learnt about life is that though the beginning can be very little, the end should be the ultimate goal.
Mama was able to inculcate in me the virtue of hard work. And because she did not want to be blamed for spoiling her grandson, she made sure that I did everything according to instruction, including going to school and church. Apart from that, you cannot just go to church for going sake, you must be part of the choir and also partake in other activities. Mama was able to teach us not to undermine what level you’ll aspire to and that tomorrow would be better than today."
Odeneye insists that the Spartan lifestyle of the rural town and lessons grandma taught him are invaluable. I had a very humble beginning. Though I was born in Lagos, but my grandmother took me away to live with her when I turned three. I lived with her till I left secondary school. Looking back today, I am very happy that I lived with her. I really wish people will take their children to live with older members of the family. In Lagos, we rarely have the time to take care of our children because we are always working to provide for our families."
However, the most important virtue mama impacted into her grandchildren was the ability to give freely, something that he confessed has come into play in his present role a federal lawmaker. "Though there was poverty at the time, mama would give to people around her freely. Whenever people came to visit her, she would give them something, ranging from garri, palm oil and other stuff when they were leaving. At that time, because there were lots of us grandchildren living with her, we would all go to the farm to assist her in doing most of the works on the farm. It was really a humble beginning."
With the lesson that tomorrow would be better if he worked hard, young Olusegun Odeneye knew he had to get a good education to set himself apart from the crowd. And after graduating from both Ogbogbo Baptist Primary School and Ogbogbo Baptist Grammar School, he proceeded to the Tai Solarin College of Education for his Higher School Certificate (HSC).
But he soon dropped his ambition for a higher school certificate to seek what he deemed a better opportunity at the Lagos State Polytechnic and Lagos State University where he read accountancy. "After I left secondary school, I proceeded to the Tai Solarin College of Education for my HSC. But I left after staying for just one year because I wasn’t really interested in an HSC. I went to Lagos State Polytechnic and later Lagos State University to study accountancy."
With his OND certificate, he started work at an accounting firm of Olaitan Osinuga & Co, where he started his career as an audit trainee in 1990. His dream and love for accounting started by watching an uncle from close range.
The uncle, he discovered, had a particular trait- he loved to assist people around him. Fascinated by this, he decided he would study accounting if it would ensure that he would help those around him in the future.
"I had an uncle who is an accountant. He was fond of helping people around him. This particular trait seemed very nice to me. And I decided that if that is how chartered accountants behave, then I would love to be one. I wanted to impact on lives and be part of history."
He then began to study hard to attain his dream. And by 1997, he had become a chartered accountant, necessitating his movement to a bigger accounting firm and later to Nigerian Bottling Company where he was the Tax and Forex Investment Manager. Shortly after, he was on the move again, when he teamed up with LM Ericsson.
The opportunity to work in these world-renowned firms would later come in handy when he eventually entered into the world of politics. "Working in these places availed me the opportunity of travelling round the country and meeting different kinds of people. So my experiences in the private sector have really helped me in knowing the reasons why some of us professionals should go into politics, if only to impact on the people."
But his entrance into politics was to a large extent by default. "As at the time I made up my mind to go into politics, it was not as if I was prepared. Sincerely, I believe it simply the Lord’s doing. It happened as a child’s play at a friend’s party. I met some friends who were politicians at the party, and I jokingly told them: ‘It is time to choose candidates for the forthcoming election, please choose well so that we’ll have people that will represent us well’. The friend laughed and said I should come and join them."
What started as a joke at a social function later became serious with intense pressure on him by friends and colleagues who had noticed the somehow hidden talent in their man. Heeding the call to resign his employment and join politics was, however, not immediate.
He needed to consult his wife, hoping that she would not support the dream. "After the pressure on me to join them became intense, I told them to allow me go home and talk to my wife. The truth was that I hoped that she would not support the idea. But she simply said she had heard and that I should go ahead if I felt I could cope."
With his wife giving him a subtle support, Odeneye went on to enter the fray with little budget and a tight-lip policy to his friends on his ambition, holding on tightly to his job until after his victory at the polls.
"I was very careful about the way I went about my ambition. Because I am in the private sector, I kept my job until after the election."
Since winning the election into the House of Representatives, representing Ijebu Ode/Odogbolu/Ijebu North-East Federal Constituency, Odeneye has brought the lessons he learnt from grandmother and the experiences he garnered in line of his duties to bear on his activities.
Not long ago, more than 500 hitherto unemployed young men and women selected from the local government areas that make up his constituency were trained in tailoring, hairdressing and barbing over a period of 18 months.
All the beneficiaries were presented with the tools of their trade at a grand occasion in Ogbogbo, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
The idea, he told The Nation, was his own way of helping the indigent people in the society. "I tell you, there are two steps to chasing away poverty. First, you must alleviate it, and later work towards its total eradication. We put in place a programme designed to train these selected people from the three local government areas. I partnered with the tailors, barbers and hairdressers in these areas, and sent the selected trainees to them for a period of between 18 and 20 months. What we have achieved with this is that, we not only empower these people, we are also sure that they now have a profession that they can practise. That is why our own project is a bit novel in this area."
With the beneficiaries promising to put to good use the sewing machines, generating sets, clippers and hair dryers distributed to them, Hon. Olusegun Kehinde Odeneye is singing halleluiah and praising his late grandmother for inculcating in him the virtue of giving and helping the people.
