The Arole Oduduwa & Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, unveiled a new branch of Ojajamore, a retail supermarket outlet at the Ogo Oluwa Area, Osogbo, Osun State Capital, on Sunday, saying his intention is for the outfit to have branches across the country for the promotion of local content.
The monarch who made this known while speaking with newsmen at the programme, explained that the outfit runs with the motive to empower Nigerian youths and grow the nation’s economy by creating platforms for creative producers to showcase their products and services.
Asked about the expected return on such a huge investment, Ooni Ogunwusi said, “Although it is a capital-intensive business, I am however not in for profit. I thank God for what He has done in my life. I do not need money for anything. I just want to support the youth and vulnerable members of our society.”
“If you check our shelves, you will realise that most of the items here are goods manufactured locally by young Nigerians who are trying to make a living; these are the people that we are expanding for so that goods produced in Osun State can get to Abuja, goods produced in Taraba can get to Akure, and so on.
“This is part of the royalty and reality in OjajaMore; we are a distribution platform for the youths to display their manufacturing prowess and achieve their dreams. This will expand their production capacity, while consumers will have confidence in locally made items.
“We started back home in Ile-Ife, then that of Abere, which was commissioned by His Excellency, Governor Ademola Adeleke, a few years ago; we are in Akure and Lagos. In the next two years, we want to do over one thousand branches nationwide.”
In the same vein, Ooni Ogunwusi called on the government and privileged Nigerians to create platforms for Nigerian youths to showcase their creativity to the world.
He said, “As we do here, we promote items as simple as chin-chin, coconut snacks, biscuits, liquid soap, and others produced by our youths. They find it prestigious to have their goods on our shelves and also satisfactory getting them across to end users.
“This is what everyone should be doing—not blaming the government all the time. All the countries in the world are faced with their unique challenges, and Nigeria is not a peculiar case. While the government has a lot to do, we citizens must equally not sit doing nothing.”
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