By Wole Alakija
The ballroom of Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, shimmered with history and ambition on Monday, November 3rd, as Nigeria’s oldest newspaper marked 100 years of journalism. As part of activities marking the centenary celebration, Dr. Sijibomi Ogundele, Group Managing Director/CEO of Sujimoto Holdings, was formally inducted into the Daily Times Top 100 Trailblazers.
Ogundele, has been named alongside prominent business leaders and nation builders in Nigeria’s Top 100 Trailblazers by the Daily Times Nigeria.
The recognition, popularly billed as the Times Achievers Award, is part of activities marking the Daily Times’ centenary, celebrating 100 years of journalism and its contributions to Nigeria’s political, economic and social development since 1926.
Themed “Honouring the Past. Shaping the Future”, the DTN@100 Trailblazer Award ceremony brought together captains of industry and next-generation Nigerians.For Ogundele, the honour was more than a plaque – it was a generational statement.
Ogundele, popularly known as Sujimoto, described the recognition as a call to greater responsibility, innovation and value creation.
Speaking after receiving the award, he noted that being acknowledged by a media institution that has documented Nigeria’s history for a century made it particularly significant.
He said the recognition, particularly being listed alongside distinguished Nigerians, was both humbling and inspiring, reaffirming his commitment to creating greater value.
“If no one will give you a seat at the table, create your own,” Ogundele often says .
From nothing, he has built Sujimoto Holdings into a luxury real estate powerhouse valued at over $600 million. Industry trackers put his transaction volume at over N45 billion Naira in real estate within a decade.
In a country where success is often inherited or negotiated, Dr. Sijibomi Ogundele stands apart, a man who built his destiny from nothing but grit, vision, and an unyielding belief, brick by brick.
Through Sujimoto Holdings, Ogundele has redefined what luxury real estate means in Africa, moving it from imitation to innovation.
Ogundele is not selling houses. He is selling standard.And his portfolio reads like a manifesto of audacity.
Villa Medici and GiulianoBySujimoto,his early Ikoyi projects announced Sujimoto’s arrival in high-end Lagos. Ogundele, is known for his involvement in luxury real estate development, with projects including Medici in Ikoyi and LucreziaBySujimoto in Banana Island, Lagos. Widely regarded as one of the most technologically advanced luxury towers in Africa, it is Africa’s first residential tower with a Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) façade. The 15-storey tower houses just 22 ultra-luxurious 4-bedroom maisonettes, each spanning 600sqm, with interactive lobby, virtual golf bar hosting 2,500 international courses, private IMAX cinema, EV charging stations and full Crestron on smart-home automation. His Leonardo by Sujimoto is a 37-storey waterfront icon inspired by Renaissance artistry, poised to fuse classical elegance with contemporary innovation.
His newest frontier is Isabella de’ Medici by Sujimoto, a proposed 49-storey luxury hotel designed to redefine Nigeria’s hospitality landscape. The development is planned to feature premium suites, an architectural façade, a hanging infinity pool and other luxury amenities.
Despite significant setbacks and financial difficulties that threatened the project, the company persevered to deliver the luxury development, demonstrating resilience and determination in the face of adversity.
Because Ogundele represents a different model of success for Generation Y and Z, he preaches what he calls the Spirit of Possibility ,tthat excellence can be a differentiator in a market obsessed with price. Where others saw Banana Island as saturated, he saw it as under-designed.
Away from the klieg lights, Ogundele is also known for his philanthropic gestures,supporting youths, empowering entrepreneurs, and providing opportunities for young Nigerians seeking entry into construction, design, and real estate development.
At Harbour Point, Ogundele summed up his philosophy in one line that has since gone viral among young developers in attendance: “It is already too late to fail”.
He noted that despite the milestones achieved so far, he believes he has yet to explore 10 per cent of his potential.
As Daily Times closes 100 years and opens the next, its choice of Ogundele as a Trailblazer is deliberate. He is not just building towers. He is building proof , that a boy from Agege can compete with global luxury, that a Nigerian youth can shape skylines rather than just complain about them, and that the future of this country will not be inherited, it will be engineered.
Lucrezia stands not just as a tower, but as testimony, that vision can outgrow adversity and that a boy born into modest circumstances can leave a permanent signature on a nation’s skyline.
