Iba Habeeb Okunola (born ) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

entrepreneur,

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Typ ...

, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

who currently serves as the

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of TILT Group, a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Nigeria with diversified investments spanning key business sectors of the African economy, including energy, construction, engineering,

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, and technology.

Education and Early Life

He attended Santa Maria School in Lagos state for his primary education and had his secondary education at Community Grammar School, in Surulere, Lagos. Thereafter, he proceeded to the University of Lagos where he bagged a Bachelor of Science ( B.sc) degree in Philosophy in 2006. Over the past decade, he has attended executive education programmes at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

and London Business School

Career

He travelled to the United Kingdom in 2007 after completing his first degree. While in the United Kingdom, he worked with Grovetex Consulting as a Business Development Officer, rising through the ranks. Afterwards, he returned to Nigeria to set up his first company, Habtob Global Ventures in 2009. He continued to make progress with his entrepreneurial strides and went on to set up TILT Construction, the flagship of TILT Group in 2012. Since then, he has led the rapid growth of the Group’s flagship and its other subsidiaries to become renowned private and public sector contractors with several successful and ongoing projects in different parts of the world. TILT Group has partnered with public and private sector organisations to deliver monumental and critical assets, including the construction of 330 KVA transmission lines, the renovation and remodelling of

Kaduna State House of Assembly The Kaduna State House of Assembly popularly known as Lugard Hall, it houses the Lugard Memorial Council Chamber (Northern Nigeria Council of Chiefs) and The Kaduna State House of Assembly, which is a branch of the Government of Kaduna State, it ...

, construction of state-of-the-art visual arts centre in Ilorin,

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internatio ...

, remediation of the hydrocarbon-impacted sites in

Ogoniland The Ogonis are a people in the Rivers South East senatorial district of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. They number just over 2 million and live in a homeland which they also refer to as Ogoniland. They share common ...

, amongst other monumental turnkey projects. He sits on the board of diverse blue-chip companies and startups.

Philanthropy

Iba Habeeb Okunola has remained committed to the pursuit of the greatest good for the greatest number, towards achieving the future we want, and a society for all, through the vehicle of his non-profit organisation - Habeeb Okunola Foundation, an organisation established to consolidate the efforts of government in achieving social justice across Africa. Habeeb Okunola Foundation has impacted the lives of no fewer than twenty thousand underserved Nigerians, with a deliberate focus on consolidating the delivery of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria.

National Honour

High Chief Okunola was conferred Nigeria's national honour - Member of the

Order of the Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honour ...

by President Muhammadu Buhari in recognition of his diligence to service, commitment and impactful contributions towards consolidating socioeconomic development in Nigeria and for Nigerians. He was recognised alongside 437 Nigerians from various walks of life; who received national honours. They include

Amina J. Mohammed Amina Jane Mohammed (born 27 June 1961) is a Nigerian-British diplomat and politician who is serving as the fifth Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, she was Nigerian Minister of Environment from 2015 to 2016 and was ...

Ahmad Lawan Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (born 12 January 1959) is a Nigerian politician and professor who has served as President of the Senate of Nigeria since 2019. He represents the Yobe North Senatorial District in the Senate as a member of the All Progressive ...

Wole Olanipekun Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, OFR (18 November 1951) is a Nigerian Lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Early life A native of Ikere-Ekiti, he attended Amoye Grammar School in Ikere-Ekiti, ...

Jim Ovia Jim James Ovia (born 4 November 1951) is a Nigerian businessman, he is the founder of Zenith Bank which he founded in 1990. Early life Jim Ovia holds a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana, Monroe, Loui ...

Tony Elumelu Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu (born 22 March 1963) is a Nigerian economist, and philanthropist. He chairs Heirs Holdings, Transcorp and is the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation. In 2020, Elumelu was named on ''Time''s list of the 100 ...

Teni (singer) Teniola Apata (born 23 December 1993), professionally known as Teni The Entertainer is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and entertainer. Early life Teni was born on 23 December 1992 in Lagos State. She is the younger sister of Nigerian singer ...

K1 De Ultimate K1 De Ultimate (born Wasiu Omogbolahan Olasunkanmi Adewale Ayinde Marshal , 3 March 1957), is a Nigerian Fuji musician. He popularized a brand of the fuji genre based on the work of the fuji creator Ayinde Barrister known as Talazo fuji that a ...

, the late

Ameyo Adadevoh Ameyo Stella Adadevoh (27 October 1956 – 19 August 2014) was a Nigerian physician. She is credited with having curbed a wider spread of the Western African Ebola virus epidemic in Nigeria by placing the patient zero, Patrick Sawyer, in ...

(who sacrificed her life to save Nigeria from experiencing the viral spread of Ebola virus), and other eminent personalities.

Recognition & Awards

With numerous recognition and awards tied to his name, Iba Habeeb Okunola is more ''decorated than a 'Christmas Tree'.'' His entrepreneurial accomplishments and commitment to fostering sustainable development are not only assured, but globally recognised by Forbes, Fortune, United Nations, etc. Apart from being a recipient of numerous honours, He is a first-class High Chief in Nigeria. He is the Akosin of

Yorubaland Yorubaland () is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 or about 60% of the land area of Ghana. Of this ...

, and also the Aare Tayese of

Iseyin Iseyin is a town located in Oyo, Nigeria. It is approximately north of Ibadan. The city was estimated to have a population of 236,000, according to United Nations 2005 estimate, which increased to 362,990 in 2011, and has a total land mass of . ...

land. His notable awards and recognition include the following * Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) by President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari GCFR * National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Ambassador of War Against Drug Abuse * Award for Excellence and Business Innovation at the 6th Annual Nigeria Entrepreneurs Award * Omoluabi award for “Integrity in Conduct * ECOWAS Youth Council’s Distinguished African personality * Excellence in Business Leadership and Community Development

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okunola, Habeeb Recipients of the Order of the Niger Nigerian business executives Nigerian investors Nigerian philanthropists University of Lagos alumni 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Yoruba businesspeople Living people 1981 births Yoruba philanthropists