Bode Akindele

He owned Fairgate Group, a top international company that deals in real estate and property. He registered his first company at the age of 20, sourcing and selling goods across the globe, including medicine, which he procured from a pharmacy in Lagos. He later bought land in Agege, a suburb in Lagos state, and constructed an 80 ft(ca.24 m) by 350 ft(ca.101 m) warehouse where he stockpiled and graded cocoa. Later becoming a shipping agent, he chartered vessels in London using old school connections with the National Bank of Nigeria, which had opened a London office in 1956, to finance his transactions.

Akindele made his first major venture into business in 1993, when he bought a Swedish match manufacturing company, which he later shut down, and gained full control of the global match market, making him the single largest controller of over one-third of the world's matches. He also owned one of the biggest indigenous conglomerates in Nigeria, known as the Modandola Group of Companies, which operates across various sectors such as manufacturing, real estate, maritime, and agriculture.^[6] He also established Fairgate Group,^[7] a top international company, which deals in real estate and property and is headquartered in Bond Street in London, England. The company owns several properties across the country, some of which are currently rented by some of the UK’s foremost retail stores such as Asda, Walmart and Sainsbury's.

Akindele died on Monday, June 29, 2020, at his residence in Apapa, Lagos at the age of 87.^[6][8][9] Chief Akindele until his death was the parakoyi of Ibadan.^[10]