Nigerian business magnate, entrepreneur, and academician
Alaba Oluwaseun Lawson (18 January 1951 – 28 October 2023) was a Nigerian business magnate and academician. She served as the first female president of NACCIMA and Chairman of the board of the Governing Council, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ogun State. Chief Lawson was also the president pro-tempore of the Forum of Female Traditional Rulers in Nigeria.
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It is a divine call. I could still remember that very day at the Green Park in London. I sat there and was enjoying the scenery – the lake, the ducks and the serene atmosphere. Suddenly, I saw some children walked into the park and they were chatting. Something struck a cord in me that I wanted to start something where I could mould the lives of youths. That was when I decided to attend the teacher training college. I went there and graduated with first class.
I was not born with any silver spoon. My father, late Pa Emmanuel Abiona Jiboku alias Jiboku Tannatanna was an electrical technician with the old Electric Company of Nigeria for 42 years. And my mother, late Ruth Olabisi Aina Jiboku(nee Aderupoko- Coker) of the famous Itesi area of Abeokuta was a trader.
No. My parents were disciplinarians. If my father asked any of us to recite any verse of the Bible and he or she fumbled, he or she got spanked. Again, any of us could be asked to handle the morning devotion and such a person should not mess up or else… There was a cable nearby to beat sense into your brain. We were well trained, most especially in the fear of God.
My mother trained us the children in the act of buying and selling. She started with clothes. She exposed us to the nitty-gritty of trade. She told me the importance of being a trader as early as when I was nine. My brother-in-law, brought me into commerce by getting me the distributorship of so many breweries and cement companies.