With its strategic location in the middle of the Sango-UI Road, Ventura Mall is unmistakable. It is a beautiful edifice to behold. So many things distinguish the mall from all buildings in the vicinity; one is its aesthetic value which guarantees a second look. It is the only building that boasts of six floors and a penthouse.
While many continue to wonder who the brains behind the architectural masterpiece are, PM Parrot’s findings have revealed that the edifice is owned by the immediate past Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla.
The building is best described as a triumph of man over nature. It may not also be wrong to say its location was carefully chosen; considering its proximity to the University of Ibadan and Bodija, believed to be among the most elitist parts of Ibadan.
The mall boasts of facilities that include a cinema, a top rated Chinese restaurant and Games Arcade, a recreational facility complete with almost every game one can imagine.
Behind the elaborate gatehouse of the Ventura Mall sits Ibadan’s most beautiful shopping centre.
Of course to get to the top, there is a functional elevator backed up by power generating sets.
One other attraction for visitors to the mall is the very beautiful water fountain that adds to its serenity. In fact, the Ventura Mall has another building at the back with accompanying but beautifully constructed gate house as we earlier mentioned.
When we attempted to reach him to speak on this multimillion naira investment, he was said to be out of the country. We also contacted one of his childhood friends and close associate whose office is located inside Providence Building at Mokola, he also confirmed that Mr Otunla would be back to Nigeria as soon as he is fully rested after serving his fatherland without blemish till he clocked the age of 60.
However, one of his aides who volunteered to speak with PMParrot explained “Our Oga decided to construct these buildings so that he would provide employment for some of our jobless youths. Most of them were employed during the construction and most of them are still employed by different companies in the buildings now. The edifice has in its own way beautified Ibadan too. He also has properties at New Garage, Challenge, and at other places in Nigeria”.
For those who do not know Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla, OFR, he was born on June 12, 1955 in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria. He had his secondary education at Baptist High School, Saki where he obtained the West African School Certificate in 1972 before he proceeded to Obafemi Awolowo University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Financial accounting. He became a chartered accountant in 1986 but received the fellowship of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in 1998.
He began his career on August 1980 with Unilever as accountant. He left the organization in 1989, to join the Oyo State civil service as Chief Internal Auditor, the same year he became the Director of Finance. By June 1989, he was appointed Accountant General of the State, a position he held until March 2004 when he got a transfer to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. On June 28, 2011 he was appointed the Accountant General of the Federation by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the former President of Nigeria. On June 12, 2015, Otunla retired honourably from the Civil Service after attaining the mandatory age of 60 years.
Packaged by Olayinka Agboola and Wole Adejumo, Pix by Dare Alesinloye.
http://pmparrotng.com/behold-former-accountant-general-otunlas-multi-million-naira-mall-in-ibadan/.
