When great men celebrate, even the stars bow in solemn hallow. As Dr. Victor Alewo Adoji (DVAA), the erudite banker-turned politician celebrates his 50th birthday on Saturday May 29, 2021, the periscope is focused on a man who has given his all to create peace, tranquility and progress for his people in Kogi State and Nigeria as a whole.

It is often said that some were born great, while others attained or achieved greatness. For Adoji, it is a combination of being born great and working hard to attain greatness.

As the former Kogi State governorship and Kogi East Senatorial District aspirants during the last 2019 general elections steps into the golden club, healthy, hearty, resolute and focused, it is never a dull moment for a man who has spent the greater part of his life to render selfless service to humanity.

Victor Alewo Adoji, simply known as DVAA by friends and well-wishers, is a rare gem and a household name across a garland of interests and places.

DVAA’s humanitarian gestures cannot be overemphasized as he has contributed immensely to the growth and development of the Igala Kingdom (Kogi State) in several areas especially around education, empowerment, health care delivery and physical development.

Even before his attainment of fame as a public figure, his humanitarian service started as a pro bono auxiliary teacher at CSCC, Anyigba for a long period of time on a free of charge.

A visit to the Ministry of Mercy orphanage in Otutulu, any of the Doctors at Diagnostics and Reference Hospital Anyigba, the Ogugu Ofante Catholic Community, the bursary department of KSU or any members of Project Igala Education Committee will update you more than the little that I have mentioned of his humanitarian Services to the orphans, widows and the less privileged.

Though he is not directly in any position to employ people in his service sector, he has influenced a number of people into a number of private firms and public parastatals through his contacts.

He singlehandedly built the main Mosque and UEC Church in his village (Okula-Aloma). Added to this, he built a modern classroom block in the only Primary school in Okula and in conjunction with other elites in the village established the secondary school in the village.

For over twelve years, he has been responsible for paying the salaries of all the teachers in his village. He is in the process of building an estate in the village under a 20-year mortgage scheme for people of his village based in states around the country to own houses in the village.

He has sunk several boreholes in several villages and places including the Open University in Idah, the catholic orphanage in Anyigba and for the people of Ogene-Igah his maternal home.

The Zenith Bank branches in Anyigba and Ankpa and the cash office in Idah are all to his credit. This is aside from the numerous people whose employment he influenced and never mentions for professional and strategic reasons.

Victor Adoji

About three decades ago, as an undergraduate, he gained insight into his role as a citizen in the Greek mythological sense of the word. This influenced his commitment to service which culminated in his election as Leader of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the University of Jos in 1993 and national Public Relations Officer of the Igala Students Association (ISA).

As a unionist, economist, banker, professional in politics, educator, resource person and others, he has been exposed to and responsible for an array of tropical and broad spectrum developments in several areas. Since the turn of the millennium, he has applied his experience as an independent consultant to provide support, advice and training to a variety of stakeholders in different roles, working in different institutional and cultural contexts, including the Igala region. Wherefore, he gained admiration for sociopolitical perspicacity, integrity, ethical behavior, passion and commitment to his fellow citizens.

As a consensus builder, he demonstrated proficiency in securing high-impact collaborations, acting decisively to deliver successful outreaches; thereby, gaining a track record of launching interventions related to business strategy and citizenship. For such collaborations, he worked productively as an innovation catalyst, dexterous in structuring alliances across private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. This involved high-profile advocacy, best practice in selling public awareness initiatives, a keen understanding of sustainability issues and relationship-building.

He has been focused on empowerment and capacity building of young Igala people especially in the fields of education (where he has several indigent students on his scholarship) and the creative industry where he partners with an assortment of thespians on an ongoing, evolving and ad hoc basis.

Recently, in partnership with the Kamar Football Academy and Igala-Bassa Nations Cup, he sponsored the establishment of the Igala United Football Club with about forty players and the entire coaching crew on his payroll. His partnership with the cashew farmers association of Nigeria, Kogi East chapter, is another evolving goldmine that is set to particularly impact the economy of the eastern part of Kogi State and by extension, Kogi state and the country at large.

Being uniquely different from others in his silent style of humanitarianism, Dr Victor Alewo Adoji has been a source, a catalyst and instrumental to the growth and development of many groups, individuals and communities in Igala nation for over a decade.

He has been focused on empowerment and capacity building of young Igala people to embark on further studies, particularly in Kogi East and Kogi State at large. Because he hates to have his humanitarian services been mentioned in public, he used individuals and organizations to assist several less privileged people to pay school fees, hospital bills and provision of shelters in times of need.

An infrequently misunderstood fellow who balances neatly along demographic and psychographic grids, you find emblematized in him a personality who has met milestones on the (same) road he took to avoid them. Either by discretion or disposition or both, Victor Adoji furtively but discernibly reckons that most of the greatest things in life revolve around knowing which bridge(s) to burn and which to cross and at what cost.

Highly impressionable, liberal and expressive, he is a man whose calmness even under pressure is rare and enormous. His numerous attributes align with sanctity, empathy and collectivism while his dexterity at balancing views, perceptions and affiliations justify and validate his huge appeal across relationships and interests. He duly fits an array of descriptions, meanings and phraseologies including, but not limited to, one with an excellent mind, an anchor and an enthusiast equipped with a disposition that avails a hybrid perspective (on issues) where/when necessary and imperative.

Often regarded as a patient but an excellent planner with high business acumen, he is intuitively analytical, intellectually sound, reasonably determined, highly efficient, appreciably trustworthy and hugely compassionate. Piety, reverence, attention to details and compassion without frontiers distinguish this noble gentleman who is obviously produced from the finest source-materials of the Master Porter.

By training, Victor wears several hats but would rather be called an economist; a discipline he drifted into after a memorable event at Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto. According to him, he sauntered into studying Economics as a first degree but appreciated it because of its numerate nature that is entrenched in the social sciences with focus on people, society, allocation, preferences, human and social dynamics and interventions/decisions at all levels.

Adoji, a man of peace and a man of the people is married to one of the most unassuming of women and a wife who fits all classifications of “a virtuous woman”, exceptionally accommodating, unusually patient and highly considerate. Their marriage is blessed with two children.

READ MORE: https://witnessngr.com/victor-alewo-adoji-celebrating-a-silent-philanthropist-extraordinaire-at-50/