Earlier in the month, one of Nigeria’s leading automobile dealers and socialite, Olanrewaju Rasak Shittu, clocked 64. Unfortunately, his plan to have a quiet celebration backfired as his youngest wife, Oyindamola, decided to make him feel loved by throwing a surprise birthday party for him somewhere in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The event turned out to be well planned, with quite a number of prominent Nigerians, including technocrats, politicians, business associates, socialites, and at least five traditional rulers keying into the plan to surprise him.
That Lanre has done quite well for himself would be simply stating the obvious. He is the number one dealer in Mack trucks in Africa and holds the sole franchise for Mack brand vehicles in Nigeria. He is also the only dealer in Sany Heavy Duty Equipment and Yutong Buses in Nigeria, as well as an accredited dealer of KIA, NISSAN, Jinbei Buses, to name a few. Furthermore, he is a leading supplier of genuine Spare Parts to automobile dealers in Nigeria.
But it hasn’t all been fairy tales for the man of means as he has been plagued by scandals. In November 2000, Lanre was abducted by operatives alleged to be from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, who allegedly collaborated with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to whisk him away. He was arraigned before a US court for alleged money laundering.
Following his abduction, his wife and children were forced to flee their then Surulere, Lagos residence. Apparently, there was a pending civil suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja over a move by the Federal Government, led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to have him extradited to America to answer to the alleged money laundering charge. Although his extradition was a clear violation of the extradition treaty between Nigeria and the United States, there were speculations alleging that the government of the day was aware of the ‘kidnap.’
Lanre was eventually freed, following the realisation that the District Court of New York lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter because both countries had violated the treaty on extradition, which they agreed to be binding on them.
Also, his young wife who threw him the surprise 64th birthday party was involved with a young struggling banker while still an undergraduate and even after she graduated and started working. But because the automobile dealer had more financial power, he allegedly snatched Oyindamola from this banker, whose name is Owolabi Bankole, after lavishing money on her. To make matters worse, Oyindamola was the best friend to one of the daughters of Lanre. But on learning of her dalliance with her father, she quarreled bitterly with Oyindamola and parted ways with her. Not to be deterred, Oyindamola and Lanre carried on with their affair without a care in the world and got their relationship formalised. In 2019, they both renewed their wedding vows.