About Engineer Adams Onota, an Abuja based business mogul, I have heard testimonies of his rare kind of help, kindness, respect, humility, humaneness, philanthropy and his heart of gold. ‘It is uncommon to find his type,’ his story said.
For the people whose lives he has touched and still continues to touch, Onota, as they fondly call him, is a rare blue rose. “His philanthropic activity is different from that of many other rich men.
Where other rich men refuse to give or give grudgingly and hypocritically so, Onota’s fabulous generosity will come to spread limitless succour. He brings cool and calm like the proverbial snow bird in hell,” One of his beneficiaries told The Graphic.
Some of their testimonies will remind us of some verses from Niyi Osundare’ poem and one will begin to see the likeness of Onota’s kindness in the verses:
Let the sun break out today
From the bluest corner of it’s sky
Let houses throw open their doors
To the street and its countless banters
Show the thirsty the way to the well
Bring the balm to those in pain
Feed the mournful moment with your laughter….
Blue rose, unless dyed, is hard to come by. If you see one, it is artificial; dyed. But in Adams Onota’s philanthropy, there is a rose that is blue and this rose is not dyed. His simply natural; there is no mystery beyond God. Onota in the words of most of his numerous beneficiaries is like the snow bird in a hell.
Ours is a clime where the gulf between the haves and the have-nots has continued to widen without qualms. Here is where leaders sing the same old song that “Since creation time, there has been Words and their Opposites: The poor and the rich; the rich that will wine and dine at the palatial banquet and the poor that will beg him for a meal from the ghetto: ” My family and I have not eaten since yesterday, can you throw one morsel to the ground for me to pick for my family?”
But Onota, a man of benevolence thinks otherwise. He thinks that the big gap between the rich and the poor is mostly man- made and that a bridge can be run across the gulf in order to create and equitable, fair and stable society, a society where the the owners of wealth allow a generous flow of it to the slum. Happiness for the slum is the fabric of Onota’s wealth philosophy; not to push the poor further down the abyss of despair.
The amazement of Onota’s philanthropy is not so much in the unceasing flow of his fabulous gestures as in the way and manner he goes about it; his giving is in line with how both Bible and Quran or Hadith command the rich to handle the act of charity.
According to Prophet Muhammed in the Hadith (SAW): “The best charity is given secretly without any desire for Public recognition. It reflects a pure intention to please Allah alone. It protect the giver from pride and the receiver from embarrassment. Elsewhere, we are told that If we give with the right hand, we should not allow the left hand to know.
And in Matthew 6:2:, Man is counseled “….when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you as hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets, to be honoured by others.”
The above sermons are the essence of Onota’s philanthropic gestures. He gives kindness with the fear of God. His charity is given in a way that it does not demean the dignity of the collector. He is a Muslim who always remember that his Faith has told him that the act of philanthropy is a form of worship and a way to purify one’s wealth and that it will give him reward in life and the life after.
Unlike many people including the so called people of Faith who Carry and blow trumpet, moving from one street to the other announcing his charity with the intention to be praised, reducing his beneficiaries’ dignity.Onota knows that such hypocricy of which many charity givers are guilty is most detestible to God. So, when his right hand gives, he does not allow his left one to know. No pride or hubris in his giving.
It was Achebe who says that charity is the opium of the privileged and that while the good work of charity is one, the society know that the ” real solution lies in the world in which charity will have become unnecessary.
Yes, Onota does exactly Achebe’s generosity model. Unlike other who only cut fish for their dependant, Onota, as a fisher man will not only kill and cut a piece of his fish for the people. He will supply them with fishing tools. For Adams Onota, It is if I have and you have, love, peace and development will be the name of our society, our society where envy, jealousy and hate are the outlaws.
Though the right hand had been told not to disclose its generosity gestures to its brother, the left hand, God does not asked a beneficiary not to tell the generosity story of his benefactor. In fact, there is reward in showing gratitude to those that do good to us.
Therefore, one grateful beneficiary of Onota’s fabled philanthropy, Engr.(Daudu) Stephen Raji discusses Onota with The Graphic.
Q: Talk to me about Adams Onota. It seems you know him pretty well. Not just as a beneficiary.
We are from Okene LGA, precisely Obehira/ Okengwen. As you know, Adams is a much younger person than me. I schooled in Idoma primary School from where he hailed. Maybe that was when he knew and developed a liking for me because to be honest with you, I don’t know what good I did for him to have deserved his many favours for me. I am not alone. I know so much of his philanthropic activities. And I can tell you that Adams is an uncommon Philanthropist.
He likes his people. Never tired of coming home. His house is a Mecca of sorts whenever he comes home. At times, he would have to beg people to allow him to go and take his bath. Being in the midst of his people is a kind of hobby for him. Unlike many other moneyed man, Onota will never be tired of relating with the poor.
He is a peace maker. promoter of unity among the clans in Egbira. He does not like crises. He makes peace among religious adherents.
He is a mobiliser. Yet, he is not a politician. He is the one who has the money. He is giving it to you without letting anyone else know. If he extends his philanthropic gesture to you, unless you tell others, no one will hear it from his mouth. He loves people more than he loves himself. A cheerful giver, he is calm and unassuming, not pompous. He wants his wealth to spread. His service to humanity and God is unlimited and unparalleled.
In his usual magnanimity, Alhaji Adams Onota had put a Medical Outreach Program in place through which employments were facilitated. The aged people and Senior citizens are part of the regular beneficiaries. Onota has named a Whatsapp Platform for the Outreach. And he called it Friends of Ododo Ahmed Usman (OAU) support Group Empowerment. You can see how deep his love for his friend, Ododo is.
In his workplace, there are more Christians than Muslims. And we know he is a Muslim. A devoted one for that matter. He is a leader with mission and passion devoid of politics and sentiments.
Q: Tell us what you know about his philanthropic engagements.
There are so many of it. How many of it can I list out. Let me start with myself. Adams has inundated me with his philanthropic gestures that I had to ask him one day.
“What did I do for you that you are extending this love to me always. I can’t remember what I actually did for you to deserve this. What did I do, tell me? Onota just smiled.” As youths, and growing up we were looking up to people like you,” He said. No Politician can do what Onota is doing.
He means well for his Community, Kogi State and the country as a whole. He doesn’t deceive people. He is not ambitious. He just want everyone irrespective of religion, colour and creed to enjoy the best of harmonious co existence.
Just too many beneficiaries. How many can we count? There was a time he sank a borehole for Idoma Community. The people said the Community was in two parts, Idoma Eba and Idoma uvete. “Like Idoma uvete, Idoma Eba also deserve its own borehole.” They insisted. A man of peace, when he was told, he begged them not to be angry with him, promising them a second borehole.
Today, there are two motorized boreholes in Idoma. And he keeps doing this in many communities across the land. And as I said earlier, he will never talk about his gestures as many other givers do.
He built churches and mosques. Even animists Onota has as friends. Onota does not know how to discriminate against people. For him, we are all from God. The Apostolic church he built was a small worship house when he was a teenager. Today, Onota, Muslim, has turned that church a an architectural masterpiece.
He has different levels of philanthropic packages for beneficiaries. There is the level of the very old people. He puts them on monthly allowance. There is the level of the sick people whose hospital bills he pays.
Another class of beneficiaries is the young people that Onota sends out to learn skills. His scholarship scheme is doing very well, indigent students are given education and means of livelihood.
This is apart from the over 500 people this good man, Adams Onota has employed on permanent and temporary basis. With all this, he still respects people. He is a wonderful man. I have never seen another rich man that is as humble, respectful, polite and as kind as Adams Onota. Go and tell him that you came to thank him for an assistance he gave you, He will smile and politely divert your attention from his help for you. May God continue to protect and keep elevating him.
Q: You seem to know Onota very well. Therefore, let me ask you, is he nursing political ambition?
Not at all. I know him from his childhood in Idoma, Obehira as I said before. Onota and Governor Ododo are childhood friends. Apart from the fact that he is a cheerful and natural giver, I can tell you that some of the things he is doing are designed in a way to help the Government of his friend to have good records in the mind of the people of Kogi.
Onota had invested heavily in his friend’s project. He founded and funded a campaign structure called Independent Campaign Council for Ododo Governorship Ambition. During the 2023 governorship campaign, ICC toured every nook and cranny within and outside Kogi Central to ask for support for the man who would later become the Governor of Kogi State, Ododo. The Campaign project cost him quite a fortune.
But, as typical of him, ask Onota why he did all that, ask him what is he looking for, he will humbly say, “I just want good governance. I want happiness for the people.” After the Campaign, through ICC, Onota visited people and places to thank them for voting for his friend to become the Governor of Kogi State.
No Political ambition for him. He did all that for Ododo. They said he was going to have a juicy position in Government, but he didn’t want trouble. It is good governance he sincerely asked for. Press him harder, Onota will tell you “Everyone can not be in Politics. Everyone cannot be Governor. Some can be in Engineering, Education, Agriculture, Business etcetera. All of us cannot be in governance. I think the best thing is to support our people and friends in leadership.” Onota would say.
Judging from the story of Onota’s generosity, it is correct to say that he is following in the tradition of the philanthropy which the Poet recommends.
If Onota is the sun, his sun, as Osundare requested, has broken out from it’s bluest corner of its sky. His houses are throwing open their doors to the street and its countless banters. Billionaire Onota is showing the thirsty to the well and bringing the balm to those in pain. And to please God, the Poet and the people, Onota is feeding the mournful moment with laughter.
He is not a regular philanthropist. Giving kindness unconditionally in this clime is as rare as a blue rose. Onota has come as an example of a selfless philanthropist. He is indeed a rare blue rose.
– YJ Itopa, a Journalist and Poet, writes from Lokoja.
