Hareter Babatunde Oralusi

Hareter Oralusi
Hareter Oralusi
	Hareter Babatunde Oralusi (right) with Ibrahim Babangida, a former President of Nigeria (1985-1993).
Born	Hareter Babatunde Oralusi; September 28, 1971 (age 52); Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Political party	Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Spouse	Ulla Hareter (m. 1998)
Children	4
Website	www.ncdf.org.ng

Hareter Babatunde Oralusi (born September 28, 1971) is a Nigerian businessman.

Family and early life[edit]

Oralusi was born on 28 September 1971 in the city of Ibadan, Oyo State. His parents were Moses Dokun Oralusi, a civil servant, and Adunni Abiodun Oralusi (née Bajoo), a trader. He is the great-grandson of Chief Obawaye Oralusi, Begun Osin of Ice, a famed nobleman and warlord in Ife.^{[citation needed]}

Oralusi attended the Seventh-day Adventist Primary School, Ibadan and Aperin Commercial School, and successfully completed his secondary education at the Ibadan Grammar School. He was voted most likely to become a pastor, politician or business person by his peers.^{[citation needed]}

While still in secondary school, Oralusi started a small business which involved the supply of locally-made body cream. His venture soon grew and became a major supplier of supermarkets in Ibadan.^{[citation needed]} Using some of his business proceeds, Oralusi founded a junior football club called "The Future" where he acted as a coach and goal keeper from 1987 to 1990. The club went on to feature in various junior football competitions and won a number of medals in Oyo State at the time.^{[citation needed]}

In 1994, Oralusi was admitted to study Theology at the Christian College in Vienna, Austria. Four years later, Oralusi married, Ulla Hareter, a lawyer from Weiden am See, Burgenland, Austria; the couple had four children.

Education[edit]

From 1995-1996, Oralusi attended Volkshochschulen Langenfeldgasse, in Vienna Austria, where he earned his German Language Certification. He successfully completed English Level C1 at Frisby College in 1998. Oralusi proceeded to earn a diploma in business informatics at Humboldt Institut by the year 2000. He added a Master of Science degree in human resource management and organizational development from PEF Private University of Management Vienna, Austria in 2000. Oralusi continued his education programs with the Level 7 Business and Management Program at Frisby College completed it in 2003. He also obtained certification from The Association of Business Executives Institute, United Kingdom.

Career[edit]

In 1996, while in Austria, Oralusi worked as a junior social worker for two years. He later managed a team of social workers. During his time in this role, he provided social services to couples, families and adolescents on matters pertaining to rights abuse, child rearing and development, relationships, alcohol and substance abuse, ill behavior, and psychiatric problems.

Oralusi became a Team Leader for the Rural Credit Agency in 1999, handling organizational and risk assessment of six regional rural credit operations as well as national programs. At this stage of his career, he took responsibility of reviewing institutional strategy, governance, organizational structure as well as providing recommendations for institution's building and transformation to a regulated financial institution.

Business ventures[edit]

Tuloh International Limited was set up in 1999, an automobile and computer sales business in Austria and Nigeria. The company branched out into tourism, setting up Tuloh Travels & Tours in London in 2002. By 2004, the Travels & Tours business had grown to include chartered flight and luxury chauffeuring services. The Tuloh flight services, covering routes between Europe and Africa, was later rebranded as African Direct Airline.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Oralusi was approached by a British law firm to broker the acquisition of an oil well in Nigeria by LUKOIL. With this connection, he was able to established Grovesnor Petroleum, a petroleum importation, storage, distribution, trading and retailing company in Nigeria.^{[citation needed]}

Political aspirations[edit]

Oralusi started his political career in 2005 by joining Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State. In 2007 he contested the election for the Federal House of Representative under the Leadership Party but stepped down during the consensus dialogue for an older politician.

From 2007-2010, Oralusi was appointed Senior Special Assistant (Executive Assistant) to Executive Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on Water Resources and Rural Development.

In 2010 he was appointed into the board of Nigerian Labour Cooperative Society, and was promoted to Deputy Secretary General (DSG) in 2011. As the Deputy Secretary General of the Nigerian Labour Cooperative Society, he was credited with re-designing the organization into an internationally recognized social enterprise. Under this job, Oralusi would also initiate, design and coordinate the first International Cooperative Conference in Nigeria; the event aimed to facilitate finance and investment for small enterprises and grassroots communities.

In 2014 Oralusi was the governorship candidate in the Osun State Governorship Election for Action Alliance. In 2015, he was a Director General of Forerunner Group, a presidential campaign team for the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Recognition[edit]

Oralusi has been recognized by various organizations for his social enterprise contributions. Some of the awards include; Edwin Enterprise Development Awards, Best African Young Entrepreneur Award in Austria in 2002, The Black Business International in United Kingdom, Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2005, and The Solomon Foundation Entrepreneur Awards in 2006 with cash prize of £200,000 in United Kingdom. The Award of Excellence in Social Development at the National Economic Development award, Abuja, Nigeria in 2010.

In 2010, with approval from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria, Oralusi established Nigerian Capital Development Fund (NCDF), as an independent social investment financial intermediary institution and founded African Housing Group, United Kingdom in 2015.

External links[edit]

Nigerian Capital Development Fund Archived 2016-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
African Housing Group Archived 2016-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
Social Enterprise Academy, Nigeria

References[edit]