Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has inaugurated an iconic Shopping Mall for groceries and other consumables in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

Ooni, while speaking on Friday at the inauguration of the outlet branded ‘OjajaMore’, said the outlet was in fulfillment of his age-long aspiration.

The revered monarch said the outlet would be gainfully driven by the Nigerian youths, with a view to creating an enduring legacy for Africa in the global space.

He said the outlet would provide more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs for youths, adding that the OjajaMore, simply means where people (consumers) could pay less and get more.

Ooni stated: “It is a combination of royalty and retail to create a different shopping perspective starting from Ile-Ife, ‘The Source’.

“The business is structured to allow personalised shopping to grow the retail business, which is grossly underdeveloped in Nigeria.

“This is due to reasons which include proliferation of neighborhood stores and unorganised markets, among others.

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“Like we have names of people branded into companies like this in developed countries, I initiated this project to build the confidence of our younger ones in productive business and investment activities.

“Youths are the real drivers of economic growth. We have started from Ile-Ife because charity begins at home; from here, we will cover the entire South-West and Nigeria with a chain of over 100 stalls within the next 24 months.

“It will be first of its kind in Nigeria and the continent of Africa.

“Beyond grooming young minds and serious minded youths in retail business, this initiative will offer over 100,000 direct and indirect employment to our youths across the country.

“Through this, it will, thereby be contributing in no small means to human development and capacity building; that’s my target,” the monarch said.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the outlet, Benedict Orioye, said the high-powered technology would be deployed to ensure that customers were treated with respect and royalty.

Orioye said this was part of value for their money, beyond what was obtainable in similar outfits nationwide.

He said the focus was to have local content as items making up of at least 70 per cent of items to be sold at the mall.

The Star