By Funsho Arogundade
It’s an established fact that good guys are contagious. Get a group of good men together, and they will change their community and the world. A good guy has integrity and character. Simply put, a good guy is less talk and more action. The Latin origin of ‘integrity’ means whole, and when it comes to being a good guy, wholesome is sexy. Everywhere he goes, he leaves a mark. One of such figures is Oluwaseyi Afolabi Tinubu.
Every man is a work in progress. As a successful entrepreneur, vibrant socialite, sports enthusiast, humanist and now the son of Nigeria President, Seyi is still on the stock. As the Chief Executive Officer of Loatsad Promomedia, a full-fledged digital out-of-home advertising company, Seyi has acted as an innovative disruptor with an unprecedented inventory of specialized outdoor and digital products ranging from giant sized billboards to automated standalone boards. His works have had a tremendous impact on the concept of goods and services promotion. Yet, profiling the philanthropic focus of Seyi —who has in the last few years busied himself with the issues that bother the masses most— is not a demanding task.
Over the years, Seyi has solidified his reputation as a philanthropist dedicated to transforming lives through the Noella Foundation —a non-profit private sector he co-founded with his wife, Layal Jade Tinubu to scale talents and improve Nigeria’s economy via entrepreneurship, innovation, sustainable ideas and plans. His impactful contributions, dating back to 2018, continue to serve as a reference point for his unwavering commitment to social change.
Seyi believes in service —service to the people, service to the nation and service to God. The 39 year-old fella does good in the most clear-sighted, ambitious, and unsentimental way possible that will yield a measurable impact on problems. He focuses on maximizing the impact of charitable giving. From setting up monthly community kitchens in partnership with Food Clique Support to launching the Seyi Tinubu Empowerment Project, STEP initiative aimed at empowering millennial tech entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Seyi’s impact continues to resonate with more expansive programs designed to create long-term social and economic transformation. One of his most notable acts of kindness was the life-changing support Seyi gave to a struggling one-legged Lagos bus conductor simply called Chima. The physically-challenged gentleman received a state-of-the-art prosthetic leg worth millions of Naira —a gesture that not only restored Chima’s mobility but also his dignity.
Beyond the physical support, Seyi also ensured financial stability for Chima by offering him a position as an assistant coach on his football team with a monthly salary of Fifty Thousand Naira (₦50,000). This gesture exemplified his approach to sustainable empowerment, providing people with opportunities beyond just financial aid.
Reflecting on his journey, Chima shared his gratitude: “My life is back to normal because I can now walk with both legs, work, and earn a living. I thank God for using the Noella Foundation through Seyi Tinubu to come to my rescue. God bless them mightily.”
This act of generosity is just one of many initiatives of Seyi driven by the Noella Foundation. Even with his father in power as Nigerian leader, Seyi hasn’t faltered in his charity deeds. Through his associates, he has given out relief items to people involved in a fire disaster in Nasarawa, gifted palliatives in Abuja, and sponsored some medical outreaches.
In September last year, Seyi flew to Borno with a team of associate-sympathizers and was received by the state governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum. During that visit, Seyi donated N500 million to victims of the Maiduguri flood. A few weeks later, Seyi once again saved some underprivileged from a bad fate of financial hardship as his foundation procured prescribed medication through a drug bank that would serve over 10,000 indigent people in 60 hospitals around the country. This drug bank, Seyi said, is more than medicine but a “commitment to dignity, to equality, and to the fundamental human right to healthcare.”
Beyond financial aid and community projects, Seyi remains a role model for young Nigerians, proving that success is not just measured by personal achievements but also by the ability to uplift others. His dedication to humanitarian causes has encouraged more individuals and organizations to join in the mission of fostering positive change. His past interventions, like Chima’s story, remain a powerful reminder of the impact of selfless giving, inspiring more individuals and organizations to play their part in building a better society.
Seyi, as an entrepreneur, rather than fund a lavish lifestyle, wanted to make as much as possible to do as much good as he could. He has embraced an effective altruism non-profit to create a positive social impact and maximises charitable giving. With an ever-growing portfolio of community-focused initiatives, Seyi continues to redefine philanthropy in Nigeria, ensuring that his legacy of impact, compassion and empowerment endures for generations to come.
