The Oonirisa, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi understood the mission when he anchored his 4-star rated holiday destination, the Ife Grand Resort in the ancient city of Ile-Ife.

Aside from the reason that Ile-Ife is the cradle of the Yorubas, a West African ethnic group with a population of 45 million people in 2023, the Ooni’s mission was to attract development to the source and also provide massive job opportunities for his people.

The huge investment is a legacy project embarked upon by Ooni Ogunwusi for urban renewal and redevelopment into the current smart city in the selfless spirit of ‘Charity Begins At Home’.

The Resort sits on an expansive 1000 acres of land which aside from offering facilities for exquisite lodging/accommodation, harbors multiple industrial parks with industries producing agricultural products as well as rendering essential services to the resort, the Ife community and Nigeria in general.

From a cinema which is under construction, to a five-a-side football pitch, a swimming pool, a children playing ground, a mini zoo, nightclub, restaurant, basketball court, events hall and the more than a hundred  rooms  are part of the facilities that make the resort live up to its grandeur.

This writer’s favorite spot  is the African Village, a four-hut village setting located in the deep of the resort with room rates going for just 9000 Naira. Can you believe that?

The resort cannot but function as it is placed under capable hands, the Managing Director, Reuben Abib  a seasoned hotel manager with stints in La Campagne Tropicana and various resort and hotels around the world.

He explained the motive behind the affordability of the resort as ‘Kabiyesi’s purpose to make it available to all. We have rooms that go for 10000 naira and that is why you can see a lot of students coming here. We have the best environment for studying and relaxation, also in entertainment, we have the blend of work and pleasure’.

The other aspect that gives the resort an edge is the security system, the Chief Security Officer, ‘Jayjay’ revealed there had never been any security breach circumstance while explaining that a quick response back up is always at hand to provide more security for the resort when necessary.

The event centre at the resort has hosted many A-list ceremonies, hardly can a week pass by without a wedding, birthday, anniversary or other memorable events taking place.

Another fascination at the resort is the ‘Opa river’, a historic river that borders the resort. From there you can actually experience nature as it harbours a palm oil pit, cocoa farm, pineapple plantation and other cash crops from the Southwest.

Animal lovers are in for a surprise as the resort has an ostrich farm and you can see monkeys at the closest range giving you the hint to keep your valuables.

From indications, the resort is planning towards December 2023 as it marks the peak for events and ceremonies. There is a talk of entertainment events and festivals slated for December with information that its likely going to be one of the biggest to end 2023.

NDPC national commissioner Vincent Olatunji disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Olatunji said the investigation came following complaints from data subjects. He explained that with the new Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDPA), the commission had been empowered with a legal framework to address issues of citizens’ data breaches.

“In the last few weeks, the NDPC has received complaints bordering on unlawful data processing, unauthorised access to personal data and violation of data subjects’ rights,” stated the NDPC chief. “Under Part 10 of the newly signed NDPA 2023, a data controller with a turnover of N200 billion yearly may pay as high as N2 billion, which represents two per cent of the gross revenue.”

He added, “Not only that, offenders also risk up to one-year jail term. We are currently investigating Guarantee Trust Bank, Fidelity, Unity, Zenith banks, Leadway Insurance and Babcock University, among others, for data breach.”

According to him, many micro-finance banks have yet to align their operations with data privacy and protection requirements.

He further revealed that loaning organisations would face the law with the new mandate of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

Mr Olatunji said the mandate required loan organisations to seek compliance and clearance from NDPC before approving online lenders.

“The commission is investigating over 400 complaints in the online lending sector. Soko Loan is already working on a comeback to the digital lending market, but yet to be approved,” said the commissioner.

He, however, said that the commission was engaging in sensitisation exercises to ensure that data controllers understood the implications of a data breach.

According to the national commissioner, the NDPC prioritises awareness more than the scorched earth enforcement process.