Femi Olafunmiloye was born into a family of seven children. His father, the Honorable Chief Reverend Festus Olafunmiloye, was a man of principle, an educator and politician. A Reverend Canon of the Anglican church. An ardent follower of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who served as Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly in 1983. The Lijofi of Odigbo Kingdom who loved his people with such passion and dedication. His mother, Lady Lydia Morinsola Olafunmiloye, a teacher and former Ondo State Commissioner of Women Affairs (1999- 2003).

 

Femi, also known as Lafasca or Lafa by his friends, was a beneficiary of public schooling, attending schools in Akure and Ondo before the prestigious Federal Government College, Idoani. Those years enriched his belief about Nigeria's unity and diversity. A lesson that proved immensely useful throughout his life. He later pursued Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ado Ekiti, equipping himself with the technical knowledge that would define his career.

 

Upon graduation, Femi joined Pan Ocean Oil Company and Alive Engineering. But it was at Baker Hughes, a multinational oil servicing company, where he truly honed his craft. Starting as an electromechanical engineer, he progressed to field engineer, navigation engineer, and team lead, traveling across continents. The United Arab Emirates, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Angola, Mozambique, Algeria, and Uganda.

 

In those years of global exposure, he discovered something profound: there are no barriers to human achievement. He learned that problems, no matter how complex, have solutions.

During his sojourn, he proved that there are no barriers. He dislikes the very statement: It is not possible. For Femi, possibility is the default setting. He crystallized his philosophy into a powerful statement: "IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE*.

 

In 2011, at a pivotal point in his life, Femi made a decision many said was unconventional. He left the comfort of multinational employment and relocated to Akure to found Lafbart Innovations and Consulting Limited.

 

When he started, Femi made a clear decision: he would create solutions to transport-oriented problems. He would not merely extract profit. He would build something that mattered.

 

What happened next is remarkable. Lafbart Innovations has consistently put Ondo State on the investors' map. Under Femi's leadership, the company has executed engineering feats that have made people take notice. He became known as Mister Fixer. The man who finds solutions to problems others say are unsolvable.

Femi has been a firm believer in skill impartation. He has undergone trainings from the United Kingdom, China, and locally, building a company culture centered on genuine knowledge transfer. His employees do not just work for Lafbart. They develop themselves.

 

Today, Femi sits as a Board Member of the Nigerian Automobile Manufacturers Association, a member of the Automobile Sector Skill Council, the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and COREN.

Hundreds of people have done well for themselves using the Lafbart platform. 

 

In all his travels and professional achievements, Femi says he has been truly blessed in one profound way: he found his life partner, Bolanle Olafunmiloye.

 

These love birds started their story as far back as 1994. They were friends for a decade and after more than twenty years of marriage, he says with absolute certainty: not one day of regret.

 

Together, they have been blessed with four incredible boys. Sons who carry forward the values of their grandfather's house. This is his greatest achievement: a home filled with love, purpose, and the promise of the future.

 

Beyond his business, Femi has been involved in many programs at the state and national level. Together with his wife, they have been partners in policy development and life impacting programs in public service. Three deserve mention:

 

First, the 3is Initiative. A community development program connecting government and the grassroots, building trust and strengthening relationships through infrastructure, institutions and industries

 

Second, the Wealth Creation Agency (WECA) a wealth creation program designed to empower youths and build sustainable livelihoods using agriculture as a tool.

 

Third, Abiye (Safe Motherhood Program), working with other professionals across the medical profession to save countless lives by improving maternal health including designing the initial baseline studies of pregnant women in the communities and provision of medical transport to basic health centres

 

On an ordinary day in 2018, Femi's life was forever altered by an armed robbery incident. He nearly lost his life. For many, such an incident would be a sign to retreat, to give up on Nigeria, to surrender to fear.

 

But Femi is not many people.

 

In that moment of crisis, he had a profound realization. He looked at the young man who had shot at him, and what he saw was not a criminal, but a lost youth. Someone without opportunity. Someone without hope.

 

If that young man had been in school, if he had been trained, if he had had opportunity and prospect, would he have been on the street committing crimes? The answer was clear.

At that point of realization, Femi had a conversation with God. He asked: what is my purpose? And the answer came: you have been given ideas to impact lives. You have been given resources. Do not waste them.

 

He prayed: God, if you give me another chance at life, I will not waste it.

 

And God answered that prayer.

 

That same year, Femi established the Inspiring Youth Camp in Odigbo, where children from privileged and underprivileged backgrounds sit in the same classroom, learning together, discovering their potential, and becoming the best versions of themselves.

 

This is perhaps Femi's greatest legacy. A young person who might have become a statistic instead became a success. All because one man decided that the best way to tackle insecurity is not punishment, but opportunity.

 

As Femi stands today, he has a message for all of us. He speaks with the authority of one who has lived it, done it, and seen both the worst and best of what Nigeria can be.

 

"The tools we need to make this nation great have been deposited in us by God. We have the intelligence. We have the resources. We have the capacity. The question is simply: will we use them?"

 

Let's look inward more. Add more value. Support this nation. Support your state. Support your community. Create businesses. Create jobs. Collaborate to create job-creating ventures. Support local industries. Believe in Nigeria.

 

Why? Because the alternative - despair, migration, giving up, has never built anything great.

 

It is possible. IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!

 

Femi is a man who was given much and gave much back. A man who could have stayed abroad but chose to build at home. A man who experienced violence but chose compassion. A man who could have pursued only profit but chose purpose. 

 

For his family, his beloved wife, his four incredible sons, his mother, his siblings, they have a good man and they are proud. For his colleagues and team at Lafbart: they work for more than a company. They work for a vision. For his community in Ondo State: they have an ambassador, a builder, a believer.

 

For Nigeria: we have a patriot.

 

May we all, like him, live lives of purpose, prosperity, and peace.

 

God bless you all

God bless Ile-Oluji-Okeigbo/ Odigbo FC

God bless Ondo State 

God bless Nigeria.