Ade Ogundeyin has built a reputation as one of Nigeria’s most discreet but influential industrialists. As the founder and chief executive of Proforce Limited, he oversees the only defence manufacturing company in West Africa that provides integrated land, air and marine protection systems. His firm is recognised as Nigeria’s first indigenous producer of armoured vehicles, with a product line that now extends across military, security and civilian protection needs.
Ogundeyin earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and is a registered engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria. He established Proforce after founding O’la-Kleen Nigeria Limited, a facilities and cleaning services company that later evolved into the wider O’la-Kleen Holdings conglomerate. The group maintains operations in Ghana, Liberia, the United States, Kuwait and China.
Proforce was incorporated in 2008 as a subsidiary of the holding company. Its product range has grown to include Armoured Personnel Carriers, Armoured Cash-in-Transit vehicles, Armoured SUVs, Infantry Combat Vehicles, military trucks, unmanned aerial vehicles, ballistic helmets and vests, marine craft and specialised architectural armouring for institutions such as banks and embassies. These products support the military, police, private security firms, cash-movement companies, and marine operators.
Although the business began in modest form, it has developed into a key supplier of mission-ready vehicles and ballistic systems, earning recognition for building indigenous capacity in a field that was once dominated by foreign contractors. The company relies on a workforce composed entirely of Nigerian technicians and welders across its facilities in Nigeria, Dubai and India.
Proforce operates its headquarters from Victoria Island in Lagos, while its main production plant sits in Ode-Remo, Ogun State. The factory can produce up to 20 units of the Ara mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle and 40 units of the PF2 armoured vehicle each month. A second facility in Port Harcourt supports clients in the South-South region, and plans are underway to add branches in Abuja and Katsina.
Across more than sixteen years of activity, Ogundeyin has maintained a low public profile even as his company has become a central player in the region’s defence and security landscape. His work has helped position Nigeria as a source of home-grown manufacturing expertise in a field critical to national and regional stability.
