THOMAS IMONIKHE
Not even his worst detractors will feign ignorance of the unwavering commitment and sincerity of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President, Dangote Group, who clocks six scores and eight today (April 10), to fostering social and economic development of Nigeria, Africa and lately the global community following the coming on stream of the 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day capacity refinery.
As one of the most influential figures in the nation’s manufacturing sector, Dangote holds the enviable record of running the most successful conglomerate rated as the second highest employer of labour after the federal government and excelling in businesses that public institutions hitherto, fared woefully and engendering self-sufficiency in some important products.
But for the current richest black person in the world, with a net worth of $23.9 billion by Forbes latest ranking, Nigeria’s quest to meet her local consumption in cement and petroleum products would have remained an illusion till perhaps eternity.
Therefore, without any fear of contradiction, Dangote’s business acumen and trailblazing role have made the country a net exporter of the products previously imported, thereby saving billions of dollars in foreign exchange.
Yet very disturbing have been the glaring numerous hurdles including massive importation of petroleum products notwithstanding the capacity of the Dangote Refinery to meet local demands and NNPCL’s inability to supply the required crude oil, placed on the path of the company.
However, as the billionaire celebrates his 68th birthday, there are great lessons that must be learnt by all, especially the young generation, who look up to him as a role model and one possessing a Midas touch to our socio-economic challenges.
Specifically, the celebrant’s humility, integrity, honesty, sincerity of purpose and unflinching faith in the fatherland, which has seen him investing life and fortune in the nation’s often unpredictable economy, should be emulated.
A man of many parts gifted with tremendous capacity to overcome even the most daunting challenges, the uncommon patriot and iconic business leader, despite his eyes on profit, once declared that, “Let me tell you this and I want to really emphasize it…nothing is going to help Nigeria like Nigerians bringing back their money. If you give me $5 billion today, I will invest everything here in Nigeria. Let us put our heads together and work”, adding that there is no alternative to hard work, perseverance and patience for any business to thrive.
Besides, letting everyone into his success secrets, the distinguished ambassador of Nigeria’s private sector has revealed that he believes in hard work and one of “my business success secrets is hard work”, cautioning however that the most dangerous thing for an “entrepreneur to do is to actually go into a business that he does not understand fully” while “motivation backed by good planning and correct action leads to success”.
More importantly, the living legend remains unapologetic about the fact that for anyone to succeed in any business or venture, he must build a brand and never destroy it, stressing that one competitive advantage he had venturing into manufacturing was “my brand ‘Dangote,’ which I diligently built in the course of my trading commodities”.
Passion, he reveals, has been a major driver forward, which makes him go to bed at 2am and wake up at 6am while electricity or lack of it “kills business in Africa”.
But some of the rare attributes of the business mogul that easily stand him out among the billionaires over time, are his capacity to advancing beyond the root causes of major challenges to proffering remedies to them in furtherance of the common good and the overall development of the country.
Truly, his philanthropy and compassion for the less privileged members of society especially suffering citizens remains unbeatable. This had seen Aliko Dangote Foundation, ADF, spending billions of naira annually to ameliorate their plight in addition to huge expenditures by Dangote Group on life changing projects as part of corporate social responsibility, CSR, to host communities while the most recent initiative is the 2025 Food Intervention Programme whereby over one million Nigerians drawn from the 774 Local Government Areas nationwide received a 10kg bag of rice each at a total cost of N16 billion to alleviate hunger in the land.
Again, both the Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of ADF, Mrs. Zouera Youssoufou and Mariya Aliko Dangote, respectively, described the hunger-alleviating initiative, in its second edition, as a way of supporting governments’ efforts and giving back to Nigerians, especially the needy and the vulnerable in the society as well as reflecting concerns and compassion of the group on the plight of the poor and vulnerable. No doubt, beneficiaries of the gesture got some relief in the face of debilitating hardship.
An apparently elated Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who received the palliative on behalf of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, applauded Aliko Dangote as a Nigerian that has chosen to be different. “You have choices but you have made the right one, which is caring for the vulnerable. I appreciate Alhaji Aliko Dangote for extending his kind gestures to the people at the bottom of the pyramid, and we are grateful for supporting us in government. There is a lot of global disruption in various parts of the world, and it is a tough time to be in a position of leadership”, even as he acknowledged the billionaire’s many commendable initiatives to ameliorate sufferings of the needy in society.
Born to a wealthy family on 10th April 1957, in Kano State, his name Aliko was given to him by his maternal grandfather, Sanusi Dantata. He attended Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa for his primary school and later finished at Capital High School in Kano. Also, Dangote had his secondary education at Government College Birnin Kudu while his thirst for tertiary education took him to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business studies and administration before returning to Nigeria.
But Dangote’s life journey to riches wasn’t happenstance but made possible by relentless struggle, dint of hard work, sincerity of purpose and above all abiding faith in God. Though coming from a famous family, as budding businessman, he had to take a loan from his grandfather, which he later paid back, to carve his career path beginning with the establishment of Dangote Industries initially, focusing on importing bagged cement and other essential commodities such as rice, sugar, flour, salt and fish. This later transformed into a conglomerate with Dangote Cement currently having its footprints in several African countries.
In other words, Dangote’s rise to Olympian heights in the world of business wasn’t attained overnight but attained through implementation of decades-long vision, mission, with clear cut targets and timelines accomplished through diligence and hard work with integrity, honesty, sincerity of purpose and respect for the rule of law as watch words which those aspiring to successful endeavors must imbibe.
It is on the strength of the billionaire’s numerous accomplishments that many concerned citizens have made passionate appeals to Dangote, that besides making Nigeria self sufficient in cement and petroleum products, he should take further steps in rescuing fatherland from the epileptic power supply which remains the bane of the industrial sector, by investing massively in electricity generation and distribution as well as addressing Nigeria’s deficiency in the iron and steel supply chain in order to leave indelible footprints on the sands of time.
Happy birthday to Africa’s greatest industrialist.
For a better society
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