The names that easily come to mind at the mention of Nigeria’s richest and successful people are Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga, and Folorunsho Alakija. Have you noticed how each of their last names is seven in number? Is that a coincidence or is 7 the magic number for massive wealth?
This article is bent on briefly exploring what these Nigeria’s most successful and richest people have in common. As you read on, you will discover that they share almost similar qualities.
Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga, and Folorunsho Alakija, you name them, each of their lifestyles is true to the qualities listed below:
Independent And Ambitious Streak
If you’ve heard or read about the ‘road to success’ stories of Aliko Dangote and Mike Adenuga, you’d know that they could have easily relied on their parent’s wealth but they didn’t. Instead, they maximized the obtainable to create more wealth.
Dangote who grew up with his wealthy and entrepreneurial grandfather, Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, learned from an early age how to engage in business dealings. He’d take sweets to primary school and sell them to his peers. The business became something he was passionate about and he chased after his dream of establishing a business conglomerate with great zest. Studying a business course in a college in Egypt and moving on to expand his business through a 500,000 Naira loan he got from his grandfather.
Mike Adenuga is also just as ambitious and independent. After concluding his studies in a university in the US, he started overseeing his mother’s sawmill business and as his goal was to expand, he went on to make powerful connections in the Nigerian military, leading him to secure an oil prospecting license in the then military-controlled Nigeria.
All through the incubation phase of these two business moguls (Aliko Dangote and Mike Adenuga), they never failed to jump on opportunities—no matter how risky, that promised business growth.
Perseverance And Making Smart Investments
Rich people like Femi Otedola and Folorunsho Alakija are gurus when it comes to persevering and making smart investments. It may come to you as a surprise that Femi Otedola once wanted to commit suicide because of the huge loss his business suffered. Having invested millions of naira into the diesel market, he learned that the price of diesel had dropped all of a sudden from $146 to $34 when the ship transporting tons of his gallon of diesel was still on the sea.
Instead of giving up though, even as the banks he borrowed from were on his neck to pay back the loans he collected from them, Otedola re-strategized and bounced back to become the billionaire you know today.
Alakija’s story also follows the line of perseverance and opportunity maximization. On developing an interest in the highly competitive oil sector that was male-dominated, she began to submit proposals to the oil minister—many of which were rejected. But her perseverance later paid off as she was later awarded the oil license by the oil minister.
They Believe In Nigeria
Study the lives of the four big names mentioned here: Otedola, Dangote, Alakija and Adenuga, and you will discover that they all have this strong passion to invest in and contribute to the growth of Nigeria. Aliko Dangote, the richest man in not only Nigeria but in the whole of Africa as well, once said:
“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”
That says it all! To have the kind of influence each of these wealthy people have in Nigeria, you’ve got to be interested in planting a valuable seed that will help the country flourish.
