Nigeria no doubt is in some
ways, a rich country. The West African nation is a huge oil producer; the
continent’s second-largest economy; and, in Lagos, has a bustling port city of
over 20 million people with an economy bigger than many African countries.
But with almost 100 million
people living on less than $1 per day, extreme poverty remains a major problem
in Nigeria. Additionally, the Boko Haram insurgency has left around 5 million
people in need of urgent food assistance; the U.N. considers the situation in
northeast Nigeria to be at risk of escalating into famine.
But according to a report by
Oxfam International published Wednesday, much of these problems could be solved
if the country’s richest billionaires clubbed together and shared out their
wealth. It would cost $24 billion to eradicate extreme poverty in Nigeria
(defined by Oxfam as living on less than $1.90 per day), $5.9 billion less than
the total wealth of Nigeria’s five richest people in 2016, according to the
report. This extreme inequality, Oxfam has said, must motivate Nigerian leaders
to tackle the problem.
But how did Nigeria’s
mega-rich quintet make their fortunes?
1. Aliko Dangote: $14.4 billion
Dangote, a cement magnate,
is not only Nigeria’s richest person, but the wealthiest man in Africa. The
60-year-old from the northern state of Kano is the chief executive of the
Dangote Group, one of Africa’s largest manufacturing conglomerates, with an
annual turnover of $3 billion. Dangote is also a football fanatic and has
declared his intention to buy English Premier League club Arsenal. He has also
actively supported Nigeria’s recovery from the Boko Haram crisis, pledging $10
million in aid in 2016.
2. Mike Adenuga: $9.9 billion
A telecoms and oil
billionaire, Adenuga studied at university in the U.S. and worked as a taxi
driver to fund his education. Globacom, his mobile phone network, is the second
largest in Nigeria, and the 64-year-old also owns six oil blocks in the Niger
Delta, a massive oil-producing region in the south of the country that has
recently been hit by militant attacks. He founded the Mike Adenuga Foundation,
a philanthropic organization which operates across Africa.
3. Femi Otedola: $1.85 billion
The 54-year-old from Lagos
made his fortune distributing Nigeria’s black gold: Otedola’s company, Forte
Oil, controls more than 500 gas stations across Nigeria. The son of a former
governor of Lagos State, Otedola also has interests in power generation and
finance. One of his daughters is a popular DJ who played at the inauguration of
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. He supports various charitable causes and
donated 300 million naira (now worth $95,000) to the construction of a
Christian worship center in 2005.
4. Folorunsho Alakija: $1.55 billion
Nigeria’s first female
billionaire, Alakija, 66, has earned her wealth in the fashion and oil
industries. Her first company was an elite fashion label which produced clothes
for the wives of Nigerian leaders, while the oil company she founded, Famfa
oil, has a large stake in one of Nigeria’s most lucrative oil blocks. She also
heads a foundation that supports widows and orphans in Nigeria.
5. Abdulsamad Rabiu: $1.1 billion
Rabiu, 56, is the founder of
BUA Group; the conglomerate has interests including sugar, rice, edible oil,
cement and real estate. His father, Isyaku Rabiu, was arrested in the 1980s
under Buhari—then a military ruler in Nigeria—on charges including rice
hoarding, and Rabiu took charge of his father’s business during the latter’s
detention. His business also has a charitable foundation.
All estimates of wealth are taken from Forbes’ “The
Black Billionaires 2016” report, published in March 2016, as per Oxfam’s
report. The wealth of the individuals in question may have fluctuated since.
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