Prologue
The Men Who Control The Economy (I)
In the late 1980s, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) experimented on a number of measures aimed at putting the economy on the path of recovery. He tried the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). He wanted to open the rural areas. He tried the Directorate for Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DEFRRI). He wanted to get the women involved in the formal economic process. His wife, Mariam, initiated the Better Life for Rural Women. His advisers said there was no way people were going to benefit from these programmes if they did not have access to funds. Government started People's Bank and encouraged stakeholders in each community to start Community Banks. Yet, the average per capita income for the typical Nigerian was on the downward swing. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was steadily going down. He had used some of the best Economic brains in the land: Chief Olu Falae, Dr. Chu Okongwu and Dr.Kalu Idika Kalu. No one could have accused him or his economic programmes of lacking the human material component for success. But the programme made little impact in the economy in general and the lives of Nigerians in particular. Having tried all these, Babangida, exasperated by the results he was getting, openly wondered why the economy had not yet collapsed after all the palliatives he applied did not work. The economy has since trudged on, not getting better; not recovering; not collapsing. President Olusegun Obasanjo came presumably with a magic wand. He came with a promise to turn the economy around. His major economic plank was the war against corruption and debt cancellation. He was also poised to attract foreign investment into the country. Obasanjo believed that Nigeria's main impediment for development was corruption and eliminating corruption would create the confidence for investment. In his first term, the focus was on privatisation. In his second term, he has appointed what is seen as a formidable economic team, which he fondly calls "economic apostles". They include Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, Prof. Julius Ihevbare and Professor Charles Soludo. He has introduced the National Poverty Eradication Programme and the National Economic Empowerment and Development (NEEDS). The rave of the moment is "Due Process" headed by "Apostle" Ezekwesili. Since corruption is still a problem, not much investment has actually come into the economy and the Nigerian is not getting richer. Both Transparency International and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), an agency of the UN, have both underlined Nigeria's unacceptable levels of corruption and poor human development indices. Over 89 million Nigerians today are said to live on below $1 per day. Yet, both the economy and the political set up have continued to move on, notwithstanding these undeniable setbacks. Unknown to them, there are few, a handful of individuals whose activities have allowed this economy to still hold on. Indeed, the Obasanjo government has tried to build a body of Nigerian entrepreneurs. The idea is to look inwards, since foeign investors were not forthcoming. These individuals have not only given jobs, they have indeed given a lot of hope to many Nigerians that tomorrow will be better. They have given confidence to foreign investors who look up to them. It is on this hope that many live today. Their investments, their international connections and their companies cushion the anger of Nigerians and make them look forward to a day when all will be well. Leading these privileged few are Dr. Mike Adeniyi Adenuga Jr. and Alhaji Aliko Dangote. Roland Ogbonnaya and Malachy Agbo profile the two heavyweight champions of entrepreneurship in Nigeria in the first part of the series on the men who control the Nigerian economy.
Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr.: The Octopus...
Otunba Mike Adeniyi Adenuga rose like a meteor. Though son of a wealth trader, he started the art of making money as a student in United States where he took on two jobs - as a taxi driver and security guard - to sustain himself in school. Regarded by many as a man with the confidence of getting the proverbial honey out of the rock, Adenuga is also regarded as a man who at a young age believed in his ability to reach out to anybody who can help him realise his goals.
This confidence has seen him penetrating the ranks of the top brass of the military in the 1970s to see how the men of power could award him contracts. He partnered with Femi Akinrinade, the young brother of the Lt-Gen. Alani Akinrinade, then Genral Officer Commanding, First Division Kaduna. Adenuga had a constrution firm which won contracts in the newly established Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. As it was with those who successfully broke into the ranks of the military then, more and more contracts were to follow such that by age 26, Adenuga had become a millionaire. The man decided not to limit himself to construction. He went into marketing clothes, wine and tomato puree. He later went into manufacturing of those items. However, the beginning of Devcom and later Equatorial Trust Bank marked a turning point in his investment portfolio. He simply leaped into the ranks of the big fish, swimming in the wealthy oceans of business.
Adenuga's rise from a contractor to a business mogul has, however, been attributed to his wide connection in the right places. This explanation could be dismissed as being too simplistic. His determination to succeed as demonstrated in his bold moves, the tenacity of purpose which prevented him from selling his oil bloc despite pressures from several credible quarters and his decision to seek the SNO after he lost his GSM licence, show a man who has foresight and who has set his gaze on noble goals and will not blink.
The Adenuga personae is also that of a man who has utilised the virtue of absence to create a king of myth around himself. He is so elusive, yet his companies surround the nation with their essential services. He also appears to be a good talent hunter. He has the best brains working in his establishments. Some close associate believe that beneath the gentle surface Adenuga portrays, he is the steely frame of an aggressive businessman - a man who thrives when he is challenged and a man who remains undaunted in the face of apparent failure.
Globacom's present contractual involvement is over US $2 billion (about N266 billion), while the cost of the licence for the business was $200 million (N26.4 billion). The turnover of Conoil Marketing, the downstream oil company for the year ended December 31, 2003 is N34 billion, while ETB assets at the end of last year was N47.41 billion. The assets of Conoil producing and Southern Airlines were not immediately available, while his huge investment in real estate was not readily available to THISDAY. The assets of Devcom are also not available at press time. But suffice it to say that the man indeed has a very deep pocket.
With his involvement in the crude oil exploration, production and export and the heavy equipment dependence of Globacom, the MA Group as Adenuga's conglomerate is known paid well over N10 billion in duty in the last fiscal year, ended December 31, 2003. Adenuga has in direct employment over 8,000 people. And because Adenuga is involved mainly in capital intensive, high intellectual businesses, majority of his employees are graduates cutting across all strata of careers.
Born April 29, 1953, Adenuga was educated at the Ibadan Grammar School where he bagged the the nickname "Gold Digger," a nickname he has adopted to his choice of business and even use as appellation on his Ibadan country home. He later went to the United States in search of the golden fleece. In the US, he attended North-western University, Alva, Oklahoma and Peace University, New York. He also holds an honorary doctorate degree from Ogun State University.
The Bull Invades the GSM Sector
Adenuga joined the market as an endangered specie, having entered the telecommunication sector and indeed the GSM business as the fourth entrant and two clear years after the other operators had been in the market.
But before he joined, he counted the cost of joining late. People close to him say that the man had analyzed the effects of late coming and noted that a late entrant must either come with a bang or fizzle out as quickly as he came. According to associates, Adenuga believes that you cannot be a goat and go to the house of a leopard to fight him. You need to be a lion. Adenuga decided to be a lion. He is also called "the bull", an unyielding animal. Investigations from Mike Adenuga Towers revealed that commitments and contracts for ongoing work on the Globacom Project are in excess of $2 billion. This is staggering in this clime. Even by US standards, the amount is mind-buggling. An official of the company who said he had worked with at least two other GSM networks in the country before joining Globacom said, "In other networks, the major constraint to projects is finance. In Globacom, what we need are the ideas and time to execute the projects, not the finance. It is not that the finance is unlimited, but it is readily available, provided it is meant to be used to achieve the Chairman's dream of providing the most sophisticated network in Nigeria and Africa".
For example, it took over 36 African networks in Africa, led by Telcom of South Africa, to build the SAT3 submarine cable which is currently being used by many African networks. Globacom has signed a contract to build a submarine cable, singlehanded, that will link Lagos and London in the shortest possible, thereby providing an alternative to the SAT3.
This was the driving force when his Globacom launched with per second billing when competitors said that the platform was not going to be possible until 2007 and even when it was more profitable to join the statuesque. But Adenuga is not a man to be caught in the statuesque. He is a trailblazer.
Not done yet, he introduced the TalkNow instalment offer through which he not only crashed the cost of SIM from about N20,000.00 to N7,000.00 but even spread the payment over a period of time to make initial financial outlay for entry very convenient and comfortable. In the industry today, experts alike acknowledge that Globacom has the most advanced network in the market today. This has gived the company the capacity to offer some of the most sophisticated products in the market. This includes Magic Plus, an information, entertainment and commerce offering, MMS, Glo Mobile Internet and Glo Direct which makes the Glo Mobile phone a modem for accessing the World Wide Web. Adenuga has just landed one of the most virulent uppercut punches which has kept its competitors on its toes. It is his N1.00 offering. Already, the proceeds have started rolling in. In record time, the company has reported a subscriber mark of 1.8 million, effectively becoming the current number two network in the land and edging the troubled Vmobile to the third place. MTN, acknowledged as number one in Nigeria, certainly has to watch its back.
No advertising agent will argue that the acquisition of Globacom account is the beginning of riches for it. Newspaper organisations, magazines, radio and TV and the various soft sales are enjoying these benefits today as Adenuga's Globacom is arguably the biggest advertiser in the country currently.
The Oil Sheik
While it appears that Adenuga had just arrived the scene with the Globacom breakthrough, the man actually showed what he is made of with his oil business. At a time many Nigerians were mere agents for foreign oil companies, as the sector was thought to be the exclusive preserve of Foreign Oil companies like Shell, Total, Elf and Texaco, Adenuga plunged into the murky waters of the black gold. He hit it big and thus became the first Nigerian oil explorer to locate oil in commercial quantity.
At the moment, he is seriously prospecting oil in Sao Tome and Principe and inside sources say the man hopes to hit it big in this oil rich country soon. Again, he is not a man to get into a sector half way. He puts his arsenal together and becomes a major force in the sector. For him, there are no second measures. He is either a winner or nothing else. By the time he indicated his interest in National Oil and Chemical Company Nigeria Plc (now renamed Conoil Plc), many thought that the man had gone astray. "How could an astute business man and investor like Adenuga ever come close to look, how much more touch National Oil?" a broker had asked then. Today, it is a different story. A broker, who was asked by his client to buy Conoil shares for him, retorted: "Even with an AK 47, it is impossible to get Conoil shares at the stock exchange." Conoil has not only been brought back to life, it has enriched investors of the company who for years had been hearing stories of the unfavourable economic climate which hampered profits.
Financial experts say if Adenuga decides today to sell his shares in Conoil, he will naturally walk away with $500 million in his portfolio. This alone is big cash by all standards. But the man will certainly not walk away...
The Financial Guru
Adenuga has controlling interests in two major banks in Nigeria. They are Devcom Bank which recently joined universal banking from its former merchant bank licence and Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) which has etched itself in the league of ten biggest banks in Nigeria. In this season of N25 billion capital base fever, ETB and Devcom are just cool doing their business. These two banks,THISDAY learnt, will meet the new capital base requirement without going into any merger. No customer of the banks is in any doubt that the banks will not be here next year. The economic stability at the two banks has made sure that staff of the two banks are not threatened by the sack fever making the rounds in the banking industry presently. Adenuga's investment in banking is a cash cow, no doubt.
And the Others
While it is common knowledge that Adenuga is a major investor in the Oil Sector, both upstream and downstream, telecommunication, both the fixed, Mobile, gateway and carrier and banking, only few people know that the man runs a chartered flight company called Southern Airlines. He also owns World Span with interests in Real Estate, merchandising, manufacturing etc.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote: ...The Dynamo
He sat on one of the seats at the lounge of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, waiting to board one of the London-bound flights. When it was boarding time, he picked up his suite case and headed for the aircraft. There was no retinue of aides and hangers-on surrounding him. And in the aircraft, if you expected to see him sitting at the first class or business class sections, you were for once disappointed as the man sat comfortably in the economy class. In today's Nigeria, where the rich flaunt their riches to an intimidating height, he chooses to live a simple but fulfilling life.
This is the simply lifestyle of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, one of the Nigeria's richest alive, an enigma, a business dynamo and a symbol of great enterprise that is relentlessly building the nation's economy with passion and creating primary and secondary employment opportunities for several thousands of Nigerians through his conglomerate - Dangote Group of companies.
He has been acclaimed globally as one of the greatest entrepreneurs ever to emerge from the shores of the African continent and, like a colossus, Dangote bestrides the nation's business terrain with remarkable investments in virtually all sectors of the economy including manufacturing, merchandising, haulage, banking, insurance and property development. Indeed, in the history of Nigeria's corporate existence, Dangote stands out as an entrepreneur of note whose remarkable achievements to date represent the hallmark of perseverance and the spirit of great enterprise.
Too Young to Be an Orphan
He was born into a family of merchants in Kano in 1957. His father died when the Aliko was an infant. The responsibility of his upbringing and training naturally fell on his grandfather, Alhaji Sanusi Dantata, a humble and affluent Kano businessman. Dangote attended the Kano Capital School, Kano, and Birni Kudu Secondary School in the present day Jigawa State. He later proceeded to Al--Azahar University in Cairo, Egypt, where he graduated in Business Studies.
As a young boy, he had been involved in trading, as petty as it could be. He would buy packets of sweets and give to one of the househelps to sell for him. He was doing it discreetly, and he had some pocket money to play around with as proceeds from his enterprise. Even then, he chose to re-invest the money in the business. Who would have known that a super businessman was budding then?
As if to confirm his dream that young Dangote was carrying the star of fortunes and virtue as pure as grace, Dantata in 1977 gave his grandson a small loan to trade in cement and to repay it in two years. Dangote exhibited his business acumen derived from his studies and natural endowment and shocked Dantata by repaying the loan in three months. Thus, Dantata was convinced that nature had shaped the origin and indeed determined the fate and future of his grandson.
That prediction by Dantata over two decades ago, has become a reality, as his grandson, Dangote, today presides over the affairs of Dangote Group of Companies, clearly one of Africa's largest and most diversified business conglomerates, with a hard-earned reputation for excellent business practices and product quality.
The group has carved a niche for itself in the areas of manufacturing, imports, exports, and commodity trading and property development. To support the group's core business activities, it has set up one of the most extensive distributions networks in Nigeria consisting of regional offices and a fleet of over 1,600 tractor-trailers. Some companies under the Dangote conglomerate include: Dangote Nigeria Limited; Dangote Industries Limited; Blue-Star Services Company Limited; Dangote Agro-Sacks Limited; Dansa Food Limited; Nigerian Textile Mills Plc; Dangote Textile Mills Limited; Dangote Ginnery Limited and Nasal Insurance Company Limited. Others are Alsan Insurance Brokers Limited; Greenview Development Co. Limited; Blue-Star Shipping Co. Limited; Blue-Star Investment (U.K.) and Greenview International Co. (Ghana) amongst other.
The Rise and Rise of Dangote Group...
Because of the kind of positive business orientation he has, Dangote for the past 22 years has driven Dangote Group to experience phenomenal growth resulting from the quality of its goods and services, its focus on customer care and efficiency of its human capital. Thus, from a modest beginning, Dangote Group has grown into a multi-billion naira industrial conglomerate. No wonder he is indeed, a testimony to the success and reward of private entrepreneurship.
While recognising and understanding the constraints of operating in a developing economy such as Nigeria, Dangote, and his business has remained committed to creating and sustaining excellence in the Nigerian economy. In consonance with its commitment to world-class customer care and service, the group is continually investing in qualified and professional staff and information technology (IT) network to ensure that these high level of service is carried through into a market place that is becoming more and more sophisticated.
Dangote believes that part of his success in business is his adherence to strict business principles, which he brought to bear on his exploitation and investments in the different sectors of the economy, thereby contributing immensely to both human and national development. Contemporarily, Dangote Group employs more than 10,000 people while also providing secondary employment opportunities to several millions of Nigerians nationwide. With a potential annual turnover in excess of N170 billion, the group pays annually over N6 billion custom duties/taxes to the Federal Government in addition to more than N4 billion as rent and other port charges to the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Beside the sugar refinery in Lagos, which produces one million tones of refined sugar annually, being 65 per cent of total sugar requirements in Nigeria, the group acquired Savannah Sugar Company in Numan, Adamawa State, as part of its backward integration programme. The Flour Mills in Lagos, Kano and Calabar have a total milling capacity of one million metric tonnes of wheat annually, with plans to increase capacity by an additional 300,000 metric tones before 2004. The increase in capacity is due to expansion in Kano and a new mill in Ilorin. The spaghetti and macaroni plant in Lagos produces 100,000 metric tonnes (i.e. 10 million cartons) per annum. In addition, the group's salt plants located in Lagos and Calabar have a total production of 400,000 metric tonnes of iodised salt annually, while plans have been concluded to establish an additional plant in Port Harcourt.
Mr. Cement
Dangote, who is fondly referred as Mr. Cement by friends, has upgraded the group's bulk cement import terminals with facilities in Lagos and Port Harcourt to pack about four million metric tonnes per annum, being 40 per cent of the cement market in Nigeria. The total capacity for the terminals is 8 million metric tonnes annually. Dangote Group is expanding its business outside Nigeria by establishing cement terminals in Tema and Takoradi both in Ghana. The annual capacity is in excess of two million metric tonnes.
As part of its backward integration programme designed to boost local production of high quality cement in Nigeria, the Group has commenced construction and civil works on Obajana Cement Factory in Kogi State and when completed, will have a production capacity of five million metric tonnes. The group is working in concert with the Associated Cement Company of India to resuscitate and reposition Benue Cement Company (BCC) where Dangote Group has acquired majority shareholding; this is without the opposition of some groups, especially Benue State indigenes. On this opposition, Dangote took everything in his stride. He never rushed into any hasty action that would jeopardise the peaceful resolution of the issue; rather, he allowed tempers to cool. In his amiable manner, he took the behind-the-scene option by negotiating his way through. The result is that the same governor who initially opposed the idea of non-indigene participation in the privatisation process of the BCC, now wholeheartedly accepts the new reality, which he now believes to be in the best interest of everybody. Dangote's quiet diplomacy and shrewd negotiating skill has triumphed over emotions and sentiments.
This is not to say that he was not frustrated at a point in the buying process of BCC. In a recent interview with THISDAY, Dangote expressed regret at buying the company. He regretted it because he never thought that the Benue indigenes would be hostile to his effort. He, however, said that the Benue experience would not deter him from investing in any other part of the country. "The reason is simple. I do not believe people in other areas would think or react like the Benue people," he explained.
The planned production capacity for BCC today is three million metric tonnes annually. Dangote Group is preparing Ibese Cement project in Ogun State and Odukpani Cement project in Calabar, with each plant having a capacity of 2.5 million metric tonnes per annum. When completed, the two projects would bring the group's total production of cement to about 12 million metric tonnes per annum.
Speaking on the worth of the Dangote cement development plan recently, he said it was about 40 per cent, which he described as not bad at all because he is a new player. He said further: "You have flour mills that has been here over 40 years and the old players and we are the new comer and you don't just come in and take 40 per cent of the market. It is only through hardwork that we have come this far. Very little of cement is really produced in Nigeria today." He said the country produces about 2.5 million tonnes while 7.5 million tonnes are imported annually. While importing, he said he decided to build enough capacity for 8 million tonnes to make sure that that whenever there was need for cement in Nigeria, "we have it."
The man Dangote has his hands in every business pie. Property development is not out of it. In consonance with government's housing policy, Dangote Group has constructed 41 bungalows in Kano and various grades of residential executive apartment complexes in Lagos and Abuja. He also has stakes in Nigeria Textile Mills, Lagos which is undergoing strategic restructuring and repositioning in line with corporate policy of meeting the growing demand for locally manufactured textile products. Dangote Textile Mills in Kano currently produces seven million metres of textile materials annually. He also seats on the board of some local banks.
Romancing The Megabanks?
Dangote, Friday last week, debunked insinuation that he was warming up for the chairmanship of some of the emerging mega banks. His denial came on the heels of speculations that his association with some banking institutions at crucial fora for completion board meeting activities could mean that he was set to buy extensively into this sector, which according to him, has remained the most vibrant sector of the economy, in the last one decade.
He also denied that he was interested in being on the board of the banks as a way of consolidating the Dangote dynasty, any more than providing the necessary plank upon which public confidence in these institutions can be attracted and sustained, especially at a time of the present need for re-empowering and consolidation going on in the financial sector.
He explained that his frequent association with banks was to provide some assistance in the form of moral support, by publicly putting the stamp of prospect and efficiency upon institutions deserving of these symbol status, aimed at promoting public acceptability of their offers. It would be recalled that Dangote was at the Zenith International Bank Plc, public offer recently, and has been to other banks such as Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Standard Trust Bank, all of them pushing to raise their operational asset base.
He said the banking industry has contributed tremendously to the growth of the real sector, even as it (banking) rank as the most vibrant in all sectors of the economy, in the last couple of years, in the country. His conviction that the banking industry has a strong edge for driving the national economy explains his personal presence recently at several banking forums, in respect of efforts at consolidating the banks in line with the new capitalisation policy.
"I do not go to all the banks, only some. And if you find me in any function organised by any of these banks, it is a testimony that such a bank is strong, and has good growth prospect", he declared.
The Nigerian Icon
Dangote is one of the few businessmen currently riding high on the crest of the variant of economic nationalism doctrine being pursued by the President Olusegun Administration. This is on the background of the belief of some people that the present administration is pursueing an economic agenda that is a cross-breed between Margaret Thatcher's idea of capitalism propelled by some super rich entrepreneurs who are to form the nucleus of the new enterprising private sector.
It is no surprise that Dangote therefore believes so much in the present Nigerian economy. For him, the economy is on the right track even when the other segments of the society are crying of hardship. "Now matter what, people will still cry," he said, but then agreed that "though there is no money, government has given a lot of incentives, which people may not be mindful of. For instance, if you are starting a new business, you have a pioneer status and about five to seven years tax free period, depending on which location you are going to set up."
President Aliko Dangote?
Many believe in the theory which says that economic power begets political power. Surprisingly, this aphorism does not apply to Dangote who, despite his wealth and economic power, has remained apolitical. But why does politics have less attraction for him? "We cannot all be the same thing. That is why a lot of people are running into business. You know, you have to define whether you want to be a good coach or want to be a good player. It is much better for me as a person to run my business because everybody cannot be in government.
"And if you look closely today, that is why everybody wants to be in politics because they believe it is the most lucrative thing at the moment. That is why you end up having wrong materials in politics. That is the main reason why people like me should be very friendly with them. And when I come out, it is to assist in running the business of the country. If we do one business, we would be contributing because we would always be together with them and I think that is enough because for a business man to leave his business for politics is not a good thing for him," he further explained.
The Philanthropist
Apart from acquiescing with politicians and 'sowing' into their political coffers, Dangote's philantrophy is legendary, even when some people would say he is a miser. As a sportsman (he plays and supports the game of Polo), the business baron has on different occasions identified with various sports by generously donating to their cause. At a point the Federal Government went as far as prevailing on him to take up the chairmanship of the Nigerian Football Association (NFA), a job he turned down.
In 2003, Dangote sponsored the Rollback malaria re-launch campaign organised by the Federal Ministry of Health with a major contribution in line with the companies' policy on social responsibility to the larger society. This is in addition to other corporate donations to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), institutions of learning and local communities where the group operates.
Dangote's business empire spans across the four wings of Nigeria, thus making him a completely "detribalised Nigerian". He believes he has a social responsibility to provide jobs for people as well as food, shelter and clothing. He believes in producing the best quality products that will sustain customers' interest.
His contributions to human development have singled him out as a unique businessman whose motive is not just profit but equally meeting the essential needs of people. His leadership and management skills have been of great challenge to the business world, managing presently about 20 companies.
The Peacemaker
Dangote, in collaboration with other Kano State sons, including Dr Shamsuddeen Usman and others moved back home to save Kano following a recurrent violent crisis in the state. Operating under the auspices of Kano Peace and Development Initiative (KPD1), with a view to bringing a lasting solution to the problem, Dangote said they were out to promote and support harmonious co-existence among different communities in the state.
He said the initiative was organising a two-day peace conference, "as a well-considered response to the periodic eruptions of communal violence in Kano."
He said the peace forum would bring together all stakeholders or their representatives, as well as seasoned scholars to examine the remote and immediate causes of the problem, adding that, "it is hoped that enduring solutions, which will lead to a solid foundation for peace in the state would be achieved". Other members of KPDI are Alhaji Bashir Tofa and Professors Bello Salim, Anwalu Yadudu, Munzali Jibril and Alhaji A. B. Mahmud (SAN).
Many have described Dangote as a man of vision, who is keen on getting the Dangote Group become one of the top industrial conglomerates in the world. But in his efforts to achieve this goal, he has traversed the business world seeking the best techniques in business management. In recognition of his starling qualities in the society and business world, Dangote has received the various honours and awards. Some of them include:
Zik Prize for Leadership in Business Management in 1998;
Sir Ahmadu Bello International by Arewa Research and Publication, Kano in 1999, for outstanding contributions to economic development;
Officer of the Order of Niger (OON) by Federal Government of Nigeria, 2001;
Cross River Roll of Honours Award as best Entrepreneur and Philanthropist of the year 2002, by Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State;
First Ever Fellowship Award by the Lagos State Polytechnic in 2002, in recognition of his immense contributions to the economic development of Lagos State;
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science in Business Management (D.Sc. Honoris Causa) by the University of Calabar, Cross River State on November 23, 2003.
He was also the Chairman of the Presidential Panel on Port Decongestion set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria in August 2001. He has received numerous awards such as the City People Magazine's Businessman of the year 2002; the Fame Magazine's Award for Excellence in Business 2002 amongst others.
His management ability and prowess has become a case study for the students of management. Recently, the Minister of Commerce, Ambassador Mogaji Mohammed applauded his invaluable contributions towards the industrialisation of the nation. He made the commendation in Lagos last week during a familiarisation tour to the Dangote Agro Sacks Limited, located at Ikeja industrial estate.
"Aliko Dangote is really a serious investor in Nigeria. If we have seven other indigenous serious investors like him in the country, then our industrialisation drive would have been taken to greater heights," he added. The minister who was on a familiarisation tour to factory of key industrialists in the south was received at the factory of the Agro Sacks Ltd; by the company's general manager, Mr Chellieh Jeyaraj with other key management staff.
Ask him what is the secret or drive for his success, and he hesitantly says: "I believe in hardwork and being consistent in what you are doing. In Dangote, we do not take business as our job; we take it as a hobby. When you have a hobby, you enjoy doing it. People that play polo, there is nothing you can do that would make them stop playing. Once it is 4pm, they must leave their businesses to go ride their horse. We are happy of what we are doing because all of us cannot be in oil and communication."
His contribution to industry is in no small measure as well as to the general well being of Nigerians and beyond. Other thing you cannot take from also is that he is a model of entrepreneurial excellence to both present and future generations.
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