Tinubu names Dangote, Otedola, Ovia, Abdulsamad as 4 wisemen of Nigeria’s financial system
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described 4 of Nigeria’s most influential businessmen, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Jim Ovia, and Abdulsamad Rabiu, because the “4 sensible males” of Nigeria’s financial system, praising their daring investments and unwavering religion within the nation’s future.
The remark was made in the course of the President’s tour of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Plant on Thursday, the place he additionally commissioned the newly accomplished Lekki Deep Sea Port Entry Street tasks, which he described as monumental testaments to Nigeria’s industrial promise.
“I landed right here with 4 sensible males. I’ll say sensible males,” Tinubu declared. “Jim Ovia of respected Zenith {Bank}, who has been acknowledged worldwide. Femi Otedola, my child brother. Samad Rabiu of BUA. And I imagine the wisest of all of them, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who’s so daring in pondering, doing, and believing in his personal nation.”
The second was extra than simply ceremonial. In line with sources near the occasion, the President and the 4 males rode collectively in a bus as they toured the expansive refinery complicated.
“There was quite a lot of laughter and casual dialog,” mentioned one supply completely to Nairametrics. “It was a uncommon show of belief and alignment between political management and enterprise energy.”
President Tinubu was visibly impressed by the progress on the Dangote Refinery, which he referred to as “an amazing level of reference, an amazing phenomenon of our time, and an enormous funding.” He thanked Dangote for his boldness in pursuing a undertaking of such scale and for displaying that “Nigeria can do large issues.”
He additionally highlighted the Lekki Deep Sea Port undertaking, which he initiated as governor of Lagos State, as proof of long-term planning paying off.
“I’m glad that the Deep Sea Port I initiated as Governor of Lagos State is a big success immediately,” Tinubu mentioned. “Customers save huge quantities of cash utilizing this port as a result of they not have to trans-ship their items.”
The President recommended the entry highway constructed by Dangote Industries below the Federal Authorities’s tax credit score scheme, applauding each the corporate and its subcontractor, Hitech Development.
Responding to the President’s remarks, Aliko Dangote thanked Tinubu for laying the groundwork that made the refinery and the Lekki Industrial Hall doable.
“This imaginative and prescient was yours, lengthy earlier than it turned fashionable,” he mentioned. “We’re merely executing it.”
Additionally current on the occasion was Invoice Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and one of many world’s most distinguished philanthropists. His presence signaled international curiosity in Nigeria’s {economic} reforms and personal sector-led progress.
Every of the “sensible males” named by Tinubu performs a serious position in Nigeria’s {economic} panorama. Jim Ovia, founding father of Zenith {Bank}, helped construct one of many nation’s strongest {financial} establishments.
Femi Otedola has advanced from oil buying and selling into strategic boardroom affect, together with his place on the First HoldCo board. Abdulsamad Rabiu has expanded BUA Group into a producing big. And Aliko Dangote, together with his $19 billion refinery, stays the face of commercial boldness in Africa.
Collectively, they management large belongings and have demonstrated a shared perception in Nigeria’s long-term potential. Tinubu’s gesture of calling them the “sensible males” was not simply rhetorical; it was an announcement of intent. If Nigeria is to be re-industrialized, it would take a coalition of personal sector visionaries and public sector assist.
For a rustic that has typically struggled to transform coverage into progress, the occasion was a glimpse into what’s doable when imaginative and prescient, capital, and political will transfer in the identical course.