The "Matthew Effect"... Not all are rags to riches stories...
The term "Matthew Effect" was coined by the sociologist Robert Merton after the New Testament verse in the Gospel of Matthew (25:29):
"For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath."
It all started in the bible. In the parable of the slaves given different talents to keep, it is likely the first two slaves hold higher position than the third slave which is why the servants were given different amount. The first servant who was holding the highest position became richer, the average slave remained the same and the poor man was sent away and became poorer

According to Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers”, it is those who are successful, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success.
It's the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It's the best students who get the best teaching and most attention. And it's the biggest nine and ten-year olds who get the most coaching and practice. Success is the result of what sociologists like to call "accumulative advantage."
How did Dangote become the richest African man?
He is a very hardworking man no doubt but he was also born into a wealthy family. He is the great-grandson of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, the richest African at the time of his death in 1955. [1]. His uncle also helped him with a loan of ₦500,000 in 1977 - a colossal amount of money then! [2]
How about Bill Gates?
Without doubt, Bill is very clever and astute. A great programmer indeed. However, he is also very fortunate to have a great grandfather who established a million-dollar trust fund for him. The great grandfather who founded the Seattle's National City Bank in 1906.[3]
Bill’s father was a prominent corporate lawyer while his mum was a board member of First Interstate Bank and Pacific Northwest Bell.
Bill Gates also went to an exclusive private school - Lakeside, where tuition in 1967 was $5,000 (Harvard tuition that year was $1,760).
Sure, there are “rags to riches” stories but most of the famous people we hear about had some advantages (place of birth, family financial status, skills, connection or education). Checkout Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett etc
References:
1.Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliko_Dangote
2. https://www.naija.ng/426890-wealth-secrets-of-aliko-dangote.html#426890
3. http://philip.greenspun.com/bg/

True.

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I agree with everything you said here but i really believe that hard work is going to help you succeed in what you are going for. I remember the movie i watched. The movie title is the pursuit of happyness which basically tells us how your hard work will definitely pay off as long as you won't give up.

anitasoll:
I agree with everything you said here but i really believe that hard work is going to help you succeed in what you are going for. I remember the movie i watched. The movie title is the pursuit of happyness which basically tells us how your hard work will definitely pay off as long as you won't give up.

In a society like Nigeria, hard work isn't enough. You need smart-work to succeed.

sexybaby22:


In a society like Nigeria, hard work isn't enough. You need smart-work to succeed.

Yes i agree. Smart work involves making sure that you are not going to spend your life working for others. The end goal should always to work for yourself after you gained all the skills you will need to set up your own business. Good thing there are a lot of business opportunities available now like online business which you won't need capital to start.

anitasoll:


Yes i agree. Smart work involves making sure that you are not going to spend your life working for others. The end goal should always to work for yourself after you gained all the skills you will need to set up your own business. Good thing there are a lot of business opportunities available now like online business which you won't need capital to start.

In as much as we should strive to have our own ventures, we should also consider that in a society like Nigeria, it isn't easy to become a risk taker at a point where you have responsibilities like siblings/kids and you dont have much funds at hand. And there are businesses that needs the full attention (time, presence, effort) of the owner if not, it will never succeed.

The fear of outcome of entrepreneurship prevents many from taking such risk.

It's also called the Law of Accumulative Advantage. 'The Outliers-The story of success by Malcolm Gladwell is a great read though. Imagine 80% of world riches is in the hands of just 20%. That law profoundly reflects reality.