₦airaland Forum

Acidosis: Have you ever been to Kano?

Are you aware Kano is the second largest state in terms of commercial activity within Nigeria and the second most populous state in the country ? (check wiki)

Do you know Kano & Lagos are competing in terms of population?

Are you aware people troop in to that city like pure water for trade, business and investment?

Are you aware we have a standard football pitch in Kano state where footballers all over the world troop in until recently (crisis and all) ?

Are you aware Kano state governor is sending his people in hundreds on a daily basis for scholarships right from that Kano airport to any country you can think of in the world?

Do you know foreign investments and investors are all over the city?

Hope you know people who troop in to Kano just to order cars are more than those going to Lagos and Cotonou put together? Everything in Kano is relatively cheap!

Hope you know Kano state is the "Centre of Commerce"

Are you aware there are over 70 Hotels in the city- Kano? (not state).

I don tire for my west, south people o...

My dear, don't limit yourself to nairaland cos if you do, you'll not know anything aside Fashola, and maybe Amaechi and ACN..

Even if you can't travel to places, spread your horizon!!

oga, you are day-dreaming if you dnt knw. I was inside the Kano airport on February 7th, 2013 from 7am - 7.30pm....dat means from the morning till evening and it was on wednesday.

When i got to kano airport aboard arik from Lagos, i was astonished to see only tarmac with no aeroplane parked. what was on ground were KABO, MAX and IRS aeroplanes which were borrowed to do re-certification for this year hajj.

i took off from the airport to the airforce base, to ashton road and there to the town. Kano is now a joke of the century cos Boko haram has wrecked havoc to the city. The hotel i was lodge in was empty and it got to a stage i was afraid cos nobody was patronising anything and the shops were closed.

coming back to the airport, according to Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria(FAAN), The first five airports in Nigeria are ranked bellow.... Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Akwa Ibom, Kano and Borno. At no time was Kano airport so busy more than abuja and lagos.....i has never happened in history.

I agree that Kano is a commercial centre, but majority of people going to kano ply the road and rail system

elvisimeh: Is it "national flag carrier"or "national carrier"? #justasking

Flag carrier is d airline which has the colour of the national flag of the country crested on the aeroplane's fuselage like the south african airways, kenyan airways, british airways, etc. National carrier is the airline adopted by a country to act as its nominal national carrier. Example includes delta airline for United states, former virgin Nigeria for Nigeria, arik air for sierra-leone, etc.

Note: national carrier does not have the national flag colour of its country crested or implanted on the body of the aeroplane.

Back to the topic, it seems this minister is suffering from diarrhea of the mouth. What modalities have been put in place for this eventual take over from these indebted airlines? How is the FG going to collapse the staff, aircrafts, building headquarters, and some strategic functions of these different airlines together?

I dnt think dats going to work in this year. Maybe next year tho

We have so many comedians in Nollywoood and they are really trying their best in making us laugh from every angle. Who do you think is your favourite among the Nollywood comedians and why.....comedians like Mr. Ibu, Saka, Usofia, Mr. Latin, Baba Ijesha,, etc

For me, SAKA remains my favourite for his maturity and intelligence

I can see that some of us are lying. An average Nigerian sleeps by 10.00am and wakes by 6am.....dats depending on the environment u living.

For instance, am living at opebi and I work at the airport. Definitely, u dnt expect me to wake up less than 6.00am cos of proximity to my place of work. I close by 4-5.00pm and I will definitely get up by 6am....so I have another 4 hours to have fun and play....as a responsible human being, by 10.00, I should be on my bed ready to sleep

In this modern days of ours, we can see so many privileged people who are either philanthropist or industrialist. An industrialist is someone who owns and manage industrial entreprises. A philanthropist on the other hand is someone who donates gifts for humanitarian purposes.

I have argued several times that an Industrialist has more positive impact to unemployment than a philanthropist. In my own opinion, whenever a businessman makes profit from his businesses, he plough it back to the business to make it stronger and financially stable, thus employing more hands to help the cause. Moreso, as a philanthropist, you only dole out your main profits for humanitarian causes, but the scale of unemployment would still be there.

I want people to share their opinion on this issue

if what am seeing is something to go by, the Police College is still at its infancy with no meaningful construction being done. i will love channels TV to go and check the work this govt is flaunting that they have done. Nothing is happening in that police college, they only changed the roof, paint some few buildings.....no concrete reconstruction can be seen at all....

In Ondo state, if i have to rate the governor, i will definitely put sentiment to it cos i hate him and his party to the core. So i hereby remain silent and hold my peace

Is it morally and spiritually right for any religious body to be using external speakers to propagate God's kingdom?

In my little estate I live in, we have this church and a mosques facing each other, whenever the two of these religious houses wanted to pray or do service, its always a hard nut to crack. The noise most times are too deafening. The external speakers have always been a sign of concern to the people living in the estate.

I want to know our view concerning this. Is it that these religious houses are only fulfilling their spiritual obligations or what?

raytony: . It made FP because the mod is probably looking for how to discredit christianity or how else D̶̲̥̅̊☺ you explain the fact that there was no example of such song. Arrant nonsense.

Am not discrediting anything for God's sake. The truth of the matter is that you will never find any orthodox church singing fuji gospel or hip-hop inside the church. The pentecostal churches singing these canal songs are only using them as a tool to attract worshippers, especiially, the youths.

The youth of today flows alongside civilisation, and civilisation has also enter God's temple to the extent that our pastors now uses I-PAD to preach in church, I wonder if dey will use the same when dey wanna do deliverance.

As an anglican, the best songs u can listen to is the hymns. Infact, it was mentioned in the Bible. You will only find a kind of dance-steps in pentecostal churches these days, where a lady will back a guy, and she will be using her ass to jiggle the guys natural endowment frm behind all just cos u are praising God.

It is well with our souls

Do you telling me dat u can point ur I-PAD to someone dat is in need of deliverance, and u sure the demons would leave?

I-PAD replacing BIBLE in the church and we called it modern day? Ok, can you cast out demons with an I-PAD

Have observe vividly that some of our churches have started embracing or infusing taste of HIP-HOP and FUJI tunes to their chorus lyrics.

Some churches even have choreography team who specialises in HIP-HOP steps. Likewise, you have some churches who are as good as singing FUJI lyrics more than PASUMA.....as a xtian, is it right, proper or not really a sin?

EmperorOlu: How is Ondo politics,i am thinking of coming there to contest for a political position?

If u are looking for first class MUMUs, go to Ondo State. The people, despite their level of sophistication and education, they are the most backward set of Yoruba people. All you need to win an election in Ondo state is to share a cup of rice and 100naira each to the people. Distribute okada and bycicles and dey will flock along.

Can you believe the fact that of all the state capitals in the southwest, Akure is the only capital with no industries. What you have is banks, markets, half-baked houses, churches,etc, you cnt point to any cottage industry in the whole of Ondo state, yet, the news we keep on hearing is dat Mimiko is working.

What is my governor doing sef, I mean olusegun mimiko? The man has turned himself to a bastard of sort. The man has never use his office to attract any industry to Ondo state. What he does is to construct a roundabout with a fountain and the mumu people would go and snap there.

What a wasted state and wasted bigots

The hijackers wanted to divert the plane to libya so dat dey can take the passengers hostage. But because of their inexperience, the pilot diverted the plane to Niger republic where the passengers spent over 3 days with no sign of rescue.

The Nigerian military government sent man-hunt search for these passengers and the kidnappers with no abate. The control tower couldn't locate the exact location of the aircraft neither. The thinkin was maybe it has crashed somewhere along the mediterranean sea. Fortuantely, the military search and rescue were able to locate the kidnapped passengers. In the course of freeing the passengers, a cabin crew lost his life, and no other person was harmed.

Prior to this time, the security screening and awareness at our airports are nothing to write home about. The screening machine could only screen passengers frm head to knee thereby leaving other places in d body unchecked. This scenario of hijacking led to the resignation of the pilot in command cos he was so depressed and he nearly run mad.

That's wht I knw...true or not...I dnt knw...lol

from the narration of what the man told me, he said whenever his wife must have come back to her senses after the usual rage, she would break into tears. moreover she loves the wife and she has made a promise not to marry more than one wife in his lifetime.

i think the wife need to see ANGER MANAGEMENT EXPERTS. thats my best bet

Rivers state government and its Akwa-Ibom counterpart, whose governors are the leading dramatis personae in the feud which has engulfed the Nigerian governor' forum since May, have atleast one thin in common: they both have private jets. But neither neither Rivers and Akwa-Ibom is as rich as LAGOS STATE, which makes money from truly productive ventures and regenerative ventures and regenerative endeavours. interestingly, thew Lagos governor has no private jet or even a helicopter and there is no plan to get one in the foreseeable future.

The stark difference in the lifestyles of the Lagos State governor and his counterparts is no happenstance. Apart from Peter Obi of Anambra state, Babatunde Fashola of Lagos is the only governor in Nigeria who goes about with no sirens blaring away or long motorcades complete with a platoon of fierce-looking and heavily armed security officials. He is the only public officer since 1999 who has bluntly refused to accept any kind of award, including the national honour, because of the conviction that honours should be bestowed on office holders after they have left office.

whether in the public or private sector, our people equate leadership with ostentation and vanity rather than service and sacrifice. This is why Nigerian evangelical pastors, whose congregations are overwhelmingly poor, would consider it infra dig to fly on anything less than a private jet while the pope, who leads the world's biggest and wealthiest church, always travel by Alitalia. why should the Taraba state governors, for example, drive themselves to work daily because their states cannot afford to procure the services of official drivers.

in His world famous memoir, Singapore's founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew expresses shock at the sight of Presidents of poor nations like Nigeria and Kenya arriving at the 1980 Commonwealth summit in Canada with presidential planes. Some of the African rulers were at the summit to solicit for aid from countries whose leaders came by commercial planes! Not long ago, the king of Swaziland, a tiny and very poor country in the belly of South Africa, insisted before parliament on the acquisition of a presidential jet, arguing ferociously that he needed it to fly around the world in search of aid for his kingdom, which depends on foreign assistance for survival. It does not matter to African rulers like this king that the Prime ministers of prosperous nations like the United Kingdom and Singapore have no private jets, even though Britain is a major aircraft manufacturer. The Fokker brand, used widely in Nigeria and elsewhere, is British

Fashola understand that leadership is about service to the people and not self-aggrandisement. His performance in office has been sterling and inspiring. Lagosians, who are historically difficult to govern because of the robust tradition of activism, have been star-struck and charmed. At the President Goodluck Jonathan's launch of ROADMAP FOR POWER SECTOR REFORM at Eko hotel in Lagos on August 26,2010, the governor made other top government officials look very unpopular, almost making them cut the image of personae non grata. Immediately Fashola was called upon to speak, the large audience comprising leading entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bank executives, manufacturers, international and local media went into a long frenzy of adulation. the master of ceremony could not stop the audience. it even took the governor himself time and effort to stop the fawning audience. The first sentence President Jonathan uttered when he got up to speak was "i can see clearly that the people of Lagos state are very happy with their governor" and the audience responded enthusiastically as one man "yes oh!" followed by another sustained round of applause.

I therefore salute the courage of Fashola for his positive contributions to Lagos development and i pray that today being his birthday, will be remembered for good. and may the governor live long to see his children's children. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOVERNOR

The last time I wanna board an arik flight to south africa, I hid two canned juice, table water and snacks in my hand luggage, the custom officers after the screening, told me to either throw the juice away and d snacks or I should eat them. Since then, I have observe that no Nigerian airline allows any passenger to carry any food on-board.

Moreso, I stand to be corrected, no nigerian airlines would allow u to bring-in your i-pod, i-pad and some musci gadgets. Your phones must be in switch off mode prior to take off and landing so dat d network would tamper with the air traffic control communications.

And as for those of us who think that aeroplanes do have parachutes, we better wake up from our slumber. No aeroplane in d world is fitted with parachutes except for the helicopters. And u must be trained to be able to use parachutes, otherwise, your death beckons.

@OP, what I hate most in all these is when d aeroplane is airborne, and u suddenly started hearing annoying and disgusting snoring/snores from different angles, especially those white motherfuckers. Its very irritating

I have known him for two years. He's one of those distant neighbours who had tru casual interactions become a friend. In the months that we lived together in d same area and when we ocassionally ran into one another, our conversation never went beyond the usual inquiry about the weather or the offhand question: how is ur family? He was introverted, easy-going and almost self-effacing. I knw him as someone who minded his biz. That was as far as our friendship went until a year ago when I began to see him with a lady.

Once, he timidly introduced her to me as his fiancee. He re-appeared in d neighbourhood again after a month to apologise for not inviting me to his wedding. He had at d time informed me dat he would quit his self-contained apartment to a more comfortable one due to his change of status and dis was more than a year ago. Last weekend, when I again ran into my old friend at a barber's shop where I went for a haircut, he had changed a great deal

He was withdrawn and traumatised. He couldn't recognise me at first when I wave to draw his attention. He didn't radiate d freshness and robust look dat is common with newly weds. We exchanged pleasantries ind midst of the loud music frm d blarring speakers in d salon. Grabbing me by d arm like a long lost friend, he half-dragged me to a distance where he was sure that no one could eavesdrop on us. Then, in what seemed like torrents of pent-up emotions, he began:

Bros where have u been? I've been on d look out for u. You see, I hardly make friend. But I see u as someone I can confide in. My marriage has been hell and my wife is trouble personified. She has been violent since the first day we were pronounced as couples. We didn't court for a long time. But even in those few months of our courtship, I noticed she was aggressive. She once slapped a cashier over a small matter. She also slapped me once and I once narrowly escaped being bathed with hot water but I never took it seriously then. Each time she goes into a rage, I quickly forgive her. Ind last one year, she has fought me over flimpsy excuses. D last time, she slapped me ind presence of our friends at a party. The other day,out of annoyance, she sliced my arm with a razor.

He unfolded his shirt to reveal a deep but a stitched scar that ran tru his shoulder to his wrist. Almost sobbing, he went on,' I really do not knw wat to do as am very scared of her violent mood swings. Her weapons include hot water, boiling soup and kitchen knife which she throws at me like missiles. She has destroyed every gadget in d house.when she's calm, she would break down in my arms and cry profusely. What should I do now? Things have become even more complicated now that she's pregnant with our first baby.

He proceeded to show me deep scars of teeth bites, nail scratches and injury marks. It was unbelievable. Now he has taken to drinking. What advice can we give to this gentle young man in the midst of his ferocious and outrageous wife?

It is very clear from all the comments above that some of us are novice concerning aviation set-up.

As an authority on aviation management, the idea to establish a national carrier was still sketchy as at last year. The make believe was dat arik air should be empowered to be the flag carrier of the country. Moreso, AMCON was to release some billions of dollars to purchase new aeroplanes to these mushroom airlines so as to strengthen them. Because the FG knws dat OBJ has an interest in arik, and jonathan and obj were in a cold war mood, d ideato make arik air d flag carrier was jettisoned. Likewise, it is noteworthy to know that for anybody to have an airline,and to get the aircraft for the operations, its either these two things are considered.

Its either u meet d manufacturer to get u ur desired specifications. This can take about two years because of the exterior and interior works and the peculiar specifications of the person concerned. Aeroplane parts is not produced in one country. D engine is produced in japan or china, the wings are produced in spain, the fuselage and the cockpit can be gotten frm Seattle in the US and some other components. For the manufacturer to assemble these parts and to produce them, it takes more than one year.
The other alternative is to approach a leasing airline to give or loan part of its fleets of aeroplanes on long term projects. This always attracts high interest rates which will automatically kill d airline if fiscal policy is not adopted.

From the foregoing, can anybody with sincerety of heart tell me which building around both local and international airports will house the headquarters of the propose airline? There is no building at all and moreso, if u are buying a building, u have to furnish and do so many interior works.

If we dnt knw too, nigeria does not have adequate pilots. D best bet is to get pilots abroad with juicy salary to attract them. You will convert their license to Nigerian license with a week lecturer and exams. The cabin crews and flight dispartchers are also to be trained and licensed.

Last but not the least, for u to have an airline in nigeria, u must have some people employed immediately u mooted the idea of establishing one. The chief pilot, quality manager, operations manager, accountable manager, chief engineer, cabin service manager, flight dispartcher manager, human resources manager, d chairman and ceo of the airline. All these positions and people would fill the forms made available frm NCaA cos its part of d requirement to get an AOC. So can anybody tell me where are all these people. Where is d airline manual? Who is writing the manual? Which consultancy company is processing d AoC?

I guess this minister of aviation is suffering from diarrhea of the mouth. She just open her mouth wide and start spitting rubbish.

This minister doesn't even knw the nitty-gritty of establishing an airline. If the project is going to be private-driven, which company has signify interest? What modality has been put in place? Which building is going to house the national carrier?

If a carrier is suppose to start operation by september, and dey haven't file an application to the ministry of aviation for the Air Transport License(ATP), file another application to NCAA for Air Operator Certificate(AOC). The requirements for any airline to get this AOC is that u must have ur buildings with adequate and well trained staff, the aircraft must have been inspected from the country of origin with NCAA officials and it must have done 48 hours flight test.

The staff to be employed, the pilot, aircraft maintenance engineers, cabin crews, flight dispatchers, ticketing officers, baggage handlers, and some other strategic positions must have been on ground, yet this minister is just talking in abstract.

If an airline is to start by september, training should have started for the prospective staff, the logo and the colour of the uniform would have been sorted out. Let it be clear that nothing can happen in this year, let alone next year. It takes over 4 months to get an AOC not to talk of doing flying operations

I guess this minister of aviation is suffering from diarrhea of the mouth. She just open her mouth wide and start spitting rubbish.

This minister doesn't even knw the nitty-gritty of establishing an airline. If the project is going to be private-driven, which company has signify interest? What modality has been put in place? Which building is going to house the national carrier?

If a carrier is suppose to start operation by september, and dey haven't file an application to the ministry of aviation for the Air Transport License(ATP), file another application to NCAA for Air Operator Certificate(AOC). The requirements for any airline to get this AOC is that u must have ur buildings with adequate and well trained staff, the aircraft must have been inspected from the country of origin with NCAA officials and it must have done 48 hours flight test.

The staff to be employed, the pilot, aircraft maintenance engineers, cabin crews, flight dispatchers, ticketing officers, baggage handlers, and some other strategic positions must have been on ground, yet this minister is just talking in abstract.

If an airline is to start by september, training should have started for the prospective staff, the logo and the colour of the uniform would have been sorted out. Let it be clear that nothing can happen in this year, let alone next year. It takes over 4 months to get an AOC not to talk of doing flying operations

christ4mi: I'm a Lesbian, you people can't change it. Just accept it and move on, it not a crime to have a thing for my fellow ladies. Gosh, I hate men.

See dis idiot vomitting trash. If you hate ur dad and some men in your family, u shouldn't transfer the hatred and d aggression towards d men folks.

Moreover, tell me dat a man has never have sex with u in your life and u never enjoy it!

I hate it when homosexuals do say that they hope or plan to adopt a child in d future. Why cnt dey give birth to dat same child since dey enjoy their sexuality? Imagine everybody in dis world is homosexual, who's going to give birth to these childrens?

The adverse effect of homosexuals adopting a child is dat the same sexual life will affect the child being adopted and dat would be a continued trend, and if not checked, our generations to come would be affected by this sexuality.

Hezron Lorraine: my dear,I've heard those messages since 2007 when I officially became a winners member.I've seen many of the senior pastors.still no change.I've held God at his throat if that's possible to deliver me from homosexuality.

Dear,i really don't think God stresses on homosexuality as u believe.I keep wondering why God didn't show Papa that Ted Haggard was enegaging in homosexual acts and had male lover.yet Ted preached and mounted the holy and exalted altar of Faith tarbernacle during previous Shiloh's.

To really see that God is still on my side.as an african,betterstill Nigerian,you know we have battles and evil forces.when I was much younger,I used to be tormented,chased in the dream,I would scream out from the dreams and would lose breath and scream with all my voice.
I read one of Bishop's book.I made a bold declaration of faith,since then,I never experienced them.
Another experience,I used to see some ladies dresses in black with veils bring me food in the dream,I would eat.I realised it was a bad omen.in those dreams when I refuse to eat,I would be heavily suppressed and would lose my voice to shout out Jesus. I fasted for 3 days,on the last night of the fasting,not only did I remove the veils of those ladies,I poured the food on them and removed my belt to flog them.as a christian and a bonafide winners member,u know that's victory.do I speak of the many other physical things God as done in my life despite my same-sex attraction.
I've kissed a guy b4.I haven't been intimate with anybody.maybe if I do.I would lose him.I really doubt that,why would God still love me this much knowing that I'm gay and have accepted my sexuality.

I don't have the answer to any deliverance,I've seen Papa one on one b4.no demon was observed in me.I don't believe I carry a demon.I've come to realise if I can pray other prayers,fast about them.and he grants my wishes,then why is it that when I've been super-desperate,and prayed and fasted to alter my sexuality and restore me to an heterosexual,he turns a deaf ear.baffles me.

Let's admit that you are gay. I have some few questions for you.
1. How do u intend combining being gay and marital life.
2. With your gayish experience and orientations, how do u plan to give birth and raise your family the way u were raised?
3. Since you are a christian, I guess the BIble says be fruitful and multiply?? How do u intend being fruitful and multiplied with your same sex man?
4. How do u enjoy the word called 'sex'. Do u enjoy it if your male counterpart is forcing his manhood inside ur anus?
5. What do u think is d cause of homosexuals and when did u start experiencing the urge of sex against ur male counterparts?.
6.Is homosexuals genetic or inherited? And how does ur immediate family feels as a result of ur sexual predicaments?
7 have u ever pray genuinely against this your sexual urge before?
I guess I need to stop here. The questions were not meant to tarnish ur image or feelings, rather, just to shed more light on our I'ignorance' so to speak

ketoprofen: the last thing i will do is to speak for somebody that has looted govt money for wealth. if a president arises tomorrow andnbones dangote, his name will disappear shapparly from that Forbe's list. Nonsense

Do wht u said correspond with what I posted earlier? I said it from the beginning that most of the investments u tot ur IGBO people owns, actually has d financial muscle of Dangote. Combine every major businesses of IGBos in Lagos, its not up to half of Dangote's investment in Lagos. But u wouldn't hear him brag about anything.
Come to think of it, wasn't ifeanyi Ubah indicted for subsidy fraud?

Aliko Dangote’s 93% stake in the cement company is now worth $19.5 billion. Add this to his controlling stakes in other publicly-listed companies like Dangote Sugar and National Salt Company of Nigeria and his significant shareholdings in other blue-chips like Zenith Bank, UBA Group and Dangote Flour; his extensive real estate portfolio, jets, yachts and current cash position, which includes more than $300 million in recently awarded Dangote Cement dividends, Dangote is now worth more than $20 billion.

dolphinife: FYI, dat Dangote's name wasn't mentioned as a shareholder doesn't take the fact that he owns 50percent of zenith or UBA. Its like saying Michael Arumemi Ikhide is the owner of Arik when everybody knws dat OBJ has over 60percent stake in Arik and u will never find his name on any list.
Also, whts bad if I say Mike adenuga is fronting for IBB in sterling bank? And have u ever seen IBB's name being mentioned as a shareholder in Sterling?.

Am still saying this, combine the top 100 businesses of IGBOS in Lagos, it doesn't half the investment of Dangote let alone other Hausas doing legitimate biz

[quote author=Sunny_bobo]See this batty man. So, who is fronting for Dangote in Zenith? I'm ready for you on this one because I'm heavily invested in Zenith[/quote]The chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s business empire continues to rise. But what confounds average Nigerians is the disconnect between Dangote’s success and the harsh realities of Nigeria’s business environment. They also wonder how possible is it to have many more Dangotes
Not many Nigerians are surprised about recent rating of the business mogul and president of the Pan-African conglomerate, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote as one of the 25 richest men in the world by the Forbes Magazine.
This is because for upward of 15 years, the Nigerian billionaire has dominated the nation’s business sphere like a colossus.
From salt to sugar, cement, telecommunication, real estate, oil and gas, bluechip businesses and edibles, Dangote is the commanding voice and has made good fortunes from businesses his contemporaries couldn’t dare.
He recently proposed to build $8billion refinery in Nigeria in order to boost the nation’s production capacity as well as stop the importation of petroleum products into the country.
His investment profile outside Nigeria, especially in Africa is on the rise and some of the businesses of Dangote are household names in Tanzania, Gambia, Ghana etc.
Forbes Magazine says with Dangote’s current rating, he becomes the first African entrepreneur to own a $20 billion fortune. It said this is on account of the stock value of his largest holding, Dangote Cement, leaping about three-fourths since March when Forbes released its annual ranking of the world’s richest people.
According to the magazine, Dangote’s 93 percent stake in the cement company is now worth $19.5 billion. Dangote Cement becomes the first Nigerian company to achieve a market capitalisation of over $20 billion.
His controlling stakes in other publicly-listed companies like Dangote Sugar and National Salt Company of Nigeria, and his significant shareholdings in other blue-chip companies like Zenith Bank Plc, UBA Group and Dangote Flour; his extensive real estate portfolio, jets, yachts and current cash position, which includes more than $300 million in recently-awarded Dangote Cement also secured him position among the world’s top aristocrats.
Observers however observe that the rising profile of Dangote in the world is at variance with the crumbling manufacturing sector in his home country.
They said many companies have relocated outside the shores of the country owing to infrastructure deficit, power shortage and unfriendly business environment which have made it difficult for them to survive in Nigeria.
According to reports, over 1,000 companies have relocated from Nigeria in the last decade and more are still leaving despite federal government’s so-called economic blueprint to provide a workable and congenial environment for investors.
Former president of the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Chief Herbert Ajayi said his members are still worried that in spite of the huge budgetary allocation and the road map for power sector reform launched, the impact has not been felt by businesses.
He said this scenario has continued to compound the already harsh business operating environment with millions of naira spent by companies, especially in Lagos on diesel and petrol to power their plants and generators, thus, unnecessarily increasing business operating costs.
He said government’s promise to improve transportation infrastructure (roads, railways, waterways and air) in the country has not yielded the desired result.
He said various policies embarked upon by government towards improving the nation’s agriculture, infrastructure and incentives to boost real investment in the sector did not achieve much as the country still grapples with low productivity, low profitability and insufficient food for local consumption and absence of food security, using FAO standard.
He was disturbed that the average lending rate still remains double digit constituting serious impediments to business growth; as it hovers around 17-28 percent.
A recent Business Confidence Index released by the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) also said investors and business leaders are careful about the state of the nation’s economy and the unfriendly business environment.
It said the factors that weakened the index score include poor access to credit, inhibitive tendencies of monitoring and regulatory agencies, sustained insecurity situation across the country, dwindling public power supply and budget approval/implementation crisis.

Is Dangote’s rating an exception?
Manufacturers who spoke with Sunday Trust expressed divergent views on the relationship between the current rating of the business mogul and the nation’s crumbling manufacturing sector.
Chairman Cross River/Akwa Ibom States Branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Obong Jackson told our correspondent that Dangote has done well in the manufacturing sector and his global reckoning is not a surprise to him. He said the federal government needs to gird its loins and provide adequate power, infrastructure and affordable funding for investment in order to produce more Dangotes and free the real sector from ills.
General Manager Haffar Industrial Company Limited M. O. Adebayo is of the opinion that there is a big deal in Dangote’s shot to stardom from the nation’s crumbling manufacturing sector.
He said his friendship with governments in power and current membership of the National Economic Team also means that he may have some privileges his contemporaries never have.
He however commended Dangote for at least using his romance with government to add value to the lives of Nigerians through industrialization and job creation.

Secret of Dangote’s success
Dangote started building his fortune over three decades ago after securing a loan from Sanusi Dantata. Dangote started trading in commodities like flour, sugar and cement before his business empire blossomed into global reckoning.
Those who knew Dangote as a young man say he was a very ambitious being who was ready to take any risk to achieve result.
A senior official of the Dangote Group who craved anonymity told our correspondent, “He is a typical down-to-earth businessman who likes to take risk and damn the result. He matches his risk-taking in business with intelligence, foresight, vision, vigour and first class personnel. He’s thorough and a goal-getter. That is why he survives the tortuous road of the nation’s manufacturing sector and other businesses.”
Another staff of the company who refused being named denied that Dangote gets special favours from government. He however said Dangote cannot afford to be enemy of government because its policies greatly influence investment.
According to the employee, Dangote Group creates its enabling business environment stressing, “If there’s no power, companies should generate their power.” The success of the group he said stems from the patriotic zeal of its founder saying with adequate security and stability, more Dangotes will emerge from Nigeria.
The Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Muda Yussuf told our correspondent that Dangote records success because he is strategic on choice of investment. He said the nation’s huge population, infrastructure and housing deficit provide a ready market for Dangote’s businesses in food and construction.

FYI, dat Dangote's name wasn't mentioned as a shareholder doesn't take the fact that he owns 50percent of zenith or UBA. Its like saying Michael Arumemi Ikhide is the owner of Arik when everybody knws dat OBJ has over 60percent stake in Arik and u will never find his name on any list.
Also, whts bad if I say Mike adenuga is fronting for IBB in sterling bank? And have u ever seen IBB's name being mentioned as a shareholder in Sterling?.

Am still saying this, combine the top 100 businesses of IGBOS in Lagos, it doesn't half the investment of Dangote let alone other Hausas doing legitimate biz

[quote author=Sunny_bobo]Finally, I got ya. Bloody liar!! You told this same lie in the other thread and before I could come for you, the thread was hidden. On the other thread, you said Dangote holds 50% stake in Zenith Bank. Are you for real?

If you do not know about something, it's better you keep quiet instead of opening your mouth to embarrass yourself. Why not ask for a copy of Zenith bank's annual report and have a look at the shareholding structure as it is mandatory for ally public quoted companies to publish the names of all shareholders who own 5% of the total outstanding shares of the said company.

In the case of Zenith, Jim Ovia is the only person who owns more than 5% and he holds 2,747,223,748 ordinary shares of Zenith bank PLC amounting to 8.75% of the total share outstanding as at Dec. 31, 2012.

I'm a shareholder so I study the annual report.[/quote]

omongbatic: As of today, London (UK) is broke and Saudi is not. Take that to the Bank.

Similarly, all data we have seen show SE is less affected by poverty than SW. We have the money to buy up Lagos: We already own 45% of it. You cannot even pay for land in SE and so you resort to begging for free land.

Bors no vex oooo....u just said a lie now. The investments of Dangote in Lagos alone tripples all the investments of IGBOS in Lagos. If you dnt knw, Dangote has interest in most of the companies you thought the IGBO has. He only put a stooge to manage it for himM case study, Zenith and UBA banks

nku5: I think he studied at OAU, Ife. There is a strong anti-igbo sentiment among yoruba graduates of that school. I've noticed it on this site and in real life. Most of them are bigoted towards igbos.

If I say thunder should fire your damn mouth, people would say am very abusive. How dare you mention my dare school in your bigoted and tribalistic discussions with Dayokanu??
For your information, IGBO lecturers, staffs, workers and students in OAU make up to 20percent of the population. Even the student unions year in, year out use to have atleast 3 to 5 IGBOS. The religious fellowshiops on campus has preponderant IGBO populations and everybody co-habit peacefully.

Never ever in your life you dare mention my Great citadel of learning in your negative discussions. Abeg, to your tents oh ye Isarel