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Music/RadioRe: Kayswitch - Mama (Mother’s Day Tribute) by idriis: 2:00pm On May 12, 2013
Biim: Two, the first was for Britain, this is for America.
na which day dem go celebrate ijebu garri day? huh
Music/RadioRe: Kayswitch - Mama (Mother’s Day Tribute) by idriis: 1:56pm On May 12, 2013
1 shortblackboy: Abeg na how many mothers day dey dey for 1 year na wa o
guy di tin taya mi too oh....I just deh wonderangry
PoliticsRe: Picture From CPC Convention In Abuja by idriis: 1:21am On May 12, 2013
fontv1: For your mind, APC go win 2015? Do you think election is all about integrity? For PDP or APC to win there is more work to be done. Remember GEJ is a generous politician when campaigning. He wouldn't mind emptying our FR bucks.

Well I know its not going to be easy for APC and PDP. Watch out
APC or nothing, dats all. Gudnyt!

Thread close

Long Live Buhari

God Bless Nigeria cool
PoliticsRe: Picture From CPC Convention In Abuja by idriis: 9:49pm On May 11, 2013
Sai Buhari
PoliticsRe: Picture From CPC Convention In Abuja by idriis: 9:04pm On May 11, 2013
[quote author=Omo_Tier1]You are a real clown! Now you people think Buhari holds the solution to solving the Bokoharam crisis you power hungry wiggles created? Oh, for crying out loud, did your GEJ not say Buhari was behind Bokoharam huh

One thing is sure, those who through deceit, falsehood and election manipulation got into Aso Rock will never know peace all of their days on earth![/quote]Amen x1000
CelebritiesRe: Bob Marley Day 2013 - Tribute To A Legend by idriis: 1:59pm On May 11, 2013
No woman no cry smiley 2nd to.......yameancheesy na God!
FoodRe: A Male Nairalander Cooking Jollof Rice by idriis: 9:44am On May 11, 2013
Lmao! OP u be correct guy....shey igboh dey inside?
CultureRe: The "REAL" Hausa by idriis: 1:17pm On May 10, 2013
[quote author=PAGAN 9JA]ofcourse I wil try to promote Hausa religion. This is Nigeria dude. Not Saudi Arabia. what did you expect, Ill promote islam?! LMAO! im not after 72 virgins here. 1 wife will do for now. . wink[/quote]kai! Ama kai dan iska ne fa. So...yanzu gwara Bori da adini musulunci awajenka kenan ko me??
CultureRe: The "REAL" Hausa by idriis: 12:16pm On May 10, 2013
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, see my people oh! So beautiful... Nice one Pagan!
PoliticsRe: Police Killing In Nasarawa: Gov. Al-makura May Be Indicted By Security Report by idriis: 10:10am On May 10, 2013
Yee dis matter no be small matter. Na rugged boys go fit do dis kain job, no be aturas.
PoliticsRe: Arrest Me If You Can, Dokubo-Asari Dares IG, Reps, Others by idriis: 9:22am On May 10, 2013
[quote author=Ochek][/quote]guy stop talking like a baboon, are you a baboon? If Buhari said anything wrong why ur oga no go arrest him... Abeg park well!
PoliticsRe: Arrest Me If You Can, Dokubo-Asari Dares IG, Reps, Others by idriis: 9:18am On May 10, 2013
dayokanu: Why should Buharis statement worry you?

He said baboons would be soaked in blood,

I believed its Baboons that should be worried and not human beings.

Or you be baboon?
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I laff in Pharaoh's voicegrin @Dayokanu you don't kill me with this kind reply... No mind all these eeeediots dragging Buhari's name in di mud... Na fear deh catch dem! Bigoted Baboons lol!grin
CelebritiesRe: Vast Of Bracket Diagnosed With Lymphoma (Cancer Of The Blood) by idriis: 8:51am On May 10, 2013
Na wa oh! Cancer dis, cancer that. We living in the world of cancer. God help us!
CelebritiesRe: Rihanna Goes Braless After Chris Brown Breakup by idriis: 8:44am On May 10, 2013
GeneralJ: So, she wanna dress how she wanna dress, she has done more than braless before, she has gone pantless, so wetin come consain me, its not like there is anypart of her body that she hasn't shown before

shes wat we call, a picture ashawo
I tire oh....huh I even thought say na b'oobie I wan see here, I just wasted my MBP mstchw!
CelebritiesRe: Bukky Wright In Skimpy Dress by idriis: 8:39am On May 10, 2013
shocked
She be like one witch-doctor for my village oh...chei, see dressing ohundecidedundecidedundecided
CelebritiesRe: Chioma Chukwuka-akpotha On Set Of 'Accident' (Picture) by idriis: 8:38am On May 10, 2013
Leaknigerianews: Chioma Akpotha was on set for Teco Benson's new movie 'ACCIDENT' where I think she got to play the role of a barrister. Second picture is she with fellow actor Kalu Ikeagwu.
meehn I like this lady diie kiss

OP, but why her eyes deh watery for di first pics na..abi she deh cry ni? huh
PoliticsRe: Ombatse Traditionalists: Police Killed Our Members So We Killed 95 Of Them by idriis: 8:32am On May 10, 2013
[quote author=PAGAN 9JA]ok this is ludicrous and unbelievable.

just look at the points below:

A bunch of gun-wielding policemen storm a Traditionalist shrine and try to desecrate it.

The charges against the Traditionalists are forced conversion in mosques AND churches . (can you bliv that?)



The POlicemen are armed with machine guns , bullet-proof trucks,etc.

Traditionalists are armed with machetes and knives .

Police kill 9 of them.


Traditionalist Pagans kill 95 Policemen ! (the size of a small Army)


There are only 2 possibilities:

Either the police were roaming around blindfolded in the shrine.

Or

The Gods of the Shrine struck 95 of them down with thunder.

*smh

anyways sha, people should stop harrasing the Eggon peoples. They are actually a very peaceful people.[/quote]our police wey no get normal brain, na monkey brain dem get. How you go carry 99 mopol to go arrest just one pesin, enter their mix throw canisters? Instead of to go do ur work jejely, no! Na to go intimidate people... gods don catch themtongue
EducationRe: Reps Summon JAMB Registrar Over Mass Failure by idriis: 7:35am On May 10, 2013
acidtalk: What in Heaven's name is This Country Nigeria turning into?

If this so called House of Representative members have nothing to do, can they just close that chambers, give the keys to Tambuwwal to continue globe trotting with rotimi Ameachi in his private jet. This whole thing is making a mockery of this country.

Is it the Head of Jamb the House of Representative are meant to summon on the Dullards who have nothing in their heads and their parents who no longer scold them to go and read.


The educational standard as so gone down the drain that even a day to exams, students will have heavy ear phones in their ears (they call DRE abi shey na Snoppy) listening to some immoral meaningless songs being sang by all the so called illiterate wanna be dropouts.

Nothing in Nigeria is improving anymore, everything seems to be nose diving, from morals, to spiritual life, educational standard, respect, conscience, trust, hardwork, humility, honesty......


Tambuwwal tell your boys to face more pressing issues rather than blaming an innocent man and his team for marking genuinely without bias what those useless dullards tick in the exam sheet.

Well, I don't blame dem sef. Afterall the thief that called himself Farouk Lawan was the chairman Committee on Education. They are looking for ways to siphone bribe from the Budget given to Jamb this year.

Students : if una dare insult me, na the person wey dey the oldest picture for una house una dey talk to.

Olodo bunch of students in a dead nation. Like Olodo Students like their Dumb President.
hehehehe!grin guy you don eventually vex finish totally. See as you dey spit acid on these Jamb candidates... How you go blame this innocent guys wen our educational system is a flaws...no good teachers, books, schools, classrooms, learining condition etc....take am easy abeg! Na so Jamb sef go dey set questions like say dem no even wan make students pass.
European Football (EPL, UEFA, La Liga)Re: Is Rooney On His Way Out Of Manchester United? by idriis: 6:00am On May 10, 2013
Santi222: Lets sell him to PSG. Certainly not Chelsea. We'll not make the same mistake Wenger did!
Rooney na epa(groundnut) jooor!
Music/RadioRe: D’banj Signs Olamide To DB Records by idriis: 5:40am On May 10, 2013
Adex097: d'banj + olamide = Error 562.

@olamide I thought you are a one man MOPOL
hehehegrin badoohuh
PoliticsRe: Obama Visits Nigeria May 28 by idriis: 1:04pm On May 09, 2013
Maxymilliano: • Security, economy and bilateral relations top agenda

At last the President of the United States, Barack Obama, would visit Nigeria on 28 May, 2013, as part of a three-nation tour of Africa, ending speculation of the Obama scorn with the flawed elections in 2007 that brought Umaru Yar’Adua to the Presidency.

Seen as long overdue but coming at a time when security is the number one item on the country’s agenda, the 44th President of the United States is expected to parley with President Jonathan on how to tackle the niggling problems of insecurity, the economy and trade relations between both nations. President Obama would be interested in hearing President’s Jonathan’s plan to control the Boko Haram insurgents who he plans to offered amnesty, even as the sect continues to slay hundreds in their quest to end western education in the country apart from kidnapping foreigners for ransom.

The growing bases of Al Quaeda, a long term enemy of America and its allies, along the Lake Chad region resulting from their recent dislodgement from Mali may find space on their agenda.

Both men are likely to contemplate the resurgence of Niger Delta militancy, which had simmered with the granting of amnesty by former President Yar’Adua. On the political side, they may weigh the propriety of a Jonathan candidacy in 2015 and the implications for democracy not only for Nigeria, but also for the African continent as well as the implication of good governance as exemplified by Nigeria for the stability of the sub-region. It is speculated that both presidents would broach issues on economic co-operation not least the upbeat forecasts of the emergence of Nigeria as an economic force, what with the country’s latitude for growth.

America would be interested in a partnership that would engender a favourable outcome for both countries whose bilateral trade hit $5 trillion in the first quarter of 2012.

It would be an opportunity for President Jonathan to engage Obama on the US exploitation of Shale gas projected to cut a quarter US imports of Nigeria’s oil by the end of the year. They could discuss how Nigeria can benefit from alternative energy programme of the United States. It would give President Jonathan a chance to see how the AGOA programme can be improved to favour Nigeria’s businesses, especially the SMEs.

Obama’s planned session with businessmen while in the country assures that there is yet scope for improving business and trade relations between both countries. Obama’s visit is believed to be five years late given that he was billed to have visited the country in his first term in office, especially when he visited other African countries, including Ghana, which is only 30 minutes away from Nigeria by flight.

Of that snob, Nobel Literature Prize winner, Professor Wole Soyinka, said, “If Obama decides to grace Nigeria with his presence, I will stone him. The message he is sending by going to Ghana is so obvious, is so brilliant that he must not render it flawed by coming to Nigeria any time soon.”

Kirk Leigh

http://mydailynewswatchng.com/2013/05/09/obama-visits-nigeria-may-28/
shocked
shocked
shocked
This Seun's 21 draconian commandments na diiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee oh! Chei, omo see rulesshockedhuh








Obama, na waaa oooh! Now now you wah come Naija abi? I no blame you sha na that shoeless dude with cowboy hat nahin cause dis yawa.

Just help us put some senses to his fishing-brain. Tell him how it is done in the States.. Show em that you da world leader, but make sure you remove dat hin cowboy hat cos if not e no go fit understand you with his cap on.

Mr Wole rugged you! Let Obama enter Naija teach we oga at top some lessons abeg.

You're welcome sir, with all due respect!
BusinessRe: Aliko Dangote: Things You Never Knew About Him by idriis: 12:22pm On May 09, 2013
Babzilla: IF E EASY FOLLOW D GOVERNMENT TOO NAH
I TELL U EVEN THE POLITICIANS WILL NOT WANT TO RIDE WITH U
IF URE LAZY AND UNPRODUCTIVE
Listen to your sef boy...he's not lazy, he's saying di truth. If given that opportunity you think you can achieve dangote's level. Na padi, padi govt give am chance period! Thou he's apply his own strategies and hustle too...but with the support of the corrupt govt he's on str8 way to riches!
BusinessRe: Aliko Dangote: Things You Never Knew About Him by idriis: 12:00pm On May 09, 2013
topmostg: who be dis one again na biko...
Guy your brain don melt ni? No need for quotin the o.p.
Cos that ish is so annoyin..
Just comment and GTFOH..
nigga shut the phuck up, who the F are you? Free me like Terry jor!huh
BusinessRe: Aliko Dangote: Things You Never Knew About Him by idriis: 7:29am On May 09, 2013
Kudos to @Buhari for clamoing down on the illegal licences to the businessmen at that time, guess that's why the eeeeediot IBB had to stop him... What is wrong in exporting local product at that time?? So Buhari means well for this country if not for the greedy IBB and his allies Nigeria would have been a better place now.
BusinessRe: Aliko Dangote: Things You Never Knew About Him by idriis: 7:16am On May 09, 2013
[quote author=Abiyamọ]ALIKO MOHAMMED DANGOTE, World's Richest Black.

DEDICATION: This piece is written for and dedicated to all hardworking men and women across the globe. Those who toil day and night with the hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday, those who fast today so that they can have their fill tomorrow, those who labour on in the face of the incredible hardships of life, those who struggle relentlessly despite the greatest travails and challenges thrown at them, those who manage to have a cheerful smile on a face full of sweat and tears, it is to those, dedicates this.

''Aliko Dangote deserves more honours than those of us holding political offices'.
-GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, Nigerian President.


‘I am close to the people in power because I am one of the big businessmen in Nigeria. If we have the wrong people there, then all the money I have is useless. I do not want Nigeria to become another Zimbabwe so I am concerned about the political direction of my country, because if bad and inexperienced politicians control power in Nigeria, my wealth may turn into poverty and I am not ready to become a poor man.’ -ALIKO DANGOTE.

See link for full details and more scintillating pictures: http://.com/aliko-mohammed-dangote-worlds-richest-black/


A prodigiously wealthy and luxuriantly blessed human, Aliko Dangote said that it took him 30 tortuous years to become a billionaire but youths of today want to become a gazillionaire faster than Usain Bolt. Many Nigerian youths are bitter (like bitterness will make one better), pointing accusing fingers at people like Dangote, Adenuga and generally seeing nothing good in what others do, believing the world is against them. For those, I leave you with the immutable words of JK Rowling, writer of the Harry Potter series: “There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.” That is not all. The legendary French writer and philosopher who rejected the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre also said: “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give life a meaning.” But perhaps, the most poignant advice of all is from the Wise One of China, Confucius, who stated thousands of years ago: “Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.”

In a nation like Nigeria where there is so much negativity emanating right from independence till date, Aliko Mohammad Dangote, the Kano-born billionaire with the Midas touch is a man who must be appreciated and celebrated -for good reasons.

You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself.
-NAPOLEON HILL (1883-1970), American speaker and motivational speaker.

OVERVIEW
-ANCESTRY
-EARLY DAYS & GROWING UP/FAMILY
-SCHOOLING
-LOVE, HEARTBREAKS, CHILDREN, MARRIAGE & DIVORCES
-HOW HE STARTED
-ROMANCING POLITICIANS AND SUPPORTING GOVERNMENTS
-BECOMING A BILLIONAIRE
-THE PLANE CRASHES AND NEAR PLANE CRASH
-THE SECRETS OF DANGOTE'S SUCCESS
-INTERESTING AND FUN THINGS ABOUT DANGOTE
-CRITICISM
-THE DANGOTE GROUP
-APPOINTMENTS, AWARDS, LAURELS & HONOURS
-DANGOTE'S DONATIONS AND PHILANTHROPY
-REFERENCES

ANCESTRY

Young Aliko was born in the ancient city of Kano of the famed groundnut pyramids. Kano has been a commercial center for centuries with it being a focal point for all kinds of economic activities ranging from the sale of slaves in exchange for salt to the trade in spices, kolanuts, leather, cotton, sugar and gold. Alhassan Abdullahi Dantata (named for Tata, the nurse who raised him, Dantata means 'the son of Tata') was his maternal great grandfather and he also learnt the art of business and making money from his own father.

By 1913, he was the largest exporter of kolanuts in West Africa. The coming of the colonial masters with the railway was too good an opportunity for him as he took advantage of the rails to move his kolanuts along the Lagos-Kano route. With time, he became the sole distributor for the Lever Brothers (later Unilever) and add the profits of the groundnut boom, he was already super-rich, the richest in Nigeria, and by 1955 when he died, he was clearly the richest in West Africa.

The children of the late polygamous merchant swore to an oath by the Holy Qu'ran with their father on the deathbed to work together and not split the family's business empire. Till today, the Dantatas run things in Nigeria -without any noise. Groundnut trader, Sanusi Alhassan Dantata, Nigeria's first millionaire, was the eldest of the siblings and was the overseer of the family's business activities.

Dangote grew up in the loving care of his maternal grandfather, Sanusi who took Aliko, his first grandson, into his care after the untimely death of his father. Sanusi transformed the family business even beyond the wildest dreams of their late dad. This grand old rich man died in 1997, and left many children, one of whom is Mariya, his eldest daughter and Umm Aliko (the mother of Aliko).

Rewind back to the 1950s and we meet a man named Mohammed Dangote, a businessman, fellow Qadirriya sect member and ally of Sanusi Dantata. This man would later ko-enu-ife-si ('toast') Mariya, the daughter of his friend, through her father and his business associate, Sanusi Dantata. Mohammed Dangote dabbled into politics and was even a Member, Northern House of Assembly and belonged to the Northern People's Congress (NPC) of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. By the mid-50s, the two lovebirds were joined together in holy matrimony in Kano. That was the fusing point of the Dantatas and the Dangotes.

EARLY DAYS & GROWING UP
On the 10th of April, 1957, a bouncing baby boy weighing just a little above three kilogrammes was born in Kano. The radiant mother was Mariya and the small baby boy of that day is the reason you are reading this. A week after, he was named after his father while his overjoyed grandfather, Sanusi Dantata gave him the name 'Aliko' which means 'The Victorious One Who Defends Humanity'.

FAMILY

From his own mother’s side, Dangote has three siblings: Sani, Bello and a younger brother who died in an air crash in Kano with Ibrahim Abacha in 1996 (read more about the plane crash here: http://.com/sani-abacha-nigerias-most-enigmatic-ruler/). Dangote’s mother, who became a widow in 1965 is still very much alive, was honoured with a degree by the Bayero University, Kano (BUK), runs one of the largest charities in Nigeria but is protected from the public eye. When Dangote bought his recreational boat, he named it after his (Mother), calling it Mariya.

SCHOOLING

For someone who grew up in Kano, a city of knowledge, it was no surprise that Dangote took to educating himself. Like many of his peers growing up under the great influence of Islamic scholars of the old city, he took off to one of the oldest universities on earth, Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.

-1964: Kano Capital Elementary School (during break time in the high-brow primary school with other schoolkids who wanted sweets, Aliko would bring out a handful and told his jolly good friends that they could have one for a dime. He was that sharp.)

-1964: Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa (Arabic School): He attended the Quranic school when he returned from the primary school, a pattern that is common with many Nigerian Muslims.

-1970s: Capital High School, Kano.

-1970s: School of Economics & Business, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt, where he bagged a degree in business studies and administration. In addition to all these forms of formal education, he also got a great deal of informal education from his grandfather, which he makes use of till this day. Hear him: ‘All my business acumen and instincts I inherited from my maternal grandfather. As his first grandson, he poured his business wizardry into me. I would not have been where I am today without him; a very great man, loving and caring.’

LOVE, HEARTBREAKS, CHILDREN, MARRIAGE & DIVORCES

In any continent of the world, there are some ladies who would dump their wretched husbands in a microsecond and follow a moneybag like billionaire Dangote without hesitation. The poor husband will only console himself with Chief Ebenezer Obey’s Sisi kojale, a lo ba millionaire lo…lol! Handsome, dashing, calm and stupendously wealthy, it is no surprise that not a few women cannot resist the charm of Dangote. Like other men on earth, he also has his own share of the romantic sagas and Cupid-induced high blood pressure..lol. A serial monogamist, Aliko Dangote has 15 children even though three from his current marriage (Halima, Fatima and Sadia) are officially listed. His children include:

HALIMA (F)
[img]http://.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ALIKO-DANGOTE-DAUGHTER-WEDDING-DAY-HALIMA.jpg[/img]

-ZAYNAB (F) -named for her mum.


-SALMA (F) (meaning peace).

-FATIMA (F)
[img]http://.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2-ALIKO-DANGOTE-DAUGHTER.jpg[/img]

-AISHA (F)

-SADIA (F)

Alhaji Aliko Dangote has been married and divorced three times before his current marriage. He was not engaged in polygamy at any point but took one wife at a time. In May 1977, his family selected his first wife for him and the union was consummated without delay. Aliko had just turned 20. Fast forward to 2009, Dangote fell in love with the young daughter of the late Nigerian President, Nafisat Yar’adua (now the wife of the Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda). Nafisat turned down Dangote’s advances for one reason: she was friends with Halima, Dangote’s daughter. Nafisat, at the age of 21, became Governor Yuguda’s fourth wife in 2009.


Like any other man, his ego was hurt. You will get a better picture of the scenario when you realize the fact that one of the former wives of Dangote (Hajia Mariya A.D Rufai, see below) was married to Governor Yuguda (although he later divorced her in June 2010 after 10 years of marriage over irreconcilable differences but some of the reasons alluded to was that she was absent at President Yar’adua’s (Yuguda’s in-law) burial, allegedly leaking sensitive state secrets to Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, then Secretary to the Federal Government and the final straw that enraged the Governor was the fact that she congratulated Alhaji Bala Mohammed, the new minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who was a bitter enemy of the Governor who was desperate to get a second term and felt he could spoil his chances). But calmly and gracefully, Dangote took all life threw at him and when you see his charming and disarming smiles, you’d never guess he was once heartbroken.

After he divorced his first wife that his family got for him, he married Mariya A. D Muhammad Rufai, a Senator’s daughter and former Bauchi State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Human Services (see pictures). After he divorced her, he married two other women but the marriages collapsed.

Some other women have also been romantically linked to the billionaire. These include the Director and Secretary of his United Kingdom subsidiary, Dangote Global Services, Miss Oluwatosin Coker while another is the late Ondo-born business executive, sugar merchant and reverend with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Rev. Chief (Mrs.) Josephine Oluwadamilola Kuteyi, with whom he dragged the purchase of the Bacita Sugar Factory. A divorcee mother of four sons (Saheed, Ganiyu, Ahmed and Rasaq), she died in a helicopter crash in Osun State in 2011 while on her way to her Bacita sugar company in Kwara State. The helicopter plunged down from a height of 2,500 feet, killing all the occupants.

HOW HE STARTED
When he left for Lagos as a 20-year-old in 1977, Nigeria was enjoying stupendous oil profits and the military government of the day decided to ruin some of it on FESTAC’77. There was massive construction going on in various parts of the country and it was at that moment Dangote went to his beloved grandfather to ask for a loan so he could import cement which will be used for some of the FESTAC buildings. He narrates: ‘For me, I started small as a trader in cement. Then I left cement around 1978. Because there was this armada and cement was difficult to get at that time. I had my own money which my grandfather gave me free, but then he gave me also an additional loan of N500,000 (about $3,000) which was big money in those days. At that time (1978), you could purchase ten Mercedes Benz cars with that amount as each was sold for N5,000 while a Volkswagen Beetle went for N900 to N1,000. The money was quite a substantial amount then. The loan was supposed to be paid back whenever I was okay-maybe after three or four years. But I paid the loan back within six months.’

The real genius of Dangote is his ability to transform that seed money of yesterday into the billions of dollars today. The crux of the matter here is not that he got a helping hand from his rich grandfather but what he did with the assistance.

Throughout the Obasanjo regime down to Shagari, Buhari and IBB, there were vast construction projects: estates, federal universities (like UNILORIN) and so on. And cement was obviously needed. Obasanjo and Dangote, who was still working with his uncle, first met in the 1970s when he was the federal commissioner (minister) of transport. Also, while he was in Lagos, he learnt a lot from his uncle, Usman who had already formed solid ties with the military governments and got rice importation deals in 1970 at the end of the 30-month Nigerian Civil War. When their fellow Kano man, the late Murtala Mohammed came to power, his 27-year-old uncle was one of those contracted to decongest the Nigerian seaports in Lagos and made huge fortunes. With time, Aliko was brought on board, following them to business meetings in the dead of the night. It was during this time in Lagos he began to learn how to speak the Yoruba language.

While working with his uncle in Lagos, ‘squatting in his office’, he learnt a lot. He said of those times: ‘I started with the business of cement, which was giving us a lot of money because at that time, Nigeria was making so much money and we were doing a lot of constructions. On a vehicle which I normally get from my uncle, I was making about N1,350 to N1,400 per day, and I had an allocation of about 3-4 trucks including Saturdays and Sundays. Later , I realized I was making a lot of money though then I didn’t have a lot of ideas of what to do. It was only cement business that I knew and I was stuck to it up till 1980, when I started knowing Lagos, becoming a Lagosian, understanding where to go and finding people to buy import licenses from. Within three months, I paid my grandfather back because I had no further need of his money.’

BECOMING A BILLIONAIRE
It took Dangote three decades to amass one billion US dollars. His journey is a very interesting one, showing all the features of luck, opportunity, hardwork and divine providence. Under the Shagari regime, there was an unprecedented importation of essential commodities and products. Dangote’s company, then named Alco Company was one of the major importers. He also supplied huge tonnage of cement to the governments at different levels embarking on construction of vast housing projects.
When the Shagari government decided to also pay more attention to the construction of Abuja, the proposed new Federal Capital Territory, Dangote’s cement was also on point. When General Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 1983, he clamped down on all the importation and dirty deals of the Shagari regime.

Businessmen and tycoons like Dangote were not too happy with the new draconian regime but he played it calm and quickly adapted. If you cannot adapt to changes in this world and keep blaming all kinds of external forces, your chances of survival are seriously limited. Being the smart dude that he is, while other businessmen were complaining and groaning under the iron fists of Buhari and Idiagbon, his Ilorin-born no-nonsense deputy, Dangote veered and formed Dangote General Textiles Products Enterprises and focused on what the government of the day wanted: exportation of local products such as gum arabic, cotton, millet, cocoa, leather products, cotton and cashew nuts.

Amazing Quotes from Dangote:

‘I don’t like to boast, but let me tell you something. I was born into money. Both my father’s -from my mother’s side and also from father’s side -they have always had money. So, it’s not that I just came and picked up something from this thing. But it does not mean also in the family that everybody would be rich. I don’t know any of my family members -both from my mother’s side and my father’s side -that has ever had a deal with anybody in the government.’ (Not many people agree with this assertion).

How can agro-industrial businesses modernise?

Aliko Dangote: There is no way you can develop agriculture at 20% interest rates anywhere, even if you grow gold. So the government needs to bring interest rates down to single-digit figures for farmers….you also have to develop storage and give people guaranteed pricing. If there is no guaranteed pricing, you are not encouraging the farmer to grow. …..Dangote is trying to produce 700,000 tonnes of sugar annually over the next four years. We may employ at least 45,000 people to reach this target. That is the only way to create jobs.

-In 1978, before I started making money, the first car I bought was a Mercedes 200 for N5,100, and that time, there was no power steering (general laughter). -While giving a motivational lecture at the Pan African University, Lagos Business School (LBS).

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE MODS FOR HELPING OUT WITH UPLOADING MORE OF THE DETAILS! THANK YOU! [/quote]baba God help abeg, I wan port from poverty to wealthy... Good morning Nairaland! E go betterhuh
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OP abeg how much them go charge me if I watch this yeye video? undecided
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Sing good music abeg nahuh
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