Dankote the ‘Foolish Man’

It’s amazing how I found that nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks.

It was my 5th grade, pretty much on a random day, when I came across a journeyman of a big dreamer I then had no idea about. A man who not many would’ve predicted was on such a big roll. Natheless, he was a man committed enough to score even bigger than his associates could imagine. Briefly before my formative ages, I realised that this man was punching above his weight for all but to brand his name in the history books. Now beyond the realms of his competitors, this man is in the league of his own.

To start with, — Nelson Mandela said, “their is no passion to be found playing small and settling for a life that is less than the one you’re capable of living”. One man from Kano, Nigeria. Forbes mainstay, richest man in Africa — is the perfect description of Mr Mandela’s eulogy. This gentleman the Times Magazine regards, ‘Africa’s biggest player’.

The ‘Foolish Man’ and his mega refinery complex!

Some years ago, under the palms along the adored beaches of Lagos, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man invited media leaders to a luncheon at then Protea Hotel in Ikeja to mark his 55th birthday.

Some of his guests who included veteran Nigerian journalist Bayo Onanuga who would later break every chitchat at the luncheon sat around him at the centre table. They chatted freely. Discussions about their country, the state of the economy soon veered into discussing the absurdity of Nigeria, being a major crude exporter, and also a major importer of refined petroleum products. A colleague of Mr Onanugu from a major business paper said the local conditions were unfavourable to any investor who wanted to build a refinery. He then made a remark that he would live to regret: “Only a foolish man will build a refinery in Nigeria”.

Aliko who had listened to all the business and political pontifications, interjected: “I am that foolish man”. A pin drop silence enveloped the table as he dropped the unexpected news: “My company has just decided to build a refinery in the country. But we are doing it big”. Those were his exact words, as the multi-dollar billionaire told the media gurus in suits around the table he was willing to spend close to $9 billion on the project.

The media big man became speechless. The rest of his colleagues caught the contagion of being flummoxed as well, as Aliko expatiated on the project. He said it will be a petrochemical complex. As the project was still on the drawing board, he did not tell it will be the biggest refinery in the world, capable of processing 650,000 barrels of crude daily. All the hint he gave was that it will be ‘big’. And for the big media men, their takeaway was that it will be big like Aliko’s involvement in cement, sugar, pasta and other businesses.

For Aliko, all is well that ends well. The complex will bring to an end Nigeria’s many decades of shame, for being unable to refine its crude and having to depend on importation, wasting scarce forex.

The ‘foolish man’ of 11 years ago who thinks outside the box, not just like every other investor tycoon does, has demonstrated once again that he is a man of wisdom, a peerless shrewd investor who sees clearly the ‘bigger picture’, when his compatriots are bogged down by parochialism and immediate monetary gains.

For Aliko’s mantra,
“What is it that you can do to touch and impact somebody’s life today? Don’t just aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference, That’s what makes a man successful”

[Dangote ‘The Foolish Man’]

Abdallah Khabib Jallow📰🖊️