Nigeria is, in some ways, a rich country. The West
African nation is a huge oil producer; the continent’s second-largest economy;
and, in Lagos, has a bustling port city of over 20 million people with an
economy bigger than many African countries. (curled from NEWSWEEK)
But with almost 100 million people living on less
than $1 per day, extreme poverty remains a major problem in Nigeria.
Additionally, the Boko Haram insurgency has left around 5 million people in
need of urgent food assistance; the U.N. considers the situation in northeast
Nigeria to be at risk of escalating into famine.
But according to a report by Oxfam International
published Wednesday, much of these problems could be solved if the country’s
richest billionaires clubbed together and shared out their wealth. It would
cost $24 billion to eradicate extreme poverty in Nigeria (defined by Oxfam as
living on less than $1.90 per day), $5.9 billion less than the total wealth of
Nigeria’s five richest people in 2016, according to the report. This extreme
inequality, Oxfam has said, must motivate Nigerian leaders to tackle the
problem.
1. Aliko Dangote: $14.4 billion
Dangote, a cement magnate, is not only Nigeria’s
richest person, but the wealthiest man in Africa. The 60-year-old from the
northern state of Kano is the chief executive of the Dangote Group, one of
Africa’s largest manufacturing conglomerates, with an annual turnover of $3
billion. Dangote is also a football fanatic and has declared his intention to
buy English Premier League club Arsenal. He has also actively supported
Nigeria’s recovery from the Boko Haram crisis, pledging $10 million in aid in
2016.
2. Mike Adenuga: $9.9 billion
A telecoms and oil billionaire, Adenuga studied at
university in the U.S. and worked as a taxi driver to fund his education.
Globacom, his mobile phone network, is the second largest in Nigeria, and the
64-year-old also owns six oil blocks in the Niger Delta, a massive
oil-producing region in the south of the country that has recently been hit by
militant attacks. He founded the Mike Adenuga Foundation, a philanthropic
organization which operates across Africa.
3. Femi Otedola: $1.85 billion
The 54-year-old from Lagos made his fortune
distributing Nigeria’s black gold: Otedola’s company, Forte Oil, controls more
than 500 gas stations across Nigeria. The son of a former governor of Lagos
State, Otedola also has interests in power generation and finance. One of his
daughters is a popular DJ who played at the inauguration of Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari. He supports various charitable causes and donated 300 million
naira (now worth $95,000) to the construction of a Christian worship center in
2005.
4. Folorunsho Alakija: $1.55 billion
Nigeria’s first female billionaire, Alakija, 66, has
earned her wealth in the fashion and oil industries. Her first company was an
elite fashion label which produced clothes for the wives of Nigerian leaders,
while the oil company she founded, Famfa oil, has a large stake in one of
Nigeria’s most lucrative oil blocks. She also heads a foundation that supports
widows and orphans in Nigeria.
5. Abdulsamad Rabiu: $1.1 billion
Rabiu, 56, is the founder of BUA Group; the
conglomerate has interests including sugar, rice, edible oil, cement and real
estate. His father, Isyaku Rabiu, was arrested in the 1980s under Buhari—then a
military ruler in Nigeria—on charges including rice hoarding, and Rabiu took
charge of his father’s business during the latter’s detention. His business
also has a charitable foundation.
All estimates of wealth are taken from Forbes’ “The
Black Billionaires 2016” report, published in March 2016, as per Oxfam’s
report. The wealth of the individuals in question may have fluctuated since.
