Tinubu spoke while inaugurating the Lekki deep sea port access road on June 5.
On the list are Jim Ovia, Femi Otedola, Abdul Samad Rabiu, and Aliko Dangote.
“I landed here with four wise men: Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank, who has been acknowledged worldwide; Femi Otedola, my baby brother; Samad Rabiu of BUA,” the president said.
“And I believe, the wisest of them all, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who is so daring in thinking and doing and believing in his own country.”
While Tinubu’s list of “wise men” may come across as another example of his wit and deep connection with the private sector, it recognises individuals who are critical to the country’s economy.
Each of the four persons is also central to the president’s dream of a $1 trillion gross domestic product (GDP).
Aliko Dangote is Africa’s richest person and the founder and chairman of Dangote Group, the continent’s largest industrial conglomerate. His business empire spans across cement (Dangote Cement), food processing (salt, sugar, flour), and oil refining. The recently launched Dangote Refinery is one of the largest in the world, expected to revolutionise Nigeria’s oil and gas sector by meeting domestic demand and enabling petroleum products exports. Dangote is pivotal to Nigeria’s industrial ambitions. His investments, especially the refinery, are reshaping the nation’s energy landscape by reducing dependence on imported petroleum products. His cement and food manufacturing operations also contribute to infrastructure development and food security, making him central to Nigeria’s self-sufficiency efforts and job creation.
Known as the “strong man” of Nigeria’s money and capital markets for his strategic investments, Otedola is a businessman and investor who made his fortune in the oil sector through his company, Forte Oil, which he later sold. He has since diversified into power generation through his investment in Geregu Power Plc and holds a controlling stake in First HoldCo, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria. Otedola’s influence is also felt in Nigeria’s corporate boardrooms, playing a key role in Nigeria’s economy as a strategic investor across critical sectors, including infrastructure. He contributes to efforts to address Nigeria’s chronic electricity shortages, vital for industrial growth, through Geregu, which now contributes 10 percent to Nigeria’s overall power generation. As the chairman of First Bank, Nigeria’s oldest bank, Otedola has helped in stabilising and injecting confidence into the financial system, and supporting diverse sectors of the economy. The bank recently launched the construction of what is expected to be the tallest building in the country.
Abdul Samad Rabiu is the founder and executive chairman of BUA Group, a conglomerate with interests in cement production, sugar refining, real estate, and ports. Rabiu has positioned BUA — one of Nigeria’s largest producers of cement and sugar — as a key player in Nigeria’s drive toward industrial self-sufficiency. His cement plants expand local capacity and support national infrastructure projects, while his recent investments in port operations and agribusiness enhance logistics and reduce reliance on imports. His philanthropic initiatives, through the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa), also complement the government’s development efforts in healthcare and education.
Jim Ovia is a Nigerian banker, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Zenith Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Nigeria and a systemically important financial institution. Ovia is a key figure in Nigeria’s financial services sector, having played a foundational role in modernising banking through technology and innovation. As the founder of Zenith Bank, he has helped shape a new era of banking marked by digital transformation. Zenith Bank supports businesses across virtually all sectors of the economy, from oil and gas to agriculture and SMEs, making it a vital enabler of economic activity. Apart from owning real estate across Nigeria, Ovia founded Visafone, a mobile telecom operator that MTN Nigeria later acquired. In April 2024, Ovia was appointed chairman of the Nigerian education loan fund by Tinubu. In the same year, Zenith Bank expanded into France to boost cross-border trade.
