News

Rich In Naira, Poor In Hope: The Burden On Nigeria’s Super-Rich

Published

6 months ago

May 21, 2025

By Israel Adebiyi

If there was ever a time Nigeria needed her rich and powerful to rise beyond boardrooms, political godfatherism, gated estates, and opulent lifestyles, it is now. We are not merely at the edge of a cliff — we are slipping over it. The Nigerian state is grappling with a crisis so deep that even government interventions seem like feeble whispers in a roaring storm. And yet, those with the power, wealth, and influence to ignite transformative change — the elite class — watch from afar, perhaps insulated by privilege but not immune to the consequences that are fast approaching.

Nigeria’s economy is shrinking under the weight of inflation, insecurity, and structural decay. With over 130 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty and millions of young people unemployed or unemployable, it is no exaggeration to say the nation teeters on the brink. But unlike in other moments in history when a determined elite class chose to intervene and redirect the tide, our own seems largely absent — powerful in assets, yet passive in action.

Let’s be honest: many of Nigeria’s billionaires and high-net-worth individuals are not short of capacity. From Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man whose industrial might influences economies across West Africa, to Femi Otedola, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Mike Adenuga, and Tony Elumelu, these men sit atop enormous financial and institutional power. To their credit, several of them have initiated impactful interventions — through foundations, industry expansions, scholarships, and grants. They are doing their part, no doubt. But when a nation sinks this deep into despair, we can’t help but ask for more.

More investments in the core areas of the economy — especially in sectors like education, healthcare, agriculture, housing, and technological infrastructure — are desperately needed. Not just to tick the boxes of corporate social responsibility, but to initiate a lasting and scalable impact that can lift millions out of abject poverty. The call is not to do everything, but to do the hard things — the things that matter most when a nation is on the brink.

There’s also the class of “uncaptured wealth” — powerful politicians, contractors, ex-military officers, and civil servants turned millionaires who acquired affluence through state access and systemic loopholes. These individuals may not feature on Forbes’ list, but their impact on local economies — and their potential to lead recovery initiatives — is undeniable.

And yet, where are their efforts when the education system crumbles? Where is their outrage when children in public schools sit on bare floors or when pregnant women die for lack of 5,000 naira at understaffed primary health centres?

History has shown that when the state falters, salvation often emerges from the elite — but only when that class embraces a sense of nationhood over narrow self-interest. In post-apartheid South Africa, wealthy industrialists worked with political leaders to forestall economic collapse. In the U.S., during the Great Depression and post-WWII recovery, elite families and businesses pumped resources into national revival. In Meiji-era Japan, aristocrats and merchants helped build a modern state to avert colonization.

The difference between those countries and Nigeria today is not just leadership — it is responsibility. The Nigerian elite must ask themselves a hard question: when the history of this nation is written, will their role be described as that of watchmen who slumbered or as visionaries who arose zwhen it mattered most?

Nigeria’s rich must now do more than philanthropy. This is not a call for donations or token CSR projects that offer temporary relief. This is a call to reimagine the national enterprise — investing in public infrastructure, rebuilding education, fostering innovation hubs, supporting local agriculture, championing heathcare delivery, building more infrastructure, refineries and independent power grids, standing up for policies that benefit the majority.

It is a call for those who benefit from Nigeria’s markets, resources, and people to see nation-building not as charity but as enlightened self-interest. Because when the poor have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich — if not in violence, then in the slow erosion of the systems that protect all of us.

We cannot afford an elite class that simply outflies Nigeria’s problems in private jets or outsources their children’s future to foreign universities. The time to act is now. Not with silence, not with excuses, but with courage.

Let the rich rise. For if they don’t, Nigeria may fall beyond redemption — and their fortresses, no matter how tall, will not be enough to hold back the tide.

News

Delta-billionaire Lawuru To Grace Ijaw Media Conference As Guest Of Honour

Published

8 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

The President of Egbema Brotherhood, Alaowei Promise Lawuru, is expected to grace the forthcoming Ijaw Media Conference 2025, as a guest of honour.

The event is scheduled to hold on December 3rd, 2025, in Warri, Delta State.

The annual media conference organised by the Ijaw Publishers Forum with the theme ‘Safeguarding Niger Delta’s Natural Resources for Future Generations,’ is second edition of the series.

Lawuru, youthful politician and businessman’s willingness to appear as guest of honour was made known
when a delegation of the Central Working Committee led by Pastor Arex Akemotubo paid him a visit to inform him of the forthcoming event and his expected role.

In his presentation, Akemotubo explained that this year’s theme was chosen out of concern for the growing strain on the region’s land and waters.

The Publisher of WaffiTV stressed that the forum wants to strengthen public understanding, support honest reportage, and encourage leaders to protect what the Niger Delta holds for the next generation.

He addex that Lawuru’s history of service and steady involvement in community work made him a natural choice for the role.

Chief Lawuru welcomed the invitation and spoke warmly about the need for shared responsibility among stakeholders and groups such as the IPF.

He commended the forum for using the media to defend the region’s interests and promised full support for the conference.

Lawuru further urged other stakeholders across the Ijaw nation to lend their weight to efforts that safeguard the environment.

News

Senate Recommends Death Penalty For Kidnappers

Published

9 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

The Senate has passed a resolution classifying kidnapping as an act of terrorism, stipulating that an amendment to the Terrorism Act be made to impose the maximum penalty of death.

The resolution was made during plenary on Wednesday.

Under the new law, according to the upper legislative arm, once a kidnapping conviction is established, the death penalty must be applied.

Nigeria suffers from a persistent security crisis fuelled by attacks and violence by “bandit” gangs that raid villages, kill people, and kidnap for ransom.

In response to recent kidnappings and attacks by terrorists, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday ordered a total security cordon over the forests in Kwara State.

Series Of Abductions

Bandits had struck the Isapa community of the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, abducting 11 residents.

The attack came about two weeks after and 38 worshippers were abducted from a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in the Eruku community of the state.

Terrorists also attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, in Niger State, abducting more that 300 school children and staff in a resurgence of the mass kidnappings that have long harrowed Africa’s most populous country.

In the same week, 24 schoolgirls were taken from the Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga, Danko Wasagu Local Government Area in Kebbi State, but regained freedom on Tuesday.

At least 50 taken from St Mary’s Catholic school also managed to escape, but more than 265 children and teachers are still being held.

Nigeria’s high-profile mass kidnapping was that of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, when Boko Haram forced 276 girls from their dormitories in the North-East region.

More than a decade later, man of the Chibok girls are still missing.

News

FG Threatens To Seize Dana Air Assets

Published

10 hours ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the Federal Government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.

The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation with the theme: “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services”.

According to him, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.

He revealed that the Authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.

“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.

“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”

According to him, “I have asked Najomo to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.

“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.

“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.

“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”