Dangote, Elumelu, Yet To Redeem Monetary Pledges To Super Eagles, 12 years After

Nigerian billionaires, Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu, have yet to redeem the pledges they made to the Super Eagles, twelve years ago.

While Adrica’s richest man, Dangote made a pledge of $1million, Elumelu pledged to give the Mikel Obi-led team $500,000 for wining the AFCON 2013.

The debt has lingered despite the fact that Dangote’s wealth has hit $23.9 billion and Elumelu is doing very well in his various businesses.

Dangote has emerged Africa’s richest man for the 14th consecutive year. He is also the richest Black person in the world, according to Forbes’ list of Africa’s billionaires.

With a staggering net worth of $23.9 billion, Dangote’s fortune has soared to new heights, nearly doubling in the past year thanks to the launch of the Dangote Refinery—Africa’s largest oil and gas facility.

Dangote, now ranked the 83rd-richest person globally, has seen his wealth balloon by $10.5 billion since last year, propelled by the refinery’s operational debut.

His business empire, spanning cement, sugar, and now oil, has solidified his status as a titan of industry.

His counterpart, Tony Elumelu, is a renowned billionaire with net worth of $2.15billion.

He has stakes in various companies that have seen record growth in recent years.

He has his hands in companies, primarily through his family-owned investment vehicle, Heirs Holdings, and his direct and indirect holdings in publicly traded entities like Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) and United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Heirs Holdings’ investment portfolio spans the power, energy, financial services, hospitality, real estate, healthcare, and technology sectors, operating in twenty-four countries worldwide.

Elumelu is the chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) and the largest individual shareholder.
Data from the 2023 financial statement (2024 numbers are awaited) shows that Elumelu owns a 7.43% stake in UBA.

UBA has 34.2 billion shares outstanding, with Elumelu’s shares comprising 2.3467 billion indirect shares owned through Heirs Holdings Limited (1.814 billion shares), HH Capital Limited (302.29 million shares) and Heirs Alliance Limited (231 million shares) plus 195.12 million direct shares.

Yet, amid the duo meteoric financial rise, they are yet to fulfil the promises made over a decade ago to Nigeria’s victorious AFCON 2013 football team, casting a shadow over their legacy of generosity.

However, going by a BBC report, the Nigerian magnate’s unkept $1 million pledge to the Super Eagles, coached by Stephen Keshi, made in 2013 after their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) victory in South Africa, stands in stark contrast to his financial success.

Led by former Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi, the team’s historic win was met with widespread celebration, and Dangote and Elumelu’s promise were hailed as a gesture of national pride but 12 years later, the players are still waiting.

Efforts by NATIONAL WAVES to make Mr. Tony Elumelu react to the allegation were unsuccessful as he did not respond to the SMS sent to him.

NATIONAL WAVES further contacted Mr. Ramon Olarewaju Nasir, the Group Head, Media and External Relations of United Bank for Africa (UBA) via WhatsApp over the development, he responded in Yoruba ” Ore mi, ma ko story oooo, mo be e ni ooooo” meaning “My friend, please don’t write the story, I’m begging you”.

SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to Mr. Anthony Chiejina, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer at Dangote Group on the matter had not been responded to as of the time of filling this report.

[Culled from National WAVES excluding headline and some edits]