The Point Aliko Dangote Made, By Emeka Oparah

I’m not about to explain what the richest Alhaji and Africa’s alternate President said in his now viral video accusing a certain government official of corruption.

Aliko Dangote was abundantly clear about the matter!!!

Obviously ticked off by “something”, like his good friend, Femi Otedola, was some years back, he alleged that the government official had paid $5m for the education of his 4 children in secondary schools in Switzerland.

The government official, he said, was clearly living above his legitimate means and should/must be investigated and prosecuted (in his very own words)!

He added that he, with all his money, didn’t (not sure he would say couldn’t) send his children to secondary schools outside of the country.

I laughed so hard when he asked Tony Chiejina, the Head of Communications at the Dangote Group, whether he his children went to secondary schools abroad-as if the gentleman would admit on TV! Hahaha ?

Dangote’s story reminds me of an experience I had 24 years ago, as a young middle manager in Cadbury Nigeria.

I participated in a 5-week international conference, which had people from across the world with about 20 from Nigeria including banks, oil companies and government.

Of course, the conference provided a great platform for new friendships and make some friends I did, one of which worked in a government-owned bank.

During our conversations one cold winter evening, he made some startling revelations that aligned with Aliko Dangote’s

Two of his colleagues in our class were not only not in corporate communications, they were also on retirement or terminal leave having hit 60 and were on their way out of the bank. So, the conference was more or less a parting gift-meant to sponsor them to London for a 5-week vacation complete with estacodes!

That was not all. Out of the one dozen of them attending the conference, only he worked in corporate communications and was therefore deservedly in London!

So the others were just “moonlighting”! They will “waste” five weeks in London too and earn massive estacodes. Apparently, the Training Department had to exhaust the year’s budget or it will be retired at the end of the year and slashed the following year!

The bigger shock was in the amount of estacodes they each received for the conference. While yours sincerely received a total package of £6000 to cover accommodation, feeding, transportation and daily upkeep, my friend and his colleagues got £12,000 each (which excluded accommodation and feeding, which was directly paid for by their employer).

Another big shock was that they were supposed to pay £3000 into a certain bank account upon arrival in London. And that was non-negotiable!

£3000 X 12 was £36,000 back then and much more in Nigerian currency today!