The Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said having a son to inherit his business empire is not a priority, stressing that his three daughters are capable of taking over the Dangote Group.

Dangote stated this during an interview with ARISE News on Tuesday, where he said he believed one of his daughters could eventually lead the conglomerate.

Asked whether he could see one of his daughters taking charge of the group, Dangote said, “I think, yes, I can see one of them. I’ve been watching all of them, so I can definitely see one of the three that can actually lead.

Dangote’s daughters, Halima, Fatima and Mariya, hold senior positions within the conglomerate, with their roles expanding as the group continues to develop its succession structure.

Dangote said their involvement in the family business was based on their personal interest rather than pressure from him.

“They are very, very interested in the business. I’m not forcing them to come and be part of this business, no. They are very interested, and they enjoy it,” he said.

The billionaire and Africa’s richest man said he believed his daughters could surpass his achievements and take the company to a higher level.

“One of them can be better than — I never expected to perform this much,” he said.

“But I’m sure they’re highly educated, so they will be more creative. So most likely, they might be even taking the company to the next level.”

Asked if he believed all three daughters were capable of achieving this, Dangote replied, “All of them.”

On whether he still hoped to have a son, particularly given the traditional expectations surrounding male heirs in Kano, Dangote said it was not important to him.

“Sometimes you can pray for God to give you a son, but that son might be the one to bring down the name of the family.

“Sometimes when God doesn’t give you something, don’t push. I don’t think a son would have done something better than these three daughters that I have. That one, I think, you know, it’s not my priority,” he said.

Dangote added that having a male heir did not necessarily guarantee the preservation of a family legacy.

“God controls everything. And for me, really, sometimes, yeah, you can pray for God to give you a son, but that son might be the one that would tear down the name of the family.

“So sometimes when God doesn’t give you something, don’t push,” he said.

He further said, “Even if I had a son, I don’t think the son would have done better than these three daughters that I have.”

However, Dangote said his broader succession plan was not simply about transferring control of the conglomerate to a family member, but ensuring that the company was professionally managed.

“I want this company to be run professionally. I want to have the highest level of governance,” he said.

He cited global companies such as Microsoft and Apple as examples of businesses that had continued to thrive beyond their founders.

“We want to make sure that we make it very difficult for any family member to come and destroy anything,” Dangote said.

The businessman said his ultimate legacy was to contribute to the industrialisation of Africa.

“What I want to leave as a legacy is to industrialise Africa,” he said.

“I cannot do it alone, but I’m 100% sure that in the next two or three years, other Africans will join.”

Abdulaziz Yari, director-general of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council (PCC), says the north has no reason not to back President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid ahead of 2027 polls.

Speaking on Monday in Lagos, when he led members of the PCC to the palace of Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, Yari said Tinubu supported former President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence and re-election, and that the north should reciprocate by backing the president’s re-election bid.

“For us in the north, I think it is time for us to pay Tinubu back for allowing the north to complete its full term,” Yari said.

“I remember there was a struggle by some power-mongering bloc within the APC that tried to convince Tinubu to contest the presidential election in 2019. He resisted the pressure and said it was the turn of the North.

“Tinubu said as long as Buhari can come out and ask people to vote for him, he would be with Buhari till the end. And that was what Tinubu truly did.”

The former Zamfara governor said there was therefore no reason for northerners not to support Tinubu’s re-election bid.

“Today, I don’t think there is an excuse for us from the northern region not to support Tinubu to continue the good job he started and complete his tenure,” he said.

“The message from northern Nigeria, where I came from, is that there is nothing to worry about. There are still people of high calibre and character who believe in justice and fairness. We are going to do our best to ensure that Tinubu’s journey continues to the end. He can count on us.”

Yari said Tinubu has restructured the country despite inheriting a challenging situation from previous administrations.

The senator representing Zamfara West said the campaign council was not seeking Tinubu’s re-election solely for power rotation, but because it believed Nigerians wanted him to continue in office.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, who received members of the PCC before accompanying them to the Oba’s palace, said the council’s decision to visit monarchs demonstrated the important role of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says apartheid would not have ended in South Africa without Nigeria’s support for the struggle against white minority rule.

South Africa held its first democratic, non-racial elections in 1994, marking the end of apartheid rule.

Speaking during an interview on C-Suite Cafe, hosted by Ikem Okuhu, the former president, who served as Nigeria’s military head of state between 1976 and 1979 and later as civilian president from 1999 to 2007, said Nigeria’s involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle was driven by the belief that no black person should be treated as inferior because of their skin colour.

“We were not doing what we did in South Africa or in Southern Africa or decolonisation anywhere for our personal gain or for our country. We did it for our race. I believe that no black man anywhere or black person anywhere should be regarded as an inferior human being because of his colour,” Obasanjo said.

Obasanjo said Nigeria’s role in the abolition of apartheid in South Africa could be described as “enlightened self-interest”, adding that the West African country did not support the struggle with the expectation of receiving anything in return.

“And for me—and I believe for Nigeria at that time and even now—we should be proud of what we did because without Nigeria, South Africa would not have got rid of apartheid when it got rid of it. That is true,” Obasanjo said.

The former president said Nigeria worked with several African and international leaders in the campaign against apartheid, including Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Samora Machel of Mozambique, former US President Jimmy Carter, former British Prime Minister James Callaghan and Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.

Obasanjo criticised xenophobic attacks against African migrants in South Africa, saying the country’s leaders had not done enough to address the problem.

He acknowledged that some migrants may be in the country illegally or may have committed crimes, but said such violations could not justify mob attacks on their homes and businesses.

“I do not believe that you use illegality to treat illegality, asking and encouraging area boys and area girls to break into their houses and break into their shops,” he said.

Obasanjo rejected arguments that migrants were taking jobs from South Africans, noting that some migrants contribute to the economy by creating jobs.

Last week, the national assembly suspended all legislative engagements with South Africa due to the persistent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in the former apartheid country.

About 100 Nigerians have been reportedly killed in mob and hate-related attacks in South Africa since 2022.