Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa. According to the latest Forbes Billionaires list he has comfortably maintained his premier position and his net worth is put at $12.1 billion. A staggering fortune for one man in a nation of poor souls and poverty. Dangote made money through cement and sugar manufacturing, oil and gas exploration and other ventures. The 63-year old Kano-born business mogul lives in Lagos and lives a normal life despite the opulence guaranteed by a vast entrepreneurial empire spanning the lenght and breadth of Africa.
He has not been involved in many scandals to the best of our knowledge. He is sophisticated, munificent, handsome and humble. He has been married and divorced twice fathering three daughters — Mariya, Halima, Fatimah — and adopting a son, Abdulrahman Fasasi.
Dangote is still ‘single’ mingling with ladies at home and abroad. In one of the interviews he granted a foreign journalist last year Aliko had refused to answer any question linked to his love life but when he was asked about another marital engagement he had said that he was still searching for the ‘right’ woman who would be able to accommodate his moneyed mannerisms or tantrums. He declared that he was not in a haste to engage another woman as a wife!
Dangote, given his wealth, could be said to be every lady’s choice of a man. With assured family comfort or luxury no Eve could afford to say no to a Dangote dating proposal. Yet there is something money cannot buy: true love! By marrying and divorcing twice the former wives of Dangote could have terrible tales to tell about his other mean side hidden from the public. Dangote himself could have stories to tell about his marital experiences whether favourable or otherwise.
Thus far no one can accuse Dangote of oppression or primitive display of money as an instrument of power and dominance. By sheer dint of hardwork and business acumen his international business conglomerates has grown by leaps and bounds earning him more and more millions of Dollars and positioning him to be the richest man in Africa now and even in the coming years.
Let us make the point clear here going forward that Aliko has a right to privacy, a right to love and be loved. He is human after all. He has his shortcomings, nay weaknesses, as well as his strenghts. No sane mortal could begrudge him for his business ingenuity leading to international recognition and acclaim.
But having positioned himself for greatness placing Nigeria ahead of others in the mad quest for riches there are certain acts that he must avoid in order not to demystify himself and by so doing bring the nation’s image to ruins. It is not a crime to have a love affair with a compatriot or a foreigner but when such sexual escapades are accompanied with controversy, litigation and scandals then he must be called out.
Lately the social media had been awash with lurid details of a sensational story bordering on sex and liaison involving our own beloved benevolent billionaire. The scandalous affairs seemed to be pointing at the big man’s steep appetite for glowing American women.
Aliko Dangote was reported to have dated two or three sexy American ladies. The first to fire the love salvo (sorry, spill the beans) of their brief amorous relationship was one Bea Lewis. Posting the information on her Instagram handle with compromising pictorial images the damsel revealed how she met the rich man and how he broke her heart “into one thousand pieces” in the process!
Following that revelation another mistress of Dangote emerged to counter the Bea Lewis claim. Alla Rounda claimed that she was Dangote’s love and that she would not allow another woman take him from her.
The current litigation in Miami over alimony claims by another ex-mistress seems to be the worst scandal to hit Dangote. Dangote and Autumn Spikes have been engaging each other in a messy fight following the end of their relationship, with the lady asking to be paid $5 million by the billionaire businessman as alimony or compensation for her ‘troubles’.
Dangote had engaged a seasoned lawyer,Bruce Fleisher, who had dutifully filed a gag-order suit stating that his client did not “promise to marry Spikes as there was never a marital relationship between him and Spikes granting her the right to an alimony”. The lawyer accused Ms Spikes of making “extortive demands” to the tune of five million Dollars.
Late January, Dangote had filed a lawsuit against Spikes where he demanded an “excess of $30,000 from her as damages for libel, cyber stalking, defamation of character and breach of agreement to keep their relationship private and off the social media”.
However, in a post on her Instagram page, Ms Spikes said Dangote offered her a paltry $15,000 and $2,500 monthly as well as putting pressure on her to sign the first NDA to ‘hush her’.
And back home in Nigeria Dangote is involved in a sizzling romance with the 2011 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria winner, Sylvia Nduka.
Despite his busy schedule Dangote still has balls and could play ‘dirty’ the dangerous game of love. Fortunately as a Muslim his religion allows him to marry as many wives as possible including Americans or Indians. And given his huge financial war-chest he could decide to go for a dozen! And beyond conventional marriage he can well afford to take good care of scores of concubines.
One thing is clear though from these sensational revelations bothering on sexcapades, broken hearts and lawsuits involving our own big man on top of the continent’s rich list: there would be a settlement either inside the courtroom or out of same. Money can do anything for Dangote including paying ‘alimony’ to his girlfriends or buying justice to gag them.
His puritanical reputation may be in tatters but he has not told us he is vying to become a saint or martyr!
The American damsels that dated Dangote may be described as gold-diggers but dating a billionaire has its glorious and inglorious sides. Dangote could call it having fun but the ladies involved may be scheming to have a cut of the billions of Dollars in his bank accounts.
SOC Okenwa
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
