- Safiu Kehinde
Nigerian business mogul and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has expressed his gratitude to prominent Yoruba monarch, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, for his spiritual support during the construction of the Dangote Refinery.
Dangote hailed the monarch during his address at the unveiling of Aliko Dangote Foundation Education Scholarship Initiative in Lagos on Thursday.
As captured in a video shared on X by the Cable, the businessman recounted how the Oba Adeyeye ordered the evacuation of 19 shrines discovered on the site of the refinery.
“I must recognise and thank the Ooni of Ife for enabling the building of our factory. What happened was that when we got there, there were over 19 shrines at the site.
“Nobody was able to go near there to do anything. But Ooni went there, stood there and said ‘remove all of them. Let the gods come and talk to me’.
“Your royal majesty, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart because without that singular act of yours, I don’t think we would have been able to build the refinery.” Dangote said in his address.
Meanwhile, the event which was also graced by the Ooni had in attendance notable dignitaries and public figures including Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Other dignitaries in attendance include Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu;his Borno counterpart, Prof. Babagana Zulum; Governor Abba Kabir (Kano State), Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa; and the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun.