Hairdresser" to wife of a former Nigerian leader was allocated Oil Block worth $225,000 a day.

"Hairdresser" to wife of a former Nigerian leader was allocated Oil Block worth $225,000 a day.

... I never forgot this headline in 2004, shortly after I arrived in Nigeria.

The UK newspapers quickly asked me to track down the so-called hairdresser... but no one wanted to give me the name of the hairdresser.

The original revelation came from Cairo Ojougbo to House Committee on Petroleum Resources and one newspaper story at the time included the paragraph:

"There are rumours that the oil block is worth up to $1billion, but hurrying to another meeting, the head of Nigeria's Parliament's Petroleum Resources Committee, Dr Cairo Ojougbo, refuted the claim: "Oh no, it's worth much more."

Of course, so much money can't hide forever and I have now finally tracked her down!

It turns out the so-called hairdresser is now the richest black woman in the world - Mrs Folorunsho Alakija.

In November 2013, Forbes put her net worth at $2.5billion but some estimates say she is now worth $7.3billion.

I think this succinct description of Alakija's background from PMNews ties her nicely to the oil block:

"She worked as a secretary in a Nigerian Merchant bank in the 1970s and later left to study fashion design in England. She subsequently founded Supreme Stitches, a Nigerian fashion label that catered for upscale clientele, including the late Maryam Babangida, wife of Nigeria’s former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida.

It was during the reign of Babangida that her company Famfa Oil got an oil prospecting license which went on to become OML 127, one of Nigeria’s most prolific oil blocks. Famfa Oil owned a 60% stake in the block until 2000, when then President Olusegun Obasanjo acquired a 50% interest in the block. Famfa Oil went to court to challenge the acquisition, and the Nigerian Supreme Court reinstated the 50% stake to Famfa Oil in May 2012.

Her 60 per cent stake in the block is currently valued at around $7.3 billion, Ventures Africa reported."

There was 'shock' at the time of the revelations, but now... posters of her have appeared tying her in a bid to run for Lagos Governor.

***

PMNews article:
_http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2014/01/09/2015-africas-richest-woman-alakijas-posters-flood-alausa/

Cairo Ojougbo revelations article:
_http://www.energy-pedia.com/news/nigeria/oil-block-awarded-to-hairdresser_

#Nigeria   #Oil   #Lagos  +tolu ogunlesi +Nick Hughes +O'Seun ODEWALE