Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and the first Nigerian to debut on the FORBES World’s Billionaires list, is to be conferred with the Nigerian national award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, (GCON), the government announced Thursday.
The award is the country’s second highest national honor, after the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) – an award which is only reserved for Nigerian Presidents and Heads of state. Dangote becomes the first individual outside government to receive the nation’s second highest national honor. In the past, the GCON has only been awarded to Vice-Presidents, Chief Justices of the country and Senate Presidents.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s other billionaire, Mike Adenuga, was not nominated for a national award this year. His exclusion from the list may or may not be connected to the fact that in August he was charged by the Senate with bribery; it was revealed that several years ago he offered bribes to a Nigerian public official to undervalue a government-owned oil company which he eventually acquired at a fraction of its real market value. Adenuga did not deny the charges at the time; his office refused to comment on the matter. However, there was no apparent punishment as a result of the charges. (Read about the story here). Adenuga currently holds the national honor of Commander of the Order of the Niger, (CON) nevertheless.
Dangote’s GCON award is in recognition of the immense contributions he has made to the economic development of Nigeria. Dangote famously took a business loan from his maternal uncle over 30 years ago and went on to build one of Africa’s largest industrial conglomerates- the Dangote Group, which has extensive interests in cement, flour, sugar, oil & gas and beverages. The company currently employs a workforce of over 20,000 people spread across about 11 African countries.
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