By Simbo Olorunfemi
The bromance between Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola is as intriguing and fascinating as it is inspiring. Chiefly for the fact that it is not that common to have two Billionaires maintaining that level of friendship, and being so public about it, but more especially for the fact that they had a serious public spat and were able to patch things up to forge a stronger bond.
Listening to them speaking about one another at different occasions, the mutual love, warmth, camaraderie, strong bond and high regard they have for each other is evident.
They now fondly refer to themselves as Brothers. Few will fault that. Even from the distance, one can safely say they truly are. It is there to be seen, not just in their words, but moreso in their body language, especially around one another. You might mistake them for teenage friends. Aliko says that wherever he is, you will see Femi, and wherever Femi is, you will see him.
I listened to Aliko’s speech as Chairman at the wedding of Temi (Femi’s daughter) and Tosin in Finland. He had to cancel so many appointments to be there, he said, because this was family to him. This he demonstrated in the way he welcomed the Ajibades (Otedola’s in-laws) into the family. This was family. He had a personal relationship with Temi and had taken time to sit with Temi and Tosin, like a father will do. His promise to host the party when they have their first child speaks to the love he has extended to Femi’s children. He obviously takes them as his.
Listening to Aliko, I found myself paying attention to the people around him – Samad (BUA), Nana (Otedola’s wife), and Femi. In BUA and Nana, I saw some sort of recognition and acceptance of a bond/love between Alike and Femi, evident from his speech and body language, beyond what anyone can possibly come in between. I saw an acceptance of the fact that the relationship between the two is at another level.
Perhaps, it was me reading into their body language what was on my mind though. I pay attention to how they relate. The deference of one to the other. The effort they make to reiterate the message that they are one.
They remind of teenage loves who broke up for some flimsy reasons and have somehow now found themselves back in each other’s arms, keeping each other close to ensure that they do not make the same mistake again, and never let go of each other again.
Perhaps not. But I have (from a distance) watched the two men for some time, and I see genuine efforts and commitment to be there for each other, no matter what it is, especially when any is faced with a challenge, as was recently the case with Dangote over his refinery business. That resolve, I think, is a lesson or decision they picked from their bitter, even if short-lived fight of 2009.
I am not sure how the relationship between the two started, or how they became friends. But it was interesting to hear Femi talk about how he looked up to Aliko back in the day, before Aliko even knew him, how he used to take a walk around their Surulere neighbourhood, peeping into Aliko’s compound with an eye on the Rolls Royce.
I doubt that he would have thought then that a day would come when both of them would be sitting around the same table, not to talk of become partners, allies, friends and now family.
My suspicion is that their friendship started in the Obasanjo years, as he empowered a new crop of young Businessmen, selling public assets to them, encouraging them to industrialise on the back of backward integration, while also setting up Transcorp.
Whatever brought them together, the first indication, as I know, of them coming together was in the formation of the Blue Star Consortium, with which they acquired controlling stakes in the Port Harcourt and Kaduna oil refineries as President Obasanjo rounded off his time in office. That purchase would later be revoked by
the YarAdua government.
Interesting that just about 2 years after that, they were at daggers drawn over acquisition of controlling shares in Chevron, and that would degenerate so badly that an allegation of threat to life would come into the picture.
That they were able to settle their differences and move on to forge a stronger bond, which has now seen them become Brothers, as they call themselves today, is remarkable and instructive.
Relationships matter. No matter how high or low we find ourselves, relationships will always matter. Relationships can make or mar us. Challenges will always come, but it is the ability to weather the storm, let go of the past and move on that will determine what we make of our relationships.
There is something about the way Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola were able to bounce back and forge ahead as friends that we can learn from. Relationships matter.
