Sijibomi Ogundele
Sijibomi is notably the youngest Nigerian man so far to reach a billion in earnings from business investments. He is 34 and the CEO of Sijimoto, a real estate business empire. Sijimoto is a key player in real estate both in Nigeria and beyond. He currently has over 70 houses in Ikoyi listed as his own
Sijibomi was not born a success. He worked himself into it. He grew up in Agege but because of his vision, he decided to push on for a better life. At a very young age, the young lad would leave his suburb Agege to be at the Ikoyi Polo Club; his mission then was to be like the rich and opulent so as to emulate their unique lifestyles.
Today, his lifestyle suits his status as a billionaire. Sijibomi revealed his affection for fast cars and antique watches. At 33, he bought a pricey Patek Phillipe wristwatch that costs $150,000 (N23 million) and when asked, he said he procured it so his grandson can one day use it.
Ladi Delano
At 35, Ladi is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bakrie Delano Africa – a $1 billion joint venture with the $15 billion Bakrie Group of Indonesia.
He started the journey to riches from age 22 he founded Solidarnosc Asia, a Chinese alcoholic beverage company that made Solid XS, a premium brand of vodka. Forbes Africa listed him as one of Nigeria’s top earners to watch.
This is an excerpt from the report done on him by Forbes Africa back in 2013
The path may have been well lit, but hardship lurked around the corner. In his student days, Delano found he suffered from mild dyslexia and deafness in one ear. Learning became more and more difficult and the idea of school waned. Despite this, with the help of extra lessons, Delano made it to a top university on a day he describes as glorious. The novelty soon wore off and academia became Delano’s nemesis. In his second year of a political science degree, he made up his mind. “It became quite clear that I didn’t have a passion for my course. I think that lead to me being easily distracted and that, ultimately, culminated in me thinking that rather than flogging a dead horse, it would make more sense to do something I was more comfortable with. There are two types of education and each form of education is equally as valuable. The academic approach to education is vital, no business can operate and be successful without those who have spent the time to understand the academic side of anything. However, that approach to education is not necessarily for everybody. And in my case, it wasn’t. So, I decided to withdraw from the university,” he says. Delano’s decision didn’t go down well at home, but there was no stopping him. At least, university education had planted the idea of becoming an entrepreneur.“
Igho Sanomi
The 40-year-old Igho Sanomi is the founder and CEO of Taleveras Group, a Nigerian energy, power and construction conglomerate. Taleveras is arguably one of Africa’s largest energy trading companies, trading close to a billion barrels of crude oil and millions of tons of condensates, gasoline, jet fuel and LPG every year. Taleveras also owns substantial stakes in two oil blocks in Nigeria as well as lucrative production sharing contracts (PSCs) in three offshore oil blocks in Ivory Coast. The group Power subsidiary constructs electrical substations in Nigeria and also owns a majority stake in the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company. The towering conglomerate has an annual turnover of several billions of dollars. Igho Sanomi is the controlling shareholder of the group.
At 40, Mr Sanomi is arguably one of the youngest kings of oil and gas Nigeria has ever seen.