Among the jet-setting group of the world’s top-flight business moguls, Nigeria does have its share of nationals who have spread the tentacles of their business acumen to ensure that their names will go down as CEOs of international companies and business concerns.

LEADERSHIP Friday brings you a list of a few of them.

Aliko Dangote

What better way to start this list than with Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the quintessential businessman who has seen it all in the world of business. The Kano-born businessman is sparing nothing to expand his empire, going by how he continues to venture into new areas of business. Over the years, Dangote has become a force to be reckoned with in the industrial, manufacturing and production sectors. Name any sector of business, Alhaji Aliko Dangote is there, swimming with the big fish in the waters of commerce.

His success is not limited to his business concerns in Nigeria alone, but extends far and wide to other African and to European countries. Expectedly, the success of Dangote’s companies has translated to great wealth for the unassuming business mogul, as it is on record that he is the first Nigerian to make it on to the Forbes list of billionaires and to also be adjudged the richest man in Africa long before any business magnate in Nigeria ever dreamt of making the list.

Jelani Aliyu

Jelani Aliyu is from Sokoto State and is General Motors lead exterior designer and the designer of the Chevy Volt. General Motors is the world’s largest automobile maker. The car has been described as an American Revolution and one of the hottest concepts in the design line.

Aliyu was born in 1966 in Kaduna, the fifth of seven children. He had tremendous encouragement and mentoring from his family and friends and his creative art developed. He drew a lot, designed his own cars and even built scale models of them, complete with exteriors and interiors. He got admission into the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to study Architecture, but soon discovered the curriculum did not support his future vision and plans. He wanted an institution that would give him the best foundation required to study Automobile Design abroad, so he went to Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic. He was there from 1986 to 1988 and earned an associate degree in Architecture, with an award as Best All-round Student. In 1990, Aliyu moved to Detroit, Michigan to enrol at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit on a Sokoto Scholarship Board sponsorship.

With his brilliant work on the design of the Chevrolet Volt, which was unveiled in 2007, Jelani Aliyu is considered by many to be the superstar of the General Motors renaissance.

Kase Lukman Lawal

Born June 30 1954, Kase Lukman Lawal is a Nigerian-born businessman who lives and works in the United States. Lawal was born in Ibadan. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Texas Southern University in 1976 and an MBA from Prairie View A&M University, Texas in 1978. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of CAMAC International Corporation, chairman and CEO of CAMAC Energy Inc and chairman of Allied Energy Corporation in Houston, Texas. He is also the chairman/CEO, CAMAC Holdings and vice chairman, Port of Houston Authority Commission. He serves as a member of the board of directors and is a significant shareholder in Unity National Bank, the only federally insured and licensed African-American-owned bank in Texas. Lawal was a member of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Business Advisory Council and in 1994, he was a finalist for the United States Business Entrepreneur of the Year award. Lawal is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

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