The head honcho of BUA Groups, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu’s name is synonymous with that proverbial tsunami hovering around the business firmament, changing narratives and causing a wide range of disruptions across the world. His numerous achievements are quite enormous that a toddler can even speak of his strides to put Nigeria on the world map.
During his formative years, he displayed the trait of a man destined for greatness. Despite the hard times, he faced; he was able to swim across the heavy tides. His story of business success cannot be complete without mentioning his late father who helped him sharpened and harnessed his business dexterity. With his audacious mindset to succeed, he ventured into business changing the narrative by giving his rivals a run for their money. As of today, he is regarded as one of the biggest investors in the Nigerian economy with business interest in real estate, sugar, cement, oil and gas among other business chains tied to him.
With a fortune calculated to be worth billions of dollars by Forbes, he has a large heart. When most of his peers would rather spend their huge financial war chest on the best vintage automobiles, the latest high-cost private jet or a big double-decked Yacht to move around, he deliberately dropped all absurdity and vanity of life cresting his name in the mouth and heart of many as one of the biggest philanthropists to ever emerge from Nigeria. He is not forcing; giving to him is a lifestyle. He gives like it’s going out of fashion. His bogus donation to humanity most especially in educational infrastructure and capacity building is a dream come through for him.
The Kano-born generous money bag is not interested in frivolities; he devotes most of his time to facilitating and sealing juicy business deals that will favour Africa and Nigeria at large. When he sauntered into age 60 last year, during the heat of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic; many wished to show their appreciation for his kind act by celebrating him to the high heavens, but the birthday boy opted for a very private celebration with his family and also thanked his creator for enlarging his coast also giving him a rare opportunity that many never had. As he celebrated his 61st birthday on the 4th of August, with different congratulatory letters and newspaper advertorials, it shows that a lot of people are willing to share in his pot of joy, but the very private businessman who loathes unnecessary media attention kept his birthday celebration on low-profile but in his usual self reached out to the needy. As part of his highly cerebral approach to business, a few months ago at the sidelines of the Choose France summit in Versailles, France, French President, Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the French Nigeria Business Council to facilitate business cooperation between Nigeria and France, Rabiu was appointed as inaugural President of the Council.
