By Ademuyiwa Balikis
Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola stirred laughter and admiration as he praised his long time friend, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, while delivering a heartfelt speech at the wedding of his daughter, Temi Otedola, to music star Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi.
Speaking after Dangote, who was chairman of the occasion, Otedola playfully remarked that he had expected the business mogul to make a grand gesture.
“Today’s chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, when he was rounding off his speech, I thought he was going to say, ‘All these beautiful people here, I should give you all ten million dollars.’ We’re about a hundred here, so that would have cost him at least a billion dollars. Out of his eighty billion dollars, he would still have seventy-nine billion left,” he said, sparking applause and laughter among guests.
Reflecting on their decades-long friendship, Otedola recounted how Dangote had been an inspiration to him from his early years.
“Forty years ago, I used to know a car called the Rolls Royce. On Sundays, I would take a walk, not because he knew me, I would walk to his house and look at his Rolls Royce. Forty years ago. Aliko, like I always call you, you’re the miracle man. God has used you to make Nigeria a great country,” Otedola said.
The businessman’s remarks highlighted both the lighthearted camaraderie between two of Africa’s most influential figures and the deep respect Otedola has for Dangote’s success story and contributions to Nigeria’s development.
