Men who have left footprints in the sands of time are not described by mere or few words. Sometime, the narrator runs out of words because it takes a lot to attain the highest level of success. This is why it is said that at the top of the ladder of success, there are few people there.
This is about one man who stands out among the outstanding…
Born on August 4, 1960 in the ancient city of Kano into the family of famous businessman, the late Khalifa Sheikh Isyaku Rabiu, business mogul, Abdul Samad Rabiu, began his journey towards what would be the envy of many and the dream of a younger generation of men.
Abdul Samad may be regarded as the regular businessman who has successfully built an empire for himself. But in several other quarters, his praises are sung because, as a philanthropist that he is, lives have been touched in ways unimagined through the BUA Foundation. His impact was felt when he made contribution during the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic which bit hard on the flesh of the country.
As part of efforts to further win the war against the pandemic, he provided food items to 1 million homes in Kano. Residents of Lagos and Edo State also felt his warmth as he provided 150,000 food packs, a truckload of Rice and 4000 cartons of pasta to Edo State while the media went buzzing about his cash donations to the Federal and some state governments to help in combating the pandemic.
On the business angle, the Founder/Executive Chairman of BUA Group, who bagged a degree in Economics at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, United States, broke out to establish BUA in 1988 after managing the family’s business for a number of years.
Venturing later on into steel, billets and iron ore importation as well as supplying to multiple rolling mills in Nigeria, he started BUA Group with importing and trading in major commodities such as rice, edible oil, flour and also, iron and steel rods.
Thirty years on, BUA Group has emerged as a household name in the production of foods, mining, manufacturing and infrastructure conglomerate just as he boasts of diversified investments spanning across key business sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The father of four has successfully placed a stronghold and established BUA as a key player in the production of cement, sugar, rice, flour milling and pasta edible oils, logistics, agriculture, mining & construction, steel and real estate, thereby positioning BUA as one of the largest contributors to Nigeria’s GDP.
Having achieved all these, it can be said that it is little compared to what is left in his enviable record…
In 2001, the man of few words whose handiwork are felt by all and sundry, led his company to acquire the Nigerian Oil Mills Limited which was, at the time, the largest edible oil processing company in the country.
He would go on to set up two other flour milling plants in Lagos and Kano in 2005, and by 2008, BUA, under Abdul Samad, commissioned the second largest sugar refinery in Sub- Saharan Africa.
In 2009, however, there was more to come as BUA went on to start the construction of the over $1billion cement manufacturing complex in Obu-Okpella, having earlier bought over the Edo Cement Limited. Prior to this, the company acquired a controlling stake in the publicly listed Cement Company of Northern Nigeria also known as Sokoto Cement.
With a capacity of 1.5million metric per annum to improve cement export to neighbouring countries as well as contribute to the economy’s GDP, BUA in July 2018, commissioned the US$350 million Kalambaina Cement Plant in Sokoto State.
He would, in March 2019, also commission another 3million metric tonnes cement plant in Edo State.
Meanwhile, as part of the Nigerian Government’s Backward Integration Policy for the Sugar Industry, BUA, once more, proved its mettle by investing about $300million in the 20,000hectares Lafiagi Sugar Estate project.
The former Chairman of Tropical Continental Bank between 1993 and 2000 and current Chairman of the quoted BUA Cement was the 2018 Man of the Year of the Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited, publishers of the New Telegraph titles, after he was named the 2016 African Industrialist of the Year Award by the All Africa Business Leaders Awards.
Abdul Samad, a typical African who believes in the dreams of the black man opines that the sure way towards fixing the continent’s employment crisis is by investing in the continent.
He was once stated;
“Today, we have the capacity to produce over 40m tonnes. It has saved us so much hassle, not to mention the money we have saved and jobs we have created.”Indeed, it is true what they say, “distinguished men are few because their records are rare.”
Abdul Samad has shown this in every regard and his tales will live on as a shining light unto the paths of many who admire him even after six decades.
