Personality in Focus
Time Magazine Names Dangote Among Top 100 Philanthropists in the World
Aliko Dangote, the Chairman Aliko Dangote Foundation and President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited, has been named in the inaugural 2025 TIME100 Philanthropy list, which recognises the 100 most influential leaders shaping the future of philanthropy across the world. Dangote is the only Nigerian on this distinguished list.
The prestigious list, published by TIME Magazine on Tuesday, features Aliko Dangote, whose Foundation spends an average of $35 million a year on programmes across Africa, alongside other global figures in charitable work, such as Michael Bloomberg, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, and Melinda Gates, all of whom are recognised as Titans.
A total of 100 influential individuals from 28 countries have been honoured for their philanthropic efforts in four categories: Titans, Leaders, Trailblazers, and Innovators, with Dangote emerging as one of the 23 Titans.
TIME highlighted Dangote’s remarkable rise to wealth, having built a fortune of $23.9 billion through ventures in cement, agriculture, and oil refining in Nigeria. However, his philanthropic efforts are equally noteworthy. In 2014, he endowed the Aliko Dangote Foundation with $1.25 billion, with the aim of giving back to the continent that played such a key role in his success. The foundation spends on average of $35 million each year on various initiatives across Nigeria and Africa.
“Investing in nutrition, health, education, and economic empowerment is our contribution to setting Africans up for success” – Dangote remarked, reflecting the foundation’s core priorities.
Among the foundation’s ongoing efforts is a $100 million multi-year initiative to combat severe childhood malnutrition.
Furthermore, an earlier vaccine programme in Nigeria, developed in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others, contributed to the World Health Organisation’s 2020 declaration that polio had been eradicated from Africa, Nigeria being the most populous country in Africa and the last country to eradicate the disease.
Education is another area where Dangote is making a significant impact. He recently announced a $10 million donation to the Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, based in Kano State. The conglomerate has provided a wealth of infrastructural support to the country’s tertiary institutions.
In 2019, the Federal Government revealed that the N1.2 billion hostel donated by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was the largest donation ever made by an individual to a university in Nigeria’s history at that time.
As a member of The Global Business Coalition for Education, the Aliko Dangote Foundation has also focused on early childhood education. Through the Mu Shuka Iri (Let’s Plant a Seed) programme, local women – affectionately known as “Aunties” – are trained in Montessori-style education to become community educators in Kano.
The foundation’s investments in education include providing vocational training and providing scholarships at the secondary and tertiary levels, in addition to offering annual fellowships through the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders programme. “We need to create the next generation of African leaders,” Dangote says, underscoring his commitment to long-term societal change.
“My mother instilled in me the ethos of giving back, which inspired my philanthropy 30 years ago. I trust my three daughters will continue this legacy, just as they will continue to grow our business and impact. I want to be known not just as Africa’s richest person but also as its biggest philanthropist.”
The Executive Secretary/CEO of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Dr. Ayodele Ogunsan, has congratulated the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, on the occasion of his birthday, commending his visionary leadership and reform-driven approach to policing in Nigeria.
In his birthday remarks, Dr. Ogunsan described the IGP as a “distinguished officer whose career has consistently reflected professionalism, courage, and a deep commitment to public safety.”
He noted that since assuming office as the 23rd Inspector-General of Police early this Year 2026, Disu has demonstrated a clear resolve to reposition the Nigeria Police Force towards greater efficiency and public trust.
Dr. Ogunsan particularly praised the IGP’s emphasis on intelligence-led policing, a strategy aimed at enhancing proactive crime detection and prevention, as well as his push for the integration of digital tools and forensic capabilities into police operations. These reforms, he said, signal a shift towards modern, accountable, and citizen-focused policing.
He further highlighted Disu’s decisive steps to strengthen the state policing agenda and officers’ welfare. He praised him for the effective policing model through the restructuring and reduction of tactical units, a move designed to address concerns over excesses while redeploying personnel to police divisions for improved community-level security.
The LSSTF boss also acknowledged the IGP’s consistent advocacy for discipline, integrity, and professionalism within the Force, noting that such values are critical to restoring public confidence and enhancing institutional credibility.
Reflecting on his track record, Dr. Ogunsan recalled Disu’s impactful leadership roles across key commands, including the Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory Commands, where he contributed significantly to crime control and intelligence-driven operations.
His tenure as the Commander of the Rapid Response Squad in Lagos is a testament to his operational excellence and urban crime management.
Ogunsan wished the IGP good health, wisdom, and continued success in his efforts to build a more secure Nigeria. “On this special occasion, we celebrate not only a remarkable leader but a reformer whose vision continues to inspire confidence in the security architecture of our nation,” Ogunsan said.
Terrorists in northeast Nigeria killed a brigadier general in an assault on a military base, a local government chairman told AFP on Thursday, the second killing of a high-ranking officer in five months.
Africa’s most populous country has been fighting a terrorist insurgency for 17 years, since Boko Haram’s 2009 uprising, which has seen the emergence of powerful splinter groups, including Islamic State West Africa Province.
In an overnight attack, unidentified terrorists killed at least 18 soldiers and torched vehicles at a base in Benisheikh, about 75 kilometres from Borno state capital Maiduguri, an intelligence source told AFP.
“Unfortunately, the brigade commander, Brigadier General O.O. Braimah, lost his life,” Kaga Local Government Chairman Zannah Lawan Ajimi told AFP in a phone interview.
Two intelligence sources confirmed Braimah’s death to AFP.
His death follows the killing of Brigadier General Musa Uba by ISWAP in November. He was the highest-ranking military official to die in the long-running conflict since 2021.
“They overran the brigade,” one of the intelligence sources said, giving the death toll as “at least” 18.
The second intelligence source said that “the terrorists killed several troops” and “burnt vehicles and buildings before they withdrew,” without giving a toll.
The army and Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
– Rising terrorist violence –
Researchers have warned of an uptick of violence since 2025.
Borno capital Maiduguri has seen two suicide bombings since December — the type of bloody, urban attacks reminiscent of the insurgency’s peak a decade ago.
On Wednesday, the US State Department said in a notice it was authorising “non-emergency US government employees” to leave Abuja “due to the deteriorating security situation”.
While the insurgency is concentrated in the northeastern countryside, terrorists from Nigeria and the neighbouring Sahel have made inroads western Nigeria, where organised crime gangs known as “bandits” have been raiding villages and extorting farmers and artisanal miners for years.
Gunmen killed at least 90 people across several remote villages in northwest Nigeria this week, according to an AFP tally of tolls given by local and humanitarian sources.
Among the attacks was an assault in Kebbi state that police blamed a local terrorist group known as Mahmuda, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Kebbi sits on Nigeria’s border with Benin and Niger and since 2025 has been targeted by a rising number of terrorist attacks.
Conflict monitor ACLED says there has been a surge in violence in the area carried out by militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
In nearby Kwara state, in October, fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM claimed an attack after years of researchers warning that the terrorist conflict ravaging the Sahel risked spreading south towards coastal West African states.
In December, the United States, with Nigerian assistance, bombed northwest Sokoto state, targeting Islamic State Sahel Province fighters usually found in neighbouring Niger, along with Mali and Burkina Faso.
AFP
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the 2023 Labour Party governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has argued that President Bola Tinubu has no pathway to re-election in 2027.
Rhodes-Vivour, who appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, said data from credible polls indicate that Tinubu will not win next year’s presidential election.
“I have looked at data, we have polling that is going on now, credible polling — there is no pathway for the president to emerge victorious, that is why we are seeing all these shenanigans,” he said.
He added: “There is no pathway for him. When you look at the North that gave him 62 per cent of his votes, you see the tsunami that is happening in the North. You have a president that created a government system that is just for the city boys. It is a city boys’ government. It’s not even a proper South-West government; it’s his cronies that are just in charge.”
The Lagos politician blamed the president for the crisis affecting opposition parties, including the ADC.
According to him, having assessed that the odds are against him ahead of the 2027 polls, the president is resorting to instigating crises within opposition ranks as a strategy to retain power.
“So, the best pathway is to create an environment where he is the only candidate on the ballot for the presidency. That is what he is trying to achieve, but he is not going to succeed,” he said.
Last week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) removed the names of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as chairman and secretary of the ADC from its portal, citing a court order to maintain the status quo.
The party has faulted INEC’s decision, alleging that the electoral body misinterpreted the court order. Since then, the ADC leadership has held a world press conference to reject the move.
Earlier on Tuesday, prominent members of the party staged a “Save Nigeria Democracy” protest at INEC headquarters in Abuja. Among those present were Peter Obi; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi; former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; former President of the Senate, David Mark; former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola; and former Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, among others.
Hundreds of supporters, including members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, also participated in the protest.
