"There are rumours that the oil block is worth up to $1billion, but
hurrying to another meeting, the head of Nigeria's Parliament's
Petroleum Resources Committee, Dr Cairo Ojougbo, refuted the claim: "Oh
no, it's worth much more."
It turns out the so-called hairdresser is now the richest black woman in the world - Mrs Folorunsho Alakija.
In November 2013, Forbes put her net worth at $2.5billion but some estimates say she is now worth $7.3billion.
I think this succinct description of Alakija's background from PMNews ties her nicely to the oil block:
"She worked as a secretary in a Nigerian Merchant bank in the 1970s and
later left to study fashion design in England. She subsequently founded
Supreme Stitches, a Nigerian fashion label that catered for upscale
clientele, including the late Maryam Babangida, wife of Nigeria’s former
military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida.
It was during the reign of Babangida that her company Famfa Oil got an
oil prospecting license which went on to become OML 127, one of
Nigeria’s most prolific oil blocks. Famfa Oil owned a 60% stake in the
block until 2000, when then President Olusegun Obasanjo acquired a 50%
interest in the block. Famfa Oil went to court to challenge the
acquisition, and the Nigerian Supreme Court reinstated the 50% stake to
Famfa Oil in May 2012.
Her 60 per cent stake in the block is currently valued at around $7.3 billion, Ventures Africa reported."
There was 'shock' at the time of the revelations, but now... posters of
her have appeared tying her in a bid to run for Lagos Governor.
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