Malami and the Mysterious Millions of a Minister

By Bala Ibrahim

Nigeria is a very difficult country to understand. Too difficult to grasp, or comprehend mentally. One minute a man is poor, the next minute he is rich, stupendously rich. That is one aspect of the Nigerian feature that is incongruous with the provisions of common sense. In Nigeria, financial opportunities avail themselves to those with luck, in a manner that is sometimes in conflict with the general rules of economics, and all the sciences that have relations with production, consumption, and the transfer of wealth. Yes, when it comes to the path of success, especially success relating to wealth creation, Nigeria’s tale is a tell of titillate. Things happen against the rules of logic or common sense. And instead of those that found themselves in such lucky positions to be meek, some tend to be cocky, brash or out rightly arrogant.

A video clip is currently circulating in the social media, showing with glamour, one Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami, walking with swagger, as the commentator introduced him, alongside his multitudes of portfolios. According to the commentator, Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami is the Group Managing Director of Rayhaan group, a Nigerian conglomerate with interests in hospitality, communications, agriculture, education, security, real estate and rice milling.

Speaking further, he said, Rayhaan is one of the largest private companies in Nigeria. The only family owned conglomerate that is making its mark in the Nigerian market, through its various subsidiaries with over 2000 staff. Multitude of companies, with huge asset base, were listed as part of the Rayhaan group. And in all, Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami was mentioned as the boss.

In conclusion, the commentator said, Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami is 29 years old, and the one managing one of Nigeria’s largest private companies. According to him, his total managing assets make him the third richest young Nigerian. Third richest? Good God! Now who is this Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami?

No amount of search on the internet would reveal anything meaningful, with regards the antecedents of this young and extremely rich Abdulazeez. There is nothing to his name with regards the trajectory of the abundance of such valuable possessions. Nothing. The only thing I found in his profile, is that he is a lawyer. A barrister, whose address is along Sani Abacha Road, Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria. That’s all. His only qualifier, and the opportunity of approaching this stupendous wealth is that, he is the son of Abubakar Malami, SAN, the immediate past Attorney General and Nigeria’s minister of Justice.

There is an adage in my native hausa that says, “Dare d’aya Allah kanyi Bature”. Which literally means, the white man was created overnight by God. Yes, created overnight by God, and there is nothing, we, whom he created black can do. Indeed God is all-powerful-omnipotent.

However, in Commerce and Economics, there is a reversed mentality. Wealth creation has a procedure, which must be followed before the arrival at the doorstep of success. One cannot create wealth from no where. Your source of money must be traced and scrutinized. You have to invest your savings to create a parallel stream of income. This process of investing your saved money to grow your wealth by choosing investments that align with your financial goals is called wealth creation. As far as the records are concerned, young Abdulazeez was unheard of, prior to 2015, when his father, Abubakar Malami became minister. Where did he get that kind of wealth?

Also, as far as the records are concerned, even his father, Abubakar Malami, SAN, who was appointed minister while working as a struggling lawyer in Kano, hasn’t the financial standing of a recognized businessman. At least by the standard of Kano, Nigeria’s oldest commercial centre and home to the two richest men in Africa- Aliko Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu.

These two financial giants of Africa, Dangote and BUA, as they are popularly called, have a long family history of success in trade. They also have children that have been undergoing training on trade. Yet, none of their children has come out to flaunt such wealth. There must be a mystery. And the best way to unravel that mystery is to invite Abdulazeez’s father, that is Abubakar Malami, SAN, who was Nigeria’s Attorney-General under Buhari.

As Attorney-General, he was in-charge of the Ministry of Justice and has responsibility for the various departments and agencies of the Ministry. At some point, he took over the oversight of the EFCC, wherein he brought his relation, some even say his nephew, Abdulrasheed Bawa, as chairman. He was in charge of Public Prosecutions, Administrator-General & Public Trustee. In short, Malami was more like the Advisor-General to the Buhari administration, the administration that was admired, because of its stance against corruption. How come he was able to sire such a wealthy boy or boys, without the country hearing about them, until shortly after he left office?

Those interested in history, the history of clean wealth, would do themselves a lot of good, if they dig deep, into the story of Malami and the mysterious millions of a minister.