Nigeria Billionaire oil magnate, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, says it is very painful when people attribute her acquisition of an oil bloc to the fact that she made ”blouses” for the former first lady, late Mrs. Maryam Babangida.

In a chat with Arise TV to celebrate her 70th birthday on July 15, Alakija who has been described as one of the wealthiest black women in the world, said the only thing Mrs. Babangida did for her at the time was to facilitate her meetings with the Petroleum Minister at the time and, thereafter she – Alakija- put in all the work.

Going down memory lane to how she acquired the oil bloc, Mrs. Alakija said she met a family friend of hers on a plane, and while discussing the friend informed her that she would be needing her help when they returned to Nigeria. She said the friend had told her that she had already reached out to some other persons for the same assistance but that if they do not come forth, she would contact Alakija.

”We got back to Nigeria and she came knocking at my door, gave me some documents. She had some clients that were looking to lift crude oil form Nigeria and she wondered whether I might be able to speak to some of my clients, one of whom is the late Mrs Babangida. I said Okay, I would go and see her and see how she can help.

I got there and she (Mrs Babangida) said Okay, I can book an appointment for you to see the Petroleum Minister. I went to see the Petroleum Minister. What they (my family friend) wanted was to lift crude and the Petroleum Minister said Listen, the current administration at the time really wanted to move away from that and prefer Nigerians to be more involved in that rather than giving that out to foreigners.”

Mrs. Alakija said the Minister at the time told her that if the people she came on their behalf wanted to invest in the sector, they were free to do so. She said she went back to her friend with the Minister’s position and her friend told her they were not interested in investing in the sector.”