On Friday, billionaire businessman Abdulsamad Rabiu took a break from making a ton of money to attend his son, Khalifa Abdusamad Rabiu’s graduation ceremony at the prestigious Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States.
Photos and videos taken from outside the event venue show Rabiu and his other children cheering for the McDonough class of 2024.
Like most billionaires of his ilk, Rabiu, the Chairman of BUA Group, has a money habit. However, unlike most billionaires of his ilk, he caught the fatherhood bug sometime between his ascension to fatherhood and entrepreneurial acclaim. He adorns the cloak of fatherhood with unprecedented pride; hence, he never shies away from performing his fatherly roles for his wards.
On the other hand, you can’t see Rabiu’s children anywhere. It’s no wonder people don’t talk about his immediate family. Yes, business only!
Interestingly, being the son of a billionaire is enough fame already. When you are now the son of one of the richest black men in the world, the entire black race should literally worship the ground on which you tread. Men should bow and women should genuflect when you look in their direction. If you were ostentatious, unruly, and wild, a la Sean Combs, the world would wave it off as a non-issue; it comes with the terrain, they would say, just to cover up for your excesses. However, Rabiu’s children do not exhibit the same traits as those of other billionaires. They are decent and respectful.
The Chairman of BUA paints a contradictory picture to the random portrait of the billionaire as a bad father because of his obsession with money and acclaim. He effortlessly proves that affluence and child-rearing often go hand in hand, under the watchful and compassionate guardianship of a model father. Rabiu creates quality time to be with his children.
The billionaire has successfully raised his children to be his source of joy and abiding peace. And to ensure their evolution into full-fledged adults, he creates time to celebrate every aspect of their lives; he is part of their progress every step of the way, so he spends vacations with them in exotic locations across the world, and he is there to celebrate their graduations, birthdays, and other success stories.
Yes, he is one of those rare men who believes that every father bears a fundamental obligation to do right by their children, and they need to be involved in their lives not just when it’s convenient or easy, and not just when they’re doing well—but when it’s difficult and thankless, and they’re struggling.
The billions and business successes notwithstanding, Rabiu treasures his children and never shirks from supporting or showing them how much he does.
In other words, his generosity may be the best measure of his humanity. Rabiu understands that becoming fabulously wealthy and earning great fame are triumphs of vanity rather than humanity. Thus, over the past two decades of his robust entrepreneurship, Rabiu has desisted from revelling in vanity. Unlike his fellow billionaires, who are so far removed from their immediate reality, Rabiu would never splurge on trifles.
However, Rabiu believes that the love of possessions is a weakness to overcome and that the truest acts of generosity require no log-rolling. Hence, in his simplicity, he gives away all that he has to relatives, to the underprivileged from other tribes or clans, but above all to the poor and the elderly, from whom he can hope for no return.
An astute businessman, philanthropist, and industrialist, Rabiu founded and Chairman of BUA Group in 1988; he subsequently nurtured the enterprise to become one of Nigeria’s largest privately-owned foods, manufacturing and infrastructure conglomerates with diversified investments spanning key business sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Understanding the success of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the BUA Group, however, necessitates an examination of how he took over his father’s vast business empire at the tender age of 24 upon his return to Nigeria.
In the early ’90s, after learning the ropes of business with his unwavering commitment and determination, he meandered from the path of family business and founded BUA Group as a private company.
This daring decision to opt out of a very well-established family business turned out to be his greatest decision, which has changed his life, business fortunes, and society at large.
At the height of his success, Rabiu founded the Abdul Samad Africa Initiative, ASR Africa – an African-focused Fund for Social Development and Renewal that seeks to support Nigeria and other African countries in the areas of Health, Education, and Social Development.
In addition to his economic contributions, Rabiu, through the BUA Foundation and, more recently, his ASR Africa, has contributed immensely to various philanthropic and social development activities in different areas, from healthcare to education, sports, water and sanitation amongst others.