I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me 30 years to get to where I am today. Youths of today aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight. It’s not going to work. To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.

Don't kill the competition. Competition is healthy for businesses. It keeps you the entrepreneur on your toes.

Let me tell you this and I want to really emphasize it...nothing is going to help Nigeria like Nigerians bringing back their money. If you give me $5 billion today, I will invest everything here in Nigeria. Let us put our heads together and work.

After my death, I want to be remembered as Africa's greatest industrialist.

You could easily tell that hardwork and perseverance go hand in hand with patience. We often hear people say patience is worth it, yet we don't practice it. I did and look how well it worked out for me.

If you don’t have ambition, you shouldn’t be alive

In whatever you do, strive to be the best at it.