A Father Indeed … Why Abdulkabir Aliu Does Not Joke with Buhari

Former president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, is a father to many. Among these beneficiaries of his grace, Abdulkabir Aliu, the Group CEO of Matrix Group, stands favoured.

Without a doubt, the current federal administration is very different from the former. For one, former President Buhari was known far and wide for his non-tolerance of all things corruption. Secondly, and following the first point, nepotism is believed to have been nipped in the bud for the most part. Despite this, Aliu greatly benefitted from Buhari’s prestige and used it to open doors for himself, albeit without throwing it in anyone’s face.

Those in the know regarding these things argue that little was known about Aliu until President Buhari took over the position of Nigeria’s number one citizen and Head Man. At that time, Aliu had been running the show in his integrated oil marketing and trading company for around 11 years. However, upon President Buhari’s arrival, Ladies Luck and Providence seem to have smiled at him, evidenced by his remarkable progress in the oil and gas sector.

Aliu’s exact relationship with the Buharis is not a matter of public knowledge. Nevertheless, seeing as he was reportedly close to Buhari’s first Chief of Staff (CoS), the late Abba Kyari, it would not be odd that Buhari is a cherished father figure to Aliu.

Indeed, Buhari’s sheets are spotless with respect to preferential treatment. Nevertheless, his grace shined on many individuals, including the astute Aliu. Today, Matrix Energy is a leader in the downstream and logistics subsector. Given enough time, he will doubtlessly make Buhari smile, along with others who have blessed him.