One Dangote Is Not Enough!” — Sujimoto’s Birthday Open Letter to President Tinubu Sparks National Debate

In a bold open letter marking his birthday, Sujimoto Group Managing Director Dr. Sijibomi Ogundele has sparked a national economic debate by calling on President Bola Tinubu to adopt a “National Champion” strategy modeled after South Korea’s industrial miracle. Ogundele argues that Nigeria’s path to a $1 trillion economy requires the deliberate state-backed creation of a new generation of billionaires, asserting that the country’s current reliance on a single industrial giant like Aliko Dangote is insufficient for a nation of 240 million people.

​Drawing parallels to the rise of global powerhouses like Samsung and Hyundai, the real estate mogul contends that the Nigerian government must shift from being a mere regulator to an active venture capitalist. He posits that by shielding ten to twenty high-capacity industrialists from foreign competition and providing patient capital, the state can engineer a drop in the prices of essential commodities like rice and cement.

​While acknowledging his own firm’s pivot from luxury real estate into large-scale agriculture and middle-income housing, Ogundele revealed that Sujimoto has cleared 80% of a massive ₦40 billion debt incurred during recent economic shifts. He frames this struggle as a symptom of a structural gap in the financial system that favors short-term ventures over long-term industrialization. The letter concludes with a direct challenge to the “Renewed Hope” agenda, urging the President to bring domestic innovators into a room to define a new era of “Value-Chain Capitalism” that transforms Nigeria into a global production hub.