While Chief Dangote is building Cement factories all over the African world and raking in millions of dollars in profit annually, the successive administration in Edo State couldn’t manage or run our own cement factory located at the Okpella Kingdom. Dangote didn't force Edo State Government out of the cement business via price war. We just couldn't run ours. 

Talk about Bendel Brewery! The Brewery business has never been that lucrative in Nigeria. When I was growing up, you could count the number of beer available in the Nigerian market – Harp, Gulder, Star Lager, Stout, and Crystal. Today, Beer comes in various styles and shapes too numerous to count. And as always, the struggling Nigerian guys still relishes the age-old habit of drinking their sorrow away with equanimity. Yes, there is still a huge market out there for booze, but not for our beloved Crystal. While Nigerian Brewery and Guinness are flooding the market with uncountable brands, our state-run Bendel Brewery couldn’t sustain the only brand it has. 

There is a pattern to all these stories.

The setbacks that bedeviled the three mentioned companies in this essay are not market-related or the lack of it. It has everything to do with the hiring process, nepotism, and political patronage. Embezzlement of public funds is a collateral matter. It thrives because political leaders like those mentioned in this essay cannot overcome the culture of patronage, populating top management positions with opportunists, stooges, and candidates whose major goal hinges not on profit margin, but on how to get rich fast and pay homage to bosses and sponsors.