Urban News

Nigerian billionaire Folorunso Alakija is said to have lost all ability to see and is currently battling blindness. According to SaharaReporters who got the news from medical sources involved in her care, she had been experiencing symptoms which he ignored.

This news comes days after Alakija was at the launch of General Babangida’s book, A Journey in Service, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, on February 20, 2025. More so, it follows closely with the event of Babangida’s public confession about the 1993 elections in Nigeria.

During the General Babangida regime, Alakija received an Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) and later, the same was upgraded to an oil mining lease.

Alakija is today considered one of the most successful business people in the country.

The 73-year-old had a near-air incident that led to a spike in blood pressure and this escalated into a vision disorder. The symptoms grew over time as she would not tend to the condition. This ultimately led to a complete loss of sight.

As an influential woman, Alakija made it to the Forbes list of most powerful women in the world in 2015. The estimated net worth according to Forbes in 2020 is $1 billion a wealth accumulated from both her early days in fashion design and subsequently as an oil business mogul.

As a business woman, she founded Famfa Oil. The company currently holds a large share of OML 127, a high-profit oil block. Aside from Famfa Oil, Alakija also has significant roles in Rose of Sharon Group and Dayspring Property Development Company Limited.

As a religious woman and a philanthropist, she has hosted a small fellowship in her home since 2004. This fellowship grew into a ministry that she called the Rose of Sharon Glorious Ministry International.