*Why Fortune-Hunters Are On His Trail
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride; and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari, would, as Northern oligarchs are wont to, seamlessly fix his son up in politics or the very lucrative oil and gas business at home or abroad. But humans don’t always get what they deserve or desire which is why Kyari has resigned to fate as his thoroughbred, well-educated son, Sadiq, has rather chosen to be a tailor!
Sadiq is the founder of Syari Bespoke Fashion House, which he describes as not just an attire; “(Syari is) 𝚊tribe, it’s royalty, it’s bespoke at its finest.” The 26-year-old graduate of Business Management and Marketing has chosen his path and the least his very influential father can do is to throw all his weight behind his son’s endeavour. Thus, while the outfit is barely a year old, the smart young man has parlayed his father’s influence into building a rich and diverse clientele base spanning Nigerians and foreigners alike.
Many of the oil and gas big boys from all over Nigeria and beyond have turned his Abuja office into a Mecca of sorts. Not because he is the best in the Federal Capital Territory, but because having him in one’s corner is as much as having his father. To paraphrase the bible, Sadiq is the contact and connect to reaching the NNPC boss and everybody who wants to see the father must go through the son! The older Kyari also supports his son by introducing high profile people to him, a lot of who are now happily patronising him.
So far, it has been a win-win for Sadiq as he now makes clothes for among many other influential Nigerians, the suave Tony Elumelu, Chairman of UBA Group and Heirs Holdings. On the Instagram page of Syari Bespoke, Elumelu, lounging in his private jet, proudly showed off one of the outfits made by Sadiq. The Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, is another major client.
Expectedly, Sadiq has also begun to get government patronages. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, keeping people at home and with a scant social, business or political function to attend, Sadiq, of course through his father’s influence, was one of the lucky tailors contracted to pivot into the medical scene and start the production of face masks. He also produced beddings and pillowcases, as well as medical doctor scrubs for the THISDAY Dome isolation centre in Abuja.
