Again, Dangote slams NMDPRA CEO over $5m Swiss education for children, questions source of funds

Africa’s richest man and Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has publicly disclosed what he alleges to be extravagant spending by Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), on his children’s secondary education in Switzerland.

The revelation, made via a public advertisement on Tuesday, December 16, 2024, came after a fiery press briefing in which Dangote accused the regulator of “economic sabotage” and living far beyond his legitimate means as a public servant.

The advertorial

Dangote detailed that Ahmed allegedly spent $5 million over six years for four of his children – Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk, and Farhana Farouk – on elite Swiss boarding schools including Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey, and La Garenne International School.

According to Dangote, the annual cost of tuition, airfare, and upkeep per child was approximately $200,000, totalling $800,000 per year for all four children. The billionaire explained that total living expenses and air travel for each child over six years reached $1.2 million, summing up to $4.8 million for the four children – bringing the combined tuition and upkeep to roughly $5 million.

Dangote further outlined the tertiary education expenses, claiming tuition, upkeep, airfare, and other costs average $125,000 per year over four years per child, amounting to $2 million in total. Faisal Farouk, he said, recently completed his 2025 Harvard MBA at a cost of $150,000, with an additional $60,000 for upkeep, travel, and other incidentals, bringing the total to $210,000 for the program.

In a pointed remark, Dangote questioned the source of the funds, stressing: “Nigerians deserve to know the source of the money paid by a public officer while many parents in his home state of Sokoto cannot afford to pay N10,000 school fees for their children and wards.”