Hustle story of Billionaire Dahiru Mangal: From a truck driver to owning Max Air

Dahiru Mangal is a billionaire who is reportedly one of the top 10 richest persons in Nigeria.

He’s Nigerian businessman and founder of Max Air (founded in 2008).

How he started

His early education was in Katsina. Dahiru attended Gafai Primary School, where he finished in 1971. He then gained admission to Kastina Arabic Teachers College for Higher Islamic Certificate. He graduated in 1976.

Upon graduation, Dahiru was ready to take on the world of business. He started out as a truck driver.

He was able to gather enough money to purchase a car which he started hiring out.

Mangal was able to build his empire from this humble beginning.

Controversies around his wealth

Mangal reportedly came into wealth through his leverage of his association with the leadership echelon in Katsina state.

His relationship with the then military administrations of Colonel Yahaya Madaki and Navy Captain Emmanuel Acholonu as well as the civilian administration of Saidu Barda in the 1990s exposed him to legitimate business in government contracts.

This paved the way for the emergence of his expansive political empire. And with his stupendous wealth came political relevance following his massive funding of PDP, the ruling party both in the state and the federal level since the return to democratic governance on May 29th, 1999.

In 2006, the erstwhile chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Malam Nuhu Ribadu ordered the arrest of Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal. His arrest followed series of complaints from some concerned interests who claimed to be alarmed by the amazing scale of his smuggling activities and their devastating negative effects on the country’s economy.