When BUA Rice Returned, So Did a Familiar Surname
BUA Rice returned to Nigerian supermarket shelves this year. Many consumers saw another brand. Within the company, the re-launch also highlighted a familiar surname.
Isyaku Rabiu oversaw the re-entry. He is the son of AbdulSamad Rabiu, founder of BUA Group and Nigeria’s second-richest man. The younger Rabiu was appointed Chief Officer of Global Procurement and Strategic Operations at BUA Foods in January 2026.
He also established a 40-metric-tonne-per-hour animal feed mill and deployed proprietary digital platforms to track consumer behaviour and distribution across BUA Foods. His equity stakes across BUA Foods and BUA Cement are valued well over N115 billion.
The rice relaunch follows years of dormancy in that segment. BUA had focused on sugar, flour, pasta, and edible oils. The return drew positive reactions from consumers who welcomed another player in the staple grain market.
BUA Foods reported full-year 2025 revenue of N1.77 trillion. Profit after tax rose 14 per cent. Dividend per share climbed 115 per cent to N28. In the first quarter of 2026, profit after tax rose another 14 per cent to N142.32 billion.
At the 2026 annual general meeting, shareholders singled out the older Rabiu’s decision to give approximately N30 billion to 510 long-serving employees. They described it as evidence of a business translating private enterprise into public benefit.
Across Nigeria’s corporate landscape, similar transitions are unfolding. Aliko Dangote is positioning his three daughters, while Mike Adenuga has placed three daughters at the highest levels of Globacom and Conoil. Even as Tony Elumelu is grooming his oldest daughter through disciplined financial training, Razaq Okoya seems to be putting his younger children through hands-on factory training.
For the Rabius, the rice relaunch is like a flag for something beyond market share. At BUA Foods, a new generation is already making decisions that affect what Nigerians eat.
