Nigeria’s industrial and economic progress will stay vulnerable unless businesses survive beyond their founders through intentional succession planning. To this end, industry and business leaders are urging discipline and mentorship to ensure continuity, writes ARINZE NWAFOR
Last year, the Managing Director of Coleman Technical Industries Limited, George Onafowokan, led his family’s business to its 50th year. George, with his brother Michael Onafowokan, an engineer who serves as an executive director, has grown the company founded by their industrialist father, Kayode Onafowokan. In July 2025, the company celebrated investing over N700bn in Nigeria over 20 years.
Speaking with The PUNCH in 2025, George Onafowokan emphasised the fight to maintain legacy. “There must be a deliberate attempt to ensure the business grows. Coleman is 50 years old this year. Which means there’s legacy,” he said, stressing that continuity only happens when businesses embed their roots firmly in Nigeria and plan intentionally for succession.
PwC defines a family business as one where family members have significant ownership or management involvement, whether in small local shops or large multinational firms. Globally, PwC’s Family Business Survey shows that 79 per cent of family businesses attribute their longevity to strong core values. In Nigeria, where culture and commerce intersect deeply, the impact is even more pronounced. About 65 per cent of Nigerian family businesses emphasise community contribution, reinforcing trust and reputation.
In a March 2025 report, PwC noted that across regions, cultural values shape business continuity. In Northern Nigeria, respect for authority, religious principles, and protection of family reputation underpin commercial relationships. In the South-West, patriarchal leadership styles prioritise consultation and consensus, often mirroring boardroom processes. In the South-East, the Igbo Apprenticeship System, popularly called Igba-Boi, institutionalises skill transfer, trust, and mentorship across generations.
Family-owned enterprises account for the bulk of businesses in the country, according to available data. Ownership and management have become a decisive factor in sustaining jobs, investments, and long-term economic growth. Yet, despite these strengths, Nigeria struggles to produce enduring legacy firms.
Why legacy businesses matter to Nigeria’s economy
Nigeria’s economy leans heavily on family enterprises. In 2023, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (formerly the Special Adviser to the President on the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council and Investment), Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said there were about 23.8 million family businesses in the country, responsible for millions of jobs and contributing roughly $200bn annually to the economy.
A 2024 Moniepoint report titled A Deep Dive into Nigeria’s Family-Owned Businesses noted that Nigeria has few 100-year-old companies, partly because the country itself is just over a century old and data records remain weak. By contrast, countries such as Japan, France, Italy, and Germany boast family enterprises that have survived for over 1,000 years.
Still, Nigeria offers encouraging examples. The FCMB Group continues to build on the legacy of its founder under the leadership of Ladi Balogun. The GiG Group thrives under Chidi Ajaere, who succeeded his father, while Brila FM operates under Deborah Izamoje, with Larry Izamoje chairing the parent company. These cases, analysts said, show that continuity is possible when founders prepare successors deliberately.
Meanwhile, many Nigerian entrepreneurs do not even recognise that they run family businesses. The Moniepoint report estimated that about 60 per cent of businesses in Nigeria are family-owned, either consciously or unconsciously. Some founders set out to build empires and groom successors, but many simply start businesses where children later participate informally, without clear governance or succession frameworks.
As of 2018, education and healthcare dominated sectors where family businesses operated, generating over $1bn in revenue. Yet, the absence of structured succession threatens to erode these gains over time.
“We don’t have a good storyline of successors.”
Coleman MD Onafowokan argued that Nigeria lacks a compelling narrative of generational business continuity. “We have good businesses that have been set up by patriots or matriots. But what happens next after those businesses?” he asked. “Please tell me 10 companies that are greater than 50 years old in the industry in Nigeria.”
He dismissed the notion that Nigeria’s youth explains the problem. “Is Nigeria only 10 years old? No, of course not,” he said, adding that continuity requires national resolve. “It’s something we need to be deliberate about as people, as a country. To build a legacy irrespective of region, irrespective of tribe, irrespective of people. As long as the word ‘Nigeria’ is written on there.”
The cable manufacturing chief noted that succession planning goes beyond ownership transfer. It determines whether capital, jobs, and productive capacity remain in the country. “We need to be deliberate to make sure that there is succession and there is a growth plan. So that those businesses can keep working in this country. Because they are not going anywhere,” he said.
He contrasted local firms with foreign-owned businesses that often change hands and exit, stressing, “If I’m a foreigner, it gets to an age where I sell it off to the next foreigner… And sometimes, they just sell it off, and the business dies.” By contrast, indigenous manufacturers cannot relocate their factories. “They cannot japa (leave Nigeria) with their machines. They will fight to stay.”
Discipline is the foundation of continuity
Beyond succession, stakeholders emphasised discipline as the bedrock of survival. Onafowokan traced Coleman’s resilience to hard choices during economic shocks. He recalled that the 2016 currency devaluation nearly killed the business. “It took us into a comatose state for three years,” he said. “But we had to be disciplined. We cut 70 per cent of our staff.”
The company survived because management focused on long-term viability rather than short-term comfort. “Because we dug in. Because we are not going anywhere,” he said. “I have a passion for Nigeria. I am not going anywhere. And I will create jobs in this country.”
He argued that many Nigerian businesses collapse because founders and successors fail to embrace delayed gratification. “The survival of any business in Nigeria is discipline. Vision. Focus on the vision. But, most importantly, discipline,” he said.
The cable manufacturer also noted that cultural pressures often undermine reinvestment. “There is some discipline that you need to be disciplined for the next three to five years or six years of your life. No lifestyle change. No cultural risk issue,” he remarked, referring to pressures to build houses, acquire titles, or display wealth prematurely.
He stated that foreign investors often outperform locals because they play the long game. “They are more disciplined than we are. And when they are disciplined, they will play the long game better,” he said. “I’m disciplined for the next 10 years. But in 10 years, I’ve managed to grow the business 20 times because I was retaining all the profit in the business.”
Mentorship and financial realism
Onafowokan stressed that founders must mentor successors and peers on financial realism. “Turnover is not profit,” he said, warning against celebrating revenue without cash recovery. “It’s only the day you receive the money that you know whether it’s profit or not.”
He urged entrepreneurs to prioritise margins and cash flow over appearances. “So, you have to decide between displaying a brand-new car or buying a new machine. Which one is more important?” he asked. For him, reinvestment, not ostentation, creates enduring enterprises.
He said mentorship cuts across age groups. “I mentor businesses. Older and younger people,” he said, adding that discipline, reinvestment, and patience remain central lessons. “Those are the things that we need to teach the people that are coming after us.”
Weak succession planning remains widespread
The Director of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, explained that many Nigerian businesses still fail to plan deliberately for generational transition. When The PUNCH asked whether firms were improving on succession, he said, “Not many of them are doing well.”
Drawing from policy and private sector experience, he said, “We have seen many family businesses go under once the founder passes on. Not many of them have good succession because it’s something to be deliberate about.”
He explained that ownership does not automatically confer managerial competence. “The fact that your father owns a business does not automatically mean that you can run a business,” he said. “So there has to be a deliberate policy by the founder to build capacity among the children to be able to take over the business.”
Yusuf stressed that passion matters as much as training. “The parent also needs to be sure that the children have a passion for the business,” he said, noting that some heirs prefer different careers. “If you impose it on them, that succession cannot work.”
The CPPE chief advised founders with many children to identify those genuinely interested and capable. “We have seen many children walk away from the business of their parents,” he said, adding that self-discovery remains legitimate but requires realistic planning.
Capacity building, not entitlement
Yusuf criticised the practice of handing top roles to heirs without preparation, stating, “You don’t go and hand over a big business to somebody who has no experience because it’s your child.” He called for structured tutelage, either within the company or externally, before succession.
He added that mentoring and training reduce the risk of collapse. “That mentoring can help to build capacity so that you get the child up to a point where the maturity is there, the competence is there, and the technical understanding of the business is there,” he said.
Yusuf maintained that leadership and technical training strengthen continuity. “When the child begins to run the business, the chances that the business will go under will be very, very minimal,” he said. “These are the things that can be done to ensure generational sustainability.”
Value of governance structures
Beyond individual preparation, governance frameworks shape survival. An Andersen report titled ‘The Importance of Family Governance in Wealth Preservation – A Nigerian Perspective’ warned that 70 per cent of family businesses do not survive the second generation, while 90 per cent fail by the third.
The report identified family constitutions, family councils, succession planning frameworks, and conflict resolution mechanisms as pillars of continuity. Without them, wealth dissipates and enterprises fragment.
Analysts said these findings resonate in Nigeria, where informal structures often dominate. Clear rules on ownership, management roles, and dispute resolution reduce the risk of internal conflict that often destroys family firms after founders exit.
How business continuity impacts economic health
The Director of the Africa Retail Academy at the Lagos Business School, Prof. Uchenna Uzo, linked succession directly to macroeconomic stability. Our correspondent asked, How so? He explained, “The continuity of the business landscape triggers the continuity of the entire economy of any country. If there isn’t business continuity, it is a signal that the economy is not healthy.”
He argued that sustainability serves everyone’s interests. “It’s in everybody’s interest to ensure that businesses survive, that businesses are sustained, and that businesses stay healthy,” he said.
Recent data support this view. The PwC analysis published in March 2025 showed that family businesses outperformed non-family firms on the Nigerian Exchange post-2020. Between 2022 and 2023, family businesses’ market capitalisation surged from N6.7tn to N17.3tn, a 158 per cent increase. This performance showed that the family businesses were resilient during turbulence.
Talent, ego, and the legacy gap
The director of the African Retail Academy, Uzo, identified poor talent management and inadequate succession planning as the biggest threats to continuity. “A lot of people who go into businesses are too quick to want to grow and too quick to want to succeed that they do not patiently nurture the talent internally,” he said.
He corroborated Onafowokan’s fiscal lesson on how a misconception of high turnover weakens firms.
He criticised what he described as an isolated form of founder-centric leadership, stating, “Some of the people who lead businesses are in it just for their own. On paper, they say they want to build a legacy, but in reality, they just want to glorify themselves.”
He warned that such leaders centralise decisions and resist empowerment. “Once something happens to those business leaders, the business dies with them. There is no structure. There is no scalability,” he noted.
Building frameworks for survival
To address these gaps, Uzo called for education on family business management. “Running a family business is not like running any other business,” the business scholar said, stressing the need to separate family interests from business decisions while integrating them strategically.
He stated that institutions such as the Lagos Business School Family Business Initiative have begun filling this gap but urged broader adoption. “The educational side of running a family-owned business for survival is a gap that needs to be filled,” he said.
He also advocated succession planning frameworks that anticipate exits, entries, and talent pipelines. “It is hard work, it is painstaking work, but it is something that is needed,” he said.
Finally, he emphasised scenario planning. “Once you start going for long-term thinking, you cannot run away from adequate scenario planning,” he said. “Having a plan in place for whatever challenging scenario may come up increases the chances of business survival and continuity.”
