A lot of us remember the late high-life maestro, Fatai Rolling Dollars, for his sonorous voice.

We dance to his harmonious combination of lyrics and rhythm, which, of course, is a manifestation of good music.

But only a few remember the success formulas which come with his songs, the main reason why they are not in marble like that of other sages.

He is like Jesus Christ who the world concentrated more on his miraculous deeds - turning water into wine, raising the dead, healing the sick and walking upon the sea but forget that he would have also become a successful business man if he had chosen because he gave one of the greatest success formulas in business, which borders on adequate planning before execution as found in Luke 14:28.

Fatai Rolling Dollars understood the fact that life is nothing other than a numbers genre.

He understood the fact that before you succeed in most of the things under the sun, you must have numbers by your side.

He understood that life is, in fact, nothing other than a numbers game.

That was the eternal success sermon that he preached in his hit song, Ekere si number wa, meaning we pass them by number.

This simply means that whoever has numbers has everything, be it in business, politics or in life.

Now let me illustrate to make myself clear.

Have you ever sat down to think why our brothers in the northern part of Nigeria are behaving like cow boys and taking those of us in the South as aliens?

Have you ever sat down to think why our brothers in Northern Nigeria are always talking tough when it comes to politics and other sensitive issues?

The answer lies in ekere si number wa.

They strongly believe that they pass the South by number.

Even though land mass does not in any way translate to population, they still hold on tight to the claim, knowing full well that their lives depend on it.

Let me throw statistics into the mix because as we know figures don’t lie.

That the North of Nigeria contains a larger share (600,000) square kilometres of Nigeria`s land mass of 923,768 and leaving the South with the remaining 323,768 square kilometres is never in doubt.

Also not in doubt is the fact that the South is far more densely populated than the North. The reality is that it is density that translates to population and never land mass. The rule of demography supports this claim.

Let me also use Nigeria and Libya to make the point clearer. The population of Nigeria as at 2018 was 195.9 million, total land mass of 356.667 square miles or 923,768 square kilometres and population density of 173.94 per square kilometre, while Libya, which is the fourth largest country in Africa with regard to landmass as at 2018 had a population of 6.618 million and a land mass of 700,000 square miles or 1.76 million square kilometres.

Even Nigeria that is the most populous black nation in the world is not among one of the ten largest countries in Africa with regard to land mass and yet out of every four Africans, one is a Nigerian.

Furthermore, even though Libya is twice bigger than Nigeria with regard to land mass, its total population is not up to that of Rivers State, which is just one of the 36 states in Nigeria.

But since whoever has numbers has everything, the North has by commission or omission claimed that they have the numbers, so they are lording it over the South.

Again, have you ever wondered why a lean-looking Muhammadu Buhari ‘defeated’ a robust looking Atiku Abubakar in a presidential election?

The answer again lies in ekere si number wa. The poor are more in number than the rich and a maxim has it that like attracts like.

So, people voting according to their own kind. There is always this feeling of, he looks like us. In fact, he is one of us, so, let`s vote for him.

Furthermore, do you know that nobody in Africa can fake any of Aliko Dangote’s products and sell it. The reason is simple. Dangote has the numbers. He has the resources to mass produce and sell cheaper than the faker and in the market place, what counts is quality and price.

So, whatever, you want to do or be in life, let ekere si number wa be your watchword. Once you have the numbers on your side, you are ready to conquer any space that you find yourself.

If you are in product or service delivery, the more customers/clients that you have, the more patronage you would be getting. And once you are able to “pass your competition by numbers”, you move from being a challenger to the top and with numbers, you remain at the top.

ABOUT THE COLUMNIST

Peter Anosike is a well-known journalist and development economist.

His book, Dangote’s Ten Commandments on Money (Lessons on How to Make Money from One of the World’s Richest Men), was rated as one of the best development books in the world by Wall Street Journal and FORBES. The book has been adopted as a workbook for grooming entrepreneurs by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Anosike’s other of his books include, How To Be The Best You Can Be and Look Forward and Lean Less On Your Past – all trending in Smashwords along with Dangote’s Ten Commandment on Money and How To Be The Best You Can Be. You can follow him on Facebook and Linkedin.

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