Chief D.O. Sanyaolu 1896-1960: A Yoruba merchant prince in Metropolitan Kano

The career of Daniel Oguntolu Sanyaolu offers a unique study of the African entrepreneurs in the early colonial period. As an innovative entrepreneur he pioneered large-scale enterprises in the import/export trade and in urban services (hotels and supermarkets). Sanyaolu was an ardent supporter of radical nationalist political parties including the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) and the Action Group (A.G), as well as one of the leaders of the Yoruba community in Sabon-Gari, Kano. The business career of Sanyaolu depicts the binary intersection of economic and political forces deployed by African entrepreneurs in the quest for social change. This paper underscores three major features of entrepreneurship in colonial Nigeria: First, the resilient culture of independence and prospects for profits made many entrepreneurs to quit wage labour and invest in commercial ventures that provided services that were not necessarily in competition with European enterprise. Second is the nexus between ethnic identity, politics and entrepreneurship. During the colonial era entrepreneurs were vanguards in the reconstruction of their ethnic identities to advance commercial interests and social networks. They combined politics with business in order to create wider horizons for their commercial activities and to attempt to break the yoke of European monopoly by supporting nationalist movements. Third is the challenge of sustainability of businesses after the demise of the pioneer founder (s). Many businesses have collapsed due to family squabbles and intrigues among networks of relations, staff and shareholders as well as lack of separation between ownership and management, which induces mismanagement. The paper concludes that after the demise of the owner(s), the business empire pioneered by Sanyaolu neither made the generational leap nor the capital accumulation that could guarantee its expansion