Muhammdu Indimi, the businessman from Borno State who admitted donating $900,000 to Lynn University, US, last year, says he never had any formal education but he now supervises those with masters and Ph.D.

“Thank God today, as an unlettered person by western standards I still supervise people with master’s and Ph.D.s who are working in my organisation,” Indimi told the Premium Times.

“As a matter of fact, if any of my employees wants to approach me with any project proposal or some kind of memo or presentation, they have to be well-prepared and make sure they did their home work well because they know I will definitely point out any error therein. So, Alhamdullillahi, I thank God for his kindness upon me.”

He said he learnt how to speak English by listening and associating with people who spoke the language, as he never attended any Western education school.

“It may interest you to know that I have never been to any formal school all my life,” Indimi said.  “No teacher of western education can say he or she had taught me how to pronounce the alphabet ‘A’ in my life.

“I simply learnt by listening and associating with people. I am a very committed person when it comes to learning and adapting.”

Indimi said the money he donated to Lynn University was to build a bigger lecture hall in the university, where 10 of his children graduated from.

He said he was moved to make the donation after students of the university invited him to deliver a lecture on how he became an accomplished businessman without formal education, only to get there and discover that the venue of the lecture was small.

“The students approached me and asked if I could be available to give them an insight as to how I was able to accomplish such business successes without any form of formal education,” Indimi said.

“What they wanted was some kind of talk or lecture. And when I went to share my experience with them, I found out that the venue was too small for the crowd that attended the programme, and it was from there I pledged to help them build a better and befitting lecture for the faculty.”

He expressed surprised at the controversy that trailed the donation in Nigeria, pointing out that those that castigated him were ignorant of his company’s corporate social responsibility in the country and his philanthropic gestures.

“I did that in my kind gesture as a father to many children that graduated from that school, and also in appreciation of the recognition and regard they gave me.

“But what will I hear back home? All kinds of insinuation. Sadly, some persons, especially those from a south south of the country, felt it is their money I took to go build a lecture hall for an American university.”

Indimi is the chairman of Oriental Energy Resources and his wealth was alleged to have come from the oil blocks he was allocated to during the military rule of Ibrahim Babaginda.

He is also an in-law to President Muhammadu Buhari.