Chief Saliu Mobolaji Bakare, widely remembered as S.B. Bakare, belonged to an older generation of Nigerian businessmen whose wealth grew through trade, labour organisation, port access and personal enterprise. His name is not as widely repeated today as those of later oil, banking or telecoms magnates, yet his story belongs in the serious history of Nigerian business.
Bakare was born in 1922 in Ilesha, in present day Osun State. He received his early education at Roman Catholic Mission School, Ilesha, before entering military service. Records identify him as having served between 1940 and 1945, after which he moved into business. By 1950, he had become a dock contractor, a career path that placed him close to one of the most important centres of Nigerian commerce, the Lagos port economy.
His influence later extended beyond business. He was recorded as Sobaloju of Lagos and Saloro of Ilesha, titles that reflected both his Lagos prominence and his connection to his Ilesha roots. He was also associated with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, the Island Club of Lagos and the Ilesha self help development committee. These connections placed him within the civic and elite networks of mid twentieth century Nigerian society.
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Lagos Ports and the World That Shaped His Fortune
To understand Bakare’s rise, one must understand the importance of Lagos ports. The Lagos Port Complex, also known as Apapa Quays, became one of Nigeria’s most important commercial gateways. It linked the country to international shipping, import trade, export movement, cargo handling and the wider economy of Lagos.
Ports were not merely places where ships arrived. They were centres of labour, storage, negotiation, transport and money. Goods came in, goods went out, workers moved cargo, contractors supplied labour, merchants handled imports and exporters depended on the system. In such an environment, a skilled dock labour contractor could become a powerful commercial figure.
Bakare entered this world at a time when Nigerian entrepreneurs were beginning to push deeper into sectors long dominated by colonial firms, foreign merchants and older trading companies. His business life grew in a space where organisation, discipline, relationships and access mattered greatly.
The Rise of S.B. Bakare and Sons
Bakare established S.B. Bakare and Sons, a firm known for import, export and dock labour contracting. This combination of activities shows that his business was not narrow. Dock labour placed him inside the daily movement of cargo, while import and export activity connected him to broader commercial exchange.
Business history records S.B. Bakare & Son as the largest Nigerian dock labour contractor in the 1950s. That statement is central to understanding his importance. Bakare was not simply a wealthy Lagos social figure. He was a major operator in one of the most important commercial sectors in Nigeria at the time.
His business strength also included port related assets. He acquired some sheds at Apapa and Lagos port from W. Biney & Co. These sheds were significant because storage and cargo handling were essential parts of the port economy. In a city where trade passed through the docks, such assets gave a businessman stronger influence and deeper access to commercial activity.
What Bakare Owned, and What He Did Not Own
Over time, Bakare’s reputation grew into stories that sometimes became larger than the record itself. One of the most repeated claims is that he “owned Lagos ports.” That description is not correct.
Bakare was a major dock labour contractor and a port linked businessman. He acquired some sheds and operated within the port economy, but the ports themselves belonged to a wider public and institutional system. His power came from his role inside that system, not from ownership of the ports.
This does not reduce his achievement. In fact, it makes his story more impressive. To become the largest Nigerian dock labour contractor of the 1950s meant that Bakare had built a business capable of managing labour, contracts, cargo movement and commercial relationships in a highly competitive environment.
A Reputation Built on Wealth and Influence
Bakare was remembered as a wealthy man, and his name entered public memory as one of the old Lagos figures associated with success, status and business power. Later public recollections placed him among the notable tycoons of an earlier Nigerian age.
His fortune should not be described with careless modern labels. What matters more is the structure of his wealth. He built influence through dock labour, import and export work, port sheds, property, civic networks and elite social circles. These were powerful sources of standing in mid twentieth century Lagos.
His recorded home at Queen’s Drive, Ikoyi, also reflected his position within Lagos society. Ikoyi was one of the city’s most prestigious residential areas, associated with senior officials, professionals, businessmen and people of influence. Bakare’s presence there showed how far he had travelled from his early years in Ilesha to the centre of Lagos elite life.
Bakare and Fela Kuti’s Surulere Night Club Years
Bakare’s name also appears in Nigerian cultural history through his connection to Fela Kuti’s early club years. Lindsay Barrett’s account of Fela’s life identifies a Surulere club owned by Chief S.B. Bakare as the place where Fela moved after Afro Spot. It was during this period that Fela began using the name Shrine for his performance space.
Fela’s move to the larger Surulere Night Club in 1971 marked an important moment in the growth of his public presence. His band, Africa 70, was gaining popularity, and the club became part of the environment in which his music, politics and performance identity developed.
Bakare was not the creator of Afrobeat, nor was he the central force behind Fela’s artistic direction. Yet his connection to the venue places him in the background of a major moment in Nigerian music history. It also shows how business, property, nightlife and culture were deeply connected in Lagos.
The 1976 Political Memory
Bakare’s Ikoyi residence has also appeared in accounts of Nigeria’s 1976 military crisis, following the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed. Some accounts connect his home to Olusegun Obasanjo during that tense period.
This part of Bakare’s story reflects the circles in which he moved. He was not only a businessman at the docks, he was also a figure in Lagos elite society, where business, military service, politics and social influence often crossed paths. His name appears in these memories because he belonged to a world where private homes, political relationships and national events could become closely connected.
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Why S.B. Bakare Still Matters
S.B. Bakare’s story widens the picture of Nigerian business history. It reminds readers that wealth in Nigeria did not begin with oil blocks, banking empires, telecoms or public billionaire rankings. Before those modern markers of fortune, men like Bakare built influence through ports, labour, warehouses, property, contracts and trade.
His life also shows the importance of Lagos as a business city. The docks were not only places of physical labour, they were gateways into power. Those who understood how goods moved, how labour was organised and how contracts were secured could become major figures in the economy.
Bakare’s story is therefore not just about one man. It is about the rise of indigenous Nigerian enterprise in a commercial world still shaped by colonial structures, foreign firms and old trading networks. His career shows how Nigerian businessmen entered those spaces and created their own forms of influence.
Author’s Note
Chief S.B. Bakare’s legacy is strongest when remembered as the story of an Ilesha born soldier who became one of the major Nigerian names in Lagos dock labour contracting. His life reflects an older path to wealth, one built through discipline, labour organisation, port access, property and social standing. He did not need the exaggeration of owning Lagos ports to matter. His real achievement was that he entered one of the most important commercial spaces in Nigeria and built a name powerful enough to survive in business history, Lagos memory and the cultural story of Fela Kuti’s early Shrine years.
References
Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation, “BAKARE, Chief Saliu Mobolaji.”
Tom Forrest, The Advance of African Capital, The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise.
Nigerian Ports Authority, “Lagos Port Complex.”
Nigerian Railway Corporation, “Brief History.”
Lindsay Barrett, “Fela Kuti, Chronicle of A Life Foretold,” The Wire.
Fela Kuti official website, “1971.”
Vanguard, Femi Aribisala, “How to Become an Overnight Billionaire in Nigeria.”
The Guardian Nigeria, “Footprints of the Fathers.”
