By Abdul Mohammed Lawal.
Every generation leaves behind a few people whose influence goes far beyond their own lifetime. Some are remembered for politics or business, while others for traditional leadership or public service. Then there are those whose greatest legacy is the example they set. For many people in Ankpa, Alhaji Usman Yahaya, widely known as Yaman, belonged to that rare category.
When he passed away, tributes poured in from every direction. People spoke about his generosity, his business empire, and the remarkable life he built from humble beginnings. I wanted to write this piece immediately, but I decided to wait until the emotions settled. His story deserved more than another tribute.
Yaman was one of the few names that defined wealth in his generation. Only a handful of businessmen in Igalaland were mentioned alongside him. But what separated him from many successful businessmen was not simply the amount of money he made. It was the discipline with which he made, managed, and protected it.
Most of the wealthy men of that generation came from very modest backgrounds. Many never had the opportunity to receive formal education. Yet they built business empires whose influence reached far beyond Kogi State. Looking at what they achieved, one may even begin to wonder whether formal education alone has ever been the key to financial success. But they also understood what they had missed too. They knew that education and business wisdom together would produce something even greater. That is why they invested heavily in the education of their children.
One memory has remained with many people who grew up around Ankpa.
Almost every school morning, Alhaji Usman Yahaya would drive his pickup van from Odagba to Ankpa with his younger children on their way to school. Along the road, he stopped in village after village to pick up other pupils and students wearing school uniforms. It was never just about giving people a ride, and he gradually came to know many of those children by name. If someone who usually stood by the roadside was absent, he noticed. The next time he saw the child, he would ask why they had missed school.
That simple daily routine revealed the value he placed on education. He believed that investing in young people was as important as investing in business.
His business story was equally remarkable. From a modest beginning in Odagba, he built Yaman Oil into a recognised name, with filling stations spread across different parts of Nigeria. Through Yaman Motors, his famous fleet of 911 lorries transported agricultural produce and traders from markets such as Afor Gam-Gam and many others to different parts of the country.
Behind that success was not luck.
It was trust.
Older businessmen often tell the story of his early years in the transport business. At the time, trusted middlemen introduced promising young traders to established Igbo businessmen who imported vehicles. A buyer would pay part of the cost of a lorry and be allowed to repay the balance over time. That was how Yaman began. As the years passed, he handled more and more transactions. Eventually, the businessman supplying the vehicles reportedly lost track of how much Yaman still owed because of the volume of business he was doing at that time.
Many people would have taken advantage of such a situation, but he did not. Instead, he returned and paid every kobo he owed.
That single decision changed everything. He earned a level of trust that money alone could never buy. Soon, the businessman was willing to release as many vehicles as needed into his care because he knew that Yaman’s word was stronger than any written agreement. And, his business empire continued to grow because his reputation grew first.
In those days, trust was often more valuable than start-up capital. Perhaps the greatest lesson he left behind was his attitude towards money itself.
Like people close to Yaman would say, he disliked waste, no matter how small. People often recall how he would not tolerate children wasting sachets of water that sold for just five naira. To many people, it looked insignificant and they may just laugh it off. To him, it was not about five naira, it was about developing the habit of respecting value. He understood that financial discipline is not built through big decisions alone. It begins with the small choices people make every day.
That mindset explains why his generation created wealth that lasted. His illustrious sons like Alhaji Abubakar Yahaya, Esq. is proof of that.
Today, conversations about wealth often focus on how quickly money can be made. Social media celebrates luxury, while discipline is rarely celebrated. But the lives of men like Alhaji Usman Yahaya remind us that lasting wealth is built on honesty, patience, trust, consistency, and the ability to protect resources from unnecessary waste.
Many people will remember him as one of Ankpa’s richest businessmen.
That is true.
But perhaps his greatest achievement was something even more valuable.
He taught an entire generation that wealth is not simply measured by what you own. It is measured by the discipline with which you build it, the integrity with which you protect it, and the values you leave behind for others to follow.
Adieu, Alhaji Usman Yahaya (Yaman).
Your lessons will live on.
