[3] Alakija started her 12-year banking career in 1974 as an executive secretary at Sijuade Enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria.

[16] The license to explore for oil on a 617,000-acre block, about 100 km offshore of Nigeria, in the Agbami Field, was granted to Alakija's company, Famfa Limited.

[21][22] On 17 July 2021, Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, conferred on her an honorary doctorate degree in business administration.

[25] Alakija has donated a skills acquisition center to Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), a higher educational institution located in Lagos.

[30] In June 2017, their son, Folarin Alakija, married Iranian model Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifar.