Sulaiman Adebola Adegunwa’s Rite Foods slams $1 million lawsuit on rival

Key Points

• Rite Foods files $1 million lawsuit against Mamuda Beverages, alleging trademark infringement and product design copying of its Fearless Energy Drinks.
• The lawsuit seeks $0.74 million in damages and a permanent injunction, claiming Mamuda’s Pop Power Energy Drinks confuse consumers due to similar design.
• Sulaiman Adegunwa, founder of Rite Foods, drives the company’s growth and contributes to education and healthcare in Nigeria through Essay Holdings.

Rite Foods Limited, a Nigerian food and beverage company controlled by Sulaiman Adebola Adegunwa, has filed a N1.6 billion ($1 million) lawsuit against Mamuda Beverages, accusing it of copying its product design and infringing on its trademark.

Rite Foods defends fearless brand identity

The lawsuit, filed on Apr.14 before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleges that Mamuda Beverages copied key elements of Rite Foods’ Fearless Energy Drinks, including the bottle shape, features, and brand identity. Rite Foods argues that Mamuda’s Pop Power Energy Drinks look so similar that they are causing confusion among consumers.

The company says it registered the Fearless design, featuring a distinctive lion head logo, unique bottle shape, and color scheme, under the Patents and Designs Act on August 24, 2020. According to Rite Foods, Mamuda’s 330ml Pop Power bottles are strikingly similar, down to the fine details. Some consumers, they added, even refer to Pop Power as “small Fearless,” highlighting just how closely the two products resemble each other.

As part of the suit, Rite Foods is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Mamuda from producing or selling energy drinks that mimic its design. The company is also asking for N1 billion ($741,000) in damages and N60 million ($44,500) to cover legal expenses.

Rite Foods stands firm against Mamuda

This legal clash follows an earlier dispute between the two companies. In January 2025, Rite Foods obtained an interim injunction from Justice Inyang Ekwo that temporarily halted Mamuda’s production and distribution of Pop Power. That case was later settled, with Mamuda agreeing to alter its product design.

However, Rite Foods now claims that Mamuda has gone back on its word, reintroducing a redesigned version of Pop Power that remains too similar to Fearless. That breach, they say, forced them to take the matter back to court.

Mamuda Beverages, for its part, is pushing back. It has filed a preliminary objection, arguing that the case was already resolved through a consent judgment. Justice Nwite is expected to hear the objection on May 28, when he will decide whether the new lawsuit can move forward.

Adegunwa drives Rite Foods’ growth

Behind Rite Foods’ fight is Sulaiman Adebola Adegunwa, a well-known Nigerian entrepreneur and the former chairman of Sterling Bank Plc. Through his company, Essay Holdings Limited, Adegunwa has built Rite Foods into one of the country’s leading names in food and beverage production since launching the brand in 2007.

But Adegunwa’s impact extends well beyond the business world. He has also made meaningful contributions to education and healthcare in Nigeria. In his hometown of Ososa, Ogun State, he founded the Sulaimon College of Education to expand access to higher learning. He also serves as a director at Thai Farm International Limited, a major cassava processing company.

Earlier this year, Adegunwa donated a state-of-the-art trauma center, valued at $1 million, to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) in Sagamu, Ogun State. Built in less than a year, the facility has transformed emergency healthcare services for the surrounding communities.