By Ibraheem Hamza Muhammad, Abuja
- He was born on 15th April, 1938 in Wamba, now a local government area in Nasarawa State.
- He started seeking for knowledge at a Quranic school in Lafia before he was enrolled in elementary school. He was the first from West Africa to study Journalism in Germany and worked at Nigerian Embassy in Germany and later studied in Russia.
- As a teenager, his first entrepreneurship was buying and selling tin, he bought 1 bicycle for hire, gave somebody to manage it and they multipled. He bought shares in Banks, had franchise for aviation spare parts, established carpet factory that was exporting abroad.
- He bought his first private jet before his 40th birthday, when his first daughter, Amina was 4 years old.
- He built Community Secondary School, Wamba, but government took it over and renamed it, Government Science School, Wamba.
- The philanthropist sponsored many to study within and outside the country.
- He solely sponsored Mighty Jets Football Club, Jos and was the first to hire a foreigner as Technical Adviser in Nigeria and sponsored the team to travel for continental championships from his purse.
- He was a founder and financier of NPN and nominated late President Shehu Shagari to become President in 1979. He was also amongst founders of PDP and lately APC.
- He said he was lucky, that he was visiting the family of his wife in Liberia, when President Shagari was toppled and he was amongst those declared wanted, he went to London on exile and he was the one that reported the kidnap of his friend, Alhaji Umaru Dikko before he was intercepted from taken to Nigeria.
- He died on August 16th, 2025 in Abuja and his funeral was attended by many distinguished personalities. His long time friend, the immediate past President of Ghana, Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo visited the family for two consecutive days to condole the family.
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