Engineer Abdullahi Sule, could be described as one of the few Technocrats in Politics. Born December 26, 1959, Sule has deployed his experience as a Registered Engineer into the administration of the rapidly developing North central state, Nasarawa.
Interestingly, Engr. Sule is also a Nigerian entrepreneur, businessman who ventured into politics. He is the serving Governor of Nasarawa State, an election he won under the platform of the All Progressive Congress.
Engr. Sule is the fourth democratically elected Governor in Nasarawa state, a position he has held since 2019, leveraging on the agricultural potentials of the State in many ways. Nasarawa State is blessed with agriculture as the mainstay of its economy with the production of varieties of cash crops throughout the year. It also contains various minerals such as salt, baryte, and bauxite, which are mostly mined by artisanal miners.
As an agrarian State with good climatic condition and soil texture, Governor Sule’s Administration has embarked on some giant strides in the agricultural sector. He signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Flour Mills of Nig. Plc. and Azman Rice Mills and Farms Ltd for rice, sugar and cassava production.
In addition, Nasarawa State Government has concluded arrangements to secure 20,000 hectares of land around Umaisha, Toto Local Government Area for Flour Mills of Nig. Plc. for processing and production of cassava and sugarcane.
Prior to his emergence as the Governor of Nasarawa state, Abdullahi Sule worked at the Jos Steel Rolling Mill in 1985 as a Production Engineer. In 1989, he returned to the United States where he worked for several companies (Lancer Corporation, OEM component and Osyka Corporation among others) before returning to Nigeria in 2000. On his return to Nigeria, he co-founded Sadiq Petroleum Nigeria Limited in Lagos and was made the Managing Director/CEO. Under his leadership, the company won a bid to acquire African Petroleum (AP) Plc and he became the CEO of AP in 2001.
On June 21st, prior to his gubernatorial ambition in 2018, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc. announced Abdullahi Sule as the substantive Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Company.
Despite the clear understanding of the challenges that laid ahead, Abdullahi Sule sought the mandate of his people in Nasarawa to become their Governor for four years, and undauntedly, he may run for an additional four years, making eight.
He took on the pertinent challenges and the imperatives of good governance for socio-economic development of Nasarawa State.
Though let us state at this juncture that one year is not enough to assess the success of any administration in Nigeria, neither is it sufficient to assess any such as his, whose Government was greeted with peculiar challenges. However Governor Sule has ensured his Administration imbibes the culture and principles of transparency, accountability and due process in the management of our resources.
Assuredly Governor Sule has served his people diligently and selflessly through deliberate policies and execution programmes that will bring development to all the crannies of the State. With the aid of worthy lieutenants, Governor Sule’s administration has committed itself to complete all ongoing projects initiated by the previous Administration in the State. This has turned around the fortunes of the State.
Knowing how key security is, Governor Abdullahi Sule has taken the bull by the horn, so has to enhance socio-economic development of the State. Development partners can only key into the State’s development agenda in an atmosphere of peace and order, so by this Governor Sule immediately swung into action on security as soon as he was sworn into office. He visited Benue State in order to resolve the border crisis and met many times with the security chiefs, leaders of Fulanis, Tivs, Alagos and other ethnic groups.
It is for this reason that approval has been granted for the establishment of Military Super Camps at Kenyehu and Udege in Toto and Nasarawa Local Government Areas respectively in order to reduce the upsurge of criminal elements in the State. Under his watch, Nasarawa State Government has increased the number of security personnel on the highways and major towns in the State. The State Government hosted the North Central Zone security summit in Lafia and established a Mobile Police Training School in Nasarawa Eggon, as well as an additional Squadron in Toto.
His administration has empowered a lot of women and youths in Nasarawa State. Distribution of sewing and grinding machines to some selected youths and women across the State, is numerous. He said this is a deliberate effort towards the empowering of our youths and women in line with his Government’s policies and programmes geared towards wealth creation, employment generation and poverty alleviation in the State.
Youths in Nasarawa have been trained on the Compressed Earth Brick Making and Laying programme initiated to impart vocational skills for self-reliance. At the end of the training programme, the State Government issued forty-one (41) fabricated machines to enterprise groups where two hundred and forty-six (246) young men and women in a ratio of six to one (6/1) benefited across the State.
Similarly, his Government has completed and equipped the Lafia Institute of Technical Education, aimed at imparting necessary vocational skills to our youth and women, including those who could not have the privilege of formal or pursuing higher education.
Pensioners in Nasarawa State have never had it easier than these times, under Governor Sule. He has improved the living standard of these people, restoring the 100% payment of monthly pension to the State retirees.
Likewise, a review of the State’s Public Service Structure has re-focused and revitalized the sector for effective and efficient service delivery. The State has adopted most of the recommendations by a Committee set up to look into the State’s Civil Service Structure and streamlined Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the State.
Under his leadership, the Tourism potential of Nasarawa State is being revamped. The State is home to the Farin Ruwa Falls in the Wamba Local Government area of the state. Farin Ruwa falls is reputed to be one of the highest falls in Africa.
The State also has the Salt Village in the Keana Local Government Area of the State. It produces naturally iodized salt from the lake located near it. The town is also one of the cradles of Alago civilization, one of the major ethnic groups in the state.
Another tourist site in Nasarawa State is the Maloney Hill. Here is a view of keffi town and a beautiful sunset at Maloney Hill.
His Administration remains resolute in its commitment to open our rural areas for enhanced economic activities. Therefore, the State Government has embarked on the construction of Agwade-Shupe-Atabula-Obi, Shabu-Doka-Arugba-Lakio, Kanje-Abuni and Kagbu A-Atsoko-Wana roads, which are at various stages of completion.
Nasarawa state is home to cradles of knowledge such as College of Education in Akwanga; Federal polytechnic Nasarawa; College of Agriculture in Lafia; Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia, Nasarawa State University Faculty of Agriculture Lafia Campus, a newly established Federal University of Lafia, Bingham University Karu, NACAP polytechnic Akwanga, among other Vocational And Relevant technology based institutions.
