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FMC, Bida gets new Head of Admin
From Haruna Abubakar, Minna
The Federal Medical Centre, Bida, Niger state has announced the appointment of Alhaji Musa Ladan as the substantive head of administration of the federal tertiary health institution.
A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Centre, Mr. Ezekiel Ojimi said the appointment of Alhaji Ladan was approved by the Minister of Health (State), “consequent upon satisfactory performance at the interview conducted for the post of Head of Administration on 31/3/26)”.
Speaking during his maiden attendance of the Principal Officers Committee (POC) meeting, the new head of administration pledged to justify his appointment by working towards restructuring the administrative machinery of the Centre for higher levels of efficiency, effectiveness and enhanced service delivery, and in the overall interest of the Centre and its stakeholders.
Until his appointment, Alhaji Ladan was a Chief Administrative Officer (Special Duties) at FMC Bida.
He was one time the Director General/Head, Speech writing in the office of the immediate past governor of Niger state.
Ezekwesili awarded Honorary Degree by University of Essex
By Mustapha Suleiman
Co-founder of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign and former Vice-President of the World Bank’s Africa Region Obiageli Ezekwesili has been awarded an honorary degree by the University of Essex.
The university said she was awarded the honorary degree for her outstanding work to achieve reform, combat corruption and promote transparency which mirrors Essex’s commitment to nurture positive change, justice and fairness.
The honorary degree was presented to her during the university`s ceremony for finance and accounting students graduating from Essex Business School.
Obiageli told those that attended the ceremony that she was inspired by the same ideals as those celebrated in the University of Essex’s motto: “Thought the harder – heart the keener”.
She said her own father had taught her that the quality of a human being depended on the quality of their thought and that “when your mind produces thoughts your heart must put them into action”.
She added: “Graduates of Essex Business School I am sure will understand that no longer does anyone care just about the extent of your skills. Ultimately it is now about your character. Good governance depends on the quality of character of the people who lead us – whether that is as leaders of government, business or society.”
Obiageli is currently Senior Advisor of the African Economic Development Policy Initiative incubated at the Open Society Foundations.
Holding a Masters in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, she began her career as a qualified chartered accountant with Deloitte and has served as Director of the Harvard-Nigeria Economic Strategy Program in Boston and Abuja.
Professor Neil Kellard, Head of the Finance Group at Essex Business School, paid tribute to Oby during his oration. He said: “Her diligence in reform, and exposing corruption mirrors Essex’s commitment to change, justice and fairness.”
He added: “We celebrate today a woman who pushes political and ideological boundaries for education and equality. We celebrate today a woman who challenges corruption and encourages transparency.”
ABU gets first prof of comparative literature
By Mustapha Suleiman
The senate of Ahmadu Bello University has approved the promotion of Dr Abubakar
Aliyu Liman as Professor of comparative literature and popular culture.
Professor Liman who is presently Head of the institution’s department of English has now become the first professor of comparative literature and popular culture.
Professor liman who hails from Gusau in Zamfara state was born in 1962 into the
family of Gidan liman- the chief Imam of Gusau.
He attended kanwuri primary school Gusau from where he was admitted into Halliru
Abdul College, Birnin kebbi, in 1975 where he graduated in 1980.
Professor Liman obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Usmanu Danfodio
University Sokoto in 1989 from where he proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria for his Masters degree in English and Drama which he bagged in 1993.
After obtaining his MA degree, he was employed at the university’s defunct center for cultural studies from where he was moved to the English department where he rose to his present rank.
Professor Liman obtained his Ph.D degree from the same department in 2008 and
became a reader in 2011.
He is a consultant for Universal Basic Education and an external examiner for Bayero University Kano and other several institutions. He is also the recipient of America council of learned societies award and the African studies Association fellow.
Babs Omotowa hands over to Tony Attahs
By Mohammed Shosanya, Lagos
The Board of Directors of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has approved Tony Attah as successor to Babs Omotowa as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
The company under his watch became the highest corporate tax paying organisation in Sub-Sahara Africa, and a major contributor to the Nigerian economy.
Omotowa who was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited by the NLNG Board in December 2011 will be sorely missed for his uncommon vision, professionalism, compassion and commitment.
His successor, Tony Attah will be taking over from Omotowa after returning from an assignment at Shell’s Group Integrated Gas business as Senior Projects Advisor, working on projects in The Netherlands and Singapore. He was Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) before then.
He comes to NLNG with a 28 year experience in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. A trained mechanical engineer and an MBA holder, Attah started his career in Sokoto Cement Company as a Maintenance and Operations Shift Supervisor.
He joined Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 1991, working in various technical and management roles in Field Maintenance, Production Operations, Core Engineering and Major Projects Commissioning, Rotating Equipment Engineering etc. He was also once Head of Joint Venture Economics in Commercial.
Between 2005 and 2007, Attah managed the Soku Gas Plant as Asset Superintendent and Operations Manager of the initial NLNG gas supply as well as NLNG Train 3 construction works.
He oversaw the operation-readiness of other petroleum and natural-gas production projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and the start-up of a liquefied-natural-gas extraction system north of the Russian Pacific island of Sakhalin as the Regional Manager Operations Readiness and Assurance – Account manager for EPG Africa projects and Russia Sakhalin OR&A.
In 2009, he was appointed General Manager Western Location & Sustainable Development – External Focus; and in 2010, he became the Vice President (VP), Health Safety, Environment, Sustainable development & Corporate Affairs including Communications, Crisis and Reputation Management.
In 2013, he was appointed the Vice President HR Shell Sub Saharan Africa, maintaining the business competitive edge through talent development, resourcing and providing support to the business.
In 2014, Attah assumed the position of Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), in addition to his role as VP HR.
He was responsible for SNEPCo’s offshore business integration and leadership, and managing a network of external and internal stakeholder.