It is not really commonplace to find the virtue of humility in the lives of many of the affluent. For business mogul, Alhaji Awwal Garba, his life is a marked exception because of the way he was brought up. Whether it was his late father –an astute businessman and traditional title holder of Talban Kano, a kingmaker— or his late dad’s friends, who include the late MKO Abiola, Maitama Sule and Ibrahim Babangida, they all attested to the importance of the virtue already instilled in him. Garba also admits that life itself equally taught him about humility. With that humble disposition and entrepreneurial drive, Garba has turned a highly self-motivated figure with an unbridled and a fervent desire to change the business narratives in ways that will benefit indigenous players and the lives of his countrymen in Nigeria. Like his late father with a wide spread interests in commodity trading, exports and imports, it may not be out of place to say that Garba cut his entrepreneurial teeth under the tutelage of his late father. His own major areas of business interests cut across sectors like telecommunications, power, finance, management consulting, marine, oil and gas exploration and production (OEP), oil refinery and real estate development, among others. As a major player in the global oil and gas sector, with particular interest in Nigeria, Garba has been discovering untapped resources within the sector upon which he has over the years, successfully built his chain of business interests, under the Magma Group. As an entrepreneur with an innate ability to sniff out business opportunities where many cannot, Garba has excelled in countless ventures and investments, especially within the oil and gas sector.
In his core area of specialization—oil exploration—with eight assets so far, Garba is building a 100,000 bpd refinery in Akwa Ibom State at the moment, on a 100-hectare land, close to Exxon Mobil, while also negotiating three marginal oilfields from oil mill 370 with Exxon Mobil.
Spotlight gathered that in the gas sector, his company, Magma Gas and Power Spectrum has made proposals to the Brass LNG, into which alongside his technical partners, they are ready to commit over $1 billion into the project, help cut the issue of oil importation and also provide 300,000 jobs for skilled and unskilled workers in Akwa Ibom. Through his Oil and Gas subsidiaries, Garba has assets in Angola, South Sudan, and Liberia, with offices in Paris, France, Madrid, Spain and facility in Amsterdam from where they distribute finished products all over the world. A de-tribalised Nigerian who sees his country as his constituency, Garba, through his investments has been building bridges. A unique vehicle with which he is stoking the embers of patriotism is ‘Game Changer’, a media established to ensure that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration continues to change the whole game; from agriculture, corruption to healthcare and very importantly, to unite Nigerians and give them a sense of belonging. It is not surprising then that he has been honored with the prestigious traditional titles of Galadima Talban and Talban Dan Hausa Daura. Garba spent his early years in Kano, where he had his early education and later the United Kingdom.
A Nigerian and British-trained Economist of a rare kind, Garba attended the Bayero University Kano and the City University, London, United Kingdom, tucking two degrees in his kitty from these institutions. A member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Garba is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Business Management, UK.