Like a flint on a path, young Nigerian billionaire mogul, Abdullahi Bashir Haske has always set his face in an unwavering determination to persevere in any excruciating task. To this Adamawa-born founder and Chief Executive Officer of AA&R Investments Group — an integrated firm serving a clientele across the agribusiness, oil and gas, maritime, support services and logistics, and information technology sectors— success is not judged only by what has been achieved but also by obstacle surmounted to achieve it. At just 37, Haske already wears numerous hats —serial entrepreneur, private investor and philanthropist. He is seen as one of Nigeria’s young brilliant minds whose involvement in different sectors has contributed immensely in launching the country towards economic sustainability. This he is doing through his AA&R Group, which has about 11 subsidiaries with interests covering oil & gas, marine services, aviation, agriculture, information technology and logistics services. Billionaires, it is said, aren’t made in a day; Haske has proven that he is a self-made tycoon who has methodically built his business career from a nascent enterprise —16 years ago as a general contractor— into a multi-billion naira conglomerate with tentacles spread beyond Nigeria into other African economies.

While some of his critics have attributed his success to high connections at the helm of the country’s political affairs, it is however argued that people only associate, promote, and recommend value. Indeed, his shrewd business acumen and resilience have been instrumental to his remarkable journey adorned by milestones and several firsts. While his flagship company, Etihad Oilfield Services —an indigenous oil exploration major— was credited with finding oil in Kolmani River area of Bauchi State, his recent historic acquisition of 51 per cent of the Addax oil bloc reflects the sturdy reputation he has built in the industry over the years and validates his arrival as a true magnate.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government had revoked the four licences —OML 123, 124, 126, and 137— held by Addax Petroleum because it failed to carry out work on the licences and later sold some stakes to billionaire businessman Emeka Offor’s Kaztec Engineering and another mogul, ABC Orjiakor’s Salvic Petroleum Resources at 20 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.

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Spotlight gathered that as the two much older tycoons basked in the euphoria of their presumed shrewdness and ability to acquire the stakes and lofty expectations of making extreme profit from their acquisitions, they discovered that Haske had solely acquired 51 per cent of the same oil blocs.

With just a diploma in Political Science from the University of Abuja, the young billionaire has shown his consistent entrepreneurial footprint and keeps acing the game. His recent ground breaking results are proof that Haske is an embodiment of intelligence, foresight, and hard work with a heart set out to create value. Endowed with humility and self-confidence, Haske is quite a distinctive generous young man with an enthralling and captivating personality. As much as he has been impacting quietly on the national economic level, Haske has also kept pace with his people in Adamawa, particularly the Ganye Chiefdom where he has been made the Ciroma. His humanitarian gesture among Muslims and Christians has being the source of inspiration to all and sundry. It was learnt that at the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown last year, a total of 14,000 residents of Adamawa State from over 21 local governments benefitted from Haske’s philanthropy, as the foundation gave out palliatives to help lessen the effect of the pandemic on indigents.