Lifetime Achievement Award
Sani Bello
Oil Magnate and former governor of Kano State
By Tosin Ajirire
Former governor of Kano State and oil magnate, Col. Sani Bello (retd) is an elder statesman with a heart of gold. A man of the people, he has positively impacted his home base, Kontagora, Niger State, and beyond.
At almost 80, one would think age would slow down this entrepreneur cum philanthropist, who retired from the Nigerian Army in 1979. But like old wine that tastes better with age, Bello has continued to wax stronger in various spheres of endeavour.
To Bello, age is just a number and retirement is the beginning of active years. Ever since he was appointed chairman, Board of the defunct Continental Merchant Bank in 1982, three years after quitting the army, Bello has been active in the corporate world. He has sat on the boards of several blue chip companies such as MTN Nigeria, Dantata & Sawoe Construction, Mainstream Energy Solutions and Law, Union & Rock Insurance.
A lover of knowledge, Bello’s investment in education cuts across many states of the federation. He established a model nursery and primary school in his hometown in 1981. The school has since metamorphosed into a bigger institution called Mustafa Comprehensive School. He also founded Sani Bello Vocational Training Centre, Kontagora.
He put an icing on the cake of his investments in education with the establishment of Sani Bello University located in the heart of Kontagora, Niger State.
Bello hit gold when he founded Amni International Petroleum Development Company, an indigenous oil exploration conglomerate. Having been blessed with enormous wealth, the amiable billionaire established Sani Bello Foundation through which he has touched many souls and changed several lives for the better. Aside from granting scholarships to indigent students up to university level, the foundation has equally been providing loans and grants to young Nigerian entrepreneurs.
For his statesmanship and investments in the lives of Nigerians, Bello, who is the father to the governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, is the worthy winner of The Sun Lifetime Achievement Award.