Council celebrates pioneer director Ahmed Waziri at 60

The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has celebrated its pioneer director at the Executive Secretary’s Office (ESO), Alhaji Ahmed Mustafa Waziri, for reaching the peak of his career at 60.

Waziri joined the NSDC 22 years ago as the pioneer head of its public affairs directorate; and retired as director in charge of the Executive Secretary’s Office (ESO).

In a nostalgic ceremony attended by management and staff of the council in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the council, Mr Kamar Bakrin, described Mr Waziri as “a master backroom strategist,” with “an incredible ability to navigate and get things done.”

He described the celebrant as “one of the most effective people I have met in my sojourn in public service,” adding, “This effectiveness I speak of, has many branches. He is without any doubt in my mind the most punctual person you can have.”

The executive secretary linked Mr Waziri’s effectiveness and punctuality in civil service to his family background and upbringing, saying: “Alhaji Waziri comes from a long line of prime ministers from the Adamawa emirate and he has consistently lived true to this family name. He is indeed a trusted adviser.”

An indigene of Yola in Adamawa State, Waziri was among the first set of the Mass Communication Department of the University of Maiduguri, who graduated in 1987.

After graduation, Mr Waziri joined the sugar industry in 1988 as an Assistant Public Relations Officer at the then Savannah Sugar Company Limited in Adamawa state.

He was posted to Lagos state as an Area Administration Manager between 1990 and 1992; and rose to become the Public Relations Manager and Head of the Public Relations Unit of the company from 1992 to July 2001. He was later transferred to Abuja as Area Manager and subsequently joined the NSDC as chief information officer and pioneer head of its public affairs unit in 2002.

At the sugar council, Mr Waziri served and worked under the leadership of all the executive secretaries of the NSDC, starting from Yakubu Tsala; to Dr Latif Busari, who took the public affairs unit to higher heights; to Dr Zacch Adedeji, who promoted him to a director; and to Mr Bakrin, who converted the Executive Secretary’s Office (ESO) into a full-fledged department.