In the history of Nigerian politics and governance, very few people can compare to President Bola Tinubu when the issue borders on headhunting talents and people with unusual capacities to engender growth and development. From his time as Lagos State Governor to when he was the main figure of the opposition in Nigeria, President Tinubu’s knack for peopling his team with exceptional brains has always received resounding and recurring mentions. In fact, his ascendancy to Nigeria’s Number One Citizen was deeply rooted in his broad network across the length and breadth of Nigeria.
The news therefore of President Tinubu’s appointment of the pioneer GCEO of Matrix Energy Group, Abdulkabir Aliu as a member of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PEEC) in a strategic move to bolster the nation’s economic governance framework and ensure robust and coordinated economic planning and implementation, would not come to many as a surprise. Chaired by the President himself who has Vice President Kashim Shettima as Vice-Chairman, this apex council has Senate President, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, twelve key ministers and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, representing the public sector; while Aliu joined Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Segun Agbaje and few others from the organised private sector.
Aliu’s membership of the economic council is a testament to his proven capacity, character and competence, which have been demonstrated for about two decades in the nation’s energy sector. An experienced graduate of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, who has successfully steered the affairs of Matrix Energy Group from its foundational days till now when the Group has assumed a multi-dimensional conglomerate status.
Matrix Energy Group is a rapidly growing indigenous and integrated Oil Marketing and Trading Company in Nigeria, which was incorporated on November 25, 2004. Over the years, Matrix Energy has grown from a modest supply and distribution operation to a fully integrated petroleum products marketing and trading company with clients and suppliers all over the world. Under his leadership, it took less than 10 years of operation for Matrix to be listed as one of Nigeria’s 100 best-performing businesses in Nigeria.
Aliu has since taken the Group beyond expectations. He has proven himself a professional in business development and also possesses diverse competencies cutting across the spectrum of Engineering, Finance, Trading and Logistics. A visionary and leader of repute, he has wide experience; he is a humanitarian par excellence whose philanthropic exploits have provided succour and scholarships to tens of thousands of people and indigent students respectively, through his Abdulkabir Aliu Foundation.
With this national call on him, not a few believe that Aliu would selflessly give his best and help President Tinubu chart a vibrant course for Nigeria’s journey towards economic recovery and prosperity.
