Starting Solid … Ahmed Halilu Gets Serious with Task Ahead

HighLife

There is a time for everything: One period to accumulate capacity and experience and another time to spring up with the prowess of a heroic figure. For Ahmed Halilu, elder brother to First Lady Aisha Buhari, this is the time to burst forth with oxen strength and cheetah speed. As optimists are in the habit of declaring during such opportune times, great things are over the horizon.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Halilu to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC), the governmental institution responsible for printing Naira, where he is to serve as Managing Director (MD). This appointment was in line with the President’s attempt to consolidate his legacy as his tenure draws closer to its scheduled end. Thus, by appointing Halilu, Buhari is essentially confirming what others have said: that Halilu is what NSPMC needs to move things to the next level.

Halilu is not a novice to the functions and tasks of the Naria-printing institution. Before this appointment, he served as the acting MD and only got the nod of permanent leadership from the President following the reported approval of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele. So, it is very unlikely, as many would suppose, that Halilu would become incompetent simply because of the influence and command he now has in Nigeria.

Furthermore, Halilu is an experienced corporate executive who is not at all unfamiliar with the callings of the banking sector. Before his assignment to the hustle and bustle of business life as a staff of the NSPMC, Halilu worked with African International Bank Limited (AIB) and Zenith Bank Plc. Moreover, he is a proud member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), which is no surprise based on his active banking experience of over two decades in the banking and financial management industry.

With Halilu’s new appointment, great things are expected of him. Perhaps he will be able to crystallise the President’s expectations before the latter retires from office, thereby earning Buhari some extra points in the annals of history.