Sani Lugga: Celebrating tenth year as Wazirin Katsina

He is the third Waziri of Katsina from the family of his grandfather, the late Sheikh Haruna, the first Wazirin Katsina. Lugga is now the fifth in the history chain of the title.Others that held the title included his uncle, the late Alhaji Waziri Isa Kaita, the former Minister of Education; the late Waziri Zayyana […]

He is the third Waziri of Katsina from the family of his grandfather, the late Sheikh Haruna, the first Wazirin Katsina. Lugga is now the fifth in the history chain of the title.
Others that held the title included his uncle, the late Alhaji Waziri Isa Kaita, the former Minister of Education; the late Waziri Zayyana and the late Waziri Dr. Zayyad.
At the celebration, Islamic scholars including chief imams of various Juma’at mosques conducted special prayers for peace and stability in the emirate, the state and the country in general.
Speaking at the ceremony, Lugga said: “I personally observed that giving the insecurity situation in the country, I feel the best I could do is to invite Ulama to pray for peace in Nigeria. By doing this, I feel satisfied that I celebrated my 10th anniversary on the throne of Wazirin Katsina.”
He described the title of Waziri as challenging and thanked God for giving him the courage to continue to supervise the office with ease to enable him to contribute positively to humanity.
Lugga, a senior member of the Katsina Emirate Council, was appointed as the fifth Waziri of Katsina by the late Emir of Katsina, Alhaji  Muhammad Kabir Usman, on Saturday,  October 26,  2002 but he was traditionally turbaned on Saturday, December 28, 2002.
Humble and intelligent, Lugga has an interesting history and compelling story from his childhood till date.
Born on the 28th of August, 1950 in Katsina, his early upbringing rimed with the then Hausa tradition of yaye (weaning of a child by an elderly woman).
As a toddler, he was mostly under the care of his maternal grandmother’s sister, a learned elderly Islamic scholar called Malama Aisha Sodai. Young Sani Lugga was then taken back to his parents at the age of seven after the mandatory initial Qur’an education and was enrolled into the primary school by his father. He continued with Islamic studies alongside the ‘formal’ or western education.
As a sign of his academic excellence, during his formal education period, the Waziri of Katsina obtained the West African School Certificate (WASC) with credits in all his subjects from the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina (now Government College, Katsina) in 1968.He had the option of going for the Higher School Certificate course, which would lead to a University Degree program or to go for a Diploma course. He chose the latter and was admitted into the College of Agriculture of present day Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He never stopped there; his quest for more knowledge grew with utmost desire to know more. That further made him to enroll into the Kaduna Polytechnic, where he obtained an ND in Marketing. Again he proceeded to the Institute of Manufacturing, Warwickshire, England for a Diploma in Manufacturing and later to Germany for a Certificate in Management from Kabelmetal Electro Training.
His quest for further knowledge again made him to go and study for a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (Executive Program) at the University of Ilorin for 1998/99. He again pursued a double degree program from St. Clemens University, which is an accredited member of the British Association for open learning, London, and the World Association of Universities and Colleges, Washington DC. He also added another Master and Doctorate Degrees in Management in 2002 and 2003 respectively from the St. Clemens University.
Dr. Sani Lugga has many professional qualifications. He is a fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Management, Chartered Institute of Commerce of Nigeria, Fellow Institute of Industrialist and Corporate Administrators, Fellow Institute of Management Consultants, Fellow Institute of Professional Financial Managers of Nigeria, Member British Institute of Manufacturing, Member American Institute of Management and Member of the Nigerian Marketing Association.
His working career had been rewarding, he is indeed an embodiment of experience as well. He went through the straight and narrow path of serving and assisting different organizations and sectors to grow to enviable heights in the course of his career.
He started as a humble teacher with the Katsina Native Authority Education Department in 1969, he then moved to the then North Central State Ministry of Agriculture as an Agricultural Assistant Officer from 1971-1973.After his NYSC scheme at the Sokoto-Rima River Basin Development Authority, he joined the Arewa Consultancy Center, Kaduna as an Agro Marketing Services Executive in 1978.
He worked for the famous German based Northern Cable Processing and Manufacturing Company LTD, (NOCACO) Kaduna, where he rose to a general management position. In fact, he became the first Nigerian to attain that. He also worked at Sambo Farms LTD, Funtua amongst other organizations.
After voluntary retirement, in 1992, he went into private business, from there got some appointments. He served in various capacities, both in government and at community levels. One crystal and sterling example is the fact that, as a Trustee and Secretary General of Katsina Islamic Foundation, he shouldered the main responsibility of establishing the first community owned Islamic University in Nigeria, amongst other great feats in the area of service to humanity.
He has authored and co-authored several publications. He also has several meritorious awards and prizes from several organizations both local and international.