Tribute to a genius and versatile engineer

Sikirat Shehu The death of Engineer (Dr) Mohammed Sambo Shehu will never be forgotten. Inna Lillahi Wainna Ilaihi Rajiun. It was a painful exit! So unbelievable that I bid you farewell, dear brother. It is hard to believe that you were shrouded in an ordinary clothing material and committed to mother earth for a journey […]

Sikirat Shehu

The death of Engineer (Dr) Mohammed Sambo Shehu will never be forgotten. Inna Lillahi Wainna Ilaihi Rajiun. It was a painful exit! So unbelievable that I bid you farewell, dear brother. It is hard to believe that you were shrouded in an ordinary clothing material and committed to mother earth for a journey of no return.

Of course, it is a truism that death is inevitable but yours came as a rude shock on 23 December 2021, and only God could fill the vacuum created by your brief earthly sojourn.

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Like a soothing balm, it is comforting that you touched a number of lives in different positive ways, thus, making your abrupt exit a colossal loss. Thank goodness for you lived an exemplary life as a philanthropist, which you did with utmost humility.

And it is incontrovertible that your departure at prime caused a sore for humanity and left behind a tell-tale of sorrow and agony. 

May the Almighty Allah grant you eternal rest in Jannah and be categorized among those whose earthly inadequacies would be expeditiously forgiven, for He remains the forgiver of sins.

As it is the wish of people around you that you enjoy longevity of life, one must be constantly reminded that from Allah we came and to Him is our return.  

Missing you is forever, dear brother!

Late Engineer (Dr) Mohammed Sambo Shehu was born in June 1962 in Zaria, Kaduna State. He had his elementary education in Magwan Primary Nasarawa, Kano State, from 1966 to 1969.

Mohammed continued his primary school education at St. Bartholomew’s Boarding Primary School, Wusasa, Zaria from 1970 to 1975 where he obtained his first School Leaving Certificate.

Between 1975 and 1980, he was at Government College Kaduna where he successfully passed his West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE). From there, he proceeded to Katsina College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, for his advanced level studies and then sat for the Interim Joint Management Board (IJMB) examination in 1982, which he passed in flying colours. This gave him admission into the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from where he graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree (B.Eng) in Civil Engineering.

He started his working career in 1986 as a Youth Corps Member posted to Potiskum, Borno State, to serve with the now defunct Directorate for Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI). On completion of his Youth Service in 1987, he secured employment as a Pupil Engineer with Hassan and Partners, a multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm. By sheer hard work and resourcefulness, he rose through the ranks to become Head, Structural Engineering Section of the firm.

In 1991, he attended a course on Dam Safety, Design and Construction, at the National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna, where he obtained a National Certificate.

His interest in the field started to develop during his Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) at Ladion Associates and Yaroson and Partners between 1984 and 1985. Late Mohammed attended several courses, which exposed him to current development in the engineering profession. 

Desirous of more qualifications, he resigned from Hassan and Partners in 1992 with the aim of pursuing his master’s degree but the admission had lapsed before he was released by his company. He then joined Morgan, Omonitan and Associate Consulting Firm in late 1992 where he distinguished himself and became an Associate Partner in charge of the Northern offices of the firm.

In 1996, after a brilliant career marked by landmark achievements and morale boosting commendations in all the places he had worked, he branched out in 2001 to become the funding member of Shelter Engineers, a civil structural engineering consulting firm where he functioned as the principal partner.

With specialization in Structural and Infrastructure/Environmental Engineering, he had designed and supervised countless structures and infrastructure in different parts of the country ranging from institutional, religious, commercial, residential, industrial structures, treatment plants, roads and highways, railway realignment, planning and costing for both urban and rural settings among others.

Over the years, he assisted in solving so many design and construction problems in technically demanding structures which earned him a special place in the league of top architects in Nigeria.

Highly computer literate, he utilized that ability in his structural design and planning immensely. He was a registered member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and also belonged to other professional bodies.

On account of his outstanding performance and immense contribution to nation building through the field of engineering, Mohammed was recognized and honoured within and outside the country. He was a recipient of ‘Distinguished Leadership in National Development Gold Award by Corporate and Media Africa Communications Limited, due to his contribution to the Socio-Economic development in Nigeria; Honorary Degree in Business Administration from Cornerstone University and Theological Seminary, USA and Israel; West Africa Integrity Gold Award by Going Africa News Magazine and Maracas International News Magazine, to mention a few.

He was an ardent sports’ lover with penchant for watching documentary and reading.

Late Mohammed Sambo Shehu is survived by his aged mother, Alhaja Sulaiyat Shehu; wife, Alhaja Rabiat Moh’d Sambo; siblings—Alhaja Salmata, Alhaja Rabiat, Alhaja Raliat, Mr. Yekeen, Mr Usman, Engr Ariyo, Alhaja Sidikat, Mrs Kudirat, Mr. Lanre, Mr. Habeeb, Azumi Shehu, Risikat, Hajarah, Sikirat, Musleemah, Safurat and Shifau Shehu.

His children include Muneerah, Rukayah, Hameed, Abdulmalik and Sulaiyah Mohammed Sambo while grand children are Aishat, Ahmad, Mohammed Sambo and Mohammed Solihu.

Sikirat Shehu writes from Ilorin, Kwara State