Abdullahi Aliyu
Abdullahi Aliyu: Man With A Mission
Abdullahi Aliyu, director-general and chief executive of the Family Economic Advancement Programme, FEAP, is one man who has distinguished himself as a towering success in any endeavour he finds himself. From the way he speaks and relates, picking his words carefully, one cannot come away with the fact that he is face to face with a seasoned engineer, technocrat and an academic who is very much at home with his job as chief executive of FEAP.
For almost two years now, Aliyu has been at the helm of affairs at the Family Economic Advancement Programme, translating into realities the dreams of the initiators of the programme. FEAP, a programme initiated by Nigeria's First Lady, Maryam Abacha, was conceptualised to take advantage of the relative stability on the economic front to lay a foundation for development of the economic potentials of the people.
The self-effacing Aliyu contends that FEAP seeks to confront the problems of poverty in all the states of the federation and would seek ways of alleviating such problems as lack of capital, technology, co-operative enterprise and collaterals. Already, the barely two-year-old programme has commenced collaborative arrangements with local governments, participating banks, machinery fabricators and leaders of co-operative societies. Aliyu said FEAP had commenced its target programme of loan disbursement and establishment of cottage industries all over the country.
Under the scheme, every ward of the federation is expected to have an industrial project costing up to N500,000 and 15 other projects costing about N50,000.00 each. More so, a total of 15,000.00 big and small projects and cottage industries are expected to be established in 1998. Aliyu is one public servant who knows what it takes to move an organisation to greater heights. His immediate concern is to consolidate the progress so far made by FEAP, and seek to establish a real agenda for the economic emancipation of Nigeria.
Aliyu holds a bachelor of science degree, first class, in mechanical engineering and two master's degrees in engineering mathematics and production management. He also has a doctorate in engineering. The former boss of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, and a member of the erstwhile Vision 2010 Committee calls on Nigerian youths to see education as the only tool to liberation and a sure means of livelihood.
Aliyu, who loves writing, says he gives thanks to God for his moderate achievements. He calls on the public to have confidence in FEAP and support the programme in its entirety.
Newswatch June 29, 1998
" Newswatch 1998