Abbas Umar Masanawa: A public servant blazing the trail in service to his nation

 

 

When Mr. Abbas Umar Masanawa assumed office as Managing Director of Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) on August 2018, the Mint company was just recovering from being a moribund organization burdened on all sides with heavy losses.

Since 2018, the Mint company grew from a loss position of N14.6million in 2014 to a profit position of N14.3billion in 2018.

Expressly and evidently, immediately Mr. Abbas Umar Masanawa took over the mantle of leadership of the Mint company, the company’s turnover grew drastically. Even after his resignation as MD in 2022, the Mint company has continued to record profit in geometric proportions.

Before resigning to pursue his political career, Mr. Masanawa brought a host of innovative reforms that spiked the values of NSPMC. He lead a clinical mileage that enhanced production capacity, revenue diversification, reduced cost of production, the institutionalization of corporate governance. His leadership tendencies helped in the improvement of staff welfare, while creating industrial harmony.

Mr. Abbas leveraged on areas that needed swift attention, he used every moment in enhancing the strength of national security and integrity as well as conserving scarce foreign exchange, improving revenue generation, creating job opportunities and boosting acquisition/transfer of technology.

One would easily say Mr. Abbas Umar Masanawa picked himself up and rose through the ranks into enviable positions in the financial sector. He feels better rolling through the course of growth. They say his scorecards are not well analyzed enough, considering what he has given into service. With over 17 years of banking experience and rising to the position of Deputy General Manager in Zenith Bank PLC in the year 2014 before he left to serve as a Special Assistant to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Abbas is indeed a spectacle of service to behold.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Ahmadu Bello University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Maiduguri. He has also earned other essential certificates from the Harvard Business School, London Business School, and the University of Oxford. Now Board Chairman of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc), a US$500million Non-Bank Financial Institution wholly-owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) created to redefine, re-dimension, measure, re-Price and share agribusiness-related credit risks in Nigeria, Mr. Masanawa Umar Abbas seems to be holding his own and making his mark in the scheme of things in the country’s economy. He is indeed leading the way while others to come in the future, follows. No doubt, he is walking today that future generations may fly. He is laying the roadmap to Nigeria’s prosperity in the world of financing agribusiness.

According to Angela Ebo, an economist from Global Reformation Development Centre who showered praises on Mr Abbas’ achievements and expressed satisfaction that he is currently the Board Chair of NIRSAL Plc, “I believe in his tendencies in public service.”

“I am very happy Mr. (Abbas) Masanawa is the current Board Chairman of NIRSAL. Without mincing words, he has showed remarkable courage as a leader. He carried out robust and courageous reforms while he was MD of NSPMC. His courage and vision was essential and necessary for today’s solution to the country’s Agro-economy, as he placed a high premium in creating more ideas that will connect NIRSAL with the need of millions of Nigerians. You know Nigerians don’t seem to have an overall idea of the functionality of NIRSAL in economical growth. He is one guy who likes a highly-motivated and educated populace to spur high tech boom and bring rapid agro-economic development to the country,” she further asserted.