My ‘Most Valuable Persons 2025’: No. 02 – Engr. Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, FNSE, CENG, MiMECHE

Sometime in 2019 on an eventide, a group of 5 of us were seated at the pool side of the prestigious Transcorp Hilton, Abuja on the invitation of Prince Ade Omole, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) domiciled in the United Kingdom. If my memory serves me well, those seated for the dinner that evening included Messrs J.K. Adebola (Barr), Akinmoladun Badeji, Vivian Osadebe, Prince Ade Omole, the host, and my humble self.

Barely halfway into the dinner came in a gutty and thickset man who walked stoutly into our midst. ‘Czar, how na? I have heard so much about you. Prince told me everything. Thank you.’ Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, as I came to know him afterwards, had said after exchanging pleasantries with others all of whom were equally domiciled in the United Kingdom as he’s. That was my first encounter with the man who is standing on the number 2 spotlight of those who made the outgoing year 2025 a nameable one for me.

Few years down the line, while working with then Governor Yahya Bello of Kogi State as his Special Adviser on Oil and Gas and Energy, Dr. Abdullahi reached out to me through another dependable brother of mine, Alhaji Abdurrazaq Danjuma. Alhaji Danjuma, I later learnt is his very trusted ally of decades. The latter got me to do some media job for the state government. This was followed again with another assignment when I was drafted into the Uche Nnaji Campaign Organisation to project the former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology’s 2023 gubernatorial ambition in Enugu State.

Fast forward to when Dr. Abdullahi was announced as the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), I had called him the following night to congratulate him on his appointment. He missed my calls. Surprisingly, few minutes after 11.00pm, my phone rang and lo and behold, it was Dr. Abdullahi on the other end. I told him my reason for calling earlier only to be shocked by his response. “When are you resuming? Your office is waiting for you.” I was ‘transfixed’ (sic) at first. I felt really discombobulated and at the same time, flummoxed. But then, weeks after, I resumed in his office as his Special Assistant, Strategy and Communications. A position I served diligently for a year before I tendered my resignation.

The outgoing year has been full of mixed emotions – the good and the bad. But in both experiences, Engr. Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi has been more than a boss, but more of a brother indeed in times of needs. He was helpful in many ways. Dr. Abdullahi sponsored my last birthday where not fewer than 40 persons were treated to nice meals. He has also been of help at some other times, just as he has always been to many of our Progressive folks. I can say he is one of the only minuscule hands (appointees) reaching out to our progressive brethren in dire straits. Others would rather go on incommunicado.

When I tendered my resignation letter as his Special Assistant, many thought it was a corollary of a frosty or arctic relationship between us. But it never was anything near that. Many people before then knew the relationship and camaraderie that existed between Mr. President’s Special Adviser/Spokesperson on Media and Policy Communications, Dr. Daniel Bwala and my humble self. I could not have continued to serve two masters after Dr. Bwala was appointed in November 2024. That would have impugned on my integrity as a person. Whatever I do – my actions and inaction, I do them believing tomorrow is always pregnant. However, I maintain very good relationship with Engr. Dr. Abdullahi till today. That’s why I write regularly about his footprints as the numero uno of the leading energy agency in the country.

To Engr. Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, my autobiography will be incomplete without a chapter dedicated to you. Here is to thank you, very profusely, for being a sheathe in the face of life’s vicissitudes. Thank you for being a cover under the shattering cold. Thank you for being a shade under the scorching sun. And thank you for being a helping hand again and again.

Allåh’s endless rahma on you and your entire household always.

OMOLUABI OMOGBOLAHAN BABAWALE (O’CZAR)