By Hayatu Hussaini
Dr Mohammed Kyari Dikwa, born in the idyll town called Dikwa in Borno State, may mean different things for different people. To some, Dikwa is a retired and pioneer Permanent Secretary (Special Duties), Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. While to some others this gentleman is a philanthropist who has been selflessly putting smiles on the faces of many Nigerians. In this case, the above two school of thoughts are right but there are more to Mr Dikwa than these two facets of his life. To put it mildly, Mr Dikwa is all things to all people.
Initially, Dr. Dikwa joined the Borno State Civil Service as an Internal Auditor In 1985, becoming Account-General, Borno State Ministry of Finance before transferring his services to the Federal Civil Service in September, 2004 as a Deputy Director in the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, from where he rose to become the pioneer Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Special Duties.
During his service years, Dr, Dikwa was not only a civil servant but also a part-time lecturer, public speaker and author of an impressive array of seminal books. He is noted and celebrated for securing job opportunities at both state and federal agencies of the government for hundreds of people, especially Borno indigenes.
After his retirement on January 3, 2020, Dr. Dikwa became indefatigable the more. Pointer to that is his recent founding of the first private university in Borno State through his foundation, Al-Ansar Foundation. The university, which has since been under construction, is named Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri. The school is consisting of administrative block, a staff room, sickbay, security office and restrooms amongst others.
While speaking during the commissioning of the Academy recently, Dr. Dikwa said the institution is designed to provide a safe and a conducive learning environment for pupils and students with a blend of Western and Islamic education.
To ensure the sustainability of the school in delivering high-quality education, Dr. Dikwa said he hired best staff and teachers within the state and beyond and have developed standard curriculum in line with the requirements of local and national educational regulations. “We have also introduced technology-induced lessons to enhance the pupils/students’ learning potentials that would deliver outstanding results for their parents/guardians,” he added.
Going down memory lane, we could see that Dr. Dikwa started his education at the Central Primary School, Dikwa in the early 1970s and obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1977. He went to Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Gushua, where he acquired his General Certificate of Education (GCE) in 1982.
His next sojourn was Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, and bagged his National Diploma (ND) in Accounting in 1985. He proceeded to University of Maiduguri and obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in Accounting in 1991. Yet again, he returned to the University for his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance, a credential he gleaned in 1996. This was followed by a sojourn at the National Institute for Policies and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State, leading to the conferment on him of the prestigious Member of the National Institute, mni, in 2012.
As if that was not enough, Mr Dikwa catapulted himself to the University of Bakht Al- Ruda in the Republic of Sudan for his Doctorate Degree in Accounting and Finance, which he successfully completed in 2017. Thereafter, he enrolled at Oxford University’s Business School earning a Certificate in High-Performance Leadership Programme in 2014. At university of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, Mr Dikwa was awarded a Certificate in Leadership and Governance, also in 2014.
Mr Dikwa was also at the Harvard University for a stint at the Kennedy School of Governance in 2014 where he obtained a Certificate in Public Financial Management Reforms. He also attended the Business School of World, INSEAD-FONTAINEBLEU, France, where he was awarded a Certificate in Advanced International Corporate Finance in 2018.
All these pieces of training are aside from the following foreign programmes which he attended at one time or the other. It is also worthy of note that during his active years at the public service, Dr. Dikwa attended various local courses and trainings.
These include the following: A Certificate Course in Computer Appreciation at Kwari Computer Academy in 1996; Senior Executive Course Number 34/2012 of the National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Jos; IFRS Executive Briefing/Training Programme organized for Shareholders’ Committee Members of Bank of Industry Limited in March 2013 and Leadership and Good Governance Training Course organised by the Global Training Consulting, Lagos, Nigeria, in April 2010.
In April 2008, Dr. Dikwa attended the Plan and Budget Management Workshop organised the Centre for Management Development (CMD) Lagos; National Training Workshop on Effective Financial Management in the Public Sector organized by the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) in conjunction with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) in October 2007 and Training Workshop on Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 Issues and Challenges in Reformed Economy organized by the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) in conjunction with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAG) in November 2006;
Other are: National Conference for Women in Public Administration organised by the Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria in April 2003; A Two-Day Workshop on the Sanitization of Public and Private Sector Finance organized by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Nigeria (ICPAN) in June 2002; Certificate Course in Internal Auditing and Investigation at the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) in Ilorin in August 1988; A Two-Day Seminar/Workshop on Accountability in Government: The Role of Civil Servants in Maiduguri in October, 1995; and the maiden edition of the Accountants-General Conference in May 2001 in Maiduguri, Borno state.
A recipient of the prestigious Nelson Mandela Award and Ambassador of Peace by the United Nations (UN), Dr. Dikwa is an all-round professional in his field of endeavour. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
He is also a fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) as well as the following bodies: Institute of Corporate Administration (ICA), Association of Forensic and Investigative Auditors (AFIA), Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Institute of Certificate Public Accountants of Nigeria (ICPAN), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (CIOIA), Institute of Cost and Management Accountants (FCMA), Institute of Credit Administration (FICA), Nigeria Economic Society (NES), Life Member LMNES), Nigeria Institute of Management (MNIM), Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria (IPAN) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), among others.
Mr Hussaini wrote in from Abuja
