Manzo: Service to humanity

Schooled in the dynamics of deploying technology and new skills in facilitating development of humanity, Dr Manzo Daniel Maigari is a constant factor and silent voice in advancing the cause of humanity. In and outside of politics, he has embraced the essence of service and deployment of skills in broadening potentials for development. His life epitomises what the quest for knowledge and consistency in one chosen field can turn out for a people. Dr. Manzo’s current disposition is not an accident; he laboured and strove for it. He prepared for it and never spared any efforts in equipping him with knowledge, thus setting him apart as one of the most competent among his contemporaries.

Born on August 12, 1969 in the present Kachia local government srea of Kaduna state, he was enrolled in LED Primary School, Ikkah, Kaduna state where he obtained his first school leaving certificate from 1976-1982. He proceeded to Government Secondary School Kachia for his General Certificate of Education (GCE) from 1982-1986. Manzo was at the College of Advanced Studies Zaria from 1986-1988 for the Interim Joint Matriculation Examination (IJMB) programme. He would thereafter secure an admission to read DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) at the Ahmadu Bello University from 1988-1994.

Apart from heading many business ventures related to his career, he attended professional courses in global elite institutions where he equipped himself with knowledge of Agribusiness (Business School Netherland); Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies (Lee Kwon Yew Institute for Public Policy Singapore) and MBA Leadership and Sustainability in view: (Royal Kennedy College, Switzerland/ University of Cumbria, among others.

At the completion of his one-year compulsory National Youth Service Scheme as Graduate Veterinary Office at the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre in Lagos, Manzo rose to become Technical Officer (Public/Environment Health). He would soon veer into private practice where he became the Executive Director of Veterinary Drugs and Services Ltd. From 2005 – 2015. He was also the Managing Director of Simchat Enterprises Ltd, and combined it with yet another responsibility of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AgricBiz Initiative Ltd. Apart from serving as Executive Director, Helmsdeep Industries Ltd from 2009 to 2012, he served as the Managing Partner, Farm Technology Transfer Centre, Kaduna from 2014 t0 2015.

His appointment in 2015 as Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, and later Commissioner of Commerce and Tourism, by Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai of Kaduna state afforded him a platform to demonstrate his skills and deploy his vast contacts within and outside of Nigeria to rally development partners in improving the fortunes of agriculture in Kaduna state. Apart from heading various initiatives aimed at developing the agriculture-related issues, among several others, Maigari was appointed as Chairman, AGRA-Kaduna Policy Advocacy Team for Extension Service Climate Smart Agriculture (2022); Chairman, National stakeholders Committee, Climate Smart Agriculture (2O21); Chairman, Country Agribusiness Partnerships Framework (CAP-F), NEPAD – AUDA (2020); Member, National Action Committee, Africa Continental  Free Trade Zone. ACFTA (2020) and Member, National Advisory board, Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria, ALDDN (2019). He is also presently the Director General, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, NABG (2019).

As Commissioner for Agriculture, and later for Commerce and Tourism, Manzo supported no fewer than Southern Kaduna 300 youths and women with grants, ranging from N1.3 million to N3.2 million to enable them start Agribusinesses. Apart from recruiting 252 Forest Rangers and establishing three commodities Aggregation Centres to boost Agribusiness in the State, he facilitated the electrification of three communities in his ward and upgraded KADP to full statutory agency, KADA.  As someone who was in charge of the Ministry of Commerce, he upgraded the 24 BATCs to Community Skills Development Centres and fully equipped them.

He  also served as the Chairman, Project Monitoring Team, CBN Anchor Borrowers Program, Kaduna State; Member, Board of Kaduna Geographical Information Services (KADGIS); Member, Board of Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA); Member, Kaduna State Steering Committee on Community and Rural Development; Trustee, Netherlands Agro, Food and Technology Centre, Africa; Member, Ease of Doing Business Committee, Kaduna State;  Secretary, Real Sector Subcommittee of the Kaduna State Government Transition Committee and Chairman, Arewa Youths for Progressive Change, AYA (2012-2015).

He was also on the team that developed the Agricultural Sector Implementation Plan (SIP) of the Kaduna State Development Plan (SDP); Commercial, Industrial and Tourism Sector Implementation Plan (SIP) of the Kaduna State Development Plan; Kaduna State Charter on Ease of Doing Business;  Kaduna State job creation and Skill Development policy and Extension Service Delivery Framework for nomadic dairy farmers that increased daily milk output from 1 litre to 3.5 liters per cow.

Dr Manzo’s greatest strength is in his humane disposition in improving standards of living for communities and citizens. Even after leaving government, the veterinary doctor has brought several interventions to the Ginger value chain by supporting 75,000 youths and women in southern Kaduna, thereby creating over 600,000 jobs under the supervision of AgroLog Nigeria Limited. In a bid to train youths on emerging digital skills in order to make them globally competitive, as the Chairman of Greysoft Technologies, he demonstrated his care for the less-privileged when in February 2022, his company, AgroLog Nigeria Ltd, donated relief materials to no fewer than 10,000 IDP families, especially in Southern Kaduna, including supporting them with ginger seeds and other inputs for economic empowerment.

Unlike others who scream more than they perform, this silent achiever and excellent engine of knowledge and skills with vast global connections remains an invaluable asset to the public and private sector, while serving as synthesis for both in order to attain development for citizens. There’s no denying the fact that considering Manzo’s footprints in both public and private sector hold the keys for rapid human development on all fronts.

Gambo writes from Kafanchan, Kaduna state