Three generations
of public service.

Alhaji Suleiman (Sule) Lapai

Wazirin Lapai

Born on 27 April 1923 in Abuja, present-day Suleja, where his father represented Lapai Emirate with the Native Authority, he was educated at Middle School, Bida, and Barewa College, Kaduna, the school that prepared a generation of Northern leaders for public service.

He began as an Administrative Officer in the Office of the Premier of Northern Nigeria, trained native authority officers as an Instructor in Traditional Administration at Samaru, Zaria, and served as Pilgrims Officer in Kano. As Assistant District Officer and District Officer his career took him across the North, to Bauchi, Borno and Jos. His competence brought him to Dodan Barracks, Lagos, as Administrative Secretary in the Office of the Head of State under General Yakubu Gowon, and later to Gwandu Division in the North-Western State as Divisional Secretary.

When Niger State was created in 1976, he returned home as one of its pioneer Permanent Secretaries, holding the Ministry of Industry and Cooperatives and the Cabinet Office and overseeing the Ministry of Health in the state's formative years, before retiring in 1978. The Lapai Emirate honoured him as Makaman Lapai and later elevated him to Wazirin Lapai. He passed away on 20 February 2000, aged 76, remembered as a disciplined administrator, a loyal servant of the North and Niger State, and a man of integrity. His wife was Hajiya Zainab Gofa.

Alhaji Abu-Bakr Sulayman

Maiyaki Lapai

His grandfather's first son carried the tradition forward. A Sociology graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, he served 35 years in the Niger State and Federal Civil Service, a career that often retraced his father's steps. He rose to Acting Permanent Secretary of the Niger State Liaison Office in Lagos, and in 1987 transferred to the Federal Civil Service at State House, Dodan Barracks, the same seat of government where his father had served a generation earlier, as Liaison Officer to the President and Commander-in-Chief.

When the seat of government moved to Abuja, he continued his service at State House, Abuja, as Chief Personnel Officer, Special Services, rising to Assistant Director, Finance, Supplies and Special Services, a post he held until 1998. In all, he spent over a decade at the heart of the Presidency.

He held senior positions in the Federal Ministries of Commerce, Interior, Petroleum Resources and Transport, and rose to Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Environment. He served on the board of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank and chaired the Niger State Roads Maintenance Agency and the Niger State Housing Corporation. Like his father, he serves the Lapai Emirate, first as Wambai Lapai and now as Maiyaki Lapai.

Alhaji Jimada Gana Mohammed

RN, RNA, RNT, Hon-FWACN · Muye, Lapai

Honoured as the father of nursing education in Niger State, J.G. Mohammed was the pioneer Principal of the School of Nursing, Bida, and later Chief Nursing Officer (Education) of Niger State. He built the School from the ground up and led it to a 100% success rate in the Council's qualifying examinations; more than four thousand nurses have since trained on the foundation he laid.

A Gold Medallist in Nursing Education, administrator, writer and mentor, he served the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria as an examiner and on its Education, Examination, Standards and Accreditation, and Registration Committees, and was Deputy National President of the N.M.A. He is honoured posthumously for three decades of service to nursing in Nigeria. His wife was Hajiya Aisha Bade Risqua of Katsina State, and their children and grandchildren have gone on to lead national and state institutions in health and security.

Hajiya Rakiya Mohammed

Their daughter, an educationist, taught at Queen's College, Lagos, and Federal Government Girls' College, Bwari, and later served with the Federal Scholarship Board and the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja.