By Eric Elezuo

Leveraging on his glorious array of awards connected to his selfless act of philanthropy for the betterment of humanity and a safer world, legendary entrepreneur and businessman extra-ordinaire, who is also the Executive Chairman, Online Integrated Solutions (OIS), Mahmood Ahmadu, has again been honoured. This time, by the highly admired Euro-Knowledge Leadership & Philanthropy Awards 2020.

The successful industrialist received the award for the ‘Leading Personality on Humanitarian Response to COVID-19’ during an elaborate ceremony at the House of Lords, London.

Ahmadu’s award is in recognition of his great philanthropic work done behind the scenes, ongoing work totally focused on alleviating the suffering of multitudes adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is worthy of note that the award is the second Ahmadu has received from Euro-Knowledge. He was first honoured in 2019 with an outstanding leadership award by the same organisation.

Quite debonair, Ahmadu, who recently won the Forbes prestigious award of Best of Africa, is a very private man and rarely speaks of his humanitarian and benevolent activities.

However, various sources close to the gentleman, have constantly attest to his huge heart, especially to the less fortunate in the society.

It is reported that since the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ahmadu has greatly increased his sizable donations in response to the needs of so many people under the suffocating weight of the dreaded disease.

Among many of his philanthropic gestures, Ahmadu has been involved in the feeding of thousands of people, sponsorship of hundreds of students both locally and internationally, and most recently the purchase of large scale PPE equipment to fight against the spread of COVID-19. The list is endless.

Sharing the clout of Ahmadu’s Influence,  Anthony Nwachukwu, Vice Chairman of Innovate I Pay and who is a partner of Mr Ahmadu, was also honoured with the ‘Overall Operational Leader of the Year’ award for his sterling work of steering the ship at Innovate 1 Pay!

Mahmood Ahmadu was born on September 9, 1966. He is a product of a very humble beginning.

He attended ATBU and Nasarawa State University, where he obtained his qualifications. Records have it that Mahmood Ahmadu obtained further educational qualifications in the form of management, IT and communication industry courses. He has since utilized these skills to start and operate small businesses involved in the exchange of various profitable products and services.

At quite an early age during the early 1980s, Mahmood received a family inheritance with which he established his first company called A2A Communications Limited. The company, it is said, shot him into limelight as one of the pioneers in the field of GSM business, especially in Northern Nigeria with branches in almost all the state capitals. He has since shown class in the field of buy and sale, service delivery among others, establishing various facets of companies to accommodate the teeming and growing Nigerian workforce. His business activities and operations span 53 countries and five continents.