Thank you Alhaji Auwalu Rano. You started selling fuel in tins along Gwazo Road near Kabuga (Kano State). You were faithful in your business.
You never cut corners – four liters was four liters. This brought a chemistry teacher from Katsina to always buy fuel from you rather than go to the filling station.
In a refreshingly new way, the chemistry teacher who was returning from a class at the state School of Nursing along Isah Waziri road suddenly discovered that his money was missing and could not pay for the fuel he already bought.
You told him to go with the fuel but offered a caveat that when he comes back from Katsina in the other week, he should come with your money.
The chemistry teacher easily paid when he came back to Kano. The two soon bonded. Later, Alhaji Rano was to find out that the chemistry teacher’s elder brother was General Musa Yar Adua.
And he continues to buy fuel at this roadside point anytime he visited Kano.
One thing led to another, the chemistry teacher became Governor of Katsina State and no sooner President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
That Chemistry Teacher is Alhaji Umaru Yar Adua. His first act in office was to request NNPC to grant AA Rano a term contract to import fuel.
That was where AA Rano’s story changed. When others sell at exorbitant prices, AA Rano sells at the PPPRA pump price. He sacked even his own brother who adjusted the pump to make quick profits. He has sacked many managers who diverted fuel.
Today, he is graciously branching off into airline business and surprisingly his Kano-Lagos charges are as low as 26k to 40k whereas Max, Azman and Airpeace are doing 60k to 120k.
Thank you my friend – Alhaji Auwalu Abdullahi Rano. From the shanty home you lived around Quana Maizuga near Al Jazeera, you now live on the Hill top of Maitama Abuja.
There is hardly any Nigerian that has not heard the name of your village- Rano. You are a good man sir. Allah ya saka maka da Alhairi.
-Tosan Blessing
