HE is listed in the ‘Contemporary Who is Who of Professionals’ of the American Bibliographical Institute. He believes strongly in hardwork, but not without the part that “except God builds the house, those who build labour in vain.”

Always striving for perfection, he is a winner of the Merit Award for Excellence, as a Fellow, by the Advanced Institute for Management Studies. The Member, Ceremonials Committee and Senate Representative to the Governing Council, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has presented many papers to reflect the importance of technological education to national development. The papers include: ‘Historical Development of Vocational and Technical Education in Nigeria;’ ‘Technical Education in a Developing Nation;’ ‘Parental Participation in the Moral Upbringing of a Child;’

‘Effective Teaching and Evaluation Techniques;’ ‘Instructional Assessment in the New Curriculum for Technical Colleges;’ ‘Measures to Arrest the Shortage of Technical Teachers in Secondary Schools in the Northern States – Kaduna Polytechnic Experience’ and ‘Economic Empowerment as a Tool for Community Development.’ Born in Kurdan, on the outskirts of Kafanchan, in the then Zangon Kataf District, his father, Garba, a teacher, bore an ‘abiku’ name, Ayabanet, which, in their tribe, means, ‘one who eats people.’ His mother’s name, Lami, meant she was a Thursday’s child. He was christened Nuhu and he named himself Lawrence. At 60 (by October), Dr. Nuhu Lawrence Garba, Centre Manager, Kaduna Study Centre of NOUN looks back on life and tells how his father’s vocation and other factors shaped his life:

Parents
Both of them were very loving and caring. Father was very strict; he is one of the oldest teachers in Kajju Land and he retired over 20 years ago. While growing up, I thought father was too strict, but later in life, I realised the benefit of being a teacher’s child. I was lucky that my father was a teacher because, at that time, we did not have guidance and counselors in schools as they have nowadays but, my father provided the needed guidance and, to the glory of God, I have been able to use what he taught me to direct other people.

What’s inside a clock?
Father started noticing my interest when he bought a clock with bell and, out of curiosity, to see what was happening inside the clock, I dismantled it. When he bought a Grundy Radio and bicycle, the same thing happened to them. I tried to repair the bicycle with stone but I could not and when father discovered what happened, he gave me the beating of my life. Later, I passed the Common Entrance Examination and on the day of interview, father pulled my ear and told me that if they asked me which school I wanted, I should say Craft School. He took that decision because he had noticed that I loved to work with my hands, I loved to work with metals, and he knew that I would be able to develop such skill in the Craft School. That was how he played the role of a counselor to choose the path I would toe in life. A mild drama played out at the interview. The principals of Government College and Government Craft School were at the interview and because of my brilliant performance, that of Government College expected that I would automatically be in his school. I would have loved to be there but, because of the stern warning from father, When I was asked, I told them, “Craft School” and the principal was very happy. That was how my father’s decision changed the course of my life and, now in retrospect, I believe that God used father to direct my life. So, I went to Government Craft School, Gombe, North Eastern State, after finishing at the Kosar Nassarawa Day Senior Primary School, Bauchi, in 1966.

Do your best
What my parents taught me during my primary school days have helped to build me up and, till today, those teachings are of use. We were taught to believe in God and have absolute trust in Him; to have strong faith in God and that anything we want to do, we should do to our best ability...

I remember one of our teachers in primary school; we fondly called him, ‘Mallam Tali,’ while his real names were G.T. Alfala. He was a good teacher and sportsman; he was our football coach and I also remember that when I was in the polytechnic, my headmaster was also there for a course and he loved to show me off; he always told people proudly that I was his boy and I also felt happy whenever he did that. Our teachers were committed and I remember that I was always beaten for offences like noisemaking and coming late to school.

Obey first...
I joined the Government Craft School in January 1967 and finished in December 1969; in 1970, I went to the Government Technical Training School, Kano and passed out in 1972. At the Craft School, those were the years of the Nigerian civil war and the easiest way to get to Gombe from Kafanchan was by railway. At that time, the railway system helped the country to develop through the transportation of people and goods. We should give government credit for trying to bring back the train. The train at that time left Kafanchan for Maiduguri only on Mondays and Thursdays. To follow that train to Gombe, I used to leave on Thursday so that I would be able to make resumption, which was always on Sunday for those of us in the boarding house. This meant that when I arrived school on Friday, I normally stayed alone on campus for two days – Friday and Saturday, before the others resumed on Sunday. There was a particular occasion that I did not want to stay alone in school and I decided to leave Kafanchan with the Monday train. I got to school on Tuesday and on Wednesday, I started a one week punishment. All entreaties made to explain my plight, that I would have stayed alone in a hostel meant for 144 boys if I had come earlier, fell on deaf ears. I did all manners of work and that was part of the discipline; you just had to follow laid down rules and regulations.

God at work
At the Technical School, I found myself in a trade I did not like, Carpentry and Joinery; I felt it would be sheer waste of time because I could easily go back to our village to learn to be a carpenter there. Before our time, the best 20 students were given Engineering and I was supposed to be given that because I came second; however, in our set, they mixed the distribution – Ist in Egineering, 2nd in Building, 3rd, Engineering and on like that.That was how I landed in Building and even at that, I would have preferred metal work in Building, which was Plumbing but, I found myself in Carpentry and Joinery. For the induction course in each of the trades, you spent one month in each category; after one month in Carpentry and Joinery, the next month was for Plumbing. A week into Plumbing, I fell ill and went home; by the time I came back, they were two weeks into Building so, when we did exam, I did very well in Carpentry and Joinery and that was it. My destiny was defined and my Ph.D, from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was in Industrial Technical Education, in 1993. After technical school, I got the Nigerian Certificate in Education (Technical) with major in Woodwork, at the Kaduna Polytechnic, in 1976. We were the first set of NCE to be drafted into the  National Youth Service Scheme, which I did at the Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro, Ogun State and I got my B.Sc and Masters from the Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A. between January 1980 and June 1982.

Favourite Bible story
The story of Noah, my namesake (Nuhu); anytime I read the story, I felt it was the story of my life. I also loved how God used Moses to deliver the Israelites from bondage, and the story of Joseph, which taught me that with upright living, God would always fulfill His promise for one’s life. I saw all those people as leaders and wanted to be like them, to serve God and impact on people.

Philosophy
Believe in God; take life simple; learn to forgive; anything you find yourself doing, do it honestly and as best as you could.