BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
ALHAJI ABDULMUNAF YUNUSA SARINA, President and Chief Executive Officer of AZMAN AIR SERVICES LIMITED and AZMAN OIL AND GAS LIMITED, has been awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration by GREGORY UNIVERSITY, UTURU, ABIA STATE.
SARINA was conferred with the degree by PROFESSOR GREGORY IYKE IBE, Chancellor and Founder of the university, during the institution’s convocation ceremony held last Saturday at the school premises.
According to the institution, SARINA was awarded the degree based on the impact of his entrepreneurial activities in the country for over 35 years, as well as his contributions to the development of the aviation and oil sectors in the country.
The Kano-born businessman ventured into commercial enterprise in 1975, as AZMAN started operations as part of renowned transporter, SANI BROTHERS GROUP, who were one of the major transporters of TOTAL NIGERIA PLC in the northern part of Nigeria.
SARINA decided to expand his company’s business interest by venturing into the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
As a result of the ambitious expansion plan, AZMAN OIL, as of today, has more than 50 filling stations nationwide and about 200 trucks in its fleet to transport petroleum products across the country.
Following the successful operation of the petroleum company, SARINA decided to expand his business interest further into the highly-competitive aviation sector by establishing AZMAN AIR in 2010.
The airline began commercial operations in 2014 with its first commercial flight from the AMINU KANO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Kano to the NNAMDI AZIKIWE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Abuja, on May 15, 2014.
The airline currently operates return flights from LAGOS to ABUJA, KANO, KEBBI, KADUNA, YOLA, GOMBE, MAIDGURI and PORT HARCOURT.
Within eight years, the company has also operated international routes and is regarded as one of the leading airlines in the country.
SARINA has over the years continued to deploy his business acumen in ensuring that all companies in the AZMAN GROUP continue to operate under the banner of creativity, innovation and integrity.
