A Farewell to a Vice Chancellor Who Made Chemistry His Legacy
By Ado Magaji Mansur
The close of a Vice Chancellor’s tenure is always a moment of reflection. It is a time to weigh the journey of leadership, to take stock of achievements and to celebrate a chapter of service to the university community. Yet, in the case of Prof Mukhtar Atiku Kurawa, a distinguished Professor of Chemistry, this moment carries a resonance deeper than most. His time in office as the Vice Chancellor of Northwest University, Kano, which is transiently coming to an end this month, is defined by something more elemental: his gift of creating chemistry, both in administration and in human relations.
From the onset of his tenure, Prof. Kurawa demonstrated that leadership is not an isolated act, but a continuation on the foundation and legacies of his predecessors of blessed memories: Prof. Dato Razali, the Late Prof. Danjuma Maiwada, Prof. Mustapha Ahmad Isah and Prof. Aliyu Musa). Under his watch, new faculties and academic programmes, including Postgraduate studies, were introduced, while the existing ones were advanced with a vision of a progressive and dynamic institution.
But what set his leadership apart was not only what he achieved, but how he achieved it. As a chemist, he was trained to recognize bonds, to understand reactions and to harness even the most volatile elements to produce harmony and progress. This training became the invisible compass of his leadership, as he did not simply lead but connected with everyone he worked with, thereby making collaboration his greatest experiment and which he carried out with the precision of a chemist.
Within the university community, he created a rare chemistry among principal officers, Deans, Directors and Heads of Departments, bridging personalities and interests into a working relationship of shared vision. Between academics and non-academic staff, he fostered mutual respect and forged unity of purpose. With students, he struck that delicate balance between discipline and compassion, earning their admiration not just as a Vice Chancellor but as a mentor who understood the chemistry of youthful aspiration and channelled it toward productive energy.
Perhaps most remarkable was his success in creating constructive chemistry with groups that are often seen as combustible within the academic landscape. The Academic Staff union, long known for its vigilance and advocacy, found in him not a distant administrator, but a partner willing to engage, listen and seek common ground even during the toughest time of the Union’s struggle. The students’ unions, often seen as a barometer of campus tension, discovered in him a leader willing to listen and offer a workable solution with candor and fairness, creating a sustained peace understanding and stability.
Even beyond the gates of the university, his gift for human chemistry was evident. When a change in government could have unsettled relationships, Prof. Kurawa seamlessly bonded with the new Visitor and the new Commissioner for Higher Education, in the same way he deftly built a superb working relationship with the new Pro-Chancellor and the new Chancellor. His transparency, dazzling record and clarity of vision ensured continuity.
His tenure thus stands as a practical demonstration of chemistry in leadership; beyond the laboratory. Just as chemical bonds are formed, Prof Kurawa formed bonds that helped him to overcome institutional obstacles and foster cooperation that served as the catalyst for accelerated progress of the university.
As this luminous chapter draws to a close, we celebrate not only the accomplishments of Prof. Kurawa (Garkuwan Ilmi), but the model of leadership he leaves behind. He proved that academic training need not remain confined to classrooms or laboratories, but can impact on the art of leadership.
We congratulate him for leaving a university stronger, more united and more vibrant than he met it. He leaves it with a legacy of harmony, progress and above all, Chemistry; the kind that binds people, sustains growth and endures long after the laboratory sounds have faded.
-Ado Magaji Mansur