Daily Times

Sindh is proud of producing not only great Sufis but also great social workers and philanthropists like Abdul Sattar Edhi, Hakim Said, Dr Ruth Pfau, Dr Adeeb ul Hassan Rizvi to name a few shining stars in the galaxy of the messiahs who practised humanity rather than preaching it from the pulpit of power or mosque. Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui belonged to the exotic genre of such great people, whose selfless devotion and unwavering commitment to serve humanity, was of messianic proportion. To put it more aptly, there are two types of individuals in society. Those who are the persons of personal success, and others who are the individuals of great value to humanity. In fact, he was both.

On June 22, 2020, Siddiqui departed for the heavenly abode at the age of 76. He possessed a versatile personality. He as an educationist, asocial worker, former bureaucrat, scholar, and professor rolled into one man. Born in 1943 in Warrayo Goth near Sukkur city, he had five sisters and a brother. All of them died at the early ages. Deprived of fatherly care and love at an early age of 8 when his father Abdul Wahid Siddiqui, a reader in the district court of Khairpur, passed away. However, a small child with lofty ambitions went on to complete his early education against all odds that can break the will and shatter the ambitions of any ordinary soul. Following his matriculation at the Government High School Piryalo and Intermediate from Government

On June 22, 2020, Siddiqui departed for the heavenly abode at the age of 76. He possessed a versatile personality. He as an educationist, asocial worker, former bureaucrat, scholar, and professor rolled into one man. Born in 1943 in Warrayo Goth near Sukkur city, he had five sisters and a brother. All of them died at the early ages. Deprived of fatherly care and love at an early age of 8 when his father Abdul Wahid Siddiqui, a reader in the district court of Khairpur, passed away. However, a small child with lofty ambitions went on to complete his early education against all odds that can break the will and shatter the ambitions of any ordinary soul. Following his matriculation at the Government High School Piryalo and Intermediate from Government Naz Pilot Higher Secondary School (Khairpur), he taught at his alma mater in Piryalo. To quench his insatiable thirst for knowledge, he did MA economics, M.Ed. and LLB with flying colours from Sindh University. Afterwards, he joined provincial public service as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in 1975. With his trademark hard work and professionalism, he rose to higher echelons of bureaucracy and served as Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of Sukkur and Hyderabad Divisions, Managing director SITE(Karachi), Member Sindh Board of Revenue, Home Secretary (Sindh) and Secretary Mines and Mineral Department during his illustrious stint as a civil servant. In a system notorious for self-service, corruption, inefficiency and elitism, Siddiqui personified professionalism, financial integrity and zeal for public service. In other words, he was truly a public servant in letter and spirit. A source of great inspiration, he ought to be taught as a role model to the new entrants to provincial or central bureaucracy.

Being conscious of his own hardships in early life, Siddiqui made sure to provide world-class education opportunities to the poor and meritorious youth

Born to serve people and work for their socio-economic and educational uplift, he did not allow his retirement from government service in 2004 to put a full stop to his undying passion for community service. In his post-retirement phase, he was able to fully immerse himself into social work focused on illuminating the far-flung areas of rural Sindh with quality education in sync with dynamics and drivers of the 21st century. Thus, Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui assumed the charge as the Director of Sukkur Institute of Business Administration in 2004. It was during his tenure as Deputy Commissioner of Sukkur (1993-96) when he planted the sapling of what is now known as The Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in 1994. With my personal memories attached to the institution founded by the great champion of education, I saw IBA in its infancy and adolescence. Back in 1998, I was in the 8th class at Public School Sukkur when IBA was based in the two small rooms situated by our computer lab in the school. Out of curiosity, we often looked with amazement at the well-dressed students of IBA. After my intermediate, I was selected for the BBA programme at IBA (2004-5). However, the point is that the education revolution set in motion by Siddiqui had a very humble beginning in the two classrooms of Public School Sukkur now managed by IBA. As an adage goes, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. He proved it by expanding IBA Sukkur from a two-room initiative to a centre of excellence with a sprawling state-of-the-art campus in Sukkur. Beginning its glorious journey in 1994, IBA launched the Faculty of Information Technology (2001) in addition to business education. From 1994 to 2004, it remained affiliated with IBA Karachi. In 2006, it achieved a milestone when it was upgraded as a chartered degree-awarding institute.

Being conscious of his own hardships in early life, Siddiqui made sure to provide world-class education opportunities to the poor and meritorious youth. In that connection, he rolled out a unique Talent Hunt Program in 2007. The sole objective of the programme was to attract and develop the best and brightest students who could not dream of translating their dreams into a tangible reality due to poverty. Thus, he gave wings to their dreams by providing hundreds of scholarships to needy students. Powered by his able and sincere leadership, IBA progressed by leaps and bounds. In 2009, he added another feather in the cap of IBA by launching MS and PhD Programs in Business and Computer Science. Moreover, the institution was elevated to the exalted status of a university in 2017. Today, IBA is premier public sector degree awarding Institute approved by Higher Education Commission and chartered by the Government of Sindh. Ranked among the top-notch business schools, It is at the forefronts of cutting-edge research from blockchain research to Physical Education and Sport Sciences. True to its commitment to groom talent at the grass-root level and serve the community by imparting modern quality education to the denizens of underdeveloped areas, IBA runs 13 community colleges and around 40 schools across Sindh.

Siddiqui realised that youth is the most vital resource of any nation. So, he focused on education that is critical to turn a raw human resource into productive and valuable citizens in the age of knowledge economy. As demonstrated by the great educationist, when the messianic passion for a noble cause and honesty of purpose join hands, miracles do happen. The premier institution is a monumental testament to the fact on the ground in the shape of IBA standing tall as a concrete legacy left behind by a visionary person who lit a candle instead of moaning and groaning about the darkness around him.

In sum, the Indus man was a revolution and an institute into himself. Today he rests in peace in the premises of IBA he built brick by brick. I believe, some people never die. They keep inspiring and serving humanity even from their grave through their undying legacy. Siddiqui belonged to such class of people born to serve while alive or dead. It is hoped that his successors will continue to uphold the higher professional and academic standards set by him and to further add to the prestige of the institution as the world-class the beacon of modern learning radiating the light of education far and wide.

The writer is a faculty member and PhD scholar pursuing his pioneering doctoral research on human security and SDGs in Pakistan, at National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, Pakistan