[4] Alhaji attended a secondary school in Kano before transferring to Katsina Government College.
He later attended Bournemouth College of Commerce and University of Reading, Berkshire earning a degree in political economy.
[2] He joined the Nigerian civil service in 1964 and was an Assistant Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance in the late 1960s.
After attending a course in The Hague, he was briefly posted to the Ministry of Industries where he became a Principal Assistant Secretary.
In his role at the Finance Ministry, he was involved in managing Nigeria's relationship with its external creditors and was on the Nigerian negotiating team for Lome II agreement.