Friday Benji Bakare

Born in 1964, Mr Friday Benji Bakare had his primary and secondary education in Kaduna between 1971 and 1982. After obtaining his O/L and A/L qualifications, he joined the services of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in 1985 as a pioneer staff of the degree programme and rose through the ranks to become Deputy Registrar in 2009.

An alumnus of the prestigious Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Mr Bakare holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) and Barrister at Law (BL) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the Nigerian Law School respectively. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2004. He also attended the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji Senior Course 28 where he won the prize for the Best Director Paper in the Department of Air Warfare. Subsequently, he obtained 2 Masters Degrees in International Affairs and Strategic Studies (MIASS) as well as Public Administration (MPA) from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

Mr Bakare has held several portfolios within NDA as a professional university administrator spanning some 28 years. He has also doubled as ad hoc Executive Assistant to 2 Academy Provosts while on his regular beats. He was the pioneer Company Secretary of NDA Consult and also pioneer editor and later Chairman Editorial Board of the NDA Academic Branch News Bulletin. An astute administrator, prolific writer and public speaker, Mr Bakare has delivered several papers at professional/academic fora, published articles in journals and co-authored a Shorthand Compendium. He has also served in several strategic committees as chairman, member or secretary respectively.

A trainer to the core, Mr Bakare has been involved in the training and mentorship of cadets, professional university administrators and senior secretarial staff for several years in the Academy. He is also involved in policy development and implementation, speech writing and production of administrative manuals used for the administration of the Academy.

Mr Bakare is a member of several professional bodies including the Association of University Administrators (AUA) (UK) and the Association of Nigerian Universities Professional Administrators (ANUPA). Others are the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administration (FCIA). He has attended several conferences and workshops both at home and abroad.

Mr Bakare is multi-skilled. His areas of professional interest and research include Higher Education Management, Human Capital Management and Pension Administration. His hobbies include reading, walking, dancing and playing badminton.