Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka was born in 1969 to the Royal family of late Alh Ibrahim Folorunsho Kawu Agaka, the first Dan Iya of Ilorin Emirate. and the 5th Daudu Olomoba Agaka, Ilorin.

Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka had his primary education at the Ansarul Islam primary School, Oke Aluko, Ilorin, between 1975 and 1980. He attended the famous and prestigious Government Secondary School GSS) Ilorin from where he obtained his (WASC) in 1985 and graduated with a Higher National Diploma (HND), in Electrical Power Engineering in the year 1994 at Kwara Polytechnic, Ilorin.

His undying quest for Knowledge spurred him to obtain Post Graduate Diploma in Administration from the Kwara state polytechnic, Ilorin (1996) and another PGD in Electrical power Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State in 1999. Alh. Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka bagged his Master Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho in 2013. He did his NYSC scheme with the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) Ilorin, in 1996 and was subsequently employed in the same power company.

Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka, married and blessed with children, had worked at Lagos and Port Harcourt zone of Rural Electrification Department of the then Power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc. he worked as Senior Manager between 2006 - 2010 with Rural Electrification Agency, and advanced as Zonal Coordinator South West Zonal office of Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria at Osogbo, Osun State from 2012-2015. He served as the Director of Projects, Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria, headquarters, Abuja where he coordinated and supervised the planning and execution of the rural electrification projects, and later replicated the same zeal and efficiency as the Director of Procurement department as well as the Monitoring and Evaluation department.

An accomplished Electrical Engineer who has also attended several training courses both in Nigeria and abroad such as Project and Programme Management in conjunction with Strategic Management Institute for Africa, Mbabane, Swaziland –2008; Training on Power Transformer, 11kV Panel, 33kV Circuit Breaker at Chint Electrical Co. Limited in China - 2010; Training on Renewable Energy Development, Korea Institute of Construction Technology Education (KICTE) SEONGNAM, South Korea. – August 2015; Public Procurement of Engineering Works and Consultancy Services at Nigerian Society of Engineers Headquarters. Abuja – July, 2015; Inter Solar Conference in Munich Germany – June, 2018 and Training on Energizing of 0.5MW Solar Hybrid at International Power System (IPS) in Bulgaria – October, 2018; Factory Assessment Test report – Battery: On behalf of METKA Power West Africa (4 Universities) Energizing Education Project EEP in Greece; 7th Annual AFSIC – Investing in Africa Conference held in Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge Hotel London in UK – May, 2019; 21st Edition of the African Energy Forum in Lisbon Congress Centre, Portugal – June, 2019; Regional (West Africa) Energy Summit. Senegal - December, 2019 to mention a few. He has written and presented several technical papers at both local and international fora.

In his capacity as the Director (Project), he was in charge of the Supervision and Monitoring of the Energizing Education Program (EEP) which is an initiative launched by the Nigeria Electrification Project and funded by the World bank was aimed at addressing critical challenges in the country's education sector. The program seeks to improve access to quality education, enhance infrastructure, and support teaching and learning environments, especially in underserved areas.

Under his Supervision, EEP Phase 1 (9 Federal Universities and 1 Teaching Hospital) across 6 geo-political zones in Nigeria, was being implemented by REA. All due process regulatory permits, approvals and no objections were obtained towards executing EPC and O&M contracts, building and operating captive power plants and ensuring social and environmental safe guard requirements. The project is being implemented by the REA and developed in Phases. Phase 1 will deliver 28.5MW to 9 Federal Universities and 1 University Teaching Hospital, using solar hybrid and/or gas-fired captive power plants.

Phase 1 of the EEP will benefit 127,000 students and 28,000 staff of universities, 4,700 staff in Teaching Hospitals (including 819 doctors), power 2,850 streetlights, and result in the decommissioning of hundreds of generators. It is fully funded by the FGN, within this phase there are seven solar hybrid projects currently benefitting from funding from the Green Bond issued by the FGN. While subsequent phases are to be funded by the Nigeria Electrification Project which is an FGN project in partnership with the World Bank and African Development Bank.

He was assigned to head the Procurement directorate within year 2022 and October 2023, a department in REA that provides services in the implementation of all procurement activities in the Agency in line with the procurement act. These activities include procurement planning, preparation of standard bidding document, preparation of advert in the tender’s journal and two national dailies, issuance of standard bidding document, submission/collection of standard bidding document, bid opening, evaluation of bids received, conduct of post qualification, seeking approval of PTB/MTB to award contract, production, and issuance of award letters and Recurrent procurement (National Shopping) as well as any other procurement related matters.

Under his watch the technical and financial evaluations exercises were successfully conducted for the Open Competitive bidding, Selective tendering, and Request for Quotation (RFQ) categories in tandem with year 2022 appropriated budget for the Agency. For the 2023 procurement year in the Agency, Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka successfully oversaw the department’s processing and supervision of 125 numbers of tendered documents, for the advertised Open Competitive bidding in categories A, B & C as publicized in the National Tenders Journal for June 12 edition. A total of 204 numbers Selective tender which included Poverty reduction program were also processed.

He ensured explicit adherence to due diligence in the Procurement Process which is key to successful Implementation. This formed the bedrock of the implementation of year 2022 and partly year 2023 appropriated budget for the Agency under my supervision. This is applicable to both Capital and Recurrent (National Shopping) procurement exercise in the Agency. He was also part of the Procurement Team that supervised the Phase I of the Energizing Education Program (EEP) funded by the World bank.

Within year 2023 and June 2024, Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka was deployed to the Monitoring and Evaluation department as Director (M&E) and took on the following responsibilities.

·      Tracking all projects executed by the Rural Electrification Agency and all her subsidiaries.

·      Ensuring compliance to standards and specifications in the execution of all REA Projects.

·      Conduct baseline and impact assessments of RE Projects on benefiting communities.

·      Collation, analyzes and transmission of data collected from RE projects sites for management’s decision.

·      Collaboration with all relevant stakeholders (Budget office, Ministry of Power, Special duties department etc.

·      Tracking sustainability of executed projects for reasonable period.

Once again, in June 2024, Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka took charge of the Project department where he supervised and implemented the year 2024 budget for the Rural Electrification Agency. Periodic monitoring and evaluation were conducted on these projects overtime in each geopolitical zone, as payment reports are received through dedicated official email and duly processed for payment in due alignment with the work done by Contractors. He also supervised and monitored the analysis of year 2025 budget. Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka retired in July 2025 with an outstanding track record of being nominated repeatedly as Best Director of the year since year since 2018. A reflection of his dedication to service and humanity as a credible leader.

Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka, an accomplished and Noble Electrical Engineer, the Second (Dan Iya of Ilorin) Emirate who also, honourably doubles as the Hasken Lafiagi of Lafiagi Emirate attended several relevant professional and civil courses both in Nigeria and abroad.

A COREN Registered Engineer and a Procurement Specialist has written and presented several technical papers at both local and National and international fora. He is a member and fellow of the following professional institutions.

    Member-Nigeria institutions of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (MNIEEE)

    Fellow-Chartered institute of Human Capital Development (fhcd)

    Fellow -Civil society Network for Good Governance (2019)

    Fellow-, Nigeria Society of Engineers (FNSE) (2019)

    Fellow-Nigeria institutions of power Engineers (NIPE)2020

    Fellow -Nigeria institution of procurement Engineers (NIPROCE) 2020

Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka is undoubtedly a seasoned Administrator, Projects Engineer, Procurement Specialist and a result-oriented workaholic. An embodiment of rare sublime moral qualities which has endeared him to the people and which makes him tower high above his contemporaries. He is generous to a fault and his philanthropic gestures know no bound.

Alh. Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka is a dedicated and complete family man who has the fear of God in his heart. He is highly tolerant, respectful and a visionary leader who has become a role model in his career exploits as a result of his mentorship and capacity building grace and skills. He is a man who abhors greed and detest vanity and someone whose humanity is his strength and whose integrity is his greatness. These notable qualities have endeared the University of Ilorin to nominate him as a Peace Ambassador.

The milk of human kindness flowing in Engr. Sulaiman Bolakale Kawu Agaka has always been demonstrated in his selfless quest to render help to the needy irrespective of the religion or status of the recipients. An unbiased philanthropist who recognizes the grace of Allah in his life, has perpetually sought to build the capacity of people he meets, with the singular aim of improving their standard of living. Indeed, his antecedence clearly expressed his undying passion for human development and community improvement at large.