Your Reputation Is Your Greatest Capital, Lawal Garba Tells ABU Students

“Integrity is everything,” Lawal Garba told students at Ahmadu Bello University, offering a message he said had guided his own career and business life.

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Integrity is everything.

The chairman and chief executive of Trobell International Nigeria Ltd returned to his alma mater for the second edition of ABU’s “Lunch with the Vice-Chancellor” programme. The event, held at Yusufu Bala Usman Hall on the university’s Main Campus in Samaru, gives students an informal setting to hear from accomplished figures about academic and professional development.

In his keynote lecture, “The Lawal Garba Way: Building Enterprises, Creating Opportunities, Transforming Lives,” Garba described his rise from quantity surveying graduate to successful entrepreneur. He said the journey depended not on privilege, but on persistence, discipline, hard work and faith. He became the first graduate of quantity surveying to establish a property cost-control function in Nigeria’s banking sector.

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In one early project, we were selected not because we were the biggest firm, but the client believed in our commitment to deliver.

Garba said success did not arrive overnight. He recalled missed opportunities, setbacks and difficult decisions, including rejecting short-term gains that conflicted with his long-term values. Trobell Nigeria Ltd began modestly, he said, and built its reputation through competence and trust. “In one early project, we were selected not because we were the biggest firm, but the client believed in our commitment to deliver,” he said.

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The day you stop learning is the day you start becoming irrelevant.

He identified five lessons for students: integrity, excellence, continuous learning, relationships and resilience. He urged them to keep updating their skills, warning that “The day you stop learning is the day you start becoming irrelevant.” He also stressed the importance of treating people with dignity and maintaining relationships, saying, “One conversation can change your life forever.” Garba described failure as part of the journey to success and pointed students toward opportunities in Nigeria’s agriculture, technology, mining, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital economy and creative sectors.

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Treat everyone with dignity. Maintain relationships. One conversation can change your life forever.