Meet Attia Nasreddin, the Eritrean-born chairman who runs Nigeria's NASCO Group from Jos

At 76, Attia Nasreddin still chairs NASCO Group, the privately held Nigerian conglomerate his father set up in Jos in 1963. The company began life as a jute bag factory, the very first in sub-Saharan Africa, and now anchors a manufacturing complex stretching across one kilometer of central Jos highway. Its plants produce cornflakes, biscuits, soaps, detergents, packaging and milled rice. Its head office sits at 1 Old Airport Road, Plateau State. Nasreddin has occupied the chairman and chief executive's chair at NASCO Group Limited Jos since 2004.

Nasreddin was born in Asmara, Eritrea, on April 24, 1950. He holds a Bachelor's degree in political science from the American College of Switzerland.

NASCO Group was established in 1963 by Nasreddin's father, Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, against the backdrop of Nigeria's independence push. The Federal Government had invited investors from Europe, Asia and the Middle East to participate in the economic development of the new nation. An investment agreement was stipulated, paving the way for the formation of a company whose ambitious purpose was the development of industrial, agricultural, real estate and marine areas. The starting bet was a jute bag factory, set up in response to the desire of the founding fathers of Nigeria to meet the challenges of bagging, storage and export of the country's large agricultural yields.

Attia Nasreddin's first major position inside the group came in 1981, when he was appointed managing director of NASCO Estate Company Limited in Lagos. By 1983, he had been named vice president of NASCO International, the group's Milan-based arm. In 1990, he became president of NASCO Group Nigeria Limited, a role he held until 1999. That year, he was elevated to vice chairman of NASCO Group International in Milan. In 2004, he was named chairman and chief executive of NASCO Group Limited in Jos, the position he still occupies.

The group today is organized as a federation of operating companies, all anchored in Jos. NASCO Foods is the biscuit, cereal and snack unit. NASCO Household is the detergent, soap and cosmetic unit. NASCO Pack is the packaging and paper converting division. NASCO Riceco is the milling and processing division. NASCO Trade, branded Nastrade, is the general trading arm. NASCO Property, registered as NIPCO, specializes in the provision of high-quality properties. NASCO Town is the group's major real estate development project in Lagos. NEXO Logistics manages an integrated portfolio of logistics real estate assets across the region. The corporate tagline is "providing the quality life."

The majority of NASCO's manufacturing plants and offices are co-located in a single industrial complex that runs along a one-kilometer stretch of highway in the central city of Jos. The group's major factories are all ISO 9001:2015 certified, and the company states that it applies quality management procedures across all aspects of its operations that exceed the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization.

NASCO Foods Nigeria Limited became the first indigenous company to pioneer the local production of cornflakes and allied cereal products in Nigeria, beginning in 1984. The cereal line is sold under the NASCO Cornflakes brand. In June 2022, the company unveiled a multi-billion naira cornflakes plant in Jos, commissioned by Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong, who described the facility as "a milestone in the history of Plateau State and Nigeria in general." NASCO billed the new plant as a world-class processing unit promising to deliver an exceptional quality experience to new and existing customers.

The group's broader product mix runs deep on the supermarket shelf. NASCO biscuits include tea biscuits, shortcake portion packs, cream crackers, orange cream, chocolate cream and banana cream variants. The food unit also produces water wafers. The household business turns out laundry soap and detergent lines. NASCO Pack manufactures corrugated and flexible packaging materials. NASCO Fiber Products Limited produces and markets carpets and blankets, which the company describes as in high demand. The strategic focus of the parent has been on agro-business, with backward integration into the supply chain in that sector.

Nasreddin's own philosophy on the company's growth has been on the public record for years. In a published reflection on the group's longevity, he attributed NASCO's survival to corporate strategy, consumer satisfaction and a focus on welfare over profit. "The dream behind NASCO is to see a great Africa," he said. "And NASCO works to ensure that Africa develops and people come out of poverty, and the only way to do this is perhaps invest in our country." He added that hard work and perseverance had been the company's winning strategy, and that the management does not allow ethnicity or religious affiliation in staff recruitment. He has described the company's strength as drawn from its Africanism.

The civic record runs alongside the commercial one. NASCO has contributed to relief in famine-stricken Niger Republic, supported federal institutions, hospitals and orphanages, sponsored the first Joseph Gomwalk Memorial Lecture through the Institute of Public Relations in Jos, and sponsored the Nigerian Olympic committee. The company built an overhead bridge near a market in Jos that locals at the time assumed had been built by the city, until the company clarified that the structure was its own.

In 2022, then-President Muhammadu Buhari conferred the National Honours Award of the Order of the Federal Republic on Nasreddin. The management and staff of NASCO Group put together a reception in his honor at Crispan Hotel in Jos. Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong attended, alongside other figures from within and outside the city.

Nasreddin's recognitions span more than two decades. In 1997, the Rotary Foundation conferred its Paul Harris Fellow on him in appreciation of his role in the furtherance of global peace. The same year, the Institute of Corporate Administrators of Nigeria awarded him a Fellowship for distinguishing himself in the field of administration. The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations later conferred a Leadership Award in Corporate Governance on him. In 2003, the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund named him Most Valuable Employer. He has also received a Bankers Company Award. The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru recognized him for his support to strategic studies at the institute. He has subsequently been honored with a Professional Chartered Fellow of Business Management and Integrity Award.

NASCO Group is privately held by the Nasreddin family. The company does not publish detailed financial statements. Public industry databases place its workforce in the 1,001 to 5,000 band and describe the group as one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods companies in the West African region. The Jos complex remains the operational center, the cornflakes line remains the consumer face, and the founder's son remains in the chair, six decades on from the day a jute bag plant first opened in the central city.