His Royal Highness, Dr. Lawan Ahmed Muhammad Sani II, PhD, brings to the traditional institution of Gumel a rare combination of academic excellence, technological expertise, research experience and administrative leadership.
Before his emergence as the new Emir of Gumel, Dr. Lawan served as the Director of Cybersecurity at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), where he contributed his expertise to Nigeria’s evolving digital security landscape.
An accomplished academic and researcher, Dr. Lawan holds a PhD in Computer and Communication Systems Engineering from University Putra Malaysia. He also obtained a Master’s degree in Computing from De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom, and earned his Bachelor’s degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
His academic career spans several countries and institutions. From 2006 to 2019, he served as Chairman of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia, formerly the affiliated colleges of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. He held the position for more than 12 years, combining teaching, research and academic administration.
During his tenure, Dr. Lawan supervised and examined postgraduate students at both master’s and doctoral levels, contributing to the development of the next generation of technology professionals and researchers.
Earlier in his career, between 2004 and 2006, he was a lecturer and Head of the Smartcard Research Group at Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, Australia. His international academic exposure has given him experience working within diverse educational and research environments.
Dr. Lawan is also an active researcher with extensive publications in internationally recognised journals and conference proceedings. His research interests span computer and network security, smartcard security, cloud computing, and wireless and mobile communication systems.
He has authored numerous research papers and book chapters and has successfully completed several funded research projects. His contributions to academia also extend to peer review, as he serves as a reviewer for several international journals and belongs to various professional bodies.
With a career that cuts across technology, academia, research and administration, Dr. Lawan Ahmed Muhammad Sani II now assumes a different but equally significant responsibility as the traditional ruler of Gumel.
His emergence places an accomplished technology professional and scholar at the helm of one of the historic traditional institutions in the region, bringing a distinctive blend of modern technological knowledge and traditional leadership to the throne.