Khalifa Aliyu’s greeting was progressive, just like his outfit. He showed up in a blue long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and Crocs. His eccentric voice set a casual, disarming tone for what would become an hour-long conversation.

It was a busy week at Rayhaan University, Birnin Kebbi. Lectures were ending the next day, and exam season was closing in. At 4:00 PM, in a quiet office in Birnin Kebbi, as rainlight filtered through barred windows, a stack of books leaned precariously on the edge of a wooden desk. Sitting just beside them was Khalifa Aliyu, a 100-level Cybersecurity student at Rayhaan University and the Managing Director of Avraam.

He had come for the interview during revision week, riding one of the company’s two motorbikes himself. That already told me everything I needed to know about the kind of entrepreneur he is.

“We’re going to have busy lectures tomorrow,” he said with a smile. “But this is important too.”

So we got right into it.

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In a country where most logistics startups’ stories come from  Lagos and Abuja, this one stands out. A 19-year-old student in Birnin Kebbi is quietly building something different without investors or accelerators —just belief and two motorcycles. A proof that big ideas can come from overlooked places 

Avraam is a grassroots logistics startup founded by Ibrahim Tukura, a 100-level International Relations student at Rayhaan University. Launched on June 16, 2025, with a base rate of ₦1000 per delivery, the startup has already drawn attention from stakeholders in Kebbi’s transportation sector.

But the most intriguing part of the story is Aliyu, the 19-year-old managing director, seemingly an unlikely fit in a sector ruled by older professionals.

Except he isn’t new to leadership.

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The Making of Aliyu

Aliyu isn’t new to ambition. Born into a conservative Muslim household, he grew up in various cities across Northern Nigeria—Kano, Maiduguri, Abuja, and now Birnin Kebbi. His travels gave him a front-row seat to how logistics worked in places like Abuja, with door-to-door services that seemed to run like clockwork.

He quickly noticed that Kebbi lacked this same efficiency. That realisation planted a seed.

 “I wanted to change the world as I loved reading books on politics,” he said. But when he shared this dream, family and friends bombarded him with the same question: How?

That question led him to mentorship under Comrade Hussan Muhammad Shani, a political expert, who eradicated his fear and encouraged him. He even attended an electoral college, an open online institution in Kuje, Abuja, where he was the youngest in the cohort—he hadn’t even taken JAMB yet. During this time, he was also invited for an interview at a radio station.

His parents, like most Nigerian parents, had hoped for a safer, more traditional path. “Back then, they didn’t even want us on bikes,” Aliyu laughs. “Now I’m running a business that depends on them.”

Aliyu has always aimed for the big leagues. He served as the Head boy in his primary school. Before starting university, he had already racked up titles as an Ambassador for Young Shall Grow, a northern political organization, Certified Comrade with the Nigeria Chamber of Comrades, Managing Director of Wajidd Global Enterprises: a contract company, founder of Comrade Khalifa Visuals, a media company, and co-founder of an Non Govenmental Organization in Yobe called A Step Towards Change.

Yet, he still pursued his university education.

“University is a ladder,” he told me. “It can take you anywhere.”

Building Avraam from the ground up

The idea for Avraam came when Aliyu met fellow student and founder, Ibrahim Tukura. With Aliyu’s business instincts and Ibrahim’s savings, they launched the company on June 16, 2025, offering deliveries for as low as ₦1000.

“There’s no real logistics service for regular people in Birnin Kebbi apart from God is Good(GIG),” Aliyu said. “We saw the gap and decided to fill it.”

No grants. No pitch competitions. Just two bikes and a plan.

Photo: Two of Avraam’s delivery motorcycles, freshly purchased and still unbranded. The team is operating without big-budget branding just functional machines and a clear mission.

Even now, their operations are simple—orders come in through text or phone calls. But they’re not behind. “We introduced the Avraam Delivery PIN System,” Aliyu explained. “Before a parcel is delivered, the receiver provides a unique code via text, just like Jumia. It reduces errors and theft.”

This detail earned them early praise, and they plan to integrate it into an upcoming mobile app. Since their first delivery—a moment Aliyu recalls with bright eyes—they’ve completed over 30 successful runs. They have partnerships with Sabon Tasha Motor Park, Haliru Audu Motor Park, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and small businesses across the state.

Rooted in belief, aimed at the future

Aliyu doesn’t speak in tech jargon or financial projections. Instead, he talks about meditation, belief, and clarity.

“I believe in this with everything I have,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ve had nothing left but faith. But somehow, it works out.”

Balancing lectures, business, and exams isn’t easy. But he’s fully aware of the price of vision. “This is what I signed up for,” he said, almost defiantly. His calm comes from meditation and prayer. “That’s when I get the light.”

Avraam’s mission goes beyond profit. “Birnin Kebbi isn’t Lagos. That’s why this matters,” Aliyu said. “We’re building something for our people—students, market women, small business owners. This is logistics from the grassroots, for the grassroots.”

Their ambitions are big: 10,000 daily deliveries, a fleet that includes buses and cargo vans, and expansion across underserved cities in the north. But he’s clear about the foundation.

“We’ll expand, but we’ll always stay rooted in the community.”

And to anyone dreaming of building something from nothing, Aliyu offers this:

“Maturity and experience aren’t by age. Persist. Pray. If you believe it, you’ll see it.”

At 19, he’s doing exactly that, and Northern Nigeria is watching.