EX-GOVERNOR OF KANO, HAMZA ABDULLAHI IS DEAD

The record also has it that, the late former Governor was appointed Minister of Works and Housing, and later Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) after General Ibrahim Babangida took power.

He was born in Hadejia, Jigawa State and attended the Nigeria Air Force Tactical Training Wing, Kaduna in 1964. He completed the Aircraft Technical Officer’s Course in West Germany (1964–1966), and studied at the Royal Military Training Centre in Chichester, England in 1974.

Penpushing also reports that, in July 1975,  Abdullahi was Air Provost Marshal and assisted in the coup that removed Yakubu Gowon from power. He was appointed the Governor of Kano State in January 1984.

The late Abdullahi announced in January 1985 that his government was revitalising the expanded programme on immunisation, targeting children and pregnant women at risk from preventable diseases, and as Minister of Federal Capital Territory from 1986 to 1989, he oversaw the construction of Phase 1 of Abuja.

Penpushing further reports that, as Governor, he described the new city as “a symbol of our unity” then. He was promoted air vice-marshal in October 1988 and retired from the Nigerian Air Force two months later.