Meet Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo: The New Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development
I, Prof. Muhammadu Bukhari write on behalf of the entire members of staff, graduates, and students of the Department of Polymer and Textile Engineering (formerly Textile Science and Technology) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to congratulate you Dr Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo on your recent nomination by Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief of Federal Republic of Nigeria and the successful screening and confirmation as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Senate. I am also writing to express our goodwill and support for your new role.
We have long admired your work as a Textile graduate and as a public servant. Your dedication to excellence and your commitment to service is evident in all that you do, hence your conferment with the prestigious Award of Fellowship from the Textile Researchers Association of Nigeria (FTRAN) on the 23rd of November, 2022 in Abuja.
We are very confident that you will be an asset to the government and that you will make significant contributions to the development of our country in whatever capacity.
We are also impressed by your work as a public servant. You have served in several important roles in the government, and you have always demonstrated a commitment to serving the people of Nigeria. We are confident that you will continue to work hard to improve the lives of Nigerians in your new role as a minister.
We wish you all the best in your new role. We are confident that you will be a great minister and that you will make Nigeria proud.
Who is Abdullahi Gwarzo?
Kindly permit me to inform the general public that His Excellency Engr. (Dr.) Abdullahi Tijjani Muhammad Gwarzo, the new Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development was born on the 23rd of September, 1960, at Koyar Getso, in the Old Gwarzo Local Government area of Kano state.
He started his early primary education at the famous Gwarzo day primary school, where he completed his primary education and obtained a primary school leaving certificate in the year 1977.
Abdullahi Gwarzo, then proceeded to one of the Kano state science education project secondary schools at Dawakin-Kudu, in the year 1982, he completed his secondary school education, upon which he obtained the senior secondary certificate.
Intermittently, owing to the strategic location of Gwarzo in the economic and farming activities in an area that borders Funtua, Malumfashi, and Makarfi in the Old Kaduna State, before proceeding to the university, the young industrious Abdullahi, was engaged in farming and trading activities, through which he made significant savings for the consolidation of his greater vision of attaining a university education.
It was against the above backdrop, that he got admitted into the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, where he studied Textile Science and Technology, and was awarded a Bachelors of Science (Tech) degree, in the year 1988.
Between 1988 and 1989, he was posted to the Old Bendel state, to serve his country in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. At Asaba, he was posted to the Asaba Textile, where he worked and thereby, acquired significant practical experience in his field of study.
Consequently, upon the completion of the NYSC scheme in 1989, then educated Abdullahi Gwarzo, returned home, and joined the political activities of the third republic, where he pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
After a rigorous and exhaustive electioneering process, in 1991, with the moral support from Dr. Musa Umar (his late brother) of blessed memory, and the far-reaching goodwill, he enjoyed from the majority of the voting populace, he contested the Chairmanship of Gwarzo local government council, and emerged victorious, serving between 1991-1993.
Ushering in what would be a successful political career, that would last for thirty-two years, and still counting, in which he served as the Executive Chairman of Gwarzo Local Government Council, between 1997-1998 (NCPN), 2004-2007 (ANPP) during which he served as the State ALGON Chairman, and as well a caretaker chairman between 2003-2004(ANPP).
He was appointed as the Special Adviser to the Executive Governor of Kano state on special duties, in the year 2007. As the saying goes, Luck favors the hardworking, in the year 2007, while he was working towards securing the ticket of his party to contest the Gwarzo/Kabo Federal constituency, he was overwhelmingly drafted to partner with His Excellency Malam Ibrahim Shekarau on the ANPP ticket, as the Deputy Governorship candidate in the 2007 elections.
Following the victory at the polls, he became the Deputy Governor of Kano state, a position he held until 2011. While serving as the Deputy Governor of Kano state, he was assigned to supervise the state ministry for water resources, where he superintended the construction of a 75,000,000 liters per day, Watari water works, and the reticulation of the greater Kano water project, which earned him the mantra ‘RUWA BABA’.
He also led the state Muslim contingent as the Amirul-hajj, to the 2007 Hajj, in Makka, Saudi Arabia. At the tail end of the administration, he defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), where he contested as the party’s Gubernatorial candidate in the 2011 governorship election, which he lost.
His Excellency, Engr. (Dr.) Abdullahi Tijjani Muhammad Gwarzo, the loyal party man he is, has served his party in various capacities, first, as the pioneer interim chairman of the All-Progressives Congress in Kano State between (2013-2014), as a Pioneer BOT Member, and at various times heading strategic party committees.
By his altruistic instinct, he founded the ATM GWARZO FOUNDATION, a philanthropic organization that caters to the less privileged and downtrodden. He was a recipient of several honors and awards, prominent among which, were, the Merit Award by the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Kano State Chapter (2005), and an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Public Policy and Management, awarded by the IHERIS UNIVERSITY TOGO.
He is, presently, the Chairman of, Governing Council of the Federal College of Education, Zaria, a position he has been occupying since April 2021. His Excellency (Dr.) Abdullahi Tijjani Muhammad Gwarzo, is a public servant, with an unblemished record of service, in a career that spans over three decades, and a farmer. He is happily married and blessed with children. His hobbies include reading, traveling, as well as political and developmental discussions.
Prof. Muhammadu Bukhari
Head, Department of Polymer and Textile Engineering
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
