Hamza Abdullahi

Who is Hamza Abdullahi?

Air Vice Marshal Hamza Abdullahi was Governor of Kano State in Nigeria from January 1984 to August 1985 during the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari. After General Ibrahim Babangida took power, he was appointed Minister of Works and Housing, and later Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Abdullahi was born in Hadejia, Kano State. He attended the Nigeria Air Force Tactical Training Wing, Kaduna in 1964. He completed the Aircraft Technical Officer’s Course in West Germany, and studied at the Royal Military Training Centre in Chichester, England in 1974. In July 1975, Lt. Colonel Abdullahi was Air Provost Marshall and assisted in the coup that removed General Yakubu Gowon from power, replacing him with General Murtala Mohammed.

Appointed Governor of Kano State in January 1984, Abdullahi announced in January 1985 that his government was revitalizing the Expanded Program on Immunization, targeting children and pregnant women at risk from preventable diseases. As Minister of Federal Capital Territory from 1986 to 1989, Abdullahi oversaw the construction of Phase 1 of Abuja. His goal was to have 75% of the ministries in Abuja by 1990, the target date for the official transfer of the capital from Lagos. He described the new city as "a symbol of our unity". Abdullahi was promoted air vice-marshal in October 1988 and retired from the Nigerian Air Force two months later.