Former Minister Appointed  SSG in Borno

Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has appointed the former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development in the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Mallam Bukar Tijani, as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

The governor also reappointed Prof Isa Marte as his Chief of Staff.

The two appointments were announced by the governor’s spokesman, Mallam Isa Gusau, in a statement issued yesterday.

The statement noted that Zulum considered Tijani’s very high level experience from his services as a minister from July 2011 to September, 2013, and as an assistant secretary-general/Assistant director-general (ASG/ADG) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Tijani, according to the statement, through both offices and other national positions such as being the national coordinator for Nigeria’s National Programme for Agriculture and Food Security, as well as his coordination of the World Bank’s Fadama Project, visited about 50 countries for different official engagements and made significant contributions to the development of agriculture and food security in Nigeria, Africa and at the global level.

The 62-year-old Tijani was born in Damasak but hails from Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State.

The former minister holds a Master of Science (degree) in Tropical Agricultural Development from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, in 1989.

Before that, he obtained his Bachelor of Science (degree) in Plant and Soil Science from 1982 to 1984 at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama, United States of America.

Also, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Prof. Isa Hussaini Marte, is making a return as he occupied the same office before the dissolution of the last cabinet on the expiration of the first tenure of the governor.

Professor Marte hails from Marte LGA of Borno State, and before his appointment on August 17, 2020, he had previously served as Borno State Commissioner for Higher Education from August 2019. He also served as overseeing Commissioner of Health in 2021 while being the Chief of Staff. He held both positions in Zulum’s administration.

Marte is a professor of pharmacology with a specialty in cancer research, and he is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, a member of the Society for Neuroscience, a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a member of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria among others.