The Chairman

Professor Attahiru Mohammed Jega, OFR

Professor Attahiru Jega is a political scientist and is no greenhorn in Nigeria’s political environment, as he shot into prominence for his principled stance as the national president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) between 1988 and 1994.

Professor Jega, since November 2005, until his new appointment, was the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) and had a number of publications to his credit.

In recognition of his intellectual odyssey in Nigeria’s democracy and contributions to nation-building, Professor Jega was honoured by the Federal Government with the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) award.

Describing one of his publications, Professor Jega said “it is a selecftion of my intervention in debates, seminars and conferences over the last decade.”

His thought-provoking submissions at these fora had continued to be dominant themes in intellectual discourse by social scientists on the trials and tribulations of the post-colonial Nigerian State.

Professor Jega bagged his Ph.D in Political Science from Northwestern University and rose to a professorship in that field at BUK. He was the founding director of the Centre for Democratic Research and Training, “Mambayya House,” which is housed in the family home of Malam Aminu Kano.

ASUU, under Professor Jega and the then Babangida government, negotiated the 1992 welfare agreement for increased salaries and improved funding for the university system.