Adamu Ciroma Explained

Adamu Ciroma
Office1:Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
Term Start1:24 September 1975
Term End1:28 June 1977
Predecessor1:Clement Isong
Successor1:Ola Vincent
Office2:Federal Minister of Finance
Term Start2:June 1999
Term End2:May 2003
Predecessor2:Ismaila Usman
Successor2:Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Birth Date:20 November 1934
Birth Place:Potiskum, Yobe State, Nigeria
Death Place:Abuja, Nigeria

Adamu Ciroma (20 November 1934  - 5 July 2018)[1] was a Nigerian politician and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, born to a Bole family in Potiskum, Yobe State.[2] [3] He was a member of the People's Democratic Party.

Second Republic career

In 1979, Ciroma was one of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) presidential aspirants who contested in the party's presidential primary,[4] in which he was supposedly sponsored by the faceless Kaduna Mafia, a rumored group of northern intellectuals, serving officers and bureaucrats stationed around Kaduna.[5] He came third in the primary, behind Shehu Shagari and Maitama Sule, his candidacy having been partly financed by Hamza Rafindadi Zayyad, the head of the New Nigeria Development Company.[6]

Ciroma was briefly the secretary of the NPN and he later served at various times as Minister for Industries, Agriculture and Finance. As a senior cabinet minister in the Shagari administration, he played pivotal roles in the implementation of the president's agenda especially in the areas of food production and working with international agencies to develop an Agricultural Development Project (ADP).[7] In September 1983, he was made the chairman of a presidential transition committee, which further demonstrated the trust the president had in his capabilities. The committee was mandated to make proposals on how to re-structure the federal government which was going through a crisis of confidence.[8]

Fourth Republic career

Ciroma was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He served as Minister of Finance in the government of Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2003. Currently, his wife Maryam Ciroma holds the position of PDP National Women leader in Nigeria.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: BREAKING: Ex-Minister of Finance, Adamu Ciroma, died at 84 . 2018-07-05 . 2018-07-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180705180410/https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/breaking-ex-minister-of-finance-adamu-ciroma-died-at-84-259556.html . dead .
  2. Bolaji Adepegba, Adamu Ciroma, tested and trusted yet uncrowned, Daily Independent Online, Nov 27, 2003 http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/nov/27/0102.html
  3. Olajide Aluko. Nigeria and Britain after Gowon, African Affairs > Vol. 76, No. 304 (Jul., 1977), pp. 9
  4. Shehu Shagari. Beckoned To Serve. Heinemann Educational Books, Nigeria, 2001.pp214
  5. Shehu Othman, Classes, Crises and Coup: The Demise of Shagari's Regime, African Affairs > Vol. 83, No. 333 Oct., 1984. pp 447, 449
  6. William Reno. Old Brigades, Money Bags, New Breeds, and the Ironies of Reform in Nigeria. Canadian Journal of African Studies > Vol. 27, No. 1 (1993), pp. 75
  7. Quentin Peel, "Shagari shuffles Cabinet", Financial Times, February 16, 1982
  8. Quentin Peel, "President's party wins majority in Nigerian Assembly", Financial Times, September 6, 1983