Preceded by Abba Sayyadi Ruma | Name Sheikh Abdullah | |
Born 15 March 1948 (age 76)
Bida, Niger State, Nigeria ( 1948-03-15 ) | ||
Professor Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah (born 15 March 1948) was appointed Nigerian Minister of Agriculture on 6 April 2010, when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan announced his new cabinet.
Abdullah was born on 15 March 1948 at Bida in Niger State. He earned a B.Sc in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in 1974, and an MBA from Syracuse University in the USA in 1977.
Abdullah spent most of his working career at ABU in the human resources and management development area, and in 1990 was awarded a PhD by the university. Late Gen. Sani Abatcha appointed Sheikh Abdullah into the vision 2010 committee and also made him serve as a federal commissioner in Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. He was Director General at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) in Badagry from 2003 to 2008, an institution that trains students in public administration. In August 2008 he was appointed to the Abuja City University Steering Committee. He was appointed chairperson of the African Management Development Institutes' Network in Pretoria, South Africa.
As Minister of Agriculture, Abdullah faces huge challenges in a sector that employs 70% of Nigerians. Despite massive injections of subsidies, productivity remains low, with many concerns about the effectiveness of existing programs.