Month: May 2011

If you take a look at the current lineup of governors (those staying and new ones) you would say that education in Nigeria is about to be rescued from doldrums. That’s only if you look at the lineup. Whether education would be granted a lifeline is a waiting game. And by the way, patience is a dangerous virtue.

Some dude put up an interesting data about these folks on Nairaland of recent. 31 (86%) of the governors have university degree and it’s not that the rest skipped school; of the 3 (8%) who had HND from polytechnics, 2 topped it with additional Masters. 2 (6%) are ex-military top guns and someone did a railway course. Only one governor doesn’t have a record but I can bet he must have had some school. And believe me, these guys are exposed: 8 (22%) have studied abroad, and 2 (6%) have PhDs. Of course Kayode Fayemi is the most educated, he had PhD from King’s College London. He’s my man any day.

What most did after school is entirely another kettle of fish: 9 (25%) learned politics from careers in civil service (now that sounds scary), of the 7 (19%) lawyers, 5 (14%) setup their private legal practice (fine-tuning election tribunal skills I guess). And talk is cheap in the south and lawyers do talk a lot, of the 7 lawyers; only 2 (6%) are from the north.

The two 2 (6%) ex-medicos had private hospitals. What became of their patients when they vied into politics is a question I would love to get an answer to. Apart from Peter Obi of Anambra who was chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc. all the other 3 (8%) ex-bankers are northern governors (I guess my chance of becoming a governor one day is next to nothing).

But like some people will tell you, facts are sometimes not reality. All these interesting bits could mean absolutely nothing. Notwithstanding, you can crank out your own insights using the data below or visit the Nairaland forum to vent your frustration.

State	Governor	Degree	Career height	Party
Abia	Theodore Orji	BA English (University of Ibadan)	Career civil servant	PDP
Adamawa	Murtala Nyarko	Navy Training (Britannia Royal Naval College)	Vice Admiral (Nigerian Navy)	PDP
Akwa Ibom	Godswill Akpabio	LLB Law (University of Calabar)	Director, Corporate Affairs/Legal Services (EMIS Telecoms)	PDP
Anambra	Peter Obi	BA Philosophy (University of Nigeria)	Chairman (Fidelity Bank)	APGA
Bauchi	Isa Yuguda	BSc Economics (ABU), MBA (University of Jos), Chief Executives Programme (Lagos Business School)	CEO (NAL Merchant Bank), CEO (Inland Bank)	PDP
Bayelsa	Timipre Sylva	BA English Studies/Linguistics (University of Port Harcourt)	Career politician	PDP
Benue	Gabriel Suswam	LLB Law (University of Lagos), LLM Law (University of Jos), MA Public Administration (University of Abuja)	Owner (Private legal practice)	PDP
Borno	Kashim Shettima	BSc Agric Economics (University of Maiduguri), MSc Agric Economics (University of Ibadan)	GM (Zenith Bank)	ANPP
Cross River	Liyel Imoke	BA International Relations and Economics (University of Maryland, College Park), LLB Law (University of Buckingham), LLM Law (American University, Washington, D. C)	Private business	PDP
Delta	Emmanuel Uduaghan	MBBS Medicine, Diploma Anaesthesia (University of Benin)	Owner (Private medical practice)	PDP
Ebonyi	Martin Elechi	BSc Economics (Lovanium University of Congo)	Career politician	PDP
Edo	Adams Oshiomhole	Economics and Industrial relations (Ruskin College), Candidate (National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies)	President (NLC)	ACN
Ekiti	Dr Kayode Fayemi	BA History(University of Lagos), MA International Relations (Obafemi Awolowo University), PhD War Studies (King’s College, London)	Director (Centre for Democracy & Development), Visiting Professor in African Studies (Northwestern University)	ACN
Enugu	Sullivan Chime	LLB Law (University of Nigeria)	Owner (Private legal practice)	PDP
Gombe	Ibrahim Dankwambo	BSc Accounting (Ahmadu Bello University), MSc Economics (University of Lagos), Chartered Accountancy (ICAN)	Accountant General of the Federation (Nigeria), FCA (ICAN)	PDP
Imo	Ikedi Ohakim	BSc Business Administration and MSc Management (University of Lagos)	CEO (Alucon)	PDP
Jigawa	Sule Lamido	Course in Railway Engineering (Permanent Way Training School, Zaria)	Career civil servant	PDP
Kaduna	Patrick Yakowa	BSc Social Sciences (Ahmadu Bello University)	Career civil servant	PDP
Kano	Rabiu Kwankwaso	HND Civil Engineering (Kaduna Polytechnic), PgD Water Engineering (Middlesex University), MSc Water Engineering (Lagborough University)	Career civil servant	PDP
Kastina	Ibrahim Shema	LLB Law & MBA (Ahmadu Bello University)	Owner (Private legal practice)	PDP
Kebbi	Usman Dakingari	BA Geography (Ahmadu Bello University)	Career civil servant	PDP
Kogi	Ibrahim Idris	LLB Law (University of Abuja)	Private business	PDP
Kwara	Abdulfattah Ahmed	BSc Chemistry (University of Ilorin)	Senior Manager, Banking (GTB)	PDP
Lagos	Babatunde Fashola	LLB Law (University of Benin)	Managing Partner (K.O. Tinubu & Company), SAN	CAN
Nasarawa	Umaru Al-Makura	BA Education (Ahmadu Bello University)	Assistant Producer, News and Current Affairs (NTA Kaduna)	CPC
Niger	Dr Mu’azu Aliyu	BA Education (Bayero University) PhD Public Policy and Strategic Studies (University of Pittsburgh)	Career civil servant	PDP
Ogun	Ibikunle Amosun	HND Accountancy (Ogun State Polytechnic), MA International Finance (University of Westminster), Chartered Accountancy (ICAN	Owner (Private accountancy practice), FCA (ICAN)	ACN
Ondo	Dr Olusegun Mimiko	BSc Health Sciences Degree, MB & CH.B Medicine (Obafemi Awolowo University)	Owner (Private medical practice)	Labor
Osun	Rauf Aregbesola	HND Mechanical Engineering (Ibadan Polytechnic)	Owner (Private engineering firm), Commissioner (Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure)	ACN
Oyo	Abiola Ajimobi	BSc in Business Administration and Finance (State University of New York, Buffalo), MBA Operations Research and Marketing (Governor’s State University)	CEO (National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company)	ACN
Plateau	Jonah Jang	Air Force Training (Military Training Schools, Nigeria/Abroad), B.Div Divinity (Theological College of Northern Nigeria)	Air Commodore (Nigerian Air Force)	PDP
Rivers	Rotimi Amaechi	BA & MA English (University of Port-Harcourt)	Career politician	PDP
Sokoto	Aliyu Wamakko	BSc Education (University of Pittsburgh)	Career civil servant	PDP
Taraba	Danbaba Suntai	BPharm Pharmacy (Ahmadu Bello University)	Career civil servant	PDP
Yobe	Ibrahim Gaidam	BSc Accountancy (Ahmadu Bello University)	Career civil servant	ANPP
Zamfara	Yari Abubakar		Career politician	ANPP

Disclaimer: Kindly take the validity of this data with a pinch of salt and don’t use it to decide on your political career. And don’t use it to tackle your governor either.