Yusuf Sulaiman

Alhaji Yusuf Sulaiman (or Suleiman) (born 30 January 1963) is a member of the traditional ruling family of the Sokoto Caliphate who was a civil servant before entering politics in Nigeria. He was appointed as Nigerian Minister of Transport on 6 April 2010, when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan announced his new cabinet. He became Minister of Sports on July 2011 cabinet reshuffle. He left office in December 2011 when he decided to run in the People Democratic party (PDP) primaries for governorship of Sokoto State.

Yusuf Sulaiman
Federal Minister of Transport
In office 6 April 2010 – July 2011
Preceded by	Ibrahim Bio
Succeeded by	Audu Idris Umar
Federal Minister of Sports
In office July 2011 – 2 December 2011
Preceded by	Ibrahim Bio
Succeeded by	Bolaji Abdullahi
Personal details
Born	(1963-01-30) 30 January 1963 Sokoto, Nigeria
Political party	APC

Early career and education

Sulaiman was born in Gusau on (30 January 1963).[1] He is a member of the ruling dynasty of the Sokoto Caliphate. His father, Alhaji Sulaiman Isa ibn Ibrahim, was great-grandson of Sultan Aliyu Karami ibn Muhammad Bello bn shekh Usman bn Fodio.[2]

He holds a B.Sc Degree in business administration from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1986) and MBA (1989) from the same university. He attended the Harvard university Flagship course on privatization, the public Enterprises management program in (1995). He was also at the Kellog School of Management's Executive Development program in (2002), Harvard University Kennedy School's Senior Managers in Government Program (2001), University of Virginia Darden Graduate School of Business program on managing critical resources (2002), Cambridge Academy of Transport Shipping Insurance Course (2002), Kellogg Graduate school of Management Certificate in the soul of Leadership Program (2003).[3]

He joined the Sokoto state service in September (1986) where he rose to the position of state director of industry in (1991). He worked in various positions in both the state and the federal government since then.[4]

He was appointed Executive Director at the National Maritime Authority of Nigeria ( now NIMASA) in September (1999). In February (2003) he resigned and ran for senate on the platform of People's Democratic Party (PDP) for the Sokoto East Senatorial District.[5][6]

Before being appointed Minister of Transport, he was the chairman of the Governing Council of the National Teachers' Institute, Kaduna (NTI).[1] He became chairman and CEO of Afro investors limited, private Equity firm after resigning as federal minister in (2012). In addition, he is also the current president and chief executive officer of Caspian Oil and Gas Limited.[7]

Minister of Transport (April 2010 – July 2011)

Sulaiman was appointed Minister of Transport on ( 6 April 2010) .[8] On assumption to office he declared his two priorities to be the completion of dredging of the lower Niger River to ensure year-round navigation from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State.[9] And the rehabilitation and modernization of railways In .[10] In December 2010 he made an official four-hour boat trip from Lokoja in Kogi State to Onitsha in Anabra State along the newly dredged rivers.[11]

And in March 2011, he said the ministry was working with other regencies to ensure both the rehabilitation of the narrow gauge network and the railway modernization efforts, so they could be brought into operation through concession .[12]

As a minister, he said "The ministry was committed to transforming the nation's shipping industry to comply with global best practice".[13] On December (2010 ) he was reported to have changed the director general of the Nigerian maritime Administration and Safety Egency (NIMASA) for abuse of office and subsequently recommended his removal.[14]

Minister of Sports (July 2011 – December 2011)

Suleiman was made Minister of Sports in July (2011) cabinet shuffle.[15] Even though he served for less than six months before his resignation to engage in active politics, he was generally believed to have restored stability to the sports section. His effort in bringing together all the warring factions in football Administration, a feat hitherto believed to be impossible, finally ended the crises.[16]

The general Dominc oneya committee he set up to reposition soccer administration in the country, greatly succeeded in brokering peace to the sector one of the members of that committee, Hon Elegbeleye was latter appointed Director-General of the national sports commission to succeed Mr. Patrick Ekeji who retired from service.[17]

Accordingly, in July (2011), Suleiman met with representatives from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the rival Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and secured the commitment of the two groups to suspend all litigations.[18] A condition for the committee which includes both NFF and NFA as members.[19] The committee inaugurated in (August 2011) was charged with reviewing the Nigerian Foot ball Federation The committee was inaugurated on (1 August 2011) charged with reviewing the Nigerian Foot ball Federation.[20]

On (2 December 2011) Suleiman resigned to contest for the governorship election in Sokoto State.[21] The other candidates were incumbent Governor Aliyu Magatakardan wamako and senator Abubakar Gada. On (14 December 2011) Bolaji Abdullahi,minister of youth Development was asked to oversee the ministry of sports.[22]

In (may 2012 ) Abdullahi was formally appointed as the new minister of sports. [21] [23]

Later career

Suleiman is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Caspian Oil and Gas Limited, an energy and petroleum service company. He is also the chairman of Afro investors Limited, a private Equity and venture capital firm.[24]

He has remained in politics since leaving office in (December 2011). He is a major political force in Sokoto his home state.[25]

However, in 2018 he moved to the All Progressive Congress (APC) to support the ruling party in realizing its people-oriented development program.[26]

He was appointed the Director-General of the APC campaign council in Sokoto State for both the Gubernatorial and presidential campaign in (2019) general election.[27] He directed and spearheaded a very successful campaign which produced all the three senators, nine out of eleven members of the house of representatives and sixteen out of thirty members of state house of Assembly. The governorship was lost narrowly with the least margin in the history of election in Nigeria.[28][29]

Personal life

Suleiman is married with children.

See also

• All Progressives Congress
• Sa'adu Abubakar
• Sokoto State
• Sambo Dasuki
• NIMASA
• Gusau

References

1. Golu Timothy (10 April 2010). "New Ministers: Jonathan's Cabinet In Focus". Leadership. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
2. Henry Soszynski (7 February 2013). "SOKOTO (Sultanate)". World of Royalty. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
3. "Yusuf Suleiman's Email & Phone | Caspian Oil & Gas Limited". contactout.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
4. "www.leadershipnigeria.com | DNS A record". www.leadershipnigeria.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
5. siteadmin (2 December 2011). "Jonathan Removes Sports Minister From Office". Sahara Reporters. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
6. "Yusuf Suleiman Archives". Vanguard News. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
7. "Yusuf Suleiman's Email & Phone | Caspian Oil & Gas Limited". contactout.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
8. "Ministers - the Profiles (ii)". ThisDay. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
9. "Arresting a Culture of Neglect". Nigeria Daily News. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
10. Shehu Abubakar (1 March 2011). "Now that the Niger has been dredged". Daily Trust.
11. "FG to concession railways". Vanguard. 12 March 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
12. Ajibola Abayomi (15 April 2010). "Transport Ministry To Unveil Maritime Blue Print". Daily Independent. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
13. "Lack of legal framework threatens investments". BusinessDay. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
14. Heese, Jonas; Perez Cavazos, Gerardo (2019). "When the Boss Comes to Town: The Effects of Headquarters' Visits on Facility-Level Misconduct". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3476833. ISSN 1556-5068.
15. "Olusegun Aganga Appointed trade and investment minister". Elombah. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
16. "Sports minister sets up c'tee to find solution to football crisis". Vanguard News. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
17. George Umunnakwe Umunnakwe (13 July 2013). "Re-Deployment: Akpobolokemi in another Controversy". Business World. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
18. Kasim Sumaina (22 July 2011). "Nigeria's Football Crisis Resolved!". ThisDay. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
19. Gowon Akpodonor (23 July 2011). "Tenebe's NFA Picks Jalla As Representative In Truce Body". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
20. "Warring football groups cease fire". Vanguard News. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
21. Idonor, Daniel (2 December 2011). "Sokoto Guber: Jonathan accepts Minister of Sport's resignation". Vanguard. Nigeria. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
22. [22]
23. http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-approves-abdullahis-appointment-as-sports-minister/
24. "Yusuf Suleiman's Email & Phone | Caspian Oil & Gas Limited". contactout.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
25. "Sokoto governorship: We won but INEC and PDP rigged the elections – APC". Daily Trust. 7 April 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
26. Auwal, Abubakar; Sokoto (8 August 2018). "Former Minister of Transport, Sulaiman joins APC". Daily Trust. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
27. Njoku, Ime (24 December 2018). "All Progressives Congress inaugurates campaign council in Sokoto". Voice of Nigeria. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
28. "Sokoto State APC to launch general elections campaign Sunday". Pulse Nigeria. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
29. editor (5 April 2019). "APC to Contest Results of Bauchi, Sokoto, Adamawa Governorship Polls". THISDAYLIVE. Retrieved 26 July 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)