Adamu Ciroma

Adamu Ciroma (born 1934 in Potiskum, Yobe State [ 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] ] ) is a Nigerian politician and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. [Olajide Aluko. Nigeria and Britain after Gowon, African Affairs > Vol. 76, No. 304 (Jul., 1977), pp. 9] He is currently a member of the People's Democratic Party.

econd Republic career

In 1979, Ciroma was one of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) presidential aspirants who contested in the party's presidential primary, [Shehu Shagari. Beckoned To Serve. Heinemann Educational Books, Nigeria, 2001.pp214] in which he was supposedly sponsored by the faceless Kaduna Mafia, a rumored group of northern intellectuals, serving officers and bureaucrats stationed around Kaduna. [Shehu Othman, Classes, Crises and Coup: The Demise of Shagari's Regime, African Affairs > Vol. 83, No. 333 Oct., 1984. pp 447, 449] He came third in the primary, behind Shehu Shagari and Maitama Sule, his candidcacy having been partly financed by Hamza Rafindadi Zayyad, the head of the New Nigeria Development Company. [William Reno. Old Brigades, Money Bags, New Breeds, and the Ironies of Reform in Nigeria. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines > Vol. 27, No. 1 (1993), pp. 75]

Ciroma was briefly the secretary of the NPN and was later made 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. [Quentin Peel, "Shagari shuffles Cabinet", Financial Times, February 16, 1982] 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. [Quentin Peel, "President's party wins majority in Nigerian Assembly", Financial Times, September 6, 1983]

Fourth Republic career

Ciroma is a founding member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has been ruling Nigeria since 1999. He served as Minister of Finance in the government of Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2003. Currently, his wife holds the position of Minister of Women Affairs and Youth in the same government.

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