Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (born December 25, 1949) is the Governor of Kano State elected on 13 April 2015. He had earlier served twice as Deputy Governor of Kano State, from 1999 to 2003 and 2011 to 2015 under the administration of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Ganduje started his early education in Qur’anic and Islamiyya school at his village Ganduje where he was trained in Islamic knowledge. He later moved to headquarters of his local government where he attended Dawakin Tofa Primary School from 1956 to 1963, and the Government Secondary School Birnin Kudu from 1964 to 1968.
He obtained a Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) from Advance Teachers’ College Kano between 1969 and 1972. He then attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, for a Bachelor of Science Education degree from 1972 to 1975. Ganduje also obtained two Master’s degrees but he went further to get the Doctor of Public Administration degree between 1989 and 1993.
He then veered into politics and rose to the position of Deputy Governor before reaching his present status. Ganduje was conferred with the national honour of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) in September 2012 by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Governor Ganduje is reputed to be a pragmatic and down-to-earth fellow. He is credited with developing the infrastructure which his predecessor, Musa Kwankwaso could not complete. Independent analysts in Kano say
He is on record as condemning the recent killings of helpless villagers by Fulani herdsmen in Benue state. Governor Ganduje reportedly asked all Fulani herdsmen in the country to relocate to Kano state and enjoy the vast and fallow grazing land at the Falgore Game Reserve, which he said, was being underutilized.
