Former Minister of Agriculture Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma is dead.
He died after a brief illness in a hospital in London.
Ruma served as minister during the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.
Until his death, he was founder of Cherish International school located in Batsari with campuses in Katsina.
Sayyadi Ruma was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources under President Umaru Yar’Adua on 26 July 2007. He left office in March 2010 when then acting president Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet.
He was chairman of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development headquartered in Rome, Italy, and is a Partner Minister of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organation (UNESCO).
He gained a BA in history from the University of Sokoto, a Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Abuja. He was also a fellow of the prestigious Harvard University in the USA.
Abba Sayyadi Ruma obtained a position as information officer in Katsina State, and became special adviser to Saidu Barda, the governor of Katsina State in 1992.
Between 1999 and 2003, Abba Sayyadi Ruma was chairman and chief executive officer of Rascom Network Ltd, a company based in Kaduna that consults on research and development.
Abba Sayyadi Ruma was the chairman of Batsari Local Government Area in Katsina State in 2003, and strongly supported the PDP candidates. He became secretary to the Katsina State Government in 2003, when Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was governor.
He was appointed Minister of State in the Federal Ministry of Education in 2005 under Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, and in 2007 briefly became Federal Minister of Education when Ezekwesili left to take up a World Bank job.
He is survived by a wife Hajiya Rabi and eight children.
