Nigerian army
The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army.
History Formation
The Nigerian ...
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
, he was military governor of Borno State between August 1985 and August 1988 during the military regime of General
Ibrahim Babangida
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as C ...
Aminu was one of the officers who arrested General
Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015.
Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 A ...
in the August 1985 coup in which General
Ibrahim Babangida
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as C ...
came to power.
Aminu was a Major in his mid-thirties when Babangida appointed him governor of Borno State later that month.
At Nigeria's first national AIDS conference in October 1987, Aminu said the theory that AIDS originated in Africa is a stalking horse for anti-black racism, due to a mentality that attributes everything that is bad and negative to the so-called "dark continent."
As Borno Governor, Aminu was challenged by lack of funds, and initially by resistance to his authority as an outsider.
He made education his priority.
After his term as governor, Aminu became an instructor at the
Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji
The Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji is a training facility for the Nigerian Armed Forces, including the army, air force and navy. It is near the village of Jaji, Nigeria, about northeast of Kaduna in the Igabi Local Government Area ...
. He was then appointed deputy military secretary, then brigade commander and then was acting general officer commander in Jos. He was then appointed commander of the National Guard, responsible for improving national security. Aminu retired when General
Sani Abacha
Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...
came to power.
Football
Aminu was chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) in 1997.
In the France '98 World Cup competition, he ordered bonus payments of $8,000 each to the Nigerian players, despite losing to
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
in the last group match of the competition. In April 1999, as NFA chairman, Aminu was head of Nigeria's local organizing committee, preparing to host World Cup players in
Liberty Stadium
The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...
,
Ibadan
Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...
during the
1999 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament.
Qualification
The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.
:1.Teams that ...
tournament.
In July 2004, Aminu was a vice-chairman of a 17-man committee set up to re-organise the Nigeria Football Association.
He was in competition with air commodore
Emeka Omeruah
Samson Emeka Omeruah (14 August 1943 – 4 December 2006) was an air commodore of the Nigerian Air Force,West Africa Football Union (WAFU) in 1999. In November 1998, the government expressed its support for Omeruah.
In March 1999, the head of Ghana Football Association gave his tacit support to Aminu's bid, provided he showed clear interest in the job.
Aminu became president of the West Africa Football Union from 1999 to 2002, and a member of the Confederation of African Football.
He set his goal to reinvigorate the almost moribund organization.
Nigerian Fourth Republic
The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 an ...
Katsina State
Katsina State ''(Hausa: Jihar Katsina) (Fula: Leydi Katsina 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞥁𞤭𞤲𞤢)'' is a state in the northwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Katsina State was created in 1987, when it split from Kaduna State. Today, K ...
in April 2003, but lost out to the incumbent
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2 ...
, who later went on to become President of Nigeria.
In April 2004, Aminu rejoined the PDP, saying that the UNPP was in disarray.
In June 2007, Aminu joined the race to succeed Bala Bawa Ka'oje as the chairman of the National Sports Commission.
The job in fact was given to Abdulrahman Hassan Gimba.