Yusuf Amuda Gobir (2 October 1934 – 28 December 1975) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

who worked his way up from state service to become a federal

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

in the Ministry of Defence and later the Ministry of Establishments.

Early life and education

Gobir was born on 2 October 1934 at

Ilorin Ilorin is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Kwara State in Western Nigeria.. Retrieved 18 February 2007 As of the 2006 census, it had a population of 777,667, making it the List of Nigerian cities by population, 7th ...

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

. He was educated at the Ilorin Provincial Secondary School and the Institute of Administration in

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

in 1951 to 1952. He later did an administrative course at Oxford University, England. After many years in the civil service, he read Law and was called to Bar at the Inner Temple, London in 1964.

Career

Gobir began his career in the federal Nigeria Public Service which he joined in 1950. He later joined the Northern Region Public Service when it was created in 1954. When new states where created in 1967, Gobir served in his home state, Kwara where he established a structure for the new state's civil service, and was the Permanent Service in the Governor's Office. In April 1969, he was transferred to the federal service and was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1971, he was posted to the Federal Ministry of Establishments and later to the Federal Ministry of Transport.

Later life and death

Gobir served in the Federal Ministry of Transport until his death on 28 December 1975, in a ghastly road accident while on holiday in

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. His body was flown to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, amid widespread mourning, for burial at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gobir, Yusuf Nigerian civil servants 1934 births 1975 deaths People from Ilorin People from Kwara State