Mamman Kontagora (April 20, 1944 – May 29, 2013) was Military Administrator of the

Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria The Federal Capital Territory, commonly known as the FCT, is a federal territory in central Nigeria. Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, is located in this territory. The FCT was formed in 1976 from parts of the states of old Kaduna, Kwara, Nig ...

during the transitional regime of General

Abdulsalam Abubakar Abdulsalami Abubakar (; born 13 June 1942) is a Nigerian statesman and retired Nigerian Army general who served as the ''de facto'' President of Nigeria from 1998 to 1999. He was also Chief of Defence Staff between 1997 and 1998. He succeede ...

, handing over control to a civilian in May 1999.

Biography

Kontagora was among the first intake of officers when the

Nigerian Defense Academy The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration of t ...

opened in 1964. Kontagora was appointed Minister of Works and Housing in the Babangida government. In 1991 he issued regulations on pollution abatement and effluent limitations covering all industries, with heavy fines for non-compliance. However, follow-up by the government on infractors was limited. In December 1991, he announced plans to draw up guidelines by early 1992 to control oil pollution. The

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 ...

government appointed Kontagora sole administrator of

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, A ...

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna State, Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau, Zazzau Emirate ...

in 1995 after a major conflict at the university. He remained in charge until some time after the death of Abacha. Kontagora was appointed Administrator of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on 22 August 1998. The brief period when Kontagora was in charge of the FCT saw a boom in construction of housing and infrastructure. Kontagora ceded a strategic plot next to the International Conference centre to the Abuja Horticultural Society to develop as a world standard park, now the Abuja International Peace Park, finally opened in 2003. In January 1999 Kontagora said that all structures had been put in place to ensure a smooth transition to democracy in May 1999. Kontagora was a candidate to represent the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) in the 2003 elections for FCT Senator, but was defeated in the primaries by Isa Maina, who went on to be elected. In October 2004 Kontagora announced that he would be a candidate to contest the 2007 presidential elections on the PDP platform. He was cleared as a candidate by the PDP, but was defeated by

Umaru 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 20 ...

, who went on to be elected. He died in the late hours of May 29, 2013. He was 69. As a memorial, Kotagora has a square named after him in the

References

2013 deaths Nigerian military governors Federal ministers of Nigeria Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians 1944 births {{nigeria-politician-stub