Alhaji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

Muhammadu Shehu Kangiwa was the first elected civilian governor of

Sokoto State Sokoto State (Hausa: Jihar Sokoto Fula: Leydi Sokoto 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤧𞤮𞥅𞤳𞤮𞥅𞤼𞤮𞥅) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country on the national border with the Niger, Republic o ...

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 ...

in the short-lived

Nigerian Second Republic The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic. Background Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region en ...

, holding office from October 1979 to November 1981. He represented the

National Party of Nigeria The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the dominant political party in Nigeria during the Second Republic (1979–1983). History Formation The party's beginning could be traced to private and sometimes secret meetings among key Northern Nigerian ...

(NPN). He was a popular governor, providing water, health care, agricultural input, education at all levels and transparent government. The Bakolori irrigation project, started by the previous military government, had displaced many peasant farmers without providing land or compensation. Confronted by demonstrators in November 1979, Kangiwa promised to address all their grievances. However, on 28 April 1980 police moved in on unarmed demonstrators and shot dead over 380 people. The government played down the incident, claiming only 25 had died. He imprisoned Sheikh Zakzaky of the Islamic movement in Nigeria, along with some of his close disciples, and was said to have intended to execute him. In 1981, he increased the number of Local Government Areas in the state from 19 to 32. However his successor Colonel

Garba Duba Garba Duba (born 1942) is a retired Nigerian Army Lieutenant general who was Governor of Bauchi State, Nigeria from July 1978 to October 1979 during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, and Administrator of Sokoto State from January ...

reversed this measure in 1984. He died in November 1981, falling from a horse while playing polo in the 1981 edition of the Georgian League. In 1982 Unisteel Ltd. presented The Shehu Kangiwa Cup in his memory, and the cup is now sponsored by Sokoto State Government.

References

1953 births 1981 deaths Governors of Sokoto State National Party of Nigeria politicians {{nigeria-politician-stub