By Paul Orude
Bala Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi State, is one of the few Nigerians who have earned the title, SMG. He was a senator, minister and is currently a state governor.
Born on October 5, 1958 at Duguri Town, in Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State, he gained admission into the University of Maiduguri in 1979 and graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Language.
Mohammed began his career as a journalist in the early 1980s and rose to the position of News Editor with the Mirage Newspaper, Jos between 1982 and 1983. He also had a stint as a news reporter with the News Agency of Nigeria. In 1984, he joined the civil service and rose to the position of Assistant Director in the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel in 1997.
Mohammed was elected in 2007 to represent Bauchi South Senatorial District, serving as the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation; Secretary, Northern Senators Forum; Member, Senate Committee on Communication; Member, Senate Committee on Finance; Member, Senate Committee on Public Accounts; Member, Senate Committee on Rules & Business; Member, Senate Committee on Environment; Member Senate Committee on Labour & Productivity and Member, Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Jos crisis.
President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in April 2010. He was reappointed FCT Minister in 2011 and he held the position till 2015. In 2019, he contested for governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and defeated the incumbent governor.
Mohammed is tirelessly working on a blue print of building a new Bauchi State tagged, ‘My Bauchi Project.’
His administration has built roads across urban and rural areas in a bid to open up the state. He has also restored the lost glory of critical sectors of the economy, such as education, health, agriculture and youth empowerment, among others.
For these and more, The Sun crowns Governor Bala Mohammed Governor of the Year 2021.