Alhaji Adamu Atta (October 18, 1927 – May 1, 2014) was the first civilian governor of the Nigerian

Kwara State Kwara () 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 international border with Benin. Its ca ...

during the Second Republic, representing 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 Nigeri ...

(NPN).

Background

Adamu Atta belonged to

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

Ebira The Ebira people are an ethnic-linguistic group of North central Nigeria. Most Ebira people are from Kogi State and Nasarawa State. Their language is usually classified as Nupoid and within the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language fami ...

land, in the present

Kogi State Kogi State is a States of Nigeria, state in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti State, Ekiti and Kwara State, Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, Fe ...

. Born in

Okene Okene is a town in the Nigerian state of Kogi. The town is based in a Local Government Area of the same name. Okene runs along the A2 highway. It had an area of 328 km2 and a population of 320,260 at the 2006 census. The predominant peo ...

in 1927, he was the son of warrant chief Ibrahima Atta, whom the British granted wide powers under the Native Authority system, which undermined the traditional process for selection of a leader in the community. He attended

Achimota School Achimota School (Help:IPA/English, /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra Reg ...

in Ghana and the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

, Nigeria. He worked as a civil servant before entering politics.
He became the first civilian governor of the state, representing the

(NPN), although he came from a minority ethnic group. In January 1967, he was permanent secretary for the federal Ministry of Finance, and was in discussions with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

over possible development loans.

Governor of Kwara State

Atta defeated Obatemi Usman for a seat in the Constituent Assembly in 1977. Usman appealed the vote to his Oziogu clan, accusing the Aniku sub-clan of Adavi, to which Atta belonged, of occupying most of the public offices in Ebira land. Atta was responsible for establishing the Obangede Specialist Hospital.

Tenure

As governor, Atta oversaw the construction of several major projects, including Kwara Hotels Phase II, several specialist hospitals, the Secretariat Phase III (now the Governor's office), and the Kwara civil service clinic. He also conceived the idea of establishing a community bank in 1981, the first being the Omu-Aran Community Bank. This later gave birth to Trade Bank Plc in 1987. Atta was a popular governor and was praised for his development initiatives. He was also known for his commitment to democracy and good governance.

Death

Alhaji Adamu Attah, died on Thursday in his Abuja residence after a protracted illness. He was buried in Kuroko, Okene residence at about 5 p.m. according to Islamic rite, at age 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atta, Adamu 1927 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Achimota School Governors of Kwara State National Party of Nigeria politicians University of Ibadan alumni