Mohammed Magoro (born 7 May 1941) is a retired Major General of the Nigerian army who was twice a government minister, under Generals

Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 2007 ...

and

Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerians, Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to ...

. In the April 2011 elections he was elected Senator for the Kebbi South constituency of

Kebbi State Kebbi State (; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in northwestern Nigeria, bordered to the east and north by the states of Sokoto and Zamfara, and to the south by Niger State while its western border ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Early career

Magoro was born in

, a member of the

Zuru Zuru is a Local Government Area in Kebbi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Zuru. It is also the Headquarters of Zuru Emirate. The Emirate comprises four local government areas, namely: Wasagu/Danko, Fakai, Sakaba and Zuru. ...

ethnic minority. He was a graduate of Bida Provincial School, a classmate of

Mamman Jiya Vatsa Mamman Jiya Vatsa (3 December 1940 – 5 March 1986) was a Nigerian general and poet who served as Minister of the Federal Capital Abuja, and was a member of the Supreme Military Council. On 5 March 1986, he was executed by the military r ...

and

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August 1941) is a Nigerian statesman and military dictator who ruled as military president of Nigeria from 1985 when he orchestrated a coup d'état against his military and political arch-rival Muhammadu ...

. He joined the Nigerian Army on 10 December 1962 alongside Ibrahim Babangida and

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...

, when he enrolled at the Nigeria Military Training College.

Military regime

Magoro was appointed Federal Commissioner of Transport during the Military administration of General

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

in 1978. He became Minister for Internal Affairs under Major General

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

, the military ruler from January 1984 to August 1985. He was also a member of the Supreme Military Council. As Minister for Internal Affairs, in May 1985 he oversaw the exodus of close to a million foreign nationals from Nigeria. Half had come from

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, and the rest from other West African countries where they were escaping from drought and starvation. Magoro was not retained as minister under

's new regime which took power in August 1985, but was appointed head of the

Nigerian National Shipping Line The Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) was established by the Nigerian government in 1959. Despite heavy investment and subsidies, the state-owned company was unable to compete with European lines. Much of the investment went to enriching the ...

, the

Nigerian Railways Nigerian Railway Corporation (commonly abbreviated as NRC) is the state-owned enterprise with exclusive rights to operate railways in Nigeria. History The Nigerian Railway Corporation traces its history to the year 1898, when the first railr ...

and

Nigerian Ports Authority The Nigerian Ports Authority (''NPA'') is a federal government agency that governs and operates the ports of Nigeria. The major ports controlled by the NPA include: the Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island Port in Lagos; Calabar Port, Delta ...

. After his retirement in 1995 he took to public service and thereafter became the Chairman of Ocean and Oil Services Ltd.

Fourth republic

Magoro became Chairman of the Oando group in 2000, a petroleum marketing company created through privatization of Unipetrol Nigeria Plc., in which Ocean and Oil Services bought a major share. In November 2001 Magoro was an influential member of the Board of Trustees of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). In the run up to the April 2007 elections for

governor, Magoro was at first declared the PDP candidate but later was replaced by Alhaji Saidu Dakingari. When Dakingari went on to be elected, the rival parties disputed the validity of the election on the basis that he had been filed as a candidate on 5 February 2007 but had not formally joined the party until 10 February 2007.

Senatorial career

In the January 2011 PDP primary election in

for Senatorial candidate for Kebbi South, Magoro defeated the incumbent, Senator Tanko Ayuba. Mogoro won the election on 9 April 2011 with 125,940. The runner-up was Abubakar S. Yelwa of the

Congress for Progressive Change The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was a political party founded in Nigeria in 2009. In February 2013, the party merged with the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alli ...

(CPC), who won 94,147 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magoro, Mohammed 1941 births Living people Nigerian generals Interior ministers of Nigeria Peoples Democratic Party members of the Senate (Nigeria) Senators of the 7th National Assembly (Nigeria)