Godwin Osagie Abbe | |
---|---|
Governor of Akwa Ibom State | |
In office 31 July 1988 –5 September 1990 | |
Preceded by | Tunde Ogbeha |
Succeeded by | Idongesit Nkanga |
Military Governor of Rivers State | |
In office August 1990 –January 1992 | |
Preceded by | Ernest Olawunmi Adelaye |
Succeeded by | Rufus Ada-George |
Nigerian Minister of Interior | |
In office 26 July 2007 –14 July 2009 | |
Preceded by | Oluyemi Adeniji |
Succeeded by | Shettima Mustapha |
Defence Minister of Nigeria | |
In office 14 July 2009 –17 March 2010 | |
Preceded by | Shettima Mustapha |
Succeeded by | Adetokunbo Kayode |
Personal details | |
Born | 10 January 1949 Benin City,Edo State,Nigeria |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Nigeria |
Branch/service | Nigerian Army |
Years of service | 1967–1999 |
Rank | Major General |
Godwin Osagie Abbe (born 10 January 1949) in Benin City,Edo State,Nigeria is a retired [1] Nigerian Army Major General and former Defence Minister of Nigeria from 2009 to 2010. He served as the Nigerian Minister of Interior from 2007 to 2009. [2]
Godwin Abbe joined the military in 1967 as a private,was commissioned second lieutenant in July 1968,and was promoted colonel in 1986. He served during the Nigerian Civil War. He earned a Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU),Ile-Ife. He is also a graduate of the United States Army Infantry School Fort Benning,Georgia,Ghana Armed Forces Staff College and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic studies,Kuru. [3]
He was military governor of Akwa Ibom State 1988–1990) and Rivers State (1990–1991). [4] He then became general officer commanding (GOC) 2 Division Nigerian Army;Commander,Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and Commander,National War College. He retired in 1999 with the rank of major general. [5]
After leaving the army,Godwin Abbe joined People's Democratic Party in 1999,and became chairman of the party in Edo State. [5]
President Umaru Yar'Adua appointed Godwin Abbe as the Nigerian Minister of Interior on 26 July 2007. At a meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in Kampala,Uganda in November 2007,Abbe met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and asked for assistance in restructuring the police force,which was suffering from low morale due to poor welfare,inadequate training and lack of vital work tools. [6]
As minister of the interior,Godwin Abbe was chairman of a committee that recommended an amnesty programme for gunmen in the Niger Delta,an important step towards improving output of oil and gas. [7] Soon after,he was appointed Minister of Defense,a key role in implementing the amnesty. [2]
In September 2009,Abbe said that the Amnesty would not prevent security operatives from going after illegal oil bunkerers,who he said would be treated as enemies of the state. [8] In October 2009,speak of Niger Delta militants who had accepted the government amnesty,Abbe gave assurances they would be rehabilitated,re-integrated and helped in every way possible to make them self-sustaining in life. [9]
The Peoples Democratic Party [sic] is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria,along with its main rival,the All Progressives Congress.
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The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states,which include:all six states from the South South geopolitical zone,one state (Ondo) from South West geopolitical zone and two states from South East geopolitical zone.
Edo,officially known as Edo State,is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of the federal republic of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census,the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria. The state population figures is expected to be about 4,777,000 in 2022. Edo State is the 22nd largest State by landmass in Nigeria. The state's capital and largest city,Benin City,is the fourth largest city in Nigeria,and the centre of the country's rubber industry. Created in 1991 from the former Bendel State,is also known as the heart beat of the nation. Edo State borders Kogi State to the northeast,Anambra State to the east,Delta State to the southeast and southsouth and Ondo State to the west.
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Shettima Mustafa was a Nigerian academic and politician. After an early career in medicine,local administration,and media,Mustafa studied agriculture at university,eventually earning a Doctor of Philosophy degree. He became a commissioner in Borno State and joined the Nigerian People's Party,becoming their vice-presidential candidate in 1983. He was jailed after the military coup of December 1983 led by Muhammadu Buhari. After his release in 1985 he taught agriculture at the University of Maiduguri and became head of the Jos region of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Mustafa served as Minister of Agriculture from 1990 to 1992,and in 2007 was appointed Minister of Defence in the cabinet of President Umaru Yar'Adua. In 2008 he became Minister of the Interior but left office with the 2010 dissolution of the cabinet.
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