Why The Sun will honour Ganduje with lifetime achievement award

By Umar Idris Shuaibu

The decision by The Sun Newspapers to honour immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and two-term Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, CON, with its Lifetime Achievement Award has drawn attention to a public-service career spanning several decades.

The recognition goes beyond his eight years as Governor of Kano State or his tenure as National Chairman of the APC. It comes against the backdrop of a career that began in teaching and public administration and later took him through the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Kano State Government, federal assignments and the Lake Chad Basin Commission, before rising through elective office to become Deputy Governor and Governor of Kano State.

The award was announced during a presentation to Ganduje at his residence by the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Limited, Mr Onuoha Ukeh.

Ukeh said the honour followed Ganduje’s earlier recognition as The Sun Governor of the Year and was approved by the newspaper’s Board of Editors in recognition of his contributions to governance and development, particularly infrastructure, urban renewal and the beautification of Kano.

The award will be formally conferred on Ganduje in November at the headquarters of The Sun Publishing Limited in Lagos.

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That decision places the latest honour within a longer trajectory of public service.

A career that began outside partisan politics

Long before occupying elective office, Ganduje had established a career in education and public administration.

He began as a teacher before moving into higher education and public administration. Between 1984 and 1994, he held several positions at the FCDA in Abuja, including assignments connected with development administration and area councils governance.

He later served as Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport in Kano State from 1994 to 1998.

His early public-sector experience exposed him to policy formulation, public administration and the practical management of government programmes.

His career also included local-government responsibilities, giving him experience at the grassroots level before his eventual entry into the highest levels of state and national leadership.

That progression from career administration to political office would become a defining feature of Ganduje’s public life.

Twice a deputy governor

Ganduje entered the political mainstream in the Fourth Republic when he became Deputy Governor of Kano State from 1999 to 2003.

During that period, he also served as Commissioner for Local Government, combining the responsibilities of deputy governor with a portfolio directly connected to grassroots administration.

After the change of government in 2003, Ganduje moved into federal responsibilities, serving as Special Adviser (Political) to the Minister of Defence between 2003 and 2007.

He subsequently served as Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in N’Djamena from 2009 to 2011.

In 2011, Ganduje returned to Kano politics as deputy governor for the second time.

That experience also placed him in a distinctive position when he eventually succeeded as governor.

Eight years at the helm of Kano

Ganduje became Governor of Kano State in May 2015 and secured a second term in 2019, serving until May 2023.

His eight-year administration placed considerable emphasis on physical infrastructure, urban development, education, healthcare, agriculture, investment and the likes.

The Sun itself documented that record when it named Ganduje Governor of the Year in its 2020 awards. In its assessment, the newspaper highlighted projects and interventions across education, agriculture, roads, health and other sectors, including the Kano Economic City, agricultural support programmes and youth and women empowerment initiatives.

Infrastructure became particularly associated with the administration.

During Ganduje’s tenure, Kano witnessed the construction and development of major road networks, flyovers, underpasses and other urban projects. The administration also pursued interventions in education, healthcare, agriculture and water supply.

In healthcare, the administration completed projects including the Giginyu Specialist Hospital and Zoo Road Paediatric Hospital and upgrading more than 240 primary healthcare centres across the state.

The scale and visibility of the projects made infrastructure and urban transformation a prominent part of the public assessment of Ganduje’s administration.

However, the record has also attracted differing assessments. Subsequent administrations have raised concerns over aspects of projects inherited from the Ganduje government, including issues surrounding project continuity, expenditure and implementation.

From Kano to national party leadership

After leaving office in 2023, Ganduje moved into national party leadership.

On August 3, 2023, the APC National Executive Committee appointed him National Chairman following the resignation of Abdullahi Adamu.

His emergence placed a former state governor with extensive executive experience at the head of Nigeria’s governing party.

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During his tenure, Ganduje participated in national party administration and represented the APC at major political engagements.

The relationship between Ganduje and The Sun also continued beyond his earlier Governor of the Year recognition. In 2025, Ganduje served as Chairman of The Sun Awards ceremony.

He resigned as APC National Chairman in June 2025, after which the party’s Deputy National Chairman (North), Ali Dalori, assumed the position in an acting capacity.

From party headquarters to the aviation

Ganduje’s public-service journey subsequently moved into another national institution.

He was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), with Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo formally inaugurating him and other board members in July 2025.

At FAAN, the role is different from the executive political offices he previously occupied, but it draws on the administrative and governance experience accumulated over decades.

Ganduje subsequently undertook an assessment visit to the agency and its airport facilities, where he received briefings from management on the authority’s operations, achievements and challenges.

The appointment added another chapter to a career that has moved between administration, elected government, federal assignments, regional institutions, party leadership and public-sector governance.

The significance of The Sun award

The Lifetime Achievement Award becomes more understandable when viewed against that chronology.

The Sun had already recognised Ganduje as Governor of the Year in 2020. The newspaper subsequently highlighted his administration’s projects across Kano in areas including education, agriculture, road infrastructure and healthcare.

The latest honour, according to Ukeh, is broader. It recognises Ganduje’s contributions to governance and development and, specifically, his record in infrastructure, urban renewal and beautification.

That distinction matters.

A Governor of the Year award ordinarily focuses on performance within a particular period of executive office. A Lifetime Achievement Award, by contrast, places emphasis on the cumulative record of a career.

In Ganduje’s case, that record stretches from his early years in education and public administration to more than three decades of increasingly senior responsibilities.

It includes service within the FCDA; a Kano State commissionership; two terms as deputy governor; federal responsibilities; leadership of the Lake Chad Basin Commission; eight years as governor; leadership of the APC; and the chairmanship of the FAAN board.

A career defined by progression

Ganduje’s career illustrates a progression through different layers of public administration.

He experienced government from the perspective of a career administrator, worked at local-government level, served as a state commissioner, operated within the federal system, occupied the deputy governorship twice and eventually became governor.

He later moved into national party administration and returned to public-sector institutional leadership.

That breadth provides the central context for The Sun’s latest recognition.

Receiving the recognition, Ganduje thanked The Sun Newspapers and expressed appreciation to Almighty Allah for giving him the opportunity to serve and continue contributing to society.

He described the honour as an important recognition and a reminder of the importance of continued service to the people.

For a public career that has crossed civil service, local administration, state executive office, regional institution, national party leadership and federal agency governance, The Sun’s Lifetime Achievement Award places the emphasis on the journey as a whole, not merely on one political office or one administration.

It is this breadth of experience across administration, governance and national leadership that provides the context for The Sun’s decision to honour him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Umar Idris Shuaibu, a Kano-based journalist and publisher, is a loyalist of Ganduje.