Biography Of Yusu Datti Baba-Ahmed

Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed was born in the year 1969 to the prominent Baba-Ahmed Family of Zaria. He received his university education at the University of Maiduguri. He has his Bachelor’s degree in science and Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Maiduguri in Borno State. He also worked as a Banking Officer in First Bank of Nigeria Plc from July 1997 to December 1998 and then came back to become the Managing Director of Baze Research and Data Services Ltd from July 1999 to January 2003, before venturing into politics.Baba-Ahmed began his political career when he was elected in April 2003 to the Federal House of Representatives for the Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State. He contested on the platform of All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).Baba-Ahmed has always stood out because of his principled activism. During the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, he was among lawmakers who fearlessly opposed letting Obasanjo run for a third term.

In May 2006, in other to protect his integrity, he declared that he would not run for re-election unless action was taken to investigate allegations that members of the house had been bribed to support the constitutional changes needed for a third term presidency.In 2007, in his own little way of fighting corruption and sanitizing the political system of Nigeria, he took the Independent National Electoral Commission to court over conduct of past elections. After leaving office in 2007, Baba-Ahmed continued advocating for good governance while returning to his Baze business While speaking at an Islamic media forum in Abuja in September 2008, Baba-Ahmed called on journalists to fearlessly submit accurate reports. He said that corruption in the country is endemic, and special prayers and determination from all stakeholders are needed to correct the situation. In 2011, Baba-Ahmed contested and won the Kaduna North Senatorial elections under Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which was then led by President Muhammadu Buhari; the election was however challenged at the court by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which led to Ahmed’s victory being upturned. Baba-Ahmed is the founder and Pro–Chancellor of Baze University, a top tier private university located in Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory, which opened in April 2011. Citing his studies abroad as a benchmark, he said that the Nigerian educational system was “appalling” and that this inspired him to start Baze University.In 2015, Senator Yusuf Baba-Ahmed was appointed as Chairman, Board of Trustees of the National Youth Service Corps Hope Alive Foundation – which campaigns for post-service economic survival of corps members who suffered permanent disability during service.

It is worthy to note that, In 2022, he pulled out as a gubernatorial aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party primaries for the 2023 governorship elections in Kaduna State, citing his refusal to buy delegate votes as his reason. Outside of politics, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed has continued to play a vital role in the improvement of the living standards of his immediate constituents and the larger Nigerian populace through his philanthropy.As an educationist, he built and donated two junior secondary schools with a total capacity of four thousand students. Since the schools began operation, it has graduated over six thousand students, many of whom have gone on to acquire higher degrees and in-demand vocational skills in their various regions.His educational portfolio of socially impactful projects extends beyond school donation projects, as he founded the independent Baze University in Abuja, Nigeria back in the year 2011 with the main aim of improving the standard of education Nigerian students receive, after comparing the quality of his studies abroad to those of the Nigerian school system and declared it to be “appalling”. His vision for founding Baze University is to “contribute towards fixing the educational system in order for Nigeria to realize its potential and address various challenges that plague it”. Moving beyond education, he has also invested in the critical health sector of the country, having built a 200-bed teaching hospital with state-of-the-art medical facilities and a total floor space of roughly 14 thousand square meters, making it the largest of its kind in Nigeria. This facility provides comprehensive medical services to members of public while providing high-quality medical education to its students, as a unique approach to closing the gaps in the Nigerian health-care system through production of qualified healthcare workers who are able to help minimize the need for medical tourism.

Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed is making a return to active politics after successful contributions to the private sector, as well as public sector mostly as a vocal voice against government excesses and widespread corruption. He is currently a member of the Labour Party of Nigeria and is the Vice Presidential running mate of His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi in the 2023 general elections. Both of them have enjoyed a lot of organic support from Nigerians, both young and old, many of whom believe in their quality of character and capacity to save the country and set it on a new course.