Dr. Sayyadi Abba Ruma is Nigeria's Honourable Minister of
Agriculture and Water Resources. He is also Chairman of the
Governing Council of International Fund for Agricultural
Development [IFAD] headquartered in Rome, Italy. Notably,
Dr. Ruma is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization [UNESCO] Partner Minister.

Earlier, Dr. Ruma served as Minister of State for Education,
and Minister of Education respectively. A Senior Executive
Fellow of Havard University, United States of America's John
Fitzgerald Kennedy School of Government, he previously served
as Secretary to the Government of Katsina State. Dr. Ruma is
a Director of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs,
Lagos; and also a Director of the New Nigerian Development
Corporation [NNDC] Kaduna; plus a Director of Nigeria
Grassroots Network and Secretary-General of Katsina State
Initiative.

Between 1988 and 2003, Dr. Ruma served in the following
positions: Katsina State Secretary of the Nigerian Union of
Local Government Employees [NULGE], Information Officer
within Katsina State's Ministry of Information, Head of
Public Affairs Department; plus Informationa and Public
Relations Officer National Electoral Commission [NEC]
Katsina State, Special Adviser to the Government of Katsina
State on Political Affairs and Assembly Matters, Chief
Personnel Officer and Assistant Director within the
Management of the National Primary Education Commission
based in Kaduna, Nigeria, an elected Member of the Nigerian
House of Representatives, Director of Training and
Development at the People's Democratic Institute [PDI]
based in Wuse II Abuja, Nigeria; and also Chairman and
Sole Administrator of Batsari Local Government Council
Katsina State, Nigeria. Between 1999 and 2003, he was
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RASCOM
Network Limited - a Kaduna, Nigeria based company
that consults on research and development.

Accordingly, as a distinguished scholar, Dr. Ruma has attended
numerous professional workshops, seminars and conferences;
including: Electoral Information Management organized by the
National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, the Commonwealth
Secretariat London organized Policy Analysis and Critical
Skills Development Conference, a United Nations Development
Programme [UNDP] organized workshop on Non-Governmental
Organizations [NGO] Capacity Building; plus the[MCID]:
Mississippi Consortium for International Development
organized Executive and Legislative Strengthening Programme.

From 1998 to 1999, Dr. Ruma presented various papers at the
Zaria, Nigeria based Ahmadu Bello University [ABU] Post
Graduate Seminar Series. Those papers included: "International
Economic Realtions in Perspective: The Challenges and Prospects
of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC] in the
21st Century", "Issues in Nigerian Government and Politics:
Politics and Political Parties in the First Republic", "Debt
Management in the Global System: World Trade Organization
[WTO] and Developing Countries" and "Working Papers on Debt
Burden Debt Crisis in the Global System of Debt Management."

Dr. Ruma's papers presented at the Abuja, Nigeria based
People's Democratic Institute [PDI] between 2000 and 2001
include: "Party Politics and Representative Democracy", The
Relationship Between The Ruling Party and Government in
Nigeria's Fourth Republic: Lessons for Sierra Leone" -
presented to visiting Sierra Leone's RUF Party Members,
"Democracy and Representative Government: Issues and
Perspectives on the Concept", amongst others.

Also, the Honourable Minister is a Member of the following
professional bodies, Non-Governmental Organizations
[NGOS] and Community Based Organizations [CBOS]:
Institute of Industrial and Chartered Administrators,
Nigeria Institute of Management, Alumni Association: Harvard
University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Centre
for Democratic Development, Research and Training,
Historical Society of Nigeria; and Nigeria Institute of
Public Relations, etc. He is a recipient of awards, namely:
Certified Distinguished Administrator by the Centre for
Creative Leadership, Nigeria, Meritorious Service by the
National Youth Council of Nigeria, Katsina State Chapter;
as well as the traditional Chieftaincy title of Otun Obateru
of Ifetedo Land - conferred on him by Alayelura Oba [Dr.]
Tiamiyu Ojo Adegbite - The Olubosun of Ifetedo Land.

Dr. Ruma, who is married with children, holds a B.A. History
degree from University of Sokoto, Nigeria, a Post Graduate
Certificate on Public Information Management, a Certificate
on Labour Relations, a Master of Science degree in International
Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,
Nigeria; plus a Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy
- Ph.D in International Relations from the University of Abuja,
Nigeria. He also holds a Senior Excecutive Fellowship
Certificate from the John. F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Dr. Ruma's
M.Sc in International Affairs and Diplomacy degree Thesis was
titled "The Crisis of Unequal Esxchange: The North- South
Dialogue in International Economic Relations. His Ph.D in
International Relations Thesis was on "The New Partnership
for Africa's Development [NEPAD] and the Politics of
Nigeria's International Relations in the 21st Century."

Amongst others, Dr. Ruma has the following non academic
credentials to his credit: Advanced Certificate on Public
Information, Mississippi Consortium for International
Development Certificate, Social Science Academy Certificate,
West African Management Development Institute Network
Certificate, Creative Leadership Certificate; and that of
the Institute of Industrialists and Corporate Administrators.
Interestingly, Dr. Ruma was born on 13 March, 1962.

Accordingly, it is to Nigeria's abiding credit that in Rome,
Italy, on Wednesday 13 February, 2008, Dr. Sayyadi Abba Ruma
was elected Chairman of the Governing Council of International
Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD] for a two-year term of
office. The Governing Council of IFAD is the Fund's principal
Governing Body with full decision-making powers. All powers of
the Fund are vested in the Governing Council which takes
decisions on such matters as: approval of new membership,
appointment of the President of IFAD, matters pertaining to the
permanent seat of the Fund, approval of the administrative budget
and adoption of broad policies, criteria and regulations for the
smooth and effective running of the Fund for the benefit of the
world's rural poor.

Notably, Dr. Ruma was highly instrumental to the historic Wednesday
18 February, 2009 election of Nigeria's Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze as the
fifth President of International Fund for Agricultural Development
[IFAD]. Dr. Nwanze was previously Vice-President of IFAD. As
Federal Republic of Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Water
Resources, Dr. Ruma has strategically and efficiently re-positioned
the agricultural sector to nationally be of global standards benefit
to the Nigerian people this 21st Century and beyond.