Saminu Turaki

Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki (born 14 July 1963) is a Nigerian politician and former governor of Jigawa State in Nigeria, a post which he has held from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He is a member of the People's Democratic Party of Nigeria (PDP). He was elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2003 on the platform of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP).

Education

Saminu Turaki attended Federal Government College Kaduna and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) where he obtained a Bachelors Degree in Actuarial Science in 1985.

Policy priorities

Saminu Turaki's stated goal is to transform Jigawa state from an agricultural state to a state with an information technology economy. He has undertaken the construction of a Jigawa State Broadband Network at a cost of several billion naira. The project is a satellite based communication facility for delivery of a broad range of multimedia services encompassing video, audio and data. It is first of it kind in Nigeria and the biggest in Africa. The Jigawa Network is controlled by a main earth station located in the state capital, Dutse, with uplink and downlink facilities to the satellite. The Dutse Teleport authenticates and controls all access signals transmitted to and from any system linked to the network.

The aim of the state was to produce 300 IT graduates annually and be the regional hub for software development and for assembly of hardware by 2015 and achieve 100% computerisation of key government activities by 2007. To learn from others, the state administration sponsored hundreds of its youth to study B. Sc. Computer and Computer Engineering in Singapore.

See: "List of Governors of Jigawa State"