Former minister Mamman Kontangora dies at 69

A former Minister of Works and Housing in the Babangida administration, retired Maj.-Gen. Mamman Kontangora, is dead, a family source said.

The source said Kontagora died at the National Hospital, Abuja.He was 69 years old.

Kontagora was born on the 20th April, 1944 in Kontagora in Niger.

He attended Central Primary School, Kontagora, from 1952 to 1958 and Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, from 1964 to 1967.

He bagged a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1972.

He also attended the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterrey, California, U.S. and the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Kontagora served as Minister of Works and Housing from 1988 to 1993.

He was appointed Sole Administrator of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, by the Sani Abacha regime.

He was also the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from 1998 to 1999.

Kontagora held various command posts, including Commanding Officer, 11 Field Engineers Regiment, Kaduna; Commander, Nigerian Army Engineers Brigade, Ibadan; Commander, Nigerian Army Engineers Brigade, Jos; Commander, Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, New Bussa, and Director of Quartering and Engineering Services, Army.

He contested for the presidency on the platform of the PDP in 2007 but was defeated at the primaries.

Until his death, he was the Deputy Chairman of the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

He held the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger(CON) Kontagora is survived by a wife, Hajiya Ladi, and children. (NAN)