Umaru Dikko

Who is Umaru Dikko?

Umaru Dikko is a Nigerian politician and was a trusted adviser to President Shehu Shagari. He was also the Nigerian minister for Transportation from 1979-1983.

He started playing a role in the nation's governance in 1967, when he was appointed as a commissioner in the then North Central State of Nigeria. He was also secretary of a committee set up by General Hassan Katsina to unite the Northerners after a coup in 1966. In 1979, he was made Shagari's campaign manager for the successful presidential campaign of the National Party of Nigeria. During the nation's Second Republic, he played prominent roles as transport minister and head of the presidential task force on rice.

A coup on December 31, 1983 overthrew the government of Shagari. Dikko fled into exile in London with a few other party officials.

On July 5, 1984, he played the central role in the Dikko Affair; he was found drugged in a crate at Stansted Airport that was being claimed as Diplomatic Baggage, an apparent victim of a government sanctioned kidnapping. The crate's destination was Lagos.