Abubakar Saleh Michika

Who is Abubakar Saleh Michika?

Abubakar Saleh Michika was the first civilian governor of Adamawa State, Nigeria from 2 January 1992 to 17 November 1993. He was a member of the then ruling National Republican Convention.He worked with the British Bank of West Africa in 1966, then John Holt company before joining the politics He was born in Michika, headquarters of the Michika Local Government Area, in what is now the northeastern state of Adamawa.Where he did his primary school in and then moved to Yola for his secondary School at Ramat collage and University at the School for Arabic studies. Father to 34 children, 17 boys and 17 girls all from his four wives; Hajiya Daudu, Mairama, Aisha and Nana Saleh Michika.

Saleh Michika created a stir when he said in 1992 that he would be willing to relocate to the neighboring Niger Republic if there were a military coup in Nigeria. Fourteen years later, he made a controversial statement that the solution to the problems of corruption and misrule in the country would be a diarchy, a mixture of military and civilian personalities, with a military head of state.

A pragmatist, before the 1993 elections he refused to meet Bashir Tofa, the presidential candidate of his NRC party, but he was helpful when M.K.O. Abiola, candidate of the rival Social Democratic Party came to his state. However, in July 1993, after the Ibrahim Babangida administration had annulled Abiola's presidential election, he said "Much as I personally admired Moshood Abiola as an individual, the idea of a southern president was unrealistic".