Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Dr Ahmad Shaba Halilu as substantive Director General of the National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA. The nomination letter to the Senate dated 25 February, 2021 was read in the Senate plenary of 9 March, 2021 by Dr Ahmad Lawan, Nigerian Senate President.
The Letter stated the following: “Pursuant to Sections 14(1) and (2) of the National Space Research and Development Agency Act 2010, I present for confirmation by the Senate the appointment of Mr Halilu Ahmad Shaba as Director General of the National Space Research and Development Agency…”
Dr Halilu a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography holder from Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria (1988); a Masters in Remote Sensing from Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria (1993) and a doctorate from same university also in Remote Sensing (1999). He worked briefly in National Population Commission and lectured in Federal University of Technology, Minna, from 2001 to 2006 before moving to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, as Deputy Director from 2006 to 2009. He joined NASRDA as Director, Strategic Space Applications in 2009.
If confirmed by the Senate, Dr Ahmad Halilu will be the third Director General of NASRDA. The first was Professor Robert Ajayi Borroffice and the second was Professor Sheidu Mohammed. NASRDA was created in May, 1999 as a Research and Development agency under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology with a mandate to pursue the development and application of space science and technology for the social and economic benefit of Nigeria.