Full Name: Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed
State of Origin: Kaduna State.
Date of Birth: 7 July 1969
Nationality: Nigerian
Marriage status: Married.
Alma mater: University of Maiduguri, University of Westminster, UK.
Occupation: Politician, Economist
Position(S): Representative for Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State
Political party: Labour Party (LP)
Facebook:@yusufdattibabaahmad
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed is a Nigerian economist, Businessman, and Politician from Kaduna state, Nigeria. He was a Member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007 and served as the Senator for Kaduna North from 2011 to 2012. He is the founder of Baze University, a private tertiary institution located at Jabi in Abuja, founded in 2011. Currently a member of the Labour party and also the running mate of the party presidential candidate Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election.
Early Life & Education
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed was born on July 7, 1969, into the family of Baba-Ahmed in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. A family of 33 children, with 22 still alive. The family has lost its patriarch and 11 sons and daughters over the years. Yusuf Datti Ahmed’s father, Baba-Ahmed, was a Mauritania-born Arab cattle dealer, who later became a renowned professor and expert on Islamic jurisprudence.
In an interview with the surviving eldest sister of the family, Mahadiyya baba-Ahmed stated that they were all born in their family house in Tudun Wada, Zaria, or at the Barewa College, Zaria Kaduna state. Yusuf Datti’s father, Baba-Ahmed died on the 5th Of November, 1987 at the age of 95.
According to a short biography on the Baze university website, Yusuf Datti holds four degrees, including a BSc and MSc in Economics from the University of Maiduguri, an MBA from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Westminster, which he successfully finished in 2006.
Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed did his NYSC at the University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun state. He then began to build up his career.
Career
After finishing his Service in Ogun state, He worked in business and banking for several years. He worked at Baze Research and Data Services Limited as Projects Co-ordinator and at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, Lagos AS Officer II. Between July 1997 to December 1998, he worked as a Banking Officer for First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
In July 1999, he returned to Baze Research and Data Services Ltd to become the Managing Director of the Company and left to venture into Politics in January 2003.
Sen. Yusuf Baba-Ahmed was chosen in 2015 to lead the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Hope Alive Foundation’s Board of Trustees (BOT), which works to support corps members who sustained persistent disabilities while serving by promoting their post-service economic survival.
Political Career
In April 2003, Baba-Ahmed Contested for the Federal House of Representatives for the Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State under the flag of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). He won the election to become a Member of the House of Representatives between 2003 to 2007.
During the Administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, He was one of the Lawmakers who opposed allowing Obasanjo to run for a third term in 2006. Yusuf Datti insisted that he would not run for reelection unless action was taken to investigate allegations that members had been bribed to support the constitutional changes needed for a third-term presidency Agenda.
On May 16, 2006, the Nigerian Senate threw out the Constitutional Amendments Bill. Obasanjo left office a year later on May 29, 2007.
Baba-Ahmed sued the Independent National Electoral Commission in 2007 about how previous elections were Conducted. He left Politics in the same 2007 to return to his Baze business group and he founded Baze University, a private University Located in Abuja in 2011 and is currently the pro-chancellor.
In 2011, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed Returned to Politics and contested For Senator, He won the Kaduna North Senatorial elections 2011 under Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which was then led by President Muhammadu Buhari. Baba-Ahmed received 366,398 votes in the April 2011 elections for Senator of Kaduna North. The incumbent, Senator Ahmed Makarfi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), finished second with 365,043 votes.
The Opposition Party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Candidate Ahmed Makarfi, went to court to challenge the election, and the electoral tribunal overturned Ahmed’s victory and he left the office in 2012.
in 2019, Sen. Baba-Ahmed ran for a presidential ticket under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which he lost to Former vice president Atiku Abubakar. In 2022, he withdrew from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary contest for the governorship elections in Kaduna State in 2023, citing his refusal to buy delegates as the cause.
On 8th July 2022, a day after his fifty-third birthday he was nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Nigeria General election. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Yusuf Datti who will be the running mate of the nominated president Peter Obi, said his decision to accept the nomination was borne out of his dedication to rescuing Nigeria.
Baze university
Baze University was founded in 2011 by Sen. Yusuf Baba-Ahmed. Baze University is a private tertiary institution located in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. The institution offers higher-level standard education of British quality. When asking Baba-Ahmed why he founded the school, he noted that the Nigerian educational system was “appalling“. This inspired the birth of Baze University, “to contribute towards fixing the system for Nigeria to realize its potentials and address various challenges”.
At the time of this publication, A total of 43 undergraduate degree programs are run at the university which includes, the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Faculty of Computing and Applied Sciences, and others. Baba-Ahmed is Currently the Pro-Chancellor of Baze University.
Philanthropy
Sen. Yusuf Datti is a gifted philanthropist who uses his wealth to help people. He built and donated two junior secondary schools with a combined capacity of 4,000 students as one of his CSR initiatives. The fact that the institutions have already graduated more than 6,000 students is noteworthy.
His companies employ a total of over 1000 people including expatriates, and highly skilled professional Nigerians from the Diaspora.