Attah, first Kwara civilian governor, dies

The first civilian governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Adamu Attah, is dead. He died in Abuja on Thursday at age 83. The Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, announced his death when he alongside the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Alhaji Ado Ibrahim, received Attah’s body. The Kogi State Government’s delegation, led by the deputy governor, Yomi Awoniyi, had arrived Kogi State with Attah’s body. 

His body arrived Okene from Abuja for burial according to Islamic rites. Thousands of sympathisers gathered to pay the deceased their last respect. Atta was an indigene of Ebiraland, in the present Kogi State. He was the son of a warrant chief, Ibrahima Atta, whom the British

Government granted wide powers under the Native Authority System.

Attah became the first civilian governor of the old Kwara State between 1979 and 1983 on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria. In January 1967, he was Permanent Secretary for the Federal Ministry of Finance, and was part of the discussions with the Soviet Union over possible development loans.

 He was also a member of the 1976 Constituent Assembly. Wada said late Attah was an elder statesman who epitomised sincerity. He added that the wise counsel of the former governor would be greatly missed.