User:Mr Nyako/sandbox

About Senator Abdul-Aziz Nyako
Abdul-Aziz Murtala Nyako is the incumbent Senator of Adamawa state. With over 15 years of leadership experience in the Nigerian Navy, and an appointment as the Sarki Matasa Adamawa (Youth Leader of Lamido Kingdom) in 2013, Abdul-Aziz has demonstrated initiative in tackling issues related to security, youth empowerment, and drug and law enforcement—all of which are important in encouraging a functional democratic society in Nigeria.

Early Life
Born in Kaduna in 1970 and the eldest of 17 children, Abdul-Aziz spent most of his childhood in Tamandu Barracks in Apapa, Lagos. In Nigeria, he moved around frequently between Bauchi, Adamawa, Niger, Borno, and Lagos due to the fact that his father, Murtala Nyako, an officer in the Nigerian Navy was posted to various locations. As a result, he was enrolled in several nursery and primary schools from 1970-1981—completing parts of his primary education in the United Kingdom from 1978-1981. This continuous change in environment from the UK back to Nigeria proved to be trying for him as a young boy, although it improved his resilience, academic performance and understanding of various cultures and backgrounds.

It was not until 1985 that Abdul-Aziz found some stability. He spent five years at the Air Force Military School in Jos and in 1990 enrolled in the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) where he received a BSc. in Chemistry. The following year, he went back to the UK and trained at the Britania Royal Naval College (Dartmouth), where he was subsequently commissioned as a Sub-lieutenant in 1992. His time at Dartmouth was significant in that it renewed his sense of confidence and helped him reinforce his identity. Upon his return back to Nigeria that same year, Abdul-Aziz withdrew his commission and re-enrolled in the NDA.

NDA was especially difficult during his first year. As the son of Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako, the then Chief of Naval Staff of the Nigerian Navy, he received harsher treatment than some of his fellow classmates whose fathers were not military officials. Motivated by the challenges and abhorrence of failure, Abdul-Aziz made it his priority to graduate from the parade ground at NDA, just as he had at Dartmouth.

From 1992 onwards, most of Abdul-Aziz' life was seaborne. In 1997, he was on board the NNS Aradu setting sail for Sierra Leone on a patrol mission. Instead of Sierra Leone, they arrived in Liberia and remained there for 7 months at the onset of the Second Liberian Civil War. During his time on board the ship, he organized a rescue mission to retrieve the bodies of five of his fallen colleagues after a sewage plant had caused poisonous gases to leak into the compartment where the men were carrying out routine operations. Using the training he received from Dartmouth, he was able to save the lives of two other colleagues.

From 2001 to 2006, he served on board many ships, including the naval team on board the first missile patrol craft in the Bakassi Peninsula in 2005. It was during his Junior Division training in Liberia in 2001, that he first considered leaving the Navy. When his father was elected Governor of Adamawa state in 2008, the opportunity was presented to leave the service.

When Abdul-Aziz attended the Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji, he presented a paper in 2006 on the problems of grassroots development and solutions. When Vice Admiral Nyako won the governorship, he asked his son to spearhead a grassroots program for the state. This proved to be a good fit for him. In that year, Abdul-Aziz moved to Adamawa to begin the planning for this new program. When his father's election was annulled, he remained in Adamawa to assist with the re-elections and planning. His experience assisting his father in Adamawa was the beginning of his involvement in politics.

Ahead of his promotion to captain in 2010, Abdul-Aziz retired from the service. When he returned to Adamawa, not only was he not affiliated with any political party, he did not participate in partisan politics at the time. He was still deeply concerned with the development of the grassroots program in Adamawa, which included the local apprenticeship scheme, farming skill acquisition program, and the advancement of vocational and technical training centers. The contributions he made to the grassroots program were independent of any government or state appointment or political affiliation—he acted solely as civilian addressing the needs within his community.

By 2012, the grassroots program was fully functional. In 2013, the Lamido Adamawa appointed Abdul-Aziz the Sarki Matasa Adamawa. In this role, he acts as the Chief Security Advisor of the Lamido Adamawa. He is also responsible for the empowerment and cultural reorientation of the youth and the encouragement of female participation in public service. As Sarki Matasa, he has successfully conducted many security trainings and drug related programs for youth within the State. For women, he created an empowerment program and micro financing schemes to encourage business development.

Political Career
In 2013, Abdul-Aziz launched himself into partisan politics when he joined the ANPP. Having noticed that the PDP, the ruling party, was becoming increasingly unjust in its dealings with its members, he sought to find an alternate party for the disgruntled members within the administration. After extensive deliberation, he left the state to seek a new party—chiefly as a response to what he saw as the disenfranchisement of the citizens and especially that of minority parties (ANPP, CPC, ACN) in the State. Although he was never a member of the PDP, it was always assumed that he was, since his father was a member of the party.

Abdul-Aziz was charged with the responsibility of protecting the interest of all stakeholders in the formation of the new party, the All Progressive Congress (APC). He promised the leadership of the various legacy parties that the new party would be just and it will ensure equitable representation for all stakeholders in the primaries of the new party (APC), despite the new PDP's demands for 50 percent of the new party structure. When the agreements were reached and the courts approved the name APC, he joined the party.

Showing initiative and a deep concern for the successful formation of APC in Adamawa, Abdul-Aziz wanted to make certain that the newly formed Harmonization Committee—created to unify APC party members in state-level decision making—performed its duties while maintaining camaraderie. As a result, he mobilized 336 leaders from the women and youth groups, as well as chairmen and secretaries—all of which were representative of the 21 local governments in Adamawa. Under his leadership, he directed the leaders to collapse the former structures representing the four different parties at the local government level, and to create an office that was representative of only one party. His laudable efforts resulted in organized local government offices in the state.

Today, Senator Nyako believes that insecurity in the Northeast is endemic to Nigeria's current problems. The facilitation of the youth empowerment program is essential to curtailing the security issues in the North by providing youth—who are the prime recruits of the insurgency—with constructive opportunities to better themselves and their communities. While in office, he plans to continue to grow the program and further increase its reach to other areas in the North.

Senator Nyako is also concerned with maritime safety and security. His background in the Navy will admit him in the organization of committees around the issues of maritime environment. His passion for grassroots-level state-building is essential to his political ideology. He is a proponent of a bottom-up approach to governance, whereby the needs and requirements of individuals at the grassroots level are directly recognized and acted upon by leaders at the federal level.

Senator Nyako continues to focus on transportation, energy, and agriculture in Adamawa—Energy will drive industries; good transportation services will increase production and productivity, leading to more employment opportunities. A focus on the Argo Allied industries will bring jobs and raw materials that can help regenerate the economy.

Not too young to run
In 2018 President Muhammadu Buhari signed the "Not Too Young To Run" bill into law, Abdulaziz Nyako was a primary influencer in the campaign for "not too young to run". The president signed the bill into law, in the council chamber of the state house presidential villa, in the presence of selected invited youth across Nigeria. The new law is aimed at relaxing some of the stringent and discriminatory provisions of the constitution.

The bill was passed by the National Assembly last year to alter Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the constitution. It was to reduce the age qualification for president from 40 to 30; governor from 35 to 30; senator from 35 to 30; House of Representatives membership from 30 to 25 and State House of Assembly membership from 30 to 25. Abdulaziz has been a big influencer of this campaign

Personal Life
Abdulaziz was born in an agricultural oriented family. His dad Murtala Nyako was a cattle owner even before he was even born. He was quite involved with cattle rearing and later joined forces with agricultural development when he still was a Naval Officer. Abdul-aziz was invlved in farming and even participated in a cross breeding programme of his dads local cattle with exotic superior sires back in 1990 which yielded quite a success outcome. He was also involved in the processing of horticultural crops; Musk Melons, Exotic Mangoes, dates, passion fruit, banana and even fish farming.

Abdulaziz has two wifes and 8 children. He is a full family man and likes to encourage his young children by taking them to the farm with him on some occasions. On 2018 July 3rd Abdulaziz lost his step mother who died from diabetes.