A former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, has passed on. He reportedly died about 2 am on Monday in an Abuja hospital after a brief illness. He was 74.
His passage was confirmed by a family source who said: ”Yes, it’s true. We just received the news of his demise last night at a hospital in Abuja. He has been ill for some time and was again rushed to the hospital in Abuja but unfortunately he died.”
Another family source said the late Plateau Central Senator died at a private hospital in Abuja after nine days of sickness and isolation.
“He fell ill about nine days ago and was receiving treatment at home but he was rushed to the hospital when there was no sign of improvement,” the source said.
Mantu, in 2001, was elected Deputy Senate President on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a position he held till 2007 when he did not return to the Senate.
He hailed from Gindiri District in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau and worked in various establishments before joining politics.
Already, tributes have started pouring in starting from Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong who described his death as a great loss to the State.
He said: “Late Senator Nasiru Mantu was a grassroots politician whose life was all about the interest of the people as he did everything within his power to serve them through empowerment and quality representation.
“He earned his place in Nigerian politics by active involvements and also had a great connection with the youth whom he mentored not only in politics but in other fields, especially service to humanity”.
The man Mantu?
He served as deputy senate president between 2001 and 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was born February 16, 1947 in Plateau State.
He attended the Gindiri Demonstration Primary School from 1955 to 1961 and obtained the First School Leaving Certificate. He studied on his own to obtain O’ level GCE and Diploma in Professional Salesmanship which facilitated his move to John Holt Ltd. in 1973 as a Trainee-Manager.
He holds a B.A. (Hons.) degree in Political Science from the Washington International University. He was awarded Honourary Doctorate Degrees of Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, University of Jos, Madonna University, Okija and University of Applied Sciences and Management Port Novo, Benin Republic.
He worked with the Public Works Department (PWD) Jos, as a Stores Requisition Clerk from 1962 – 1963 before proceeding to the Gindiri Teachers College in 1964. On leaving Gindiri in 1967, he joined the Nigerian Tobacco Company Zaria in 1968 as a Quality Checker. He moved to BEAM, a Division of UAC Nigeria as a Kalamazoo Specialist Salesman in 1971.
He facilitated his movement to John Holt Ltd. in 1973 as a Trainee-Manager.
He was later confirmed as a substantive Manager. In 1976 Mantu became the General Manager of John Holt Ltd. Maiduguri Venture. In 1977 he was promoted and transferred to Lagos as Deputy General Manager, Building Materials Division, John Holt Ltd. He resigned in mid 1977 to join Plateau State Supply Company Ltd. as its first Commercial Manager.
Mantu joined politics in 1978. He was elected Deputy State Chairman of NPN in Plateau State in 1980. He was a founding member of the Liberal Convention. In 1993, he was the Director General of National Republican Convention Presidential Campaign Organisation. In 1998, he was elected the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct UNCP and was later elected Senator on the platform of the same party. This election was truncated by General Abdusalam Abubakar’s regime. In 1999, he was re-elected in a fresh contest as Senator representing Plateau Central Senatorial district on the platform of the PDP.
On inauguration in 1999, he was appointed Chairman Senate Committee on Information, the position he held till August 10, 2001, when he was elected Deputy President of the Senate. He was appointed Chairman, Joint National Assembly Constitution Review Committee from 2001 to 2003 and 2003 to 2007 respectively.
He was Chairman of Policy Analysis and Research Project (PARP) which metamorphosed into National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS). Though a Legislator, He handled many executive assignments. Prominent among these were his appointment by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as Amirul Hajj twice (2005 and 2006) and Chairman Palliative Consolidated Committee for Cushioning Measures, the position he used to stop the planned “mother of all strikes” by the Nigeria Labour Congress. He was a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP.
Mantu was the Chairman of the Elders Advisory Council of the Goodluck Support Group and PDP Project Reloaded. He was patron and chairman of many Governing Councils of Public and Political Institutions. He received over 20 chieftaincy titles across the country. He was a delegate representing the North-Central Zone at the 2014 National Conference.
