There are people whose love for sports cannot be quantified; such people hardly stop participating in their favourite sports no matter the level of their positions.
Such was the attribute of Alhaj Muhammadu Shehu Kangiwa who was the first elected civilian governor of Sokoto State, Nigeria in the short-lived Second Republic,
He held the office from October 1979 to November 1981. He represented the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He was a popular governor, providing water, health care, agricultural input, education at all levels and transparent government.
The Bakolori irrigation project, started by the previous military government, had displaced many peasant farmers without providing land or compensation. Confronted by demonstrators in November 1979, Kangiwa promised to address all their grievances. However, on 28 April 1980 police moved in on unarmed demonstrators and shot dead over 380 people.
The government played down the incident, claiming only 25 had died. He imprisoned Sheikh Zakzaky of the Islamic movement in Nigeria, along with some of his close disciples, and was said to have intended to execute him.
In 1981, he increased the number of Local Government Areas in the state from 19 to 32. However his successor Colonel Garba Duba reversed this measure in 1984.
He died in November 1981, falling from a horse while playing polo in the 1981 edition of the Georgian League.
In 1982 Unisteel Ltd. presented The Shehu Kangiwa Cup in his memory, and the cup is now sponsored by Sokoto State Government.
Kangiwa, was one of those sports lovers whose position never stop from participating in his favorite horse game.
He was a lover of sports and his interest was on horse game known as polo which he brought to the city of caliphate, Sokoto State.
He emerged the Governor of the then Sokoto State which comprised of the present day Kebbi and Zamfara State in 1979 and only ruled for two years in office.
After his landslide victory as the first executive Governor of Sokoto State, Kangiwa presented his first budget on March 28, 1980 which he tagged “Budget of Justice and to Rural Dwellers”. He was able to create Ministry for Rural Development which saw tremendous transformation of rural areas.
He was also able to establish many schools, upgrading of tertiary institutions, initiated housing projects, residential and office accommodation for government workers such as; Giginya Secretariat, Commissioners Quarters at Sama Road, Bado Quarters, Giginya and Shukura hotels among several others.
The late Kangiwa’s administration was also instrumental in road construction within the urban areas and rural areas which had no feeder roads then.
Unfortunately Shehu Kangiwa died on November 17th, 1981, and only served for a period of two years and sixteen days in office.
Shehu Kangiwa died as a result of injuries which he sustained on his head when he fell down from his horse during a polo tournament in Kaduna.
There is no doubt that the first Executive Governor of Sokoto State, was a visionary leader who used every opportunity at his disposal to transform the state during his short stint as a Governor.
One reporter now a senior journalist who covered the event on that fateful day in Kaduna, Musa Atanda said the accident which claimed the life of the Polo enthusiast came as a surprise to many of the Polo fans in the arena.
Atanda said it happened like a spark when the former governor fell off the horse he was riding only for another horse to run over him and in the process marching him on his head.
He said the whole centre was thrown in a sorrowful mood as the medics tried to revive him to no avail as he died on the pitch.
