The Speaker

Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu was born on the 31st May, 1985 into the family of the late Alh. Salihu Aliyu, (The Tafarkin Borgu) in Gwanara town, Baruten LGA of Kwara State. Being a very inquisitive child, Hon. Yakubu began his educational pursuit at a very tender age at Baruten Local Government Education Authority School, Gwanara from where he obtained his first school leaving certificate in 1993. He then proceeded to Baptist Grammar School, Okuta and St. Anthony Secondary School, Ilorin respectively for his secondary education.

Having successfully passed his Senior School exams in flying colours in the year 2001 from St. Anthony, the young aspiring Engineer decided to further his studies in far away Kaduna Polytechnic where he was offered to study Electrical Engineering. Expectedly, the young Salihu proved his mettle by completing his Diploma with an Upper Credit Class in 2006. His amassing academic performance within the Dept. however pitched him in a pole position to continue with his studies. The Dept. thereafter offered him automatic admission into the very highly competitive Higher National Diploma Programme in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from where he equally graduated with an elite Upper Credit class in 2008.

Upon completion of his HND Programme, Engineer Danladi was called to participate in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps at the National Water Resources Institute, Mando Road, Kaduna where he served meritoriously between 2009 and 2010.

As an ambitious person, Hon. Yakubu took a job with the Federal University of Technology, Minna between 2010 and 2018. His few years of work within the University Community offered him the opportunity to build upon his educational qualification. Within the period, the vantage young Engineer

was able to add into his kitty a Bachelor Degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering with a Second Class Upper Division in 2016.

In the political space, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi couldn’t have gotten to political stardom by whiskers. His political trajectory predates his participation and membership of political parties in Kwara and Nigeria at large. It will therefore be necessary to give a low down of some of his recent political journey.

Between 2005 and 2006, Hon. Yakubu served as the secretary to the National Union of Baruten Students, Kaduna Polytechnic Chapter. In 2007/2008, he contested and won the position of a Vice President of the same Union. Consequently, within the same year, he was made the Secretary of the National Association of Kwara State Students (NAKSS), Kaduna Polytechnic Chapter.

Having gained such experience from his participation at student union level, Hon. Danladi was deemed fit to coordinate the Youth wing of the Buhari Campaign organization under the defunct Congress for progress Change (CPC, Kwara North Senatorial District) in 2011, later he became the Youth Coordinator of PDP, Kwara North Senatorial District under the auspices of Engr. Yinusa Yahaya Campaign Organization.

His charismatic role as the Youth Coordinator in the political arena endeared him to visionary politicians and particularly, to members of his constituency (the Kwara Youth) who saw the hidden leadership quality in him. Meanwhile, his overt experience of politics extended to the days of his National Youth Service where he was elected as the Secretary of the Kaduna Tourism Club.

In view of the various political engagements he had as a student, his people who were not oblivious of his impressive records couldn’t had

waited for a better time to pull the string at him for a quality representation. The pressure for him to represent his people made him to voluntarily withdraw his service from the Federal University of Technology, Minna in 2008 amidst uncertainty of the Nigeria political atmosphere. Alas, that was a risk worth taken for the sake of his people who had yearned for a true democratic representative, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu inspite all odds, surmounted the courage by taken the bull by its horns. Being the youngest to pick the APC State House of Assembly form in Kwara, the youths of his constituency ensured that his victory at both the Party primaries and at the 2019 general elections was a project that must be actualized. Eventually, having being declared the winner at the polls, he became the proverbial warrior who came, saw and conquered. His subsequent election as the Speaker of the 9th Assembly was the icing on the cake. This moment became the turning point in the political journey of the Engineer turned politician.

Moreover, with the golden opportunity as the Speaker of the 9th Assembly at hand, Hon. Yakubu maximized every available opportunity to make sure he meets up with the yearnings and aspirations of his people who have been for long deprived of basic social amenities. The list of his achievements as a representative of his people is as endless as it is unprecedented even-though, rehabilitation of roads, supply of drinkable water through sinking of over 100 boreholes, provision of solar powered streetlights, construction of classrooms and provisions of educational materials were top on the list of his achievements. His reign as a representative of his people and as the Speaker of the 9th Assembly was a reassurance of the good things to come hence, the insistence of his people to see him re-elected for second term and his subsequent emergence as the Speaker of the 10th Assembly.

Meanwhile, even-though he’s always busy with official engagements and political issues of his people, he takes pleasure in reading, browsing, travelling and watching football.

Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu is happily married with children.