Alhaji Muhammadu Shehu Kangiwa was the first elected civilian governor of Sokoto State, Nigeria in the short-lived Nigerian Second Republic, holding office from October 1979 to November 1981.
[1] He was a popular governor, providing water, health care, agricultural input, education at all levels and transparent government.
[2] The Bakolori irrigation project, started by the previous military government, had displaced many peasant farmers without providing land or compensation.
[3] 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.
[5] He died in November 1981, falling from a horse while playing polo in the 1981 edition of the Georgian League.