Former Nigerian minister of agriculture is dead

<p><strong>A former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development&comma; Abba Sayyadi Ruma is dead&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>59-year-old Abba Ruma was minister under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ruma died in a London Hospital on Wednesday after a brief illness&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;10320" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-10320" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-10320" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;10&sol;Abba-Ruma-1-300x201&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"201" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-10320" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Abba Ruma<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;10324" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-10324" style&equals;"width&colon; 217px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-10324" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;10&sol;show-photo&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"217" height&equals;"260" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-10324" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Abba Ruma<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>He left office in March 2010 when acting president Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He was preceded by Adamu Bello and succeeded by Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;nigerian-army-sacks-officer-who-killed-over-200-boko-haram-terrorists&sol;"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;993366&semi;">Nigerian Army Sacks Officer Who Killed 200 Boko Haram Terrorists<&sol;span><&sol;a><&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>He was the chairman of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development headquartered in Rome&comma; Italy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In May 2008&comma; Ruma denied reports that Nigeria was suffering from a food crisis&comma; saying the only problem was with the rising cost of rice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He defended his ministry&&num;8217&semi;s decision to centralize distribution of fertilizer rather than relying on private enterprise&comma; and noted that the government was taking action to improve access to credit by farmers and to supply more tractors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But the government would import rice if needed to cushion cost increases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;