A former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abba Sayyadi Ruma is dead.

59-year-old Abba Ruma was minister under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration.

Ruma died in a London Hospital on Wednesday after a brief illness.

He left office in March 2010 when acting president Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet.

He was preceded by Adamu Bello and succeeded by Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah.

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He was the chairman of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development headquartered in Rome, Italy.

In May 2008, Ruma denied reports that Nigeria was suffering from a food crisis, saying the only problem was with the rising cost of rice.

He defended his ministry’s decision to centralize distribution of fertilizer rather than relying on private enterprise, and noted that the government was taking action to improve access to credit by farmers and to supply more tractors.

But the government would import rice if needed to cushion cost increases.