Shettima Mustafa was born on 26 November 1939 at Nguru, now in Yobe State. He attended Borno middle school in Maiduguri. He trained as a Medical Field Assistant in Kano. He worked in the Borno Native Administration and then with Radio Television Kaduna. In 1967, aged 28, he was admitted into Ahmadu Bello University, graduating in 1972 and then working as a researcher with the university's Institute for Agricultural Research. From 1973 to 1974 he attended the University of Cambridge, where he earned a postgraduate Diploma in Applied Biology. He continued to work towards a PhD, attending Purdue University, Indiana in the United States in 1978, and obtaining his PhD in 1979. He also completed a course in Agricultural Projects Monitoring and Evaluation at the University of East Anglia in 1990.
Public career
Shettima Mustafa was appointed a commissioner in the Borno State government under Governor Mohammed Goni. He rose steadily in the political ranks and was Vice-Presidential candidate on the Nigerian People's Party platform in the 1983 election. However, the incumbent Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria won the election. After the military coup of December 1983 when Major General Muhammadu Buhari came to power, he was jailed until 1985. On his release he returned to part-time teaching at the University of Maiduguri. He then became a regional head in Jos the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. In August 1990, Shettima Mustafa was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, holding that post until the cabinet dissolved in 1992. Following this, he became an advisor to various local and international organisations, and became the National Treasurer of the People's Democratic Party, a position he held between 1998 and 2001. He became a Fellow of the Genetic Society of Nigeria, a member of the American Society of Agronomy and a member of the Agricultural Society of Nigeria, In 2002, Shettima Mustafa was nominated to the board of the Savannah Bank, although he was not a shareholder.
Yar'Adua Cabinet
Shettima Mustafa was appointed Defence Minister of Nigeria by President Umaru Yar'Adua. On 14 July 2008, he traded places with Godwin Abbe, becoming Minister of the Interior.
