A former Northern Regional Minister and first Chief Executive Officer for the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA)Alhaji Seidu Iddi has been enskinned as Balewura Tempir Fi Ababio of the Bole Traditional Area at a colourful event at Bole in the Savannah Region on 3rd April 2001 with the outdooring taking place the following day.
The Balewura who was also a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension of the University for Development Studies (UDS) and Head of Department (HOD) for 7 years hopes to deploy his knowledge and expertise in the public service, academia and social life to the chieftaincy institution in the Bole Traditional area.
Profile of Balewura
The Balewura was born to Iddi Seidu popularly known as Iddi Aguffo; one of the early educated citizens of Gonjaland. He worked with the then colonial administrators (District Commissioner) as bailiff interpreter.
The Balewura attended the Bole L.A. Primary School from Primary 3 to Primary 6 and became one of the pioneers of the then Middle Day School from where he proceeded to Azoka Secondary (now Bawku Secondary). He was one of few graduates who attended the sixth form at Tamale Secondary School from where he proceeded to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and graduated with a BSc Degree in Agriculture. He subsequently, attended the University of Reading (UK) for the MSc Degree in Agriculture Extension and Rural Development. While in employment, he attended several other local and international courses; amongst which was a post-graduate certificate program in cotton growing and extension methods from RUPPIN Institute of Agriculture, in Israel, an Agricultural Management Training for Africa (AMTA) at GIMPA and sponsored by the World Bank.
After graduating from KNUST, he worked very briefly with the then Northern Regional Development Cooperation (NRDC) as a Project Officer and was later transferred to Cotton Development Board on National Service postings. In the cotton sector, he worked as a Cotton Production Officer (CPO) as well as a Cotton Research Officer (CRO). Alhaji Iddi’s career development took him to the Borno state of Northern Nigeria, where he was posted to the Kukawa Local Government Area as the Agricultural Officer in charge of the Local Government Area. He was promoted to the state capital as Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Extension Demonstration Unit of the Borno state of Nigeria.
Back home in Ghana, he works with an International multi-million dollar donor sponsored project (IFAD) as an Agricultural Extension Coordinator and second in command to the project coordinator. At this stage, he was promoted to the position of Senior Agric Officer of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
After a successful professional career, the then PNDC government appointed him to the position of Deputy Regional Minister for Agriculture, Northern Region; the beginning of his political career.
In 1996, when the position of Deputy Regional for Agriculture Minister was abolished, he was elevated to a substantive Ministerial position; Northern Regional Minister for four years. He sojourned in the Volta region, on transfer, as Volta Regional Minister for a year and reverted to the Nothern Region as Northern Regional Minister until the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was voted out of office in the year 2000.
Out of political office, Alhaji Iddi pursued an academic career as a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension of the University for Development Studies (UDS). He became Head of Department (HOD) for 7 years before going on retirement.
After retiring from the University, he proceeded to start up the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) on a two-year contract as the first Chief Executive Officer for SADA. He has since retired from public Service, the Academia before his enskinment as Balewura.
