1. His grandfather was a soldier, his father was a soldier, Buba Marwa was a soldier, and as at 2019, his son was already a Major in the Army.
2. Four of his children, including the soldier, read Law at the University of Buckingham.
3. He was Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma, academic registrar of the Nigerian Defense Academy and deputy defense adviser in the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC.
4. While he was governor of Borno in 1990, he successfully dislodged band!ts who took over Borno from Chad. Created Operation Sweep
5. He also created the Ministry of Water Resources to tackle water challenges. He built seven general hospitals from scratch, within 18 months.
6. In 1992, he became the defense adviser to the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
7. As governor of Lagos, on December 16, 1996, a bømb planted on his way to work blasted the car driving behind the one he was in, narrowly missing his own. He said the bømb was planted by people in the government who saw him as becoming too popular.
8. He introduced the tricycle, popularly known as Keke Marwa, to ease transportation in Lagos.
9. He implemented programs such as “Operation 250 Roads” which greatly improved motoring conditions, he revamped public health institutions, upgraded infrastructure in poor neighborhoods, regulated rents, stopping the “Jankara” method of eviction of tenants by landlords, introduced “Operation Sweep” and in July 1998, he opened a new asphalt plant in Lagos, the largest in Nigeria.
10. As governor of Lagos, he achieved his feat with a budget of N14 billion and did not borrow from any bank throughout his three-year tenure. He even handed over a cash amount of N2 billion to the incoming administration. The amount was the highest handed over from one state administration to another at that time.
He was born on 9 September, 1953 meaning that he is 72 years old today. Let’s wish him a happy birthday!