Mohammed Kaliel

Mohammed Bello Kaliel (died 10 March 2015) was a Nigerian Army Colonel and the first Governor of Bauchi State, Nigeria after it was created on 3 February 1976 when North-Eastern State was divided into Bauchi, Borno, and Gongola states, during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo. He held office until July 1978.

Army career

Mohammed Bello Kaliel was commissioned into the army in the Nigerian Defence Academy first regular course which ran from 1964-1967. Other notable officers in Kaliel's cohort were Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, Joshua Dogonyaro, and Salihu Ibrahim among others. In February 1976, Mohammed Kaliel was appointed governor of Bauchi State by the head of state, General Murtala Muhammed, shortly before he was killed in an abortive coup attempt. Taking office in March 1976, he brought a team of experienced civil servants from Maiduguri to establish the new state's administration. He found a state with no electricity and limited water supply from boreholes, and made improving this basic infrastructure his first priority.

Kaliel was Commandant at the Nigerian Resettlement Center, Lagos from 1978–1980, Director of Logistics and Defence (1980–1981) and Commandant, Brigade of Guards, Lagos (1981–1984).

Later career

Kaliel retired shortly after the coup in 1984. After the restoration of democracy in May 1999, he was appointed Federal minister of Water Resources between 1999 and 2001. He was replaced in a cabinet shuffle on 13 June 2001.

In May 2005, he was appointed to the board of All States Trust Bank Plc.