Born on 5th February 1963 in Abadam, Abadam LGA, Borno State, Abba Isa Tijani is the current Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.
He attended University of Maiduguri from 1987 to 1990 where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Creative Arts, specializing in Arts History and Museology.
Subsequently, he proceeded to the University College London, United Kingdom where he obtained a master’s degree in Museum Studies in 1994 and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Anthropology later in 2005, arising from his anthropological research titled: Tradition and Modernity: The Gamergu (Malgwa) of North-Eastern Nigeria.
A former Head of Department of Fine Arts and Coordinating Head of Department of Creative Arts, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, he initiated and coordinated the research collaboration between University of Maiduguri and the universities of Hamburg and Hildesheim in Germany from 2015 to date. He has been the Executive Board of Director and Head (Nigeria) DAAD-funded project SDG Graduate School “Performing Sustainability: Cultures and Development in West Africa”.
The immediate past Ag. Director of the Centre for the Study and Promotion of Cultural Sustainability, University of Maiduguri became a Professor of Anthropology and Museology in October 2017. The erudite scholar who has participated in numerous research works has attended many conferences, workshops and seminars across the world and has received awards both in Nigeria and abroad including that of the Foreign and Commonwealth Scholarship and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for the M.A. and PhD studies at the University College London, among others.
Prof. Abba Tijani’s academic efforts have produced dozens of world acclaimed publications, journals and series covering the fields of Museology and Anthropology. He enjoys membership of professional associations like Museums Association-UK, The Royal African Society-UK, Museums Association of Nigeria and Borno Museum Society among others.
Prof. Tijani is happily married with children.
