Mande Bala Mohammed

Colonel Bala Mohammed Mande is a former Military Administrator of Nasarawa State. He was later appointed Minister of Environment in the Cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Bala Mande hails from Zamfara State. He was appointed Military Administrator of Nasarawa State from June 1998 to May 1999 during the transitional regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, handing over to the elected Governor Abdullahi Adamu on the return to democracy.

He was a harsh critic of Governor Ahmad Rufai Sani for his implementation of Sharia law in the 2000–2003 period, which he felt was being used to punish political opponents, with the spoils going to Sani's ANPP supporters.

Mande was the People's Democratic Party candidate for governorship of Zamfara State in 2003, but lost to the incumbent Ahmad Sani of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).

He was appointed Minister of the Environment in the Cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo in July 2003, holding office until June 2005.

In September 2003, he signed an agreement with Cameroon’s Minister of Environment and Forestry Chief Tanyi-Mbianyor Clarkson for a transboundary protected area combining the Takamanda and Okwangwo reserves to protect the Cross River gorilla.

In October 2003, he proposed a national conference on the environment as the only solution to environmental degradation, emphasizing the need to rejuvenate the Lake Chad River Basin Commission to address regional environmental issues.

He announced federal government approval of a $10 million fund from the UN’s Global Environment Fund (GEF) and the World Bank for development projects.

In Autumn 2003, Mande noted collaboration between the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation and his ministry for sustainable forest management, including a commitment to provide 100,000 seedlings annually for national tree planting.

He failed to secure the PDP’s governorship nomination for Zamfara in the 2007 elections but was appointed one of the campaign coordinators for the Umaru Yar’Adua/Goodluck Jonathan ticket.

In February 2010, as National Secretary of the Northern Union (NU), Mande declared that the union had never advised President Umaru Yar’Adua to cling to power, even from a wheelchair.