Solomon dalung biography

Nigerian politician and lawyer (born 1963)

Simon Bako LalongCON (born 5 May 1963) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who has served as the senator representing the Plateau South senatorial district since 2023. He previously served as the minister of labour and employment in 2023, and as the governor of Plateau State from 2015 to 2023.

Education

After his elementary and secondary schools education in Shendam Local Government Area, Lalong proceeded to the School of Preliminary Studies (S.P.S) Keffi, passing out in 1986. He then continued to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, graduating in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in law. This was immediately followed by the Law School in Lagos, where he was also called to the Bar. He later obtained a master's degree in law from the University of Jos, in 1996.

Professional career

Lalong's professional career as an attorney lasted between 1992, the year following his graduation from law school, and 1998, the dawn of Nigeria's new democracy. During this period he worked with a few law firms, one of which he co-owned. Between 1992 and 1994, he was the Deputy Scribe of the Nigerian Bar Association in Plateau State. After a political stint that lasted seven years he again returned to legal practice as the Principal Partner of Simon B. Lalong and Co, until 2015.

Political life

In 1998, Lalong temporarily discarded legal practice to pursue a political career. Representing the People's Democratic Party (PDP), he successfully contested his native Shendam Constituency and entered the Plateau State House of Assembly. In October 2000, he became the speaker of the assembly, a position he occupied until 2006. He was the longest serving speaker of the State's house of assembly. During that period he was two times (in 2001 and in 2002) elected as the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of the 36 s

SOLAPE LAWAL-SOLARIN takes a look at the immediate past sports minister Solomon Dalung’s tenure in office, his personality and more in this report

Largely unknown, Solomon Dalung’s appointment as Minister of Sports by President Muhammadu Buhari in his first term  in November 2015 was met with mixed feelings by Nigerians.

To some, the Plateau man’s assumption of office was somehow unusual and strange.

Who was this 54-year-old saddled with the responsibility of managing Nigerian sports?  What were his antecedents? Were they linked to the industry?

The questions came in quick and fast while the answers were slow, trickling in like droplets.

Dalung became a puzzle, one sports-crazy Nigerians were eager to unravel and also satisfy their curiosity.

The rookie minister, however, didn’t keep Nigerians waiting too long to unravel himself. And this left some bemused and miffed.

First, his dressing was regarded as weird. For a lawyer with no military background, Dalung looked odd in his red beret and khaki uniform. Somehow, it painted a picture of the man who was charged with steering the country’s sporting wheels to the Promise Land.

Highlights

On several occasions, Daling boasted that the country’s athletes won over 700 medals under his stewardship. Though unverified, he sure recorded some successes.

Consecutive AWCON titles

Under the former minister, the Falcons’ achieved AWCON back-to-back wins in Cameroon in 2016 and Ghana in 2018.

World Cups

Some close sports followers have applauded the ex-prison official for his  role in ensuring that the usual raucous and bickering over funds, logistics and players’ welfare before World Cup tournaments at all levels were solved. And this helped the Eagles become the first African country to qualify for Russia 2018 with a game in hand.

National Stadium swimming pool

After 18 years of fruitless attempts by the Federal G

Nigerian Politician, lawyer and academic (born 1964)

Solomon Selcap Dalung (born 26 September 1964) is a Nigerian lawyer, academic and politician who served as the Minister of Youth and Sports of Nigeria from November 2015 to May 2019. He has served in the Nigerian Prisons Service, the University of Jos as a lecturer and as Chairman of Langtang South Local Government in Plateau State.

Early life and education

Solomon Dalung was born on 26 September 1964 in Sabo Gida, Plateau State. He had his primary school education at the Local Education Authority Primary School, Sabon Gida in Langtang South Local Government Area of Plateau State from 1971 to 1977. He then proceeded to Government College Keffi, Nassarawa State for his secondary school education. After his secondary education, he proceeded to the University of Jos, where he graduated with LLB degree in 2000 and was called into the Nigerian Bar in 2001 at the Nigerian Law School, Abuja Campus. He obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from the University of Jos in 2007 while he was a lecturer at the same Institution.

Career

Nigerian Prisons Service career

Barr. Dalung joined the Nigerian Prisons Service as a Prison Assistant in 1982 where he rose to the rank of Assistant Inspector of Prisons. In 1991, while still in the Prisons Service, he enrolled to the Law Program of the University of Jos to obtain a Bachelor of Laws degree which he obtained in the year 2000. Following his training as an attorney at the University of Jos and the Nigerian Law School, he was moved to the Legal Department at Prisons Headquarters Abuja in 2004 where he served as Legal Officer II but he retired the same year from the Prisons Services.

Academic career

In 2004, after his retirement from the Nigerian Prisons Service, he took up an appointment as a lecturer with the Law Faculty of the