List of Famous people born in Kaduna State, Nigeria
Efe Ambrose
Efe Eric Ambrose is a Nigerian footballer, who plays as a defender for Livingston. Ambrose has previously played for Kaduna United, Bayelsa United, Israeli club Ashdod, Scottish clubs Celtic and Hibernian and English side Derby County.
Tijani Babangida
Tijani Babangida is a Nigerian former professional footballer, who played as a winger. Known for his pace, his playing style was sometimes compared to that of Marc Overmars. Babangida spent the majority of his playing career at Ajax. Overall, he played in five countries on three continents. At club level, Babangida spent nine years in Netherlands, playing for VVV-Venlo, Roda JC Ajax, and Vitesse. winning the Eredivisie plus KNVB Cup double with the latter side.
Ibrahim Zakzaky
Ibrahim Yaqoub El Zakzaky to a Fulani mallawa clan in Zaria, is an imprisoned outspoken and prominent Shi'a Muslim leader in Nigeria. He is the head of Nigeria's Islamic Movement, which he founded in the late 1970s, when a student at Ahmadu Bello University, and began propagating Shia Islam around 1979, at the time of the Iranian revolution—which saw Iran's monarchy overthrown and replaced with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini. Zakzaky believed that the establishment of a republic along similar religious lines in Nigeria would be feasible. He has been detained several times due to accusations of civil disobedience or recalcitrance under military regimes in Nigeria during the 1980s and 1990s, and is still viewed with suspicion or as a threat by Nigerian authorities. In December 2015, the Nigerian Army raided his residence in Zaria, seriously injured him, and killed hundreds of his followers; since then, he has remained under state detention in the nation's capital pending his release, which was ordered in late 2016. In 2019, a court in Kaduna state granted him and his wife bail to seek treatment abroad but they returned from India after 3 days on the premises of unfair treatment and tough restrictions by security operatives deployed to the medical facility.
Mariam Usman
Mariam Usman is a Nigerian weightlifter. She competes in the women's +75 kg class, where she is a four-time African Champion and gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games. She also won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships and has competed in three editions of the Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 2008.
Edicha Ocholi
Ocholi Abel Edicha is a Nigerian badminton player. He was the men's singles gold medalist at the 2003 All-Africa Games, also in the mixed team event in 2007. He competed at the 2002 and 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Brian Fok
Brian Fok is a former Nigerian-born Hong Kong professional footballer who played as a centre back.
Simon Zenke
Simon Terwase Zenke is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward.