Jelani Aliyu (MFR, Former DG, NADDC)

Jelani Aliyu MFR (Former DG, NADDC)

Jelani Aliyu, the immediate past Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), is an automotive designer. Appointed the DG of NADDC in 2017, the automobile designer led the council for over six years.

He worked for General Motors. He designed the Chevy Volt, a car described as an American Revolution and hottest concept in the design line.

Jelani Aliyu hails from Sokoto but was born in Kaduna in 1966.

He attended Capital School, Sokoto between 1971 and 1978. In 1978, he gained admission into the Federal Government College, Sokoto, graduating in 1983 with an award as the best in Technical Drawing.

Jelani had tremendous encouragement and mentoring from his family and friends for the development of his creative art.
He drew a lot, designed his own cars, and even built scale models of them, complete with exterior and interior.

He got admission into the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, but having discovered that the curriculum did not support his future vision and plans, he opted for Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic, and was there from 1986 to 1988 where he earned an Associate Degree in Architecture, with an award of the Best All-Round Student.

After his graduation from the polytechnic, Aliyu worked briefly at the Ministry of Works, Sokoto.

In 1990, he moved to Detroit, Michigan and enrolled at the College for Creative Studies, Detroit, under a Sokoto Scholarship Board sponsorship.

Having always wanted to study Automobile Design, this was a dream come true and an absolutely fascinating experience for him. He bagged a degree in Automobile Design in 1994.

Aliyu started his career with the design department at General Motors (GM).
He worked on the Buick Rendezvous and was the lead exterior designer of the Pontiac G6.

He also worked on the Astra with General Motors’ Opel Division.

With his brilliant work on the design of the Chevrolet Volt, which was unveiled in 2007, Jelani Aliyu was considered by many as a super star while at General Motors.