Jelani was born in 1966 in Kaduna, to Alhaji Aliya Haidara and Sharifiya Hauwa’u Aliyu. The fifth of seven children, theirs is a very close-knit family. For him, it was an amazing experience growing up in Sokoto, surrounded by the rich culture of the people and the state and enjoying excellent access to the latest and international information.
From 1971 to 1978, he attended Capital School, Sokoto, an excellent school and this served as a very productive educational experience for him. In 1978, he gained admission into Federal Government College, Sokoto, from where he graduated in 1983 with an award as the best in Technical Drawing.
Jelani was privileged to meet and make many good friends from all parts of the country and beyond during this time. He had tremendous encouragement and mentoring from his family and friends and his creative art develop the ed. He drew a lot, designed his own cars, and even built scale models of them, complete with exteriors and interiors.
After FGC, he got admission into the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to study Architecture, but soon discovered that curriculum did not support his future vision and plans.
After considering other institutions in Nigeria and their academic programmes, he concluded that only one of them had the study criteria that would support his future goals. The institution in which he chose to pursue his education was one he felt offered the best creative programmes and had experience that would give him the best foundation required to study Automobile Design abroad. That institution was the Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic.
He was there from 1986 to 1988 and earned an associate degree in Architecture, with an award as Best All-Round Student. While there, he did some in depth research into home design and construction, looking into materials and structures that would be most compatible with our environment and climate; buildings that would stay cool in a hot environment with little, or no artificial electrical air conditioning. Upon graduation from the polytechnic, Jelani worked for a while at the Ministry of Works, Sokoto.
In 1990, Aliyu moved to Detroit, Michigan to enroll at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit under a Sokoto Schorlarship board sponsorship. Having always wanted to study Automobile Design, this was a dream come true and an absolutely fascinating experience. The course was very practical and emphasis was put on creativity and the development of new designs to provide solutions . He received his degree in automobile design in 1994.
In 1994 he began his career with the design staff of General Motors. 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 is considered by many to be the super star of the General Motors renaissance.
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