Professor Nafiu Abdu pursued his PhD at the University of Kassel in Germany from 2007 to 2010 and graduated with a Doctorate in Agriculture. He joined the services of the department of soil science, ABU Zaria, as Assistant Lecturer in October 2002. Shortly after his PhD, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Kassel in Germany, where he worked as a scientist under the UrbanFood Plus Project. He also won the highly competitive COMSTECH-TWAS, Joint Research Grants Programme for Young Scientists under the Academy of Science for Developing World, Italy in 2012. He was one of the 41 young scientists across the globe to be admitted to the Winter School “Limits to Growth Revisited” at Hannover, Germany in 2012.

Professor Abdu rose steadily from the rank of Assistant Lecturer in 2002 to Full Professor of soil science in 2018. Professor Abdu has published over 80 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, seminar papers, and technical reports. He has co-authored publications in all continents. He is a reviewer for numerous scientific Journals in Nigeria and abroad. 

Professor Abdu is currently the head of the department of soil science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the National President of the Soya Bean Farmers Association of Nigeria. He was the Undergraduate Students Coordinator of the department of soil science from 2010 to 2012 and Postgraduate Students Coordinator from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Faculty of Agriculture Registration Officer from 2014 to 2016. He was also the National Coordinator, Nigeria for the USAID Cowpea Outscaling Project from 2015 to 2018.