Abba Kabir Yusuf (born Abubakar, nicknamed Abba, which became his official name) was born to the sullubawa Fulani clan the rulling class of the Kano Emirate from the family of Malam Kabiru Yusuf and Malama Khadijatul-Naja’atu in Gaya Local Government Area of Kano State on 5 January 1963.

Yusuf started his Islamic education at an early age under the guidance of his late grandfather, Danmakwayon Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Bashari who was then District Head of Gaya local government area of Kano State, Nigeria.

He attended Sumaila primary school between 1968 and 1975. He then proceeded to Government Secondary School Dawakin Tofa and later moved to Government Secondary school Lautai in Gumel where he completed his secondary education in 1980. He gained admission into the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi in the defunct Gongola State, now Adamawa State, where he bagged his National Diploma (ND) in Civil Engineering in 1985 and later obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Civil Engineering with a specialization in Water Resources/Environmental Engineering in 1989 at the famous Kaduna Polytechnic.^[4][5]

Yusuf later enrolled at the Bayero University, Kano, where he obtained a postgraduate diploma and a master’s degree in business administration.