Shaidu was born in Tanzania and he is Tanzanian by citizenship. The nature of loving rocks and minerals was the major influence on his career path. He graduated from the University of Dar es salaam with a BSc. in Geology with honours. Four years later, he decided to specialise in petroleum geology, graduating with an MSc. in Petroleum Geoscience (Exploration) from the University of Manchester, UK.  Since August 2018, Shaidu has been a PhD student and Graduate Assistant at Syracuse University, researching the East African Rift Lake Lake Tanganyika in the Earth Sciences department.