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AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA

The World Acclaimed
Illustrious Alumni
Series One

In ABU, we were taught We saw ABU as the My training in ABU was ABU products are
ISSUE 5 VOL. 7 | ISSN 2384-6934

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2 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

TUS ETUR, SAM QUI SANTORATEM

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 3

CONTENTS
Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria:
World Acclaimed
Illustrious Alumni

14
06 Bandits and Memo to
APC: How not
Herdsmen’s to run a party

08
Mystery

Professor Ishaya
Sha'aibu Audu
First Indigenous
Vice-Chancellor
of ABU

African Inspired
Fabrics for Cute
Couples
94 Nile Crocodile 97 98
05 Editorial Flakes 14 Alumni Interview Series

06 National Discourse 94 Entertainment, Fashion & Styles

08 Peoples and Politics 97 Animal kingdom

12 Africa Perspective 98 Men of History

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4 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

 EDITORIAL FLAKES

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria: Nigeria’s Ivory

Tower of Moral, Sound Academic and Integrity

F
ifty seven years ago, upon his
installation as first chancellor of the
prestigious ABU, Sir Ahmadu Bello,
KBE after whom the institution
is named declared thus: The cardinal
principle upon which ABU is founded is to
import knowledge and learning to men and
women without distinction on the grounds
of race, religious or political beliefs. Only
through freedom of membership and
freedom of enquiry and research on a
university be drawn into the full ferment
of thought from which new knowledge
comes. Only if it adheres to his freedom
can it become truly great.
Sir Ahmadu Bello envisioned this
university and Nigeria serving as a bridge
between Africa and the rest of world,
between Muslim and Christian cultures,
drawing strength and wisdom from each,
looking forward while honouring tradition
and remembering the lesson of the past.
By virtue of its illustrious position
among the institutions of higher learning
in Nigeria, ABU alumni are found in
many senior positions in the federal and
state governments in executive legislature
judicial academic and numerous other
capacities among prominent ABU
graduates are the former President
Umaru Musa Yar’adua two former first
Ladies former Vice-President numerous
state governors deputy governors federal
ministers and permanent secretaries chef
justices of literal vice-chancellors, several
members of Nigeria’s parliament, heads
of Nigeria ‘s security and Para military
agencies, numerous first class traditional
rulers as well as religions and leaders in
banking, engineering, literature, medicine,
architecture, accounting, economics,
history, law etc. The university has also
produced leaders for world renowned
multilateral agencies such as United
Nations, World Bank and IMF just to
mention a few
The editorial board of the magazine
sufficiently fascinated by array of stars
churned out by the famous ABU and
in contributing to the development of
Nigeria’s manpower development decided
to dedicate an edition to honour and
celebrate these respected and eminent
personalities that have made tremendous
impact in Nigeria and beyond.
As usual, this edition, first in the series
to honour and celebrated ABU worthy
ambassadors promised to be exciting as
the magazine team dutifully had a tete-a-
tete with numbers of them but one thing
that stands ABU products out from the
pack is their integrity and commitment
to the development
of Nigeria, a trait they
developed at their
Alma mater.
Enjoy this edition
and others in the
services.

PUBLISHER/CEO Michael Adesanya

Kehinde Oyewale
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Taofik Alabi ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 5
 NATIONAL DISCOURSE
Bandits and
Herdsmen’s Mystery
By Yakubu Mohammed
Herdsmen
T
he terms bandits and
herdsmen – used casually,
sometimes thoughtlessly but
often interchangeably – have
continued to pose a riddle of sorts.
Like Russia of the Churchill era, these
words, in all their awful and frightful
connotation, have become “a riddle,
wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
No day passes when Nigerians, who
read newspapers or listen to the radio
and television, would miss an encounter
with these inscrutable words. And the
words or what we regard as their true
meaning as far as our fears would permit,
spell war or the beating of the war drums.
But they are mere words, innocent words
you may say. But in the current Nigerian
lexicon of hate and fear, these words have
been stripped of their innocence.
Nigerians have been unable to come
to terms with these mystery men called
bandits. In their ordinary meaning,
stripped of mysteries and riddles, bandits
may be said to be the scruffy mindless
criminals and outlaws who, in history
or literature books, operate as members
6 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
of a gang that terrorises hardworking
innocent citizens to deprive them of their
means of livelihood.
But bandits in Nigeria are not
inanimate, fictional characters in
literature books. They live and thrive
in our midst and they terrorise people
at will. On Monday night as at the
time of writing, a news item on the
television speaks of the horrible incident
somewhere in Katsina State where these
bandits had set the whole village ablaze
killing not less than fifteen persons.
The question is: are these soulless
objects killing for the fun of it? What
exactly do they find in the village
community that is worth the lives of the
innocent people struggling to eke out
a living? I have wondered before. And
I am wondering again today. Who are
these bandits? If they are in Zamfara,
they rustle cattle; they are rustlers. They
kill and maim too.
But when they move to Katsina, they
don’t rustle but they ransack villages
and kidnap. What is the motive? To
show that even President Muhammadu
Buhari’s backyard is not immune to their
terrorists act? And yet some people, short
of words, or the right nomenclature or
their correct motive, call these dare-
devils Fulani herdsmen or jihadists who
are on a mission to Islamise or Fulanise
the country. But how much can these
bandits Fulanise the Fulani man and
woman?
Or these bandits, who obviously are
not real Muslims, how much can they
Islamise the Islamic community of
Kastina or that of Sokoto the citadel of
Islamic faith and the original seat of the
Caliphate?
Are they also Fulani cattle herdsmen,
the ones raiding the North and
vandalising and desecrating what is left
of civilisation in that part of the country?
It is not right and proper any more to
regale the readers with the tale of the
grisly exploits of these criminals and
their unholy intention.
They are determined, in my view, to
set one community against the other as
the Boko Haram initially set out to do –
knock the heads of the Christian against

that of the Muslim fellow compatriot.
When they seemed to have failed, they
now set upon the Muslim community.
Are they truly on a jihad mission by
massacring both the believers and the
so-called unbelievers alike?
Yet in all these, nobody, in my view,
seems to know who the bandits are.
Certainly they are not cattle herdsmen.
Those who invade villages and kill and
cart away the women are not looking
for grass to graze their cattle. And
they are not armed robbers. Not the
typical robbers like Shola Oyenusi or
Lawrence Anini. Sometimes the robbers,
the glamorous ones, even show some
decency. They give options: your money
or your life. Not always the two.
But not so the bandits who shoot
before they ask question, that is if any
question is necessary. In Zamfara last
weekend they killed a man on his farm.
His only offence was that he was tending
his crops. They didn’t rob him. They
simply killed him for the fun of it. Are
these really fellow Nigerians? Or the
wranglers from Muammar Ghadaffi’s
Lybia? Nigerians have never been known
to be so brutal and so brutish.
But they seem to be getting the upper
hand because they have discovered
the underbelly of the nation’s security
apparatus. At the time when Nigerians
should close rank and do away with the
devils in their midst, they are now utterly
divided because it is good politics to be
so divided along the well- known fault
lines of religion and ethnicity. Because of
politics we even mistake advice for attack
and fail to profit from it.
We wait until the havoc of these devils
reach the doorstep of the rich and the
famous before we summon courage to
cry foul. In a way, the war drums may
be efficacious. At least they often help to
awaken the consciousness of the slothful,
the procrastinator.
I am reminded of the Nigerian civil
war and the Biafran invasion of the Mid-
west. When Ojukwu’s soldiers decided to
take one extra step with the misguided
attempt to cross from Ore into the
heartland of the West, those of our fellow
countrymen, often given to Owambe
jollity, were suddenly woken from their
revelry into action to protect the land of
the Oduduwa.
It helped greatly to change the course
of the war. The incursion of these
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 7
NATIONAL DISCOURSE
bandits, be they herdsmen or armed
robbers or whatever brand of lunatic they
are, is beginning to change the course
of security consciousness across the
country. At least the traditional rulers
whose voices cannot be ignored are
beginning to raise hell. The Obas, the
Alafins and other Kabiyesis have pledged,
in a back handed way, to make some
contribution to Buhari’s war effort.
For sure, this is one war President
Buhari must win. His personal
reputation as a war general is at stake.
The reputation of his proud pedigree,
the scion of the noble Fulani, gallant and
humane, is at stake. The Fulani we know
have respect for women and children. But
the bandits and herdsmen who are giving
them this terrible odium and unflattering
ethnic profiling are not doing their image
any good.
But the only man who can bring this
madness to an end is none other than
General Muhammadu Buhari, the one
who, in the 80s, chased away the invading
Chadian rebels, some of them of Fulani
extraction. In that patriotic exploit, he
drove these rebels all the way into Chad
and refused to return until President
Shehu Shagari sent some emissaries to
him.
Nigeria has been driven to the
precipice by the unholy alliance of these
unidentified bandits. On their account,
the whole country has been turned into
one huge hot bed of ethnic chauvinism
and untrammeled bigotry.
Though nobody in his right senses
wants to go to war, but the war drums
are ear-splitting enough. Their jarring
sounds can have only one effect; take us
back many years and send more foreign
investors packing out of the country.
We don’t need part two of the civil
war. That being so, we should be sensible
enough not to go through the experience
of Rwanda, or Somalia or Afghanistan.
And for that matter, even Sudan.
President Buhari has, therefore, no
choice but halt this dangerous drift into
anarchy.
In the meantime, we must soft pedal
on those policies that are deemed to be
patently antithetical to our unity and
progress. Where some people sound
imperious and divisive, dialogue,
consultation, jaw-jaw, humility, not
impunity, will help to calm nerves and
return us to the path of nobility and
sweet reasonableness.
 PEOPLES AND POLITICS
Memo to APC
How not to run a party
S
ince 2015, the All Progressives
Congress (APC) has had the
fortune of a lifetime to have
produced the holder of the office
of the president. Mind you, whichever
political formation that forms the central
government in Nigeria, is by that fact, a
global player following a combination of
factors.
First, Nigeria is the country with the
largest black population in the world and
is a continental giant in terms of its pride
of place in the setting up of the then
Organization of African Unity (OAU)
which gave birth to the current African
Union. Nigeria remains one amongst
the few players around the world that
contributed significantly to the gaining
of self-governments in South Africa and
Zimbabwe.
At a time that even the very influential
world leaders such as the United States
of America and the United Kingdom saw
nothing wrong with supporting white
apartheid regimes and white-dominated
rule in South Africa and Zimbabwe,
Nigeria was a key liberating platform
relied upon by the then black freedom
fighters to wrestle political powers from
the white minority regimes just as the
strides made by Nigeria and others
8 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
By Emmanuel Onwubiko
“T he APC under
Oshiomhole can be
described as a house of
commotion. It would seem that
the national chairman does
not tolerate divergent opinions
within the hierarchy and is
known to have resorted to self-
help measures to get at perceived
rivals.”
precipitated the granting of political
independence to Zimbabwe in the 1980s
or thereabout.
Nigeria was a factor positively that
shaped the emergence of the Economic
Community of West African States
(ECOWAS). But for systemic corruption
that has kept Nigeria backward, the
country which is enormously endowed
with mineral and human resources
would have been able to surmount
the groundswell of absolute poverty
that afflicts nearly 90 million of her
populations. These aforementioned
factors have therefore positioned Nigeria
as one of the most significant places
on the planet earth which implies that
whichever political party that forms the
central government must be grounded
ideologically and must be led by
persons with proven records of integrity,
credibility, and persons who must be the
type that would not tolerate the abuse
of the fundamental and institutional
tenets and laws that should guide
the administration of constitutional
democracy in line with global best
practices.
Sadly, since coming to power up until
now, the All Progressives Congress
(APC) has remained a fractious bunch

APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomole
of unlike birds that are compelled to live
together under one nest. The APC has
become a nest of self-haters and a place
whereby the members have engaged
each other in unending intra-party crises
of unprecedented scale. The infighting
assumed frightening scale since the
former labour leader Mr. Adams
Oshiomohole became the national
chairman just before the last election.
The APC under Oshiomhole can be
described as a house of commotion. It
would seem that the national chairman
does not tolerate divergent opinions
within the hierarchy and is known to
have resorted to self-help measures to get
at perceived rivals. His closest followers
like his publicity secretary seem to be
following his dictatorial footsteps and
have built his own spheres of influence.
Adams Oshiomhole has also fallen
out with some governors, former
governors and even some of his fellow
national executives to an extent that he
activated and supervised the holding
of kangaroo trials of such persons with
independent opinions on how best to
administer the ruling party even as
these pre-determined but compromised
trials have always led to the expulsion of
these persons who are unhappy with the
leadership style of the national chairman.
“N igeria was a factor
positively that shaped
the emergence of the ECOWAS.
But for systemic corruption that
has kept Nigeria backward, the
country which is enormously
endowed with mineral and
human resources would have
been able to surmount the
groundswell of absolute poverty
that afflicts nearly 90 million
of her populations.”
The APC is becoming a party of
zombies and anyone who tries to think
rationally is looked upon as a rebel
without a cause and must be dealt with
summarily even against the constitution
of the party which of necessity has a
guarantee for fair hearing which is the
major weltanschauung or Worldview
(larger picture) of the Nigerian
constitution.
Chief John Oyegun, a former
governor of Edo state and former
national chairman of APC has on many
occasions accused the current national
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 9
PEOPLES AND POLITICS
chairman of using a sledgehammer to
deal unduly with perceived independent-
minded members in a way that offends
the constitution of the ruling party.
Oyegun has specifically accused Adams
Oshiomhole of waging war against
Godwin Obaseki his successor in office
of governor of Edo state because he
(Obaseki) has refused to become the
rubber stamp governor.
The deputy national chairman Malam
Shuiabu who voiced an opinion asking
Oshiomhole to resign for leading the
party to record massive defeats to People’s
Democratic Party in the governorship
polls was axed by Oshiomhole who
deployed illegality to get even with this
Deputy Chairman for daring to call him
out.
The national chairman has watched
as his national publicity scribe also
descended on the national vice chairman
(north) of APC Inuwa Abdul-Kadir
(SAN) and has purportedly expelled
him even when the man had gone to the
Sokoto state high court to challenge the
petition against him sent to the national
secretariat from the Sokoto state branch.
The hasty announcement of his expulsion
was meant to impose a fait accompli on
the court which is already adjudicating
on the same subject matter. This 
 PEOPLES AND POLITICS
is certainly unconstitutional and
definitely not how to administer a
political party.
The issues around the purported
expulsion of the vice national chairman
of APC are linked to the demand
for retraction of a defamation of his
character which the vice-chairman of
APC Malam Inuwa Abdul-Kadir sent
to the national publicity secretary of
APC Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu who as we
stated has made himself a power broker
in APC by hook or crook.
Abdul-Kadir had written thus: “My
attention had been drawn by several
persons to statements credited to you
in the course of making a rejoinder to
a personal letter written by the Deputy
National Chairman (North), Senator
Lawal Shuaibu to the National Chairman
of the All Progressives Congress
(hereinafter referred to simply as the
Party), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole”.
Abdul-Kadir submitted that in the John Oyegun
said rejoinder, as published in various
Newspapers and other social media,
the publicity scribe was credited with
making the following statements
concerning Chief John E. Odigbe-
Oyegun, former National Chairman
of the Party and the entire members of
National Working Committee (NWC)
of the party that served with him - “The
Adams Oshiomhole led All Progressives
Congress (APC) yesterday said the
party lost some states to the PEOPLES
DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) due
to the indiscipline and inaction of the
National Working Committee (NWC)
under Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
The APC National Publicity Secretary,
Inuwa Abul-Kadir Otunba Niyi Adebayo
Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in an interview
with journalists, said …the former NWC publication has greatly lowered his
led by Chief Odigie-Oyegun lacked the
courage to confront the political despots
who could not operate by the party’s
“T he issues around the
purported expulsion of
the vice national chairman of
estimation in the eyes of right-thinking
members of the society and brought him
to underserved public contempt, ridicule,
and odium.
rules”.
In his thinking, Abdul-Kadir says APC are linked to the demand Categorically, Abdul-Kadir affirmed
Lanre Issa-Oniru’s statements above no that: “I have no doubt that the statements
doubt do carry the apparent implication/
for retraction of a defamation you made were on your own volition and
inference and, indeed were understood of his character which the deliberately done using your position as
as such by all who read them, that all of the Acting National Publicity Secretary to
vice-chairman of APC Malam give official coloration.
us who were members of the National
Working Committee with Chief John Inuwa Abdul-Kadir sent to the I so hold this position because I am a
Oyegun are irresponsible persons/officers national publicity secretary of member of the current National Working
who are lacking discipline, character, and Committee (NWC) led by Comrade
pedigree to hold the offices they occupied APC Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu Adams Oshiomhole, I was duly elected at
by virtue of which were members of the who as we stated has made the National Convention of the party and
NWC of the party”. interestingly, twelve (12) of us out of the
He, therefore, demanded retraction
himself a power broker in APC twenty-one (21) members of the current
when he further affirmed that the said by hook or crook.” NWC served in the Chief John Oyegun-
10 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

Chief John Oyegun
Godwin Obaseki
led NWC and I know as a matter of fact
that at no material time did the current
NWC or any organ of the party meet and
consider the tenure of the Chief John
Oyegun-led NWC and make conclusions
as contained in your statements either
before or after your appointment as the
Acting National Publicity Secretary Of
The Party”.
Another linked issue is the petition
from the Sokoto state branch of APC
which I think resulted from the defeat
suffered by the party and the suspicion
which is totally unfounded that the vice-
chairman did not do much to stop his
friend Governor Tambuwal who left APC
to PDP from winning the polls. But the
APC headquarters forgot that Senator
Magatakarda Wammako is also a friend
of Tambuwal and was indeed the man
who put him in office in 2015.
The truth is that the national
“A nother linked issue is the
petition from the Sokoto
state branch of APC which I
think resulted from the defeat
suffered by the party and the
suspicion which is totally
unfounded that the vice-
chairman did not do much
to stop his friend Governor
Tambuwal who left APC to
PDP from winning the polls.”
secretariat of APC has blundered by
hurriedly and illegally announcing
any form of sanction against the vice-
chairman Abdul-Kadir who was already
in court. Why hurry? Why not wait
for the due process of the law to be
exhausted?
As a law-abiding Nigerian, this man
illegally expelled had written to the
party lamenting the illegality. Abdul-
Kadir wrote as follows: “My attention
was drawn to a public statement issued
by Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, Acting
National Publicity Secretary of my
party, The All Progressives Congress
conveying a purported decision of the
National Working Committee upholding
a disciplinary actions of Magajin Gari
“A” ward, Sokoto and the party’s Sokoto
state Executive Committee against
me knowing fully that the basis of
the purported decision has been the
subject matter of an action filed in suit
SS/33/2019 pending at the Sokoto State
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 11
PEOPLES AND POLITICS
High Court in which the party, National
Chairman, Sokoto state chairman
endorsed as defendants and had entered
appearances”.
He stated that it will be recalled
that just last week, he made public his
response to a telephone conversation
in the evening of Wednesday 3rd
July 2019 and an invitation letter he
subsequently received on Thursday 10th
July, 2019 with and from Otunba Niyi
Adebayo, the immediate past Deputy
National Chairman of our party, the All
Progressives Congress (APC) and now
the honourable Minister of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria drawing his attention
to his inability to appear before his
committee on Thursday 4th July, 2019
because at that time he was in Sokoto and
on the said appointed date the suit which
he filed before the Sokoto State High
Court in respect of the said petition/
disciplinary action under reference was
coming up and did counsel that the
matter is subjudice therefore the proper
thing to do is to keep the matter in
abeyance this I assumed will be respected
by the purported meeting of the NWC or
even under whatever guise.
In view of the same reason he gave
earlier last week, he disclosed that he
was still constrained to comment on the
propriety of the purported meeting of
the NWC and decision therefrom but as
a professional and responsible Nigerian
citizen who is a stickler for rule of law,
not rhetoric, he will keep his patience
for justice to prevail notwithstanding
that the wheel of justice grinds slowly
but certainly surely” He spoke further:
“I would like to assure our members
nationwide and other well-wishers who
knew of my leadership credentials and
repose confidence in me and elected me
twice as the National Vice Chairman
(North West) of the party that I will not
be deterred in upholding the tenets of
justice and fairness for public good either
as a party executive or elsewhere”.
This certainly is not how to run a party.
This self-inflicted infighting and disputes
are unnecessary and constitute a grave
distraction to President Muhammadu
Buhari. The President who is the leader
of APC should play his objective fatherly
role by calling the National chairman and
the National Publicity Scribe to order.
Onwubiko heads the Human Rights
Writers Association of Nigeria
HURIWA).
 AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
Bare necessities: Policewoman Nosipho Khuzwayo is forced to collect drinking water for her family with her car.
Thirst and rage
on the South Coast
I
ts dead still at The Pont on the
bank of the Umtamvuna River
that separates the Eastern Cape
from KwaZulu-Natal. It’s just after
midday, but the holiday resort, one of the
oldest in the Port Edward area, is empty,
save for an older couple sipping cocktails
in deck chairs while they watch the river
12 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
flow by.
The rowboat with an outboard motor,
which ferries workers from the Eastern
Cape side of the river in the mornings
and afternoons, is moored alongside the
speedboats that drag screaming tourists
on tubes along the river. The bright
blue cruise boat is also tied up, for good
BY Paddy Harper
reason: there’s nobody at the resort.
The Pont, like the rest of the lower
South Coast from South-broom to Port
Edward, has taken a thumping, from a
business perspective, as a result of the
latest water outage.
Since April 23 more than 175 000
folk in the coastal towns and in the

villages inland have been without water,
apparently after a piece of metal was
washed into the pump that draws water
from the Umtamvuna and distributes it
to the people who depend on the river
for their water supply.
We’re whipped - and thirsty - from two
days of driving around the countryside
watching people battling to get water to
stay alive, so we’ve stopped at The Pont
for a cold drink and a bit of a break.
It’s a weird thing. Unlike the locals,
we’ve had plenty of water to drink since
we got here. The interior of the office car
is littered with empties but, strangely,
we’re still constantly thirsty.
It’s been a tough couple of days, but
nothing near as tough as what the people
who live here have been through, day
after day, not only since the pump at the
Umtamvuna water works went down,
but for the past three - and in some cases
four — months.
At Qombe, Gcilima, Busi Mboyisa
and her mother Thandekile have been
without water for three months. They’ve
been reduced to fetching water from
an old borehole about 1.5km away that
has been used for cattle and crops since
the Ugu district municipality put in
standpipes a decade ago.
Their problems didn’t start now. The
family put in their own tap and a link to
the municipal tap in 2017, rather than
walk the 200m to the nearest public
standpipe. The water supply promptly
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 13
AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
dried up, with the family suffering a very
dry December, followed by more outages
last year.
At the Umtamvuna water works gospel
music is blasting from the workers’
houses across the road from the plant.
Nosipho Khuzwayo, a policewoman from
KwaMphelelwa, has turned the family
Toyota Tazz into a water wagon, using
her off days to collect 150 litres for her
eight-member family. The water has to
last them until her next off day, so the
family washes in river water.
Khuzwayo is understandably angry.
Like the Mboyisa family, she’s been
without water for months and is a serial
victim of non-delivery by Ugu. Like the
Mboyisas, she puts aside her anger and
resentment and takes time from her
labour to talk about her plight. Tired
of silence and half-answers from the
municipality, she vents. For a minute
we’re like social workers, providing
Khuzwayo with some outlet for her
frustration, her sense of betrayal.
At the roadside near KwaXolo we
meet Mr. Not Allowed, a council tanker
driver, who, like every other official we
approached in our three days at Ugu, isn’t
too happy to see us. It takes two days of
phone calls and an intervention from a
senior official in another municipality to
get the Ugu spokesperson to answer his
phone, so … back to Mr Not Allowed.
Mr. Not Allowed - we asked him his
name, but he was not allowed to tell us
it — is, we are told, not allowed to allow
us to take pictures, not allowed to tell
us how many runs he does a day, not
allowed to look at us without written
permission from his bosses.
We head back to Gcilima, hit the clinic,
which locals tell us has been without
water for three months. At the clinic, the
senior person on duty - who we get to
see after about 45 minutes in the waiting
room - turns out to be Mr. Not Allowed’s
twin sister.
She gives us the, “sorry, talk to head
office”, and gets as far away from us as she
can, as if we have the swine flu or Ebola.
We move to the local primary school.
The principal is a nice enough cat, only
too happy to talk to us, but there is, of
course, one problem. The principal, like
every other civil servant, is not allowed to
talk to us.
We hit the road, defeated, like the
175,000 waterless residents of Ugu,
victims of the Ugu district municipality’s
policy of not allowed.
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

14 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

 COVER REMARK

ABU has made

significant
contribution
to humanity
- Professor Oyewale Tomori, FAS, FRCPath (UK),
FCVSN, FASTMH, NNOM, NAM'

A
hmadu Bello University, established 57 years
ago, was initially conceived as the University of
Northern Nigeria (UNN) to be located at Zaria
to take over the facilities of the Nigerian College
of Arts, Science and Technology at Samaru, the Ahmadu
Bello College in Kano, the Agricultural Research Institute
at Samaru, the Institute of Administration at Zaria, and the
Veterinary Research Institute at Vom, near Jos. However, the
law establishing the university passed by the Northern Region
legislature in 1961, named the university after Ahmadu Bello,
while the Kano College was named after Abdullahi Bayero, a
past Emir of Kano.
The University was established in the early years of our
independence and became famous as a training institution
for professionals in administration, agriculture,
architecture, engineering, fine arts and veterinary
medicine. ABU operated these courses from
2 main campuses: Samaru and Kongo in
Zaria, attracting students from all over the
states of Nigeria. ABU has made significant
contribution to the development of highly
trained professionals, especially, during the
early post independent years.

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 15

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Sir Ahmadu
Bello, KBE
Memory of
Nigeria’s Northern
Phenomenon
S
ir Ahmadu Bello, KBE was born
on June 12, 1910; he was one of
Nigeria’s most celebrated and
colourful Politicians, the first and
only Premier of the Northern Nigeria
region. He also held the title of the
Sardauna of Sokoto. Bello and Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa were major figures in
Northern Nigeria pre-independence
politics and both men played major roles
in negotiations about the region's place
in an independent Nigeria. As leader of
the Northern People's Congress, he was a
dominant personality in Nigerian politics
throughout the early Nigerian Federation
and the First Republic.
Early Life
Bello was born to the family of Mallam
Ibrahim Bello. His father held the title
of Sarkin Rabah. He is a descendant of
Uthman Dan Fodio, a great grandson of
Sultan Muhammed Bello and a grandson
of Sultan Atiku na Raba. He attended
Sokoto Provincial School and the Katsina
Training College. During his school days,
he was known as Ahmadu Rabah. He
finished school in 1931 and subsequently
became the English Teacher in Sokoto
16 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
Middle School.
Political beginnings
In 1934, Bello was made the District
Head of Rabah by Sultan Hassan dan
Mu'azu, succeeding his brother. In 1938,
he was promoted to the position of
Divisional Head of Gusau (in present-
day Zamfara State) and became a
member of the Sultan's council. In 1938,
at the age of just 28, he made attempts
to become the Sultan of Sokoto but
was not successful, losing to Sir Siddiq
Abubakar III who reigned for 50 years
until his death in 1988. The new Sultan
immediately made Sir Ahmadu Bello the
Sardauna (Crown Prince) of Sokoto, an
honorary title, and promoted him to the
Sokoto Native Authority Council. These
titles automatically made him the Chief
Political Adviser to the Sultan. Later, he
was put in charge of the Sokoto Province
to oversee 47 districts and by 1944, he
was back at the Sultan's Palace to work
as the Chief Secretary of the State Native
Administration.
In the 1940s, he joined Jamiyya
Mutanen Arewa which would later
become the NPC in 1951. In 1948, he got
a government scholarship and was off
to England to study Local Government
Administration which broadened
his understanding and knowledge of
governance.
After returning from Britain, he was
nominated to represent the province
of Sokoto in the regional House of
Assembly. As a member of the assembly,
he was a notable voice for northern
interests and embraced a style of
consultation and consensus with the
major representatives of the northern
emirates namely Kano, Bornu and
Sokoto. He was selected along with
others as a member of a committee that
redrafted the Richards Constitution and
he also attended a general conference in
Ibadan. His work at the assembly and
in the constitution drafting committee
brought him appreciation in the north
and he was asked to take on leadership
positions within Jamiyya Mutanen
Arewa. In the first elections held in
Northern Nigeria in 1952, Sir Ahmadu
Bello won a seat in the Northern
House of Assembly, and became a
member of the regional executive
council as minister of works. Bello
was successfully minister of Works, of
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Local Government, and of Community traditional Quranic education Personal Life
Development in the Northern Region in Northern Nigeria. He set up a Bello had three wives at the time of his
of Nigeria. In 1954, Bello became the commission to this effect and gave death. Hafsatu, his first and senior wife,
first Premier of Northern Nigeria. In official recognition to the schools. died alongside him.
the 1959 independence elections, Bello The commission recommended the He had three daughters with another
led the NPC to win a plurality of the introduction of secular subjects in wife, Amina (Goggon Kano). His eldest
parliamentary seats. Bello's NPC forged the schools and creation of different daughter was Inno, followed by Aisha
an alliance with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe's classes for pupils. Part of his educational and Lubabatu.
NCNC (National Council of Nigeria and
the Cameroons) to form Nigeria's first
indigenous federal government which
led to independence from Britain. In
forming the 1960 independence federal
government of the Nigeria, Bello as
President of the NPC, chose to remain
Premier of Northern Nigeria and
devolved the position of Prime Minister
of the Federation to the deputy president
of the NPC, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

Premier
Bello's leadership characteristics were
a blend of religious, traditional and
modern values and his obligation in
colonial and post-independence Nigeria
was performing these different roles in
the northern region. A major priority
of his was making sure the region was
at par politically and economically with
the Western and Eastern regions. This
contributed to the decision to replace
both Southerners and Europeans in the
Northern region's civil services with
Northerners, a policy that received
criticism from opposition leaders such as
Ibrahim Imam.
Bello originally embraced the
indirect rule system of colonial Nigeria
before gradually embracing reforms.
During his period of premiership, his
biographer, John Paden described him
as a progressive conservative, because he
was an agent of change and also of the
traditional elites.

Economic Policies
Various institutions were created under
Bello, including the Northern Nigeria
Development Corporation (NNDC),
Bank of the North and Northern Nigeria
Investments Ltd (NNIL). NNDC was a
holding company with capital sourced
from the region's marketing board
while NNIL was a partnership between
the Commonwealth Development
Corporation and NNDC created to
assist in the industrial development in
Northern Nigeria.
Education
Bello initiated plans to modernize
objectives was building a school in each
province in Northern Nigeria.
Death
Bello was assassinated on 15 January
1966 in a coup which toppled Nigeria's
post-independence government. He
was still serving as premier of Northern
Nigeria at the time. That was the first
coup in Nigeria history. Also assassinated
in the coup was his longtime friend Sir
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa alongside many
political elites in the north and in the
west.
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 17
Legacy
Bello's greatest legacy was the
modernization and unification of the
diverse people of Northern Nigeria.
The prestigious Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria which he founded was
named after him. The university is today
one of Africa’s illustrious institutions that
have produced eminent personalities to
the pools of world human resources. His
portrait adorns Nigeria's 200 naira note,
and he is survived by three daughters,
one of whom died in 2008.
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
ABU Expanded
My Horizon
- Honourable Sani Umar
A
lhaji Umar Sani, the former
Clerk of the Senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, is
a man of valour who cherishes
excellence and can hold his own among his
peers. As a matter of fact, he is equally, going
by the numerous remarkable feat noted in
his civil service records as an officer per
excellence, a good leader and a motivator
of substance worthy of emulation.
As a distinguished bureaucrat, he has, in
no small measure, contributed immensely
to the development of the civil-service in
18 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
general and National Assembly Service
in particular. What makes him tick is his
professionalism and eyes for detail. Also,
the string desire to ensure that every
assignment given is carried out according
to specification marks him out.
A man of great vision and ideas, Umar
Sani ranks among the best ABU alumni
in the country today. Indeed, he prides
himself as self-starter with a dynamic
and resourceful disposition. His greatest
weapon is his reputation as a man of
integrity and competence, whose success is
hinged on probity and sincerity of purpose.
People like Alhaji Sani come once in a
while and they naturally stand out. They
have intellect, vision, drive and energy to
get things done properly in accordance
with due process.
Born on the 1st February, 1950 in
Jos, this native of Kano State, attended
Teacher’s College, Toro, between 1965
and 1969 for his (post primary) Teacher’s
Grade II Certificate. For his post-
secondary education, Sani Umar attended
Advanced Teachers’ College, Sokoto
where he acquired Nigeria Certificate of
Education (NCE) in 1973. In pursuit of
further knowledge, Sani proceeded to
the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria in 1973 and graduated in 1976 with
BSc. (Hons) Social Science, specializing
in Government and Administration.
Thereafter, he went back to ABU, Zaria
between 1991 and 1992 for a master’s
programme in Public Administration.
Sani Umar started his illustrious career
with the Kano State Ministry of Education
as an English Language and Literature
Teacher in Government Secondary School
Hadejia, (then part of Kano State). The
working experience of Alhaji Umar Sani
has since transverse virtually all the major
departments of the civil service in Nigeria,
most especially in Kano State Government,
NNPC, London administrative office of
Nigeria Universities, F.C.D.A and the
National Assembly, where he rose through
the ranks to become the Clerk, Senate of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a position
he held till be bowed out in 2008 after
35years of meritorious service.
Speaking with the Black Heritage
International Magazine as one of the
distinguished alumni of Ahmadu Bello
University, Sani disclosed that he was
motivated to study in ABU because of
the nearness of the university to his home
town and its relevance to Northern culture.
Equally, he said from the inception of ABU
in 1962 through to its first 20-25years,
the University was equipped with the
most modern world class facilities of the
period which made teaching and research
very effective. Thereafter, high academic
standard was not only established but also
sustained for that period.
According to Sani, “the Institution’s
capacity was fully developed within a
short time. It is therefore not surprising
that in those days, ABU and University
of Ibadan were ranked among the very
best universities in the world. In addition
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
to high quality infrastructure, selection of academic and non- and other financial Institutions, Trade, Commerce and Industry).
academic staff, as well as the students was competitive nationally/
intentionally and purely based on merit. The lecturers approached Summary of ABU’s contributions to manpower distribution:
their jobs with high degree of idealism tinted with realism, a 1. It is the only university that has so far produced a president
combination necessary for successful development of socio- of the country (Umaru Musa Yar’adua) among its graduates.
economic and political institutions. Among the few Nigerian 2. Five secretaries to the Government of the Federation (Aminu
lecturers, three stood out: Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman, Dr. Patrick Saleh, Gidado Idris, Aliyu Moh’d, Ahmed Yayale, Boss
Wilmot (naturalized) and Dr. Femi Adekunle, were non- Mustapha).
conformist radicals, who challenged the status-quo but they were 3. Four Chief Justices of the Federation (Justices Moh’d Bello,
dedicated, dynamic, inspiring, accomplished and genuinely loved Uwaise, Kutigi and Ibrahim Tanko)
Nigeria and its future. They impacted positively and impacted 4. Three Governors of Central Bank of Nigeria (Aliyu Mal-
humane values to their students. I am certain that we benefitted Borno, Ahmed Abdul Kadir and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi)
immensely from their influence. 5. Four clerks to the National Assembly (Dr. Adamu Fika, Dr.
Speaking on what makes ABU different from other universities I. Salem, Alh. N.I. Arab, Sani Omolori)
in the country, Sani believes that not only in his own case, but 6. Four Comptroller-General of Customs and Exercise (Dr.
generally speaking, the quality of one’s tertiary education regarding Moh’d Halliru, John Gyang Buba, Mustapha A. Aliyu and
where he receives it, to a large extent, determines his achievement Muhammed Babandede)
and in many cases level of contribution to the society. That in those 7. Uncountable veteran journalists including (Muhammed
days, the students were dedicated to their studies and had positive Haruna, Prof. Abubakar Rashid, Turi Muhammadu, Kabiru
competitive spirits, unmatched courage and oratory power. Yusuf, Mohammed Jega, etc.)
Comparing ABU of his time with ABU of today, Sani opined,
“It is difficult to make juxtaposition between the two eras, because
what was obtained in terms of infrastructure during my days in
ABU is not what is obtainable now. Also, students were moralistic
and hardworking unlike children of nowadays. In our days in
ABU, our books were our friends. We studied very hard and
made our studies our priorities; we were always in the library,
even during holidays we went about with our books. We seized
the opportunity of any available time and invested it in our study.
However, nowadays students have different priorities; they are lazy
and give in to the “sunny side” of life, some of them even indulge
in drinking frequently, organizing parties, smoking Indian hemp
and involving themselves in cultism which we never did.
The ABU like other universities in the country, had more or less,
deteriorated into a physically malfunctioned intellectual squalor,
starved of basic facilities, including lecturers and lecture theatres.
It is therefore not surprising that none of the universities in Nigeria
including ABU, made it to the International ranking of 100 best
universities in the world”, he lamented.
On what to do to restore ABU’s past glory, Sani regretted that
despite the various positions of authority held by the university
alumni only a few of them did very little, which was nothing to
write home about. He therefore called on ABU alumni wherever
they are; ministers, state governors, top level bureaucrats in
ministries and extra ministerial departments, captains of industries
and private sector chief executives, to come forward and pay their
dues to the institutions that made it possible for them to be where
they are today.
“The university authorities themselves should wake up and
initiate relevant recovery projects and rally round the university
beneficiaries, for what I believe to be a justifiable payback period,”
he advised. “As an ABU graduate, I always celebrate our undergraduate days
Whether or not ABU has achieved the objectives for which its and the era of Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto) for his vision
founder established it, Sani said “The University has contributed to found a university that had positively impacted on me and
tremendously to the development of almost every sector of numerous other Nigerians. Therefore, without any iota of doubt,
Northern Nigerian social, economic and political systems in ABU has actualized the laudable goals of its founder. Saudauna’s
particular and Nigeria in general. For example, if we can imagine style of public service in Nigeria set a very high standard of selfless
a situation where ABU would be removed from our entire system, service, self-sacrifice, commitment, transparency, integrity, devoid
it is then its impacts would be felt at almost every level of our socio of amassing wealth at the expense of the public. May the Almighty
- economic and political lives (Administration, Education, Health, Allah abundantly reward Ahmadu Bello, grant him eternal peace
Works, Housing, Finance and Agriculture), private sector (Banks and Jannatul Firdaus Ameen”, he submitted. 
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 19
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
D
r Tukur Bello Ingawa- a retired Federal Permanent
Secretary, was a consummate civil servant who
combined the best skill set to drive a modern public
service. With a phenomenal mix of experience at
State leve1 where he rose to become the Secretary to the State
Government after having served as Permanent Secretary, Director
General and Honourable Commissioner in a number of Ministries
and Departments.
These MDAs include:
• Political Cabinet & Security in the Old Kaduna State
• Political & Cabinet Security, Katsina State
• Ministry of Education, Katsina State
• Ministry of Agriculture & Natural Resources -Katsina State
• Department of Budget & Economic Planning, Military
Governor’s Office - Katsina State
• Ministry of Finance and Economic Development
At the Federal level, his experience is even more cognate and the
assignments and tasks undertaken more diverse. From Director,
Finance and Administration- Local Organising Committee
Nigeria '99 to Secretary, Assets Sharing Committee between Old
& New states (Ondo/Ekiti/Enugu / Abia/Ebonyi) and Commission
of Inquiry on the Alienation of Federal Government Landed
Property, it has been commitment, dexterity and proficiency at all
times. Whilst serving as Director, Finance and Supply in Federal
Ministry of Commerce, he was the institutional representative to
the Board of Nexim Bank' His contributions to the development of
the Bank made the Board retain his services long after he left the
Ministry to serve as the Secretary to the ICPC. He also served on
the Board of Nigerian Agricultural and Rural Development Bank.
Service and Organisational Development Initiatives at
ICPC:
Staff welfare schemes including the establishment of staff Canteen,
Crèche among others.
Establishment of the ICPC Academy to promote and develop
20 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
Dr Tukur Bello
Ingawa, OON, mni
An
Accomplished
Technocrat and
Bureaucrat
the knowledge base of the Commission.
Nurtured and led the editorial board of the ICPC Monitor, a
magazine devoted to promoting anti-corruption initiatives and
information about the activities of the Commission. He also
nurtured and led the editorial board of the Integrity Journal, an
academic journal on the subject of anti-Corruption and integrity
issues.
He championed a number of alternative approaches towards
fighting corruption including: ACTU; integrity certification
scheme and local government anticorruption initiative
He invested heavily in staff professional development initiatives
during his term at the Commission. All the senior management
team acquired additional professional certificates and qualifications
to enable them contribute more strategically to the work of the
Commission.
At the Federal Ministry of Works and Federal Ministry of Police
Affairs
Dr. Ingawa stabilized and refocused the administration and
management of the ministries. The rancour and acrimony that
was common place all fizzled out under his leadership.
The professional group development increased significantly
under his watch. Professionals were happy to innovate and try
new methods to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
He championed the concept of "Same Day Files Service". The
idea is that all Management staff should not leave files brought
to them overnight: the files must as far as exigent be dealt with
same day. He started it with the Permanent Secretary's Office and
gradually cascaded it to all management officers.
He abolished "Contractor Queues" at Permanent Secretary's
Office by a mixture of devolvement and proficiency' The idea
of contractor queues is a symptom of service failure and he
ensured that prompt and responsive service delivery should be
the cornerstone of the drive to improve overall efficiency of the
ministries. He pursued reforms at the ministries and service-wide
levels aimed at enhancing professionalism and service delivery as
well as improving working environment.
Cross Service and Cross Sector Activities
• An active member of the body of Permanent Secretaries
• Vision 20:2020 Secretariat
• Public Service Reforms
• World Bank Projects

• Public Private Partnership
• An active participant in the selection
process of all new Federal Permanent
Secretaries from 2009 to date as an
examiner, marker as well as panelist
The Academician
Dr Ingawa excelled as an academic at
Bayero University Kano. He inspired a lot
of economic history teachings and research
in Northern Nigeria. Gifted with unusual
insight, he presented papers and lectures on
the economic history of Northern Nigeria.
Main Area of Research: Economic
History of Northern Nigeria:
"A History of Cooperatives in Katsina
Province with Particular Reference to
Rimi"; Unpublished Bachelor of Arts
Dissertation, Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria, 1977.
"A History of Cooperatives in Southern
Katsina"; Unpublished M.A African
History Dissertation, School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS), University of
London, 1980.
"A Study of the Rural Economy of the
Cotton Producing Districts of Southern
Katsina, Northern Nigeria, during the
Colonial Period (7900-7939)", Unpublished
PhD Thesis, School of Oriental and African
Studies, (SOAS) University of London,
1985.
"Security Administration: A Civil
Servant's Perspective". Unpublished
Research Paper Submitted to the National
Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies
Kuru, Jos, Nigeria,1992.
Publication:
"The Establishment of Colonial Rule in
West Ahtca,1900 - 1,914" (with others)
in History of West Africa Vol. II, Second
Edition, Longmans, London - 1985
"The Pre-colonial Economy of
Hausaland" in Kano studies, Vol. XI - 1985
"Cash Crops and the West Africa
Economy in the 20e Century" Journal of
General Studies, Vol. III, No 1 (December
1982), pages 95-109
Education
• School of Oriental and African
Studies, University of London, U.K -
Ph.D. 1985
• School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London, U.K. - Master of
Arts (M A) African History - 1980
• Ahmadu Bello University - Bachelor
of Arts (B.A Hons) History - 1977
• Ahmadu Bello University - Graduate
Certificate in Education - 1977
• Government College, Kaduna - Higher
School Certificate - 1971
• Government Secondary School,
Funtua - West African School
Certificate - 1969
Professional & Specialist Courses
• The Institute for Public Private
Partnership Arlington VA, U.S.A
& The Water Engineering and
Development Center, Loughborough
University Leistershire, U.K - Certified
Public-Private Partnership Specialist
Certificate - 2010
• Harvard Business School, U.S.A -
Making Corporate Boards More
Effective - 2007
• Stanford Business School, U.S.A -
Influence & Negotiation Strategies
Programme - 2006
• Harvard Business School, U.S.A -
Strategic Negotiation: Deal making
for the Long Term - 2005
• National Institute for Policy &
Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Plateau
State - Membership of National
Institute, mni -1992
Experience
• Permanent Secretary • Director, Nigerian Investment
2011 - 2012 Federal Ministry of
Police Affairs Retired on Attaining the
Statutory age of 60 years
• Permanent Secretary - Federal
Ministry of Works - 2010-2011
• Permanent Secretary - Federal
Ministry of Works, Housing and
Urban Development - 2009-2010
• Secretary to the Commission -
Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission -1998
- 2003-2008
• Director, Finance & Supply - Federal
Ministry of Commerce - 2000 - 2003
• Secretary to the State Government ,
Katsina State - 1998 - 1999
• Director, Administration & Finance,
Local Organising Committee
Nigeria'99 - World FIFA/Coca-
Cola Under 17 Youth Football
Championships - July–Oct 1998
• Director, Establishment & Industrial
Relations, Office of the Secretary to
Govt. & Head of Civil Service of the
Federation - 1997 - 1998
• Director, Planning, Research &
Statistics, Federal Ministry of Industry
- April 1997
• On transfer to the Federal Civil Service
as Director GL17 - March 1997
• Honourable Commissioner, Ministry
of Finance & Economic Development,
Katsina State - 1995 – 1996
• Director, General Budget & Planning,
Military Governor's Office, Katsina
State - 1993 – 1994
• Director-General, Political, Cabinet &
Security, Katsina State - 1993
• Director-General, Ministry of
Agriculture & Natural Resources,
Katsina State - 1991 – 1993
• Director-General, Ministry of
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 21
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Education Katsina State - 1981 - 1991
• Director- General, Cabinet & Security,
Katsina State - 1988 – 1989
• Permanent Secretary, Political,
Cabinet & Security, Katsina State -
1987
• Permanent Secretary, Political,
Cabinet & Security, Defunct Kaduna
State - 1987
• Graduate Assistant - 1978 - 1980
• Assistant Lecturer - 1980 - 1982
• Lecturer II - 1982 – 1985
• Lecturer - 1985 – 1987 Bayero
University Kano
Other Responsibilities and
Achievements
• Independent Non-Executive Director,
UBA Pensions Custodian Ltd - 2013
to Date
• Director, Nigerian Agricultural and
Rural Development Board (NARDB)
- 2002 – 2003
Promotion Council (NIPC) - 2002
- 2003
• Director, Nigerian Export and Import
Bank (NEXIM) - 2002 - 2007
• Secretary, Commission of Inquiry on
the Alienation of Federal Government
Landed Property - 1999 -2002
• Secretary, Assets Sharing Committee
between Old & New States (Ondo/
Ekiti/ Enugu / Abia / Ebonyi) - 1997
• Rapporteur, Vision 2010 Committee
- 1997 -1998
• Chairman, Namibia Solidarity Fund,
Katsina State - 1989
• Chairman, Tripartite Committee
between Katsina State in Nigeria and
Department of Maradi & Department
of Zinder in the Republic of Niger -
1989
• Chairman, Bilateral Committee
between Katsina State in Nigeria and
Department of Maradi in the Republic
of Niger - 1988 – 1989
• Recipient of the National Honours
Award of Officer of the Order of the
Niger (OON) - 2006
• Turbaned as Magajin Rafin Katsina
and Councilor, Katsina Emirate
Council - July 2010
Personal Information
Date of Birth: 21st September, 1952
State of Origin: Katsina State
Local Government Area: Ingawa Local
Government
Marital Status: Married With Six (6)
Children
Hobbies & Interests: Reading, writing,
Music, Table Tennis, Golf ', Travelling &
Making Friends.
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

D
r. Samson Sani Ameh,
(SAN), is a Barrister
and Solicitor of the
Supreme Court of
Nigeria. He studied law at the
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,
and graduated with Second Class
Upper Division in1967.Sani Ameh
later travelled overseas where he
did both his Master and Doctorate
degrees in Law at Yale University,
United States of America.
Sani Ameh became a lecturer
at Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria between 1971 and 1978.
He also lectured at the University
of Jos between 1979 and 1980.
Afterwards, Sani Ameh found
private practice, which he is
still engaged in till now, albeit
excellently. Consequent upon his
advocacy skills, he was elevated
to the rank of a Senior Advocate
of Nigeria in 1992. Thereafter, he
became a member of the Legal
Practitioners Privileges Committee
between 1999 and 2003.
Dr. Sani Ameh served as Attorney
General and Commissioner for
Justice of Kogi State, Nigeria.
Having contributed his wealth of
experience in legal matters to the
development of Nigeria, the former
President Umaru Musa Yar’adua
GCFR bestowed on him a national
honour of the Member of the order
of Federal Republic, (MFR). In an
interview with the Black Heritage
International Magazine team,
as a recipient of the magazine’s
prestigious honour of a Lifetime,
for his numerous achievements
in life. He bore his mind on his
childhood, education, career as well
as family. Excerpts;

22 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7


Our Pioneer Foreign Teachers at ABU
taught us Culture of Commitment,
Dedication and Integrity
- Dr. S. S. Ameh, SAN, MFR
Tell us about your childhood and
educational history?
I was born in Ogugu, in Olamaboro
Local Government, formerly Ankpa
Local Government of Kogi State. After
my Primary School, Okene, I proceeded
to Provincial Secondary School, where
I did my secondary school up to Form
5, then we were screened, some of us
were upgraded to continue to do our
HSC, Higher School Certificate which I
did in 1963. After the HSC, I proceeded
to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
in October 1963 and then graduated
with Bachelor of Law Degree in 1967.
Thereafter, I proceeded to the United
States of America to do post graduate
studies in Law, precisely I went to Yale
Law School in Connecticut and I did my
Master’s Degree in 1969.
When I came back, I was employed
by the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. I
started teaching there with my Master’s
Degree, after a few years, I went back to
the United States and did my Doctorate
in Law the same year. I graduated in
1974 and then came back to the Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria. I continued
lecturing until 1978 when I was recruited
by the University of Jos which was
newly established. I was responsible
for the establishment of Law Faculty of
Unijos. I was the pioneer staff of that
faculty in 1978. After that, I contested
for an election in 1979. I resigned my
appointment to contest for the Ankpa
South of the Benue State House of
Assembly. After I lost the election, I came
back to Jos and established legal practice.
I started practicing law. I was conferred
with the rank of a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria in 1992; I continued practicing
until 2008 when the President of the
Federal Republic, the late Umaru Musa
Yar’adua conferred a national honour
on me as the Member of the order of the
Federal Republic (MFR). So, I relocated
from Plateau State to Abuja in the last
four years. I have been resident here since
then.
Why did you opt to study at Zaria?
Well at our time, there were very few
universities and the location of Ahmadu
Bello University was more convenient for
us at the Middle Belt area to attend and
to be fair, the Sadauna of Sokoto went
round the country secondary schools
encouraging us to work hard and proceed
to the universities, that was the reason
I attend the Ahmadu Bello University
Zaria.
Will you say the training you acquire
from ABU actually contributed to your
success in life?
Yes that is true. The reason is that when
the university was established, they had
to bring foreign lecturers, the Europeans,
Americans to teach us and they came
with their culture of commitment,
dedication and integrity, so apart from
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 23
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
studying, reading the book, we also
copied their ways of life, they were riding
bicycles, so we thought that is what we
can emulate instead of driving cars. It
really affected my attitude to life and
humility and commitment.
I actually taught in ABU Zaria and one
of my students makes jokes of me and
said that, if he has half of what I have, he
will speak through the nose and I asked
him to come and teach me how to speak
through the nose perhaps because of our
teachers were riding bicycles that we took
after them.
Can you still recollect some of your
school mates who are doing well in
their various professional careers
today?
Oh yes, I can recollect one of my closest
friend is Zacchaeus Aje from Ilorin
unfortunately, he has passed on. I also
have another friend who was a year
ahead of me then Dr. Samuel Mosugu, he
left for America to pursue further studies
and came back and we both taught at our
alma mater for several years.
He is now in Kaduna, he is not very
active again, and he is now in private
practice. There was another person from
Kogi State, his name is Dr. Achin, he too
was there we had crisis and he left so that
is the problem. The unfortunate things
happened in our own generation; Dr.
Achin said that he cannot be teaching law
when people are breaking the law and he
had to resign his appointment with the
University.
I was teaching and I was doing
very well, promotion and headship
appointment to leadership of the faculty,
they brought a Sudanese and the students
rioted that where I was, why are they
bringing a foreigner to become the
Dean of the Faculty of Law, then they
dismissed some of them and they have
to change the dismissal to a lesser 
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 punishment and as a result of that Dr.
Mosugu wrote to them that he cannot
teach law when people are breaking the
law. They are dismissing students without
giving them a fair hearing so he resigned.
After Dr. Achin resignation, I was the
only one left and they begged me not
to leave so that we wouldn’t all leave at
the same time because we are the only
Africans in the school then.
While at ABU, did you meet three
course meals?
At our time things were very free, we
were put in the hostel, we line up to eat,
the expenditure was minimal; we enjoyed
all that.
Can you recollect an experience that
remains indelible in your mind while
at ABU, Zaria?
So many experiences but one of them
that I remember very well is first year
that Dr. Aje failed and he repeated during
second year, I was voted the best student
and even somebody that repeated the
class I did better than them during the
final year, I was voted the best graduating
law student in Africa and not even in
Nigeria.
Justice James Oghebe who is the
retired Justice of Supreme Court was
my class mate, I respect him and I took
first and I think he came second or
third and he came to my room and said
he want to pray for me for my ability. I
thought a class mate will be jealous of
my achievement but he still came and
prayed for me and up till today I always
remember that incident.
The other incident was that when
I graduated, they were looking for
me all over the world and American
government said that they will give me
scholarship that I should not go to Russia
during the cold war, the Yale University
said no I should not go to Harvard
because of money so they still give me
additional scholarship so that I don’t go
to Harvard.
Commonwealth said that I should
go to Dublin, so Commonwealth
scholarship, American scholarship, UN
scholarship and Yale law school. I got
four scholarships and I want to collect all
of them then, the American lecturer said
it’s not like that that I should choose one
that and I picked Hansen Foundation, it’s
a private foundation scholarship. They
came from America and interviewed
me and they said anybody can get
24 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
“A
t our time, there were
very few universities and
the location of Ahmadu Bello
University was more convenient
for us at the Middle Belt area
to attend and to be fair, the
Sadauna of Sokoto went round
the country secondary schools
encouraging us to work hard
and proceed to the universities,
that was the reason I attend
the Ahmadu Bello University
Zaria.”
any other scholarship that theirs is a
special one and it will give me a name
that when I do my program they will
say it’s Hansen Foundation scholar to
the American and they are only two of
us in the world. To be fair to them the
American said I should go and teach
with all this knowledge if they are not
paying me well they will supplement my
salary but I should be a lecturer so they
were supplementing my salary and my
colleague got so jealous and said I am
C.I.A agent that is why American was
giving me money
While in ABU, were you involved in
any social or religious activities?
Yes, we do go to church and church
members too they would come to preach
to us in the hostel. It’s all about reading
and reading, we don’t have much time for
socializing.
What will be your advice to people
who finds it difficult to turn their
passion into opportunities?
Yes, perhaps things have changed
dramatically. At our time, your career
is determined by your interest and
therefore, you have an interest in it. I
have had to go and help two or three of
my colleagues in Calabar, he married
and the woman will not stay, the woman
said she wants to go and I have to plead
along with her not to go. then the madam
said she cannot marry a man who does
not return from office until 3.00 am so
whatever you want to do try to have
interest in that thing. Unfortunately, as
of now either your parent will just get
admission for you or you are not really
interested but everybody is going to
school, you are forced to go to school
etc. My son who is a medical doctor in
the United States of America told me a
story of his class mate when they were
in the University of Lagos and they did
medicine and his class mate gave the
certificate to the mother after graduation
telling her that this is what you want now
I’m going to study my own course of
study. People should try to pursue what
they are interested to do so that they
can go far but if you are interested in
something you should have satisfaction
and pursue it religiously.
Infact I give you another example, one
of my friends, who was a commissioner
for information during the military
regime in Kaduna State said he was
fulfilled when they dissolved the cabinet,
he said he has had a fulfilled life because
he wanted it and he got it.
There is a lawyer Alex Izinyon,
very intelligent lawyer, when I was a
commissioner for justice in Kogi State
in the 90s under Prince Abubakar Audu
he was in Kabba when I get government
cases, I used to invite him to do it. He
told me that he has gotten everything
that I was once a commissioner for
justice and that he wants it and it has
never come his way, which was how God
behaves.

ABU is an institution
that passes knowledge,
discipline and integrity
- Dr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo, OON
Let us have insight into your early
childhood, professional and academic
background?
My name is Gimba Ya'u Kumo. I was
born on the 5th of November, 1959 in
Akko local government area of Gombe
State. I attended Central Primary School,
Kumo. From there, I proceeded to
Sakato Government Secondary School,
Numan. From there, I went to School of
Basic studies, Ahmadu Bello University;
I obtained my Masters Degree in
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University,
Bauchi in 1999. My working career, I
started with Bauchi State Ministry of
Education, later, as an Investment Credit
Analyst at Bauchi State Investment
and Property Development Company
Ltd from 1985 - 1987, United Bank for
Africa, the former Inland Bank Plc which
is now FCMB. From there, I started my
business platform and later reengaged
as an assistant to the Minister, Senator
Danjuma Goje, when he was Minister of
State Power and Steel. When he finished
his tenure, he was elected as the governor
of Gombe State; I was also appointed as
“I started my business
platform and later
reengaged as an assistant to the
Minister, Senator Danjuma
Goje, when he was Minister
of State Power and Steel.
When he finished his tenure,
he was elected as the governor
of Gombe State; I was also
appointed as his Special
Assistant and State Liaison
officer for six years.”
his Special Assistant and State Liaison
officer for six years. Later I moved to
Fiscal Responsibility Commission as a
Commissioner representing six states in
the north east. From there, I was called
upon to drive the needed change at
the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 25
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
D
r. Gimba Ya’u Kumo
is the immediate past
Managing Director
of the Federal
Mortgage Bank in Nigeria. He
is a technocrat of a great repute
and one of the greatest imports
from Gombe State. He shared
his ABU experience with the
magazine. Excerpts;
I served for six years. I'm now on my
own doing private business. I'm happily
married with seven children.
Why did you opt to study at ABU?
We applied to many schools but
fortunately or unfortunately for me,
that was the only school that gave me
admission.
What is the interest in choosing the
course of study?
My first choice was accounting. I
started accounting in the first year,
but in the second year, I moved to
business administration because
95% of my friends are doing business
administration. I thought I should join
them.
Could you still recollect some of your
experiences while at ABU?
My experience was quite interesting. I
particularly remember when I was the
President of Bauchi State Student Union.
We coordinated a lot of student’s activism
and activities within and outside the 
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 campus. I have a lot of friends across
the country, particularly Kano, and
Oyo State.
Is there an experience in your mind
that remains indelible, which you can
never forget?
What always crosses my mind is the
intensity of the study at school of basic
studies which is virtually that time, nine
months. I had to study very hard then
as it was so intensive. The first year,
the degree was so interesting. I always
cherish those moments. Especially those
friends we made. That time, they are still
some of the closest friends I have up till
now. These are times; we were in our 20s
so the relationship with friends was okay.
Can you still recollect some of these
friends you made at ABU?
Many of them yes. Tijjani Ahmed
Mahuta, who is the Assistant
Comptroller of Immigration, Sani Anani,
who is in the office of the Accountant
General and some of them have now
exceeded 35 years in civil service. We
have so many of them. The immediate
past governor of Gombe State Dr. Hassan
Dankwambo was actually our junior
while the incumbent governor of Gombe,
Inuwa Yahaya was also my classmate.
Coincidentally, the immediate past
Accountant General of Gombe is also
my classmate. There are so many of them
doing really well.
Ahmadu Bello University is noted for
churning out highly rated individuals
in Africa and around the world, what
were the factors responsible for this?
The factor that I know is that we have to
thank the teachers we had at that time.
The teachers were highly sophisticated.
I remember so many of them. They
encouraged us. One interesting thing is,
I remember we went on national youth
service, I was posted to Oyo State, I
recall clearly the University of Ife, now
Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU),
and particularly they were picking
graduates of ABU. I was among those
that were picked. I was able to serve
at the university. So ABU was very
interesting.
Did you indulge in any social activities
on campus?
I am not a social person. I face my
studies. But when it comes to campus
politics, I'm always there. I also
26 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
“T
he immediate past
governor of Gombe
State Dr. Hassan Dankwambo
was actually our junior while
the incumbent governor of
Gombe, Inuwa Yahaya was also
my classmate. Coincidentally,
the immediate past Accountant
General of Gombe is also my
classmate. There are so many of
them doing really well.”
participated in magazine productions
because I had interest in wiring.
Did you meet your Wife at ABU?
No I didn't. I know Donald Duke met his
wife there. I know the former governor
of Katsina State Sheu Shema also met his
wife there. All of us were in school. A lot
of them met their spouses there, but not
me.
Would you say the training you got
at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
actually contributed to your success in
life, please give us a run down?
Yes of course. The training, the discipline
and above all the education of the
lecturers put me through. It was quite
interesting. But the foundation we had
in the mission school called Sakato
Secondary School in Numan also helped.
The foundation was also good. It's a
combination of the two.
Comparing your days at ABU and now,
would you say the quality is still the
same?
Actually, I don't have much contact with
the university environment as it were; I
only have very few friends. But I know
that from my working experience, the
quality of graduates they produce now
cannot be the same. Because I know
when I was Commissioner for Finance
and as Fiscal Responsibility Commission
most of the graduates we had, they are
not so well grounded the way we were.
Usually, my experience as MD/CEO of
the Federal Mortgage Bank has taught
me that the graduates we have these days
can never be compared with those of our
days and the days before us. The quality
has really dropped seriously.
You see those of us that have been
doing free, functional qualitative and
sustainable education are the ones
that are destroying Nigeria because
beneficiaries of free education have not
been able to give their children and
grand children the free education they
have acquired. This is what pains me
most. Most of the people you see in high
places today are beneficiaries of free,
functional, sustainable education. They
were given by the government of those
days. They have refused or unable to
now bring the same benefit to the table
for the benefit of our children. This is
what is lacking in Nigeria. I can assure
you that almost all of the 100 people
you choose are beneficiaries of free
education. So why can't you give what
you have taken? It's not something that is
impossible. Most of these programs that
we have are because of education.
If you have a well educated society
and the society is able to drive
development, you will not be able
to have unemployment, you won't
have insurgency, and you won’t have
herdsmen, kidnappers, bandits. You see,
those people doing all of these things
are not properly educated. It's our fault
because we did not put the structures we
inherited on ground. The price we pay
for this mistake is going to be very high.
You've not seen anything yet.

What is the way out?
The only way out is that government
should come out with a very
comprehensive programs on education,
employment, that is sustainable, that is
devoid of politics. Concrete program
in education and employment. It
is something that can be done. It is
not something that cannot be done.
Most of these herdsmen, kidnappers,
bandits, give them whatever they want.
It is because they are not properly
employed and educated. When I was
MD of Mortgage bank, during five or
six of my public lectures, I pointed
out that the next biggest time bomb is
unemployment. It's going to consume us
and it's happening already.
If you're given an opportunity in
the next cabinet, what would you do
differently?
See, one person cannot do it alone. It
requires the collective efforts of everyone
in the cabinet. From the President
down to the local councils, all hands
must be on deck because this problem
is really beyond one government. The
citizens also need to contribute. It is not
a small problem, it is a big problem. I'm
surprised people are not looking at it.
Unfortunately, this is where we are.
I remember the governor of Kaduna
during his first term when he
was trying to make some reforms
especially in the education sector, but
met brick wall, could that be attributed
to politics?
Yes, I remember he was making some
moves, but because of politics his
senators blocked him. These are some of
the things. Politics has spoilt everything.
As a way of giving back to your
alma mater, is there any project you
have done for ABU as a form of
philanthropy?
We have made attempts to do so, not
only to my alma mater, but also to the
entire university community. When
I was MD, Federal Mortgage Bank, I
came up with a concept that would have
assisted the universities. I had series of
meetings with ASUU. The concept was
that the universities would be given land
to build hostels for students, houses for
lecturers. So the houses for the lecturers,
they wanted to bring it under the
mortgage system whereby they would
be paying from their monthly salary.
While if a student is paying 100,000 as
tuition on accommodation, the money
would be slashed to like 30,000. We got
approval for the concept at board level.
The pilot was supposed to kick off at the
University of Ibadan, Bayero University,
Kano, until I left. I don't know if they've
implemented it or not. It is important
that when you're doing a policy, you
don't do it for your alma mater alone.
They are after all, within the same system.
If you look at your alma mater alone
what would happen to other universities?
What is your life guiding principle?
My life guiding principle is whatever you
do in life; you must be able to add value.
“Y ou see those of us that
have been doing free,
functional qualitative and
sustainable education are the
ones that are destroying Nigeria
because beneficiaries of free
education have not been able to
give their children and grand
children the free education they
have acquired. This is what
pains me most.”
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 27
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Value addition not only to yourself, but
to the society at large.
What's your advice to the current
students of ABU?
They should study and work hard at
every point. Do a little research; they
are the ones that are coming fresh. They
should come with fresh ideas that move
this country forward.
In one word, describe ABU of your
time?
ABU of my time was an institution that
passes knowledge, discipline and above
all teaches you how to run your life.
Did you also enjoy free meals at ABU?
Of course yes. I remember we were given
quality foods, very good frozen chicken,
and the food we ate is so excellent and at
a very cheap price. I think the whole day;
we’d spend like 50 kobo. We had tickets
at every meal time. Our scholarship was
taking care of us. You'll even come back
with some balances after the scholarship.
But today, as parents, we are the ones
shouldering all the responsibilities.
Government really took care of us during
our time.
What would be your advice to those
who go on find it difficult to turn their
ambition into reality?
It is to continue to work hard. Strive and
work hard. You will succeed.
What are some of the values that you
have learnt as a child and you are
passing unto your own children?
My parents told me, that number one
you have to be truthful. You have to be
sincere. You have to appear upright. You
have to work hard. These are the values
I'm also passing on to my children.
What does integrity mean to you?
It means a lot. Integrity means a lot.
It would shape you, build you and
contribute to your future.
What are the books you're reading
presently?
One of the books I'm reading currently
is a marketing book. The other one is on
accounting book. I'm trying to see how
I can apply the knowledge I have to real
life business, because everything is about
marketing.
 TUS ETUR, SAM QUI SANTORATEM

28 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

TUS ETUR, SAM QUI SANTORATEM

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 29

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Justice
H
on. Justice Ibrahim Tanko
Muhammad, CFR, is a

Ibrahim Tanko
Nigerian jurist, Justice of the
Supreme Court of Nigeria
and the current Chief Justice of Nigeria.
He was born on the 31st December

Muhammad, CFR 1953. He hails from Doguwa, Giade

Local Government of Bauchi State.
He attended primary school at Giade

The Chief Justice of

Primary School from 1961 to 1968. He
proceeded to Government Secondary
School, Azare from the year 1969 to
1973.

Nigeria wholly made His Lordship then proceeded to

Abdullahi Bayero University College,
Kano for his IJMB from 1975 to 1976.

in ABU
After successful completion of his course,
His Lordship got admission to read
Law at the prestigious Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria from 1976 to 1980. He
attended Nigerian Law School from 1980
to 1981.
In furtherance of his educational
career, Justice Muhammad went back
to the prestigious ABU, Zaria for his
Master’s Degree in Law (LLM) on a part-
time basis, from 1982 to 1984. In order
to update himself in the field of Law, His
Lordship went back to ABU, Zaria in
1987 to 1998 and obtained his Doctorate
Degree (PhD) in Law, also on a part-time
basis.
Hon. Justice I. T. Muhammad, CFR
was appointed as Magistrate Grade II
from 1982 to 1984 with Bauchi State
Judiciary. He rose to Senior Magistrate
Grade II from 1984 to 1986. His
Lordship was appointed as the Provost,
College of Legal and Islamic Studies,
Bauchi from 1986 to 1989.
He was appointed Chief Magistrate/
Deputy Chief Registrar, High Court of
the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja from
1990 to 1991. From 1991 to 1993, he was
appointed as Khadi (Judge) of the Sharia
Court of Appeal, Bauchi State.
Justice Muhammad was elevated to
the position of Justice of the Court of
Appeal from 1993 to 2006. His Lordship
was appointed Justice of the Supreme
Court of Nigeria in the year 2006 and
was sworn in on the 8th of January 2007,
the appointment he holds till date before
being appointed as the Chief Justice
of Nigeria, by President Muhhammad
Buhari after the exit of the erstwhile
Chief Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu
Onnoghen.

30 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

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ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 31

 CATALOGUE OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NIGERIAN PRISONS SERVICE
Catalogue of Achievements of the
Nigerian Prisons
Service
under
CGP, Ja’afaru
Ahmed
The mandate of the Nigerian Prisons
Service includes:
• Keeping in safe custody those legally
interned by competent courts,
• Presenting awaiting trial persons in
court as and when due,
• Identifying causes of offenders’ anti-
social disposition and set in place
treatment regime their reformation
and rehabilitation,
• Run prison farms and industries for
the purpose of training the inmates
and thereby generate revenue for the
Federal government and
• Re-integrate ex-offenders back into
the society to live crime-free life.
The capacity to carry out this onerous
task has perennially been weakened
for plethora reasons. The Service
was inundated with old and weak
infrastructure, inadequate logistics,
poorly trained and motivated workforce,
32 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
prisoners overcrowding, inadequate
reformation and rehabilitation
programmes and a host of other daunting
challenges. These problems manifested in
frequent riots, jailbreaks and escapes.
When Ja’afaru Ahmed was appointed
the Controller General of Prisons on
the 17th of July, 2016 he left no one in
doubt of his resolve to change the face of
prison management in Nigeria. Within
this period, the following areas have
witnessed remarkable improvement.
Infrastructure
Most prisons, before 2016 were old,
dilapidated and unfit for human
habitation. However, within the period
under review, new and continuity
projects have been embarked upon with
a good number already completed and
put to use. Many cells have also been
renovated in different prisons across
the federation. In all 686 projects (new
constructions and renovations) have
been embarked upon and 462 completed.
Of significant mention is the 3000
capacity ultra-modern prison approved
for all the geopolitical zones, with that
of the North West in Kano at the verge
of completion and that of North Central
in Abuja has just commenced. A total of
32 satellite Prisons shot down by Boko
Haram Insurgency have been re-open.
The dearth of Prisoners’ store has
equally been addressed. Uniforms,
bed and beddings have been procured
and distributed to Prisoners across the
country in order to humanise custody of
inmates.
Logistics
To improve access to justice for pre-trial
detainees, a total of 382 operational
 CATALOGUE OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NIGERIAN PRISONS SERVICE

vehicles have been procured and

distributed between 2016 and 2018. With
this development, inmates are now taken
to court for hearing as and when due.

Staff Promotion
Staff Morale has been very high as a
result of different motivational packages.
Since the appointment of Ja’afaru Ahmed
as CGP over 15,000 Officers and Men
have been promoted, some of which were
stagnated for up to 15years.
Capacity Building
This administration has prioritised
training and re-training of officers
within and outside the country. Quite
significantly, this administration has
introduced new courses to cover different
prison schedules for the purpose of
specialty. These include, Drivers and
Orderlies Course, Welfare Officers
Course, Record Officers Course, Parade
Masters Course etc
Healthcare
One of the secrets of maintaining Peace
and Calm within and around the prisons
is to make basic health care accessible
to inmates, a policy the Ja’afaru led
administration places on the front
burner. The administration regularly
procures large cache of assorted drugs
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 33
and distributes to prison formations
across the country. Ambulances are
also bought to bring healthcare to the
doorstep of Nigerian Prisoners. This has
helped to mitigate health complication
usually arising from overcrowding prison
cells.
Reformation of Inmates
To actualize the earlier stated mandate

 CATALOGUE OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NIGERIAN PRISONS SERVICE
of reformation and rehabilitation, the NPS provides
opportunities for those that have no formal education to be
trained in sundry vocations and this has significantly increased
within the period under review. A total of 489 inmates acquired
the Trade Test Certificate in different trades between 2016
to date and the After Care Unit of the Prisons has within
the period received appreciable enhancement in start-up
tools to the inmates for proper reintegration and economic
Support to the Nigerian Prisons Service deradicalisation
programme
34 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
empowerment.
Formal educational programmes ranging from Adult
Education, WAEC/NECO, NCE to degree programmes in the
University now exist for those with potential for educational
pursuit. Between 2016 to date,
• 4,757 Enrolled for Adult Education programme and 1,162
graduated.
• 1,404 Wrote the SSCE and 634 passed with 5 credits
including Maths and English
• 193 sat for NECO and 54 passed with 5 credits including
Maths and English
• 15 sat for NABTEB and all passed.
• 267 acquired the First School Leaving Certificate.
• In 2017, 50 Inmates in Ogun State graduated from Yewa
College of Education with NCE while 60 Inmates also
matriculated for the same programme.
Under the current administration, more inmates have been
able to actualise their dream of having quality education
while in incarceration. The Service has sustained a fruitful
partnership with the National Open University of Nigeria
(NOUN) which now has about 465 students studying
different courses such as Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution;
Criminology & Security Studies; Political Science; Law etc.
• 23 Of the inmates are undergoing their Post Graduate
Programmes out of which;
• 6 are for Post Graduate Diploma,
• 16 for masters programme and
• 1 running his PhD programme.
Furthermore, a synergy with the Joint Admission and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) has earned the Service a fully
equipped JAMB examination centre at Borstal Training
Institute Kaduna. Adult Literacy classes, Senior and junior
WAEC and NECO, as well as NABTEB are part of the
educational packages for inmates with more centres being
established.
The unique approach to offenders’ rehabilitation caught
the attention of both regional and global communities hence,
the first time since the establishment of the Nigerian Prisons
Service in 1861, the Service won four International awards
within a year. They are:
1. Superior Achievement in Branding Reputation and
Engagement (SABRE) Award on Public Education – 10th
May, 2018 Gaborore, Boswana.
2. A Certificate of Excellence on Public Sector Government
(Prison Decongestion Tackling the Plight of Awaiting
Trial Persons) Awarded by Holmes Report – Gaborore,
Boswana. 10th May, 2018.
3. 2018 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) Confucius Prize for Literacy and
Skills Development – Paris, France. 7th September, 2018.
4. International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden
World Award (GWA) on Crisis Management for Media
 CATALOGUE OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NIGERIAN PRISONS SERVICE

They are: Kujama in Kaduna state for maize; Lakushi in Plateau

state for rice and Ozalla in Edo state for palm oil. This has
boosted farm operations a great deal.

Discipline
Discipline which should be the watchword for every officer was
at its lowest ebb, hence the directive to all Command Officers
to expedite action on all disciplinary cases. This directive is
further demonstrated in the strict disciplinary actions taken
against officers found guilty after due diligence. The move has
re-awakened the consciousness of all personnel to maintain the
highest level of discipline.
Campaign on Prison Decongestion and Plight of Awaiting
Trial Inmates – Barcelona, Spain. 19th October, 2018.
Security
This has improved significantly hence reduction in the
Agriculture
incidences of jail breaks, escapes and riots in the prison. Prisons
Prison Farms, some of which were moribund have witnessed
Information Management System (PRIMS) has been developed
great revival with the purchased and distribution of 25 New
to capture inmates’ biometrics. This PIMS will assist the Service
Tractors and their accompanying implements to selected farm
to Identify Inmates and for case management. This project has
centre for greater cultivation and yield. Building of new farm
taken off already in 80 Prisons location across the country.
structures for livestock production, piggery, and fishery has
resuscitated the farms and enhanced the training of inmates
Human Rights and specific attention for vulnerable groups
in plant and livestock production. In a bid to attain a level
The Service has witnessed massive re-orientation on respect for
of agricultural production where the prisons will be able to
prisoners’ rights through the development of training manuals.
generate substantial food supply required for inmates, the
Structurally, crèches and nursing mother cells have now been
service has carefully selected three farms to engage in farming
factored into the prison architecture to address vulnerable
activities on the basis of specialty and comparative advantage.
groups in prison.
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 35
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

Umaru
Musa
Yar'Adua,
GCFR:
An honest
and decent
President
from ABU

U
maru Musa Yar'Adua was born on 16 August 1951. from Barewa College. He attended Ahmadu Bello University in
He was the 13th president of the Federal Republic Zaria from 1972 to 1975, where he obtained a B.Sc. degree in
of Nigeria. He was governor of Katsina State in Education and Chemistry, and then returned in 1978 to pursue
northern Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 28 May an M.Sc. degree in Analytical Chemistry.
2007. He was declared the winner of the controversial Nigerian Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua married Turai Umaru Yar'Adua
presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in of Katsina in 1975; they had seven children (five daughters
on 29 May 2007. He was a member of the People's Democratic
Party (PDP). In 2009, Yar'Adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive
treatment for pericarditis. He returned to Nigeria on 24
February 2010, where he died on 5 May.

Family and Early Life

Yar'Adua was born into an aristocratic Fulani family in Katsina;
his father, a former Minister for Lagos during the First republic,
held the chieftaincy title of Matawalle (or custodian of the
royal treasury) of the Katsina Emirate, a title which Yar'Adua
inherited. He started his education at Rafukka Primary School
in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in
1962. He attended the Government College at Keffi from 1965
until 1969. In 1971 he received a Higher School Certificate
36 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
and two sons). Their daughter Zainab election, but lost to Saidu Barda, the international attention. Her sentence
is married to Kebbi State governor candidate of the National Republican was at first upheld by a court in the town
Usman Saidu Nasamu Dakingari. Their Convention and an ally of Babangida. In of Funtua, then overturned a year later
daughter Nafisat is married to Bauchi 1999, he ran for the same position and following an appeal.
State governor Isa Yuguda. Yar'Adua won. He was re-elected in 2003. He was According to a public hearing that was
was married to Hauwa Umar Radda as a the first governor to publicly declare his carried out shortly after his death in May
second wife from 1992 to 1997. They had assets. 2010, there has never been a Governor
two children. In the year of 2000, during Yar'Adua's like him in the history of Katsina State.
administration as governor, Katsina Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina
Professional Career became the fifth northern Nigerian state State has attributed the achievements
Yar'Adua's first employment was at Holy to adopt sharia, or Islamic law. In 2002 recorded in the state to the sagacity
Child College in Lagos (1975–76). He Amina Lawal, a woman from Katsina, of former governor and late President
later served as a lecturer at the College of was sentenced to death by stoning by a Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The late Yar’Adua
Arts, Science, and Technology in Zaria, sharia court in the town of Bakori for was governor for eight years in Katsina
Kaduna State, between 1976 and 1979. committing adultery; the story attracted State from 1999 to 2007.
In 1979, he began working as a lecturer
at College of Art Science, remaining in
this position until 1983, when he began
working in the corporate sector.
Yar'Adua worked at Sambo Farms Ltd
in Funtua, Katsina State, as its pioneer
General Manager between 1983 and
1989. He served as a Board Member of
Katsina State Farmers' Supply Company
between 1984 and 1985, Member of the
Governing Council of Katsina College of
Arts, Science and Technology Zaria and
Katsina Polytechnic between 1978 and
1983, Board Chairman of Katsina State
Investment and Property Development
Company (KIPDECO) between 1994 and
1996. He served as a director of many
companies, including Habib Nigeria
Bank Ltd, 1995–99; Lodigiani Nigeria
Ltd, 1987-99, Hamada Holdings, 1983–
99; and Madara Ltd, Vom, Jos, 1987–99.
He was Chairman of Nation House Press
Ltd, Kaduna, from 1995 to 1999.

Early political career

During the Second Republic (1979–83),
Yar'Adua was a member of the leftist
People's Redemption Party, while
his father was briefly the National
Vice chairman of the National Party
of Nigeria. During the Transition
Programme of President Ibrahim
Badamasi Babangida, Yar'Adua was
one of the foundation members of the
Peoples Front, a political association
under the leadership of his elder
brother, the late Major-General Shehu
Musa Yar'Adua. That association later
fused to form the Social Democratic
Party. Yar'Adua was a member of the
1988 Constituent Assembly. He was a
member of the party's National Caucus
and the SDP State Secretary in Katsina
and contested the 1991 Governorship
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 37
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

Emir Muhammad
Sanusi II, CON
Royalty nurtured
with intellectual
prowess
E
mir Muhammad Sanusi II former Governor of the Central Bank of Islamic Scholar. The global financial
was born 31 July 1961.He was Nigeria. intelligence magazine, The Banker,
crowned as Emir of Kano on Emir Muhammad Sanusi II is the published by the Financial Times,
8 June 2014 after the death of grandson of Muhammad Sanusi (The conferred on Sanusi two awards, the
his grand uncle, Emir Ado Bayero (who 11th Fulani Emir of Kano). He was global award for Central Bank Governor
died on 6 June 2014). Emir Muhammad a career banker and ranking Fulani of the Year, as well as Central Bank
Sanusi II was a successful banker and a nobleman, and also serves as a respected Governor of the Year for Africa.

38 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
The TIME magazine also listed Emir
Muhammad Sanusi II in its TIMES 100
list of Most Influential People of 2011. In
2013, Sanusi was also awarded a Special
GIFA award at the third Global Islamic
Finance Awards held in Dubai, for his
advocacy role in promoting Islamic
banking and finance in Nigeria during
his stint as Governor of the Central Bank
of Nigeria.

Educational Background
1. Emir Muhammad Sanusi II had his
Primary Education at the St. Anne’s
Catholic Primary School, Kakuri,
Kaduna between the years 1967-
1972, where he obtained his First
School Leaving Certificate.
2. Lamido Sanusi had his Secondary
Education at King’s College, Lagos,
where he graduated in 1977.
3. He got admission into Ahmadu
Bello University (ABU) Zaria, where
he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in
Economics in 1981.
4. He furthered his studies and
obtained a master's degree in
Economics at Ahmadu Bello
University in 1983, and became an
instructor there from 1983 until
1985. Control. that such recklessness on the part
5. Emir Muhammad Sanusi II also 4. Later he was appointed Group of bank executives will no longer be
studied in the International Managing Director (CEO) in tolerated." 16 senior bank officials faced
University of Africa, Khartoum, January 2009. Almost at the charges that included fraud, lending
Sudan, where he obtained a degree same period, Sanusi was also the to fake companies, giving loans to
in Islamic Law. Chairman, Kakawa Discount House, companies they had a personal interest
6. Sanusi was posted to Gongola State where he sat on the Board of FBN in and conspiring with stockbrokers to
(now Adamawa and Taraba States) Bank (UK) Limited. boost share prices.
where he did his National Youth 5. Emir Muhammad Sanusi II was The Banker recognized him as the
Service Corpse (NYSC) mandatory the first person from the northern Central Bank Governor of the Year
service. Nigeria to be appointed CEO in the 2010 citing his radical anti-corruption
history of First Bank in Nigeria. campaign aimed at saving 24 banks
Illustrious Career 6. On June 1, 2009, Emir Muhammad on the brink of collapse and pressing
1. In 1985 Emir Muhammad Sanusi II Sanusi II was nominated as for the managers involved in the most
got employed by the Icon Limited Governor of the Central Bank of blatant cases of corruption to be charged
(Merchant Bankers), a subsidiary Nigeria and his appointment was and, in the case of two senior bankers,
of Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank of confirmed by the Nigerian Senate imprisoned.
New York United States, and Baring on June 3, 2009 at the height of the Sanusi has spoken at many
Brothers of London. global financial crisis. distinguished events, including Warwick
2. He later joined the United Bank In August 2009, the Sanusi led Economic Summit in February 2012
for Africa in 1997, working at the the Central Bank "rescue" Afribank, where he spoke about banking reforms
bank’s Credit and Risk Management Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank, in Nigeria and their impact on the
Division; he rose to the position of a Oceanic Bank and Finbank by bailing economy.
General Manager. them out with 400 billion naira of Emir Muhammad Sanusi II was
3. In September 2005, he became one public money, and dismissed their Chief recently appointed as a Non-Executive
of the Board members of First Bank Executives. Director by the South African based
of Nigeria as an Executive Director Emir Muhammad Sanusi said: "We telecommunications giant, the MTN
in charge of Risk and Management had to move in to send a strong signal group.

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 39

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Hajia Aisha Mohammadu Buhari
A First lady like no other
H
ajia Aisha Mohammandu
Buhari (Nee Halilu) was
born on 17 February
1971, she is the First Lady
of Nigeria and wife of the current
President Muhammadu Buhari, who
assumed office on 29 May 2015. She is
a cosmetologist, beauty therapist and
author.
40 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
Early life and family
Aisha was born on 17, February 1971 in
Adamawa State, Northeastern Nigeria.
Her grandfather Alhaji Muhammadu
Ribadu was Nigeria's first minister of
defence. Her father was a civil engineer,
and her mother is a descendant of
the Ankali family, renowned farmers.
Aisha Buhari went to Primary and
Secondary School in Adamawa State.
On 2 December 1989, she married
Muhammadu Buhari, who had five
children from a previous marriage to
Safinatu Yusuf. Aisha and Muhammadu
Buhari have five children together and
one grandchild.

Education
Dr. Aisha Buhari holds a bachelor of
arts degree in public administration
from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU),
and a master's degree in international
affairs and strategic studies from the
Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. She
obtained a Diploma in beauty therapy
from the Carlton Institute of Beauty
Therapy, Windsor, United Kingdom.
She holds a post-graduate diploma in
cosmetology and beauty from Academy
Esthetique Beauty Institute of France.
She is a member of the United Kingdom
Vocational Training and Charitable Trust
and the International Health and Beauty
Council.
Business career
For years, Mrs. Buhari has run a
successful business as the founder/
managing director of Hanzy Spa and
principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute, a
beauty salon in Kaduna and Abuja. She
is a resource person to the National
Board for Technical Education (NBTE)
on beauty therapy and cosmetology
and has participated in the curriculum
development of small medium
enterprises for NBTE. Aisha closed her
beauty salon following the emergence of
her husband as President of Nigeria.
She published a book titled Essentials
of Beauty Therapy: A Complete Guide
for Beauty Specialists, which has been
recommended as a text for the NBTE
curriculum.
Political career and advocacy
In July 2014, she advised Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan to resign from office as
president of Nigeria, following a suicide
bombing and an alleged assassination
attempt on her husband. She is a
women's right activist and child right
Advocate, and she has criticized child
marriage and homosexuality.
Aisha Buhari is a vocal advocate of
women's rights and children rights,
and this was a focal point during her
campaign for her husband's elections
in 2015 and 2019. She has, on several
occasions, emphasized the need for
young girls to get primary and secondary
school education before getting married,
saying that she believes no girl should
get married before the age of 17.
In May 2015, on the sidelines of the
Global Women Conference held in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, she stressed the
need for Nigerian laws that will protect
the women from forced early marriages,
sex trafficking and other issues Nigerian
girls and women contend with. She
raised concerns on child sexual abuse in
Nigeria, sex trafficking and the need for
legislation against early marriage.
On 12 June 2015, Aisha Buhari met
with some mothers of the abducted
Chibok Girls on 14 April 2016, and
donated proceeds from her book to
parents of the Chibok girls, the Buni
Yadi Boys murdered in 2014, and
children suffering from malnutrition.
In October 2016, Aisha Buhari said
that she would not back her husband in
the next election unless he got a grip on
his government. He responded that she
belonged in his kitchen, saying "I don't
know which party my wife belongs to,
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 41
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
but she belongs to my kitchen and my
living room and the other room."
Future Assured
Future Assured is an initiative founded
by Aisha Buhari to continue her
advocacy work for the health and
well-being of women and children
through community mobilization and
health promotion. She was prompted
by the need to improve the current
poor health outcomes of women,
children and other vulnerable groups
of the Nigerian population, and she
affirmed her commitment to this work
at a stakeholders meeting held at the
presidential villa and a public launch of
Future Assured programs at the sidelines
of the United Nations General Assembly
held in New York on 29 September 2015.
She is currently working with the
Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria
which is as a result of the Boko Haram
insurgency that has plagued the country
since 2009. She set up a committee
to deal with the distribution of relief
materials after a visit to an IDP camp in
Borno Northeast Nigeria. On Tuesday,
June 11, 2019, Aisha Buhari empowered
2000 women in Yola, Adamawa
State at the event organized by Aisha
Buhari Foundation with the National
Directorate of Employment (NDE). She
launched a Green School Agricultural
Initiative at Aliyu Mustafa College, Yola,
on June 11, 2019. She also encouraged
young people to embrace Agriculture.
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
For the benefit of our readers, can we have insight into your
growing up and education history?
Thank you very much. I’m an Ijesha man but I wasn’t born in
Ilesa, I was born in Ogbomoso. I was born in a village called
Ikoyi around Ogbomoso. My parents were osomalos (itinerant
traders) in Ikoyi village some 70 years back. I grew up in Ilesa
because by the time I grew up to about age 3, 4 or so, my father
had to leave Ikoyi. My grandfather who was then holding the
position I hold now, as the Oba of Odo-Iju died. My father had
moved to go and contest the position of Oba Odo-Iju. But, by
the time he got back to Ilesa, one of his brothers had already
occupied the throne, so he couldn’t meet up. But as God
would have it, I eventually got to the throne and today, I am
the Oba of the town. That was what forced my father to leave
Ogbomoso. So, when we then got to Ilesa, I started my primary
school education.
My father had ten wives, so he used to take his children to
school in batches. For examples, he would take children from
each wife at a time. Though I was the youngest out of the four
of my set but I was able to scale through the primary education
without any hindrance. From Ilesa, I followed my brother back
to Ibadan and from Ibadan, I went back to Ede. I found my
way back to Ilesa Grammar School for my O’ Level and later to
Government College, Ibadan for my Higher Level Certificate.
After GCI, I offered four papers at Advanced Level and I passed
all and that enabled me to go and study engineering at the
42 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
ABU had
best Civil
Engineering
department in
our time
- Oba Adedoyin
Adelekun, FNSE
O
ba Adedoyin Oluwaseun Adelekun is a Fellow of
the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) and a
household name in the engineering profession in
Nigeria. He had an illustrious engineering career
spanning four decades, both in private practice and civil service.
The monarch, an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU),
Zaria, started his engineering career in Kano with Messrs
Ove Arup and Partners, a British owned civil engineering
consulting firm. He had a brief stint in the civil service as an
Executive Engineer with the Lagos State Ministry of Works
and Planning. He was later seconded to the Federal School
of Survey, Oyo for a Pre-Diploma course in Land Surveying.
He left the Civil Service from Oyo to join Messrs Etteh Aro
and Partners, a foremost civil engineering consulting firm in
Nigeria.
Oba Adedoyin was sponsored for postgraduate studies by
Messrs Etteh Aro and Partners. After a successful practice with
the engineering firm, he teamed up with his friends to establish
Integrated Builders Limited, a firm of engineers, specializing
in providing building and civil engineering services.
A member of several engineering professional bodies both
in Nigeria and abroad, the traditional ruler was the Secretary
of the International Association for Bridge and Structural
Engineers with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland for several
years. He is a Chartered Engineer and a corporate member of
the Institute of Civil Engineers of Great Britain and Ireland.
He is also, a member of the Institution of Highway Engineers
of Great Britain and Ireland. He belongs to the Council for the
Regulation of Engineering Practice in Nigeria.
He also served as the Director of the Nigerian Sugar Company
Ltd. Bacita, Kwara State as well as that of the defunct Afribank
Nigeria PLC.
In this no-holds-barred interview with the Black Heritage
Int’l Magazine, the astute engineer, who equally served as
member of the Governing-Council of the Osun State College
of Technology, Esa Oke, spoke about his life's trajectory, his
undergraduate years at ABU, Zaria and other sundry issues.
Excerpts:

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
At ABU, I studied Civil Engineering
and I passed out with good grade. After
graduation at ABU, I got job in a private
company. Thereafter, I went for my
Master Degree in the United Kingdom.
I came back and settled down with
a private company called Integrated
Builders for a few years before setting up
my own company. By the grace of God
today, here I am.
Why did you choose ABU, Zaria when
there was a Premier University of
Ibadan closer to you?
When you are talking about university,
by the time we were going to the
university, of course, there was the
premier university, but at that time, to be
an engineer, the only university people
looked for in the whole of West Africa
was the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
To be candid, I started my own university
education at UI. I was admitted to study
Physics but after about two weeks, a
friend of mine who finished together
with me in secondary school did
preliminary studies into ABU. He was the
one that told me that "Doyin, what are
you doing in Ibadan? You are staying in
Ibadan reading Physics, what will be your
profession? If you can come to Zaria,
there are scholarships flying around for
brilliant students like you". I packed my
load overnight to Zaria while I was yet
to complete my registration at UI. The
entire amount on me then was just 2
Pounds 10 pence and the transport from
Ibadan by rail to Zaria was 2 Pounds
1pence. I joined the train to Zaria and
enrolled for the engineering course in
ABU in 1967. The number one port of
call for engineering course was ABU,
Zaria in the whole of Africa because we
had people from different countries in
our faculty then.
What motivated you to study
engineering?
Let me tell you one thing, in our days
we did not have what you call career
counselor like you have now. In those
days, there were three popular courses -
Engineering, Medicine and Law. When
we were in grammar school, a lot of us
were thinking about Law because of the
likes of Kayode Eso, Ayoola and all the
people that went to Ilesha Grammar
School that were into Law and when
you see the roll of honour, everybody
LLB; that made all of us think about
Law. But somewhere along the line, I just
got interested in Mathematics. Initially,
I was not good in the subject that was
why I was looking at Law like everyone
else. But when I got to Form Three, we
had a teacher who made Mathematics
compulsory. He would give us test on
Friday and if you failed, he would put
you on detention at his farm.
Then we realized that there was a
problem, we had to pass Algebra and
the likes so as not to go to farm on
Fridays. The man then told us that
Mathematics is very interesting, just be
cool and the whole thing will be easy.
Somewhere along the line, it was as if
magic happened, I that used to get 2%,
I got 50. Gradually, we got engrossed
in Mathematics and became inclined.
The notion then was that when you are
good in Mathematics, the next thing was
engineering. Even at that time, we didn’t
know that there were different types of
engineering. The only thing on our head
was mechanical, until we got to ABU. My
friend told me civil engineering is the
“T
hough I was the youngest
out of the four of my set
but I was able to scale through
the primary education without
any hindrance.”
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 43
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
father of all engineering that was how
I found myself in that class. My friends
and peer groups helped me find my
way into civil engineering after which I
specialized in bridges.
Bridge engineering in a Nigerian
university?
No, after my programme at ABU, I went
to Britain for my post graduate and at
that time, the bridge engineering course
was just starting. When we finished at
ABU, some of us had been earmarked
for structural engineering based on
our performance. We were the first
generation of the bridge engineering
course in England.
Let us delve into your social activities
while in Zaria, what clubs and
associations did you engage in?
Let me tell you, I thank God because
I am one of those that passed through
university and the university passed
through them. I was involved in
everything they were doing in
the university; from unionism to
confraternity. I was about contesting
for the position of Students Union
president when my friends advised me
that such was meant for students in the
social sciences. That made me drop the
ambition despite my campaign, but I
became the Hall Chair of the biggest
hall in ABU. I was also part of the Pirate
Confraternity at the same time.
How did you strike the balance
between unionism and confraternity?
That is the question they were asking.
Most of us in Pirates were not allowed
to follow women. When you were seen
following women, they would blacklist
you but a lot of these women were in the
Students Union, how could you then do
without them? The girls preferred those
of us in Pirates to others. When we were
on holiday in Ibadan or off campus, the
girls would be running after us. In trying
to make friends with you, they invited
you for free food.
Did you meet your wife at the
university?
No, my wife didn't go to ABU. My
wife went to the Great Ife! She studied
Pharmacy.

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
What is your take on the education
situation in the country?
In Nigeria, it appears as if the
government was not prepared for the
upsurge in everything. At the time we
were in school, I don’t know of this
generation, there was a regulation of
the maximum number of students in a
class which was 30. That also used to be
the system in Britain even up till now;
they still operate that in America and
Canada. The reason for this is to ensure
closeness among students and lecturers.
Even at Ilesha Grammar School then,
the total number of students was not
more than 300. And when I came to
Federal Government College, the whole
of the population wasn't up to 400.
The principal knew you, he knew your
parents. The infrastructure then was well
prepared for the number of students in
the class. Tables, chairs were available
and practicals were well coordinated.
But at present, how many people do
we have in a class? When my daughter
was a student at Command Secondary
school, the one at the cantonment, she
was in SS2 when a classmate of hers came
to my place with her father. I asked if she
knew my daughter since they were from
the same school; they did not know each
other in the same SS2. Their set only had
six classes with sixty students each; that
number is more than what we had in a
whole school during my days. How do
you now expect a teacher to interface
well with them? We did test every Friday
in all subjects and by Monday the result
would be out. If you are not doing well,
the principal will single you out to know
how to handle you. How will a teacher
now conduct test from 400 students on
Friday and mark before Monday? This
situation has also transferred to the
university. When we were in ABU, in
civil engineering class, we started with 27
and about 24 of us graduated.
The white people who were our
lecturers knew all of us by name;
they knew your activities, they knew
everything. Even some of my professors
used to follow me when I was going to do
campaign. Some of them would follow
me to the track field for athletic activities.
Everyone knew everyone because we
were not many. We never expected that
we would be where we are now. When
the money was there, they never expected
44 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
“I
nitially, I was not good
in the subject that was
why I was looking at Law
like everyone else. But when I
got to Form Three, we had a
teacher who made Mathematics
compulsory.”
the upsurge; they never planned for the
education sector and everything. For us
to go back to how it was will be hard. You
hear them say 20% of the budget should
go to education, have they been doing
that? Look at the number of private
schools we have in Nigeria compared to
public schools. Some students nowadays
go to the extent of doing things that
are unethical. Schools are supposed to
be close to homes, but they travel far
distance to pick students with buses.
Back then, I would angrily leave school to
my house whenever the teacher annoyed
me, because my house was not far.
We grew up in the same environment;
went to the same school, so we were
familiar with one another. But our
government was not prepared for this
surge and there was no proper planning.
The problem we are experiencing is not
peculiar to us, but in other climes such as
Britain and America, they plan properly
for the future. If you ask a Permanent
Secretary or a Director of Education in
what is the plan for education projection,
they don't know. That is our problem.
No proper planning, no projection. It
is only God that can help us out. I pity
my children because of how much they
spend on education; some of them spend
millions in sending their children to
kindergarten.
Can you tell us the meaning of the
Arabic inscription on the logo of your
alma mater?
We could not decipher the meaning, we
were not able to get out the meaning.
Was there a nasty experience or unique
experience you had in school that you
can never forget?
We went to ABU, Zaria at the beginning
of the Civil War in 1969. They used to
feed us so much in Zaria, but along the
line, some people started saying the food
was not good. They protested and we
went on strike. I was trying to escape a
protest one day, I jumped the fence of
the school to my hostel but unknowingly,
I jumped into the hands of police.
They beat me and because I did not
understand Hausa language I kept saying
"nagode" instead of "du'Alah". It was as if
I was telling them that I was enjoying the
beating. That was the nastiest experience
I had. There was this boy, a friend of
mine, Dauda Salimonu but he is dead
now. He was trying to escape one day and
got bitten by scorpion on his penis.
He recovered though; that can also
be referred as another nasty experience.
We enjoyed ourselves so much in Zaria.
People like me passed through university
and the university passed through me. I
was involved in anything that could be
involved in. Our cultism in those days
was not to kill ourselves. Those of us
in Pirate Confraternity, before we were
accepted, we were certified to be sound
academically. If you did not have As, they
would not accept you. If you did not have
A or B grade in your O'Level, they would
not allow you. So academically, you must
be sound, socially you must be involved.
There we made friends and we met
once a month. And that once a month
was to unwind; you would just go and
drink and make noise and at the end
of the day you go back to your book.
Unlike nowadays, the classrooms are
overcrowded because of the population.

All of us then knew one another from the
Southwest and Kwara State. I remember
a few of my friends here in Ibadan that
went to ABU.
There was Niyi Adelakun; he
was Commissioner for Education
sometimes during late Lam Adesina's
administration. Niyi and I were together
in ABU, I was the only one in his class
then. His name is Adeniyi Adelakun,
I am Adedoyin Adelekun. We used to
crack a joke that whenever there any
trouble and 'Adelakun' was mentioned,
we would both bolt away. And if he
met me and asked whether I heard my
name being mentioned, I would say no.
But if there was a notice that there was
a bursary awards for student from the
Western Region, we would both be quick
to join the queue. People really liked us
and we were all together in those days.
You enjoyed scholarship during your
days, both in Nigeria and abroad.
What are you doing personally, to
make sure present generation benefit
from your wealth of experience as well
as material wealth?
Like I said earlier, we had several
opportunities during our time because
we were not many. How many of us were
in the university? In the whole of ABU
we were not up to a thousand. That is
why I said it was only Niyi who read
Mathematics. For those of us that did
engineering who came from this region,
Kwara indigenes were many among us.
We that were from this region were not
up to ten. Around that time, there was
no oil, we had cocoa, and we had coffee.
That’s what they used in funding our
education and they did their planning
very well. Some of us had more than
one scholarship. I have never worked for
government.
I have never been a civil servant and
I will never be one. Right from the very
day of my going to school I made up
my mind that I would work for myself.
What we are saying is that those in
government; the policy makers should
be up and doing. And those of us in the
private sector, we may contribute our
own in the way we should contribute..
We felt sad that things were not going
the way it was in our days. In our days,
they washed our bed sheets for us in the
university, they cleaned the rooms. My
bedroom was big; it was just three of us
at a corner. I was together with Patrick
Adaba who became the deputy governor
of Kogi State years back. We were
roommates. They cleaned our rooms
before we came from lecture rooms.
You got to the dining table; the food was
already waiting for you. There was no
problem. Sometimes you would eat and
you wouldn't even finish the food. The
food was available and it was three square
meals.
If you did not take snack in the
afternoon, you could go and take coffee.
How much were they selling beer then?
What we are saying is that we are not the
policy makers. In engineering, we were
about twenty four in our class. Those
days, the lecturer would sit on a chair and
we would sit round him listening to him.
We had test every Friday; if exams were
approaching like a week to the exams,
some of us would go to tutorial. They
would give us core areas to concentrate
on.
They will tell you that the University
is training you for the labour market,
“I
was trying to escape a
protest one day, I jumped the
fence of the school to my hostel
but unknowingly, I jumped
into the hands of police. They
beat me and because I did not
understand Hausa language I
kept saying "nagode" instead of
"du'Alah".”
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 45
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
which was not entirely true. It is your
personality. You can make First Class.
But if you don’t have the personality to
discipline yourself you cannot make
anything. In those days we used to have
Mellambi Hall, I don’t know whether it is
still there now. They used to have some
art works on their wall. Eight percent of
the lecturers were white, they will tell
you, "you disappoint yourself when you
don’t pass my exams". Because they will
be teaching how it ought to be. They will
be addressing you one-on-one. If you
don’t understand you will ask questions.
Now tell me how will a lecturer be
taking three hundred students and
students will be sitting by the window?
Apart from Professor Tomori, do you
still recall some of your class mates?
Tomori was not my class mate; we were
university mates. Like I said he was
in Veterinary Medicine while I was in
Engineering. When we had a reunion
class two weeks ago, ABU Class of 1967,
some people came from Markurdi. We
met here. Ayo Alade he was a former
lecturer at UI, Bola Ofinsowo, we were
both in the engineering class then.
Where was your hall of residence?
I was in Dan Fodio Hall. And just to let
you know I took part in everything, I was
a sport man too. ABU was rated one of
the foremost of university in Africa.
Like I said, by the time we were
going into the university they looked at
merit. They admitted on merit. Don’t
forget there was no JAMB. It is your
A’ Level; once you were able to pass
your A' Level, you would just go to any
university of your choice. I had my A'
level subjects - Mathematics, Physics and
Chemistry. I got admission to UI to read
Physics. I got admission to University
of Ife then, to read Chemistry. I also got
admitted to UNILAG to read Electrical
Sciences. I got admitted to ABU to read
Civil Engineering. Lecturers then were
dedicated and committed to their jobs.
They were paying them on time, and then
they had lots of money to carry out their
researches. In those days, academics bury
themselves in their book. You see some
of them in the laboratory, in the middle
of the night. Some of them will not use
their hand to rub the board, such was the
dedication.
 PROFILE OF PROFESSOR VINCENT ADO TENEBE

Professor Vincent Ado Tenebe

FCM, FNISEB, FASSONT,
FCIHCDN, FNIER, FBSN, JP Taraba State University
P.M.B 1167, Jalingo,
Taraba State.

A Gifted Teacher and Talented info@tsuniversty.edu.ng

www.tsuniversity.edu.ng

Researcher

B
orn on 17th of August, 1958 in
Kaduna, Nigeria. Prof. Vincent
Ado Tenebe attended Primary
and Secondary Schools (St.
Patrick’s Primary School, 1971 and Yerwa
Government Secondary School, 1976) in
Maiduguri, Borno State of Nigeria. He to over 20 professional associations and a
obtained his B.Sc Agriculture, 1982 and Fellow of over 10 Learned Societies (FCM,
M.Sc Agronomy, 1988 from the prestigious FASSON, FNISEB, FNIER, FCIHCDN,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, FBSN, etc). Similarly, the Professor
Nigeria. After a one year Pre-Doctoral belongs to many social and community
Research works at Horticulture Research association where he held and still holds
International (HRI) Wellesbourne, leadership responsibilities such as Patron,
Warick, England. He obtained his PhD Agriculture Students Association, ATBU
from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Development Magazine, Nairobi Kenya, Bauchi, 1987-1990, Patron JACEES Clubs,
Bauchi, Nigeria in 1995. 2015) Papal Medalist-Bene Merenti (2017) ATBU Bauchi 1998-2006, Secretary Bauchi
A public servant with 34 years post- among the others. Golf Club, Bauchi 1999-2006, President
graduation working experience in A gifted teacher and a talented YMCA, Bauchi 2006-2008, Patron Catholic
academics and management of higher Researcher, Prof. Tenebe has supervised Men Organization (CMO) St. Joseph
education. Professor Tenebe rose from the and graduated over 15 PhDs, 45 M.Scs Catholic Cathedral, Kaduna Arch Dioceses,
rank of Graduate Assistant to Professor and over 150 B.Scs in various aspects of Kaduna 2014 to date, Chairman BOT,
(1984 to 2003). While holding various Agriculture Education and Management Biotechnology Society of Nigeria, among
administrative and management positions Sciences. Similarly he has to his credit many others.
in tertiary institutions across Nigeria such over 180 articles published in referred Prof. Vincent A. Tenebe whose hobbies
as the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, national and international journals. He include farming, sports, photography,
the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, has attended and presented papers at over music and travelling is happily married
Bauchi, the National Open University of 200 national and international conferences to one lovely wife, Mrs. Rabi Ado Tenebe
Nigeria, and the Taraba State University, and workshops in over 40 countries in all and they are blessed with children and
Jalingo, Taraba State. the continents of the world. He belongs grandchildren.
He held the prestigious position of
Vice-Chancellor of the National Open
University of Nigeria, the most populated
and most wide spread University in Nigeria
and West Africa from 2010 to 2016, and
presently the Vice-Chancellor of the
Taraba State University, Jalingo, Nigeria
(February 2017) to date; and currently the
UNESCO/COL Professional Chair in Open
and Distance Learning in West Africa. A
recipient of many outstanding awards such
as the Most Valuable Vice-Chancellor in
Nigeria (2011), News Watch CEO of the
year (Public Service) (2014), Socrates’
Medal, Oxford, UK (2015), Africa’s Best
Performing Vice-Chancellor, (Africa

46 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7


Certainly no other institution
could have done what ABU
did for me
- Professor Oyewale Tomori,
NNOM, NAM
Let us start by asking you to tell us
about yourself and growing up?
Oyewale Tomori is my name. I have
been around so long, that I am now
referred to as former-this, former-that
and I have become a serial-retiree. But
before I retired, I was first born in 1946,
had my primary education in my town,
Ilesha, before proceeding to Ughelli
Government College, (in former Western
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 47
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
P
rofessor Oyewale
Tomori, Nigeria’s
world renowned
Lassa fever and
other viral hemorrhagic fever
left ABU as the best graduating
student of the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine in 1971.
He was the former Vice-
Chancellor of the Redeemer’s
University, Ede in Osun
State and the immediate past
President of the Nigerian
Academy of Science amongst
other eminent positions of
authorities he has occupied in
the past. He speaks with the
magazine on his sojourn at
the prestigious Ahmadu Bello
University which gave him head
start in life.
Region, former Mid-West State, former
Bendel State and now in Delta State).
Those were great secondary schooling
years, (the 1950s to the early 80s) before
education began the downward slide into
the current decadence. I then moved to
the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to
read Veterinary Medicine from 1966-
1971
As a successful technocrat and
administrator, what would be your
advice to people who find it difficult
to follow their passion and turn it into
opportunities?
Debatable-I mean the technocrat
administrator bit, anyhow my advice
is focus on your passion, refuse to be
distracted by frivolities- and there will be
many. Know where you are going and 
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 follow the right direction. Be resilient
as you enjoy what you are doing. With
these attitudes, work becomes pleasure
and not a routine grind.
Why did you opt to study at ABU
Zaria?
In 1966, only ABU and the University
of Ibadan offered the Veterinary
programme and only ABU offered the
full pre-clinical and clinical programmes
in Veterinary Medicine. Veterinary
students from Ibadan came to complete
the course in ABU that is until 1970,
when Ibadan sent her last set of students
to complete the clinical course.
What motivated you to choose your
course of study?
Circumstances beyond my control. I am
very glad that the circumstances were
not in my control, certain I would have
made the “wrong” choice of both the
university and the course of study. I am
sure there was divine intervention not
only in reading veterinary medicine, but
in moving on to read virology and in a
human medical school. I spent 10 years
of my career working for the WHO as the
African Regional Virologist
Would you say the training you got
at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
contributed to your success in life,
please give us a run down?
Certainly, no other institution could
have done what my teachers (lecturers,
technicians and administrative staff)
did. They allowed me to be myself while
providing guidance and advice. We were
taught to speak up and challenge what we
did not agree with. WE were taught to be
confident without being arrogant.
WHO etc.
Ahmadu Bello University is noted for
producing highly rated individuals
in Africa and around the world, what
were the factors responsible for this?
The University was committed to a high
standard of academic excellence, respect
for honour and dignity of labour.
Did you participate in any religious or
social activities while on campus; if yes
tell us your experience?
There was freedom of worship and
association. I remember meeting every
evening for prayers under the umbrella
of the Fellowship of Christian Students
(FCS). There was also the Muslim
Students Society (MSS). Unlike currently,
there was absolute freedom of worship
and association. There was a lively
Student Union, with a vibrant political
interplay. I enjoyed being a political
“king maker” very much, since the
intensive veterinary course (of weekly
examinations) gave one no time for full
time students politicking. Social Clubs
existed to which students were free to
join. Funny, I have forgotten the names
of the clubs, but one held a big event
annually, at which popular musicians
were in attendance. If my memory serves
me well, I think one was the Vandellas
Club, and of course like every university,
there was also the Pyrates Club. I never
joined any social club. I probably had
enough fun socialising with friends and
colleagues that I did not need to join any
club. Oh yes, we had a Students’ monthly
journal called the HUD. It was fun filled
journal containing articles about the
foibles and mischiefs of students. It was
certainly not too popular with those
featured in the journal, although it was
most well received by those who escaped
the “eyes” of the HUD.
Did you meet your spouse in ABU
and where is your hall of residence?
I almost did. The lady I wanted to
“spouse” came to ABU already “spoused”
to someone else. I made attempts to
“despouse” her from the lucky man but
failed. However, I met my own spouse
who made me a happy man, later after
graduation
How much of impact did she have on
your life?
She tried o. She really tried. She gave up
her career to allow me to become what
I wanted to be and what I achieved. She

Can you still recollect some of your

school mates who are still today doing
well in their various professional
careers?
Most of us are retired now, but we all did
well
In our individual endeavours, serving
meritoriously and with the high level of
commitment and discipline, attributes
that are second nature to every veterinary
graduate. My colleagues served in the
federal and state civil service, research
institutes and in private practice. My
classmates included people who ended
up as professors, directors and chief
executives. A few ended up working
with international agencies like the FAO,
48 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

also tried to “mellow” me down, but I
am not sure she succeeded. I maintained,
for a long time, the streak of “student
unionism”. But now, what she failed to
achieve, age has helped her
Can you recollect an experience that
remains indelible in your mind while
at ABU?
Haba! There are many now but let me
relate three of them. I arrived at ABU
September 19, 1966. We started with a
2-week orientation programme before
school resumption in October. Exactly
10 days later, on 29th September, the
campus was invaded by people with
cutlasses, machetes and other dangerous
weapons. They attacked workers at
the building site of the Faculty of
Engineering. At the end of the day, many
of the students decided to return to their
states of origin. A few stayed on, despite
the mayhem, and I was one of them. The
second occasion was in January 1971,
when Kunle Adepeju a student of the
Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Ibadan was shot DEAD by the police.
Solidarity and sympathy protests were
held in all universities.
However, there was a lack of
enthusiasm by ABU students and
many of us considered it proper for the
university authorities to at least address
the students.
When they failed to do so, a few of
us marched to the residence of both
the Registrar and the Vice Chancellor
“demanding” they come to address the
students. I think the Vice Chancellor
came and addressed the students.
Thereafter we proceeded on a “peaceful”
demonstration from Samaru to the
Army Barracks in Zaria town. Sensing
that our “peaceful” demonstration may
be highjacked by the people in town,
the police and the army met us halfway
and requested that we should send
a delegation of 4 or 5 to present our
grievance.
They provided a vehicle, while the
rest of the students waited on the road
between Samaru and Zaria, around the
old horse racing field. Within an hour
the delegates came back, and we walked
back “peacefully” to the Samaru campus.
Looking back now, it was perhaps a
foolish thing to do. The purpose of the
protest could have been misunderstood
and highjacked, or if it was the army of
Nigeria we know, the delegation may
never have returned. I thank God that all
went well, otherwise, I may not be alive
to write this story. The third one was a
sweet and memorable one. We held the
first Veterinary Open Day, to showcase
our profession.
In addition to the Vice Chancellor,
Professor Ishaya Audu, and the Dean of
the veterinary faculty Dean Railsback,
other highly placed individuals outside
the University- Director of the Veterinary
Research Institute, Vom and the
Trypanosomiasis Research Institute,
Kaduna, were at the opening ceremony.
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 49
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
The New Nigerian covered the ceremony
and splashed our pictures in the report
and wrote an editorial on the theme
of the Open Day, which was Safe meat
Inspection in Nigeria. There was so
much excitement in the Faculty and
the University that veterinary students
started walking with a swagger and a gait
of a horse with injured hoof. I framed the
New Nigerian pictures of the occasion
until the pictures became brittle!
What are some of the values that you
have learnt as a child which you are
passing unto your children?
Integrity, honesty, hard work,
contentment, self- confidence respect for
elders, humility and love of the country
What does integrity mean to you?
It is the quality of being honest and
having strong moral principles. Integrity
is now rare in our country.
As a way of given back to your
alma mater, is there any project you
have done for ABU as a form of
philanthropy?
None I think my alma mater only
recognizes those who are either “rich”
or politically well placed. ABU does not
seem to appreciate many of her alumni
who have gone on to excel in other
spheres of life, especially academically.
These alumni uplift the name of the
University an academic institution. I
recall a Nigerian professor a graduate
and alumni of ABU who works in an
American university. The ABU alumnus
was nominated for and won the award
of the Nigerian National Order of Merit
(NNOM). The university where he works
in the US set aside a whole week of
celebration in his honour. I doubt if the
ABU authorities are even aware that their
alumni won such a national award. The
alumnus in question is more likely to do
something for the US University than for
ABU.
Finally, your advice to the younger
generations who looks up to you as
role model and mentor?
Only magicians and fraudsters make
money fast and without working hard
for it. So, I wish to advise the younger
generation to work hard and be patient.
Whatever you want in life – money, fame,
honour – it takes time, hard work and a
huge dose of Divine favour.
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

P
rofessor Abubakar
Sani Sambo, a
recipient of one of
Nigeria’s national
honour, the Officer of the
Order of Niger (OON), is
a world renowned energy
expert. He was the former
Vice-Chancellor of the
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
University, Bauchi as well
as that of Kaduna State
University. He was also a
former Director General
of the Energy Commission
of Nigeria (ECN). In 2011
Professor Sambo was named
as the Special Adviser on
Energy to former President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Prof Sambo has served as the
Vice Chairman for Africa of
the World Energy Council
from 2007-2013. He speaks
with the magazine on his
student days at the ABU and
on other matters.

As Vice Chairman for the Africa

region of the World Energy Council,
what was your schedule, Sir?
Well actually, the World Energy Council
(WEC) vice chairmanship that I did was
for a maximum of two terms, from 2007
- 2013, six years. Actually even before
I became the Vice Chairman of WEC,
I was the Chairman of the Nigerian
chapter. So after I completed my terms
as Vice Chairman for Africa of WEC

ABU is specially noted

I reverted fully to my chairmanship of
the Nigerian chapter which I am still
holding. The World Energy Council

for churning out top is an international non-governmental

organization that has strong ties with
governments. Currently it has branches

technocrats in about 100 countries of the World

and the major focus of the Council is
to promote the sustainable supply and

- Professor Abubakar Sani Sambo, OON

consumption of energy for all mankind
and in that vein, it conducts studies and
analysis on all energy types and on major
energy issues and advises governments
as appropriate. We study electricity
50 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
supply, we study transport fuels and
we also study cooking fuels, and the
provision of industrial thermal heat.
The motto of WEC is - all energy types
and all energy options are open. So, we
are not just for fossil fuels. We are also
not just for renewable energy, we are for
all and that is why we monitor all new
energy technologies and in that regard
we are following developments in such
areas as electric vehicles because it is
bringing a new paradigm shift in the
transport sector of the whole World.
We are following major achievements in
that regard so that we can advise nations
appropriately.

Can you relate your experience at

the World Energy Council to what
is obtainable in Nigeria; is there any
major breakthrough in Nigeria in
terms of the input of the World Energy
Council?
What we are telling Nigerian government
to do, first of all, regarding electricity,
we note the great achievement of the
current government, be very positive
with development that has led to
increase of electricity availability from
about 3,500 MW since Muhammadu
Buhari assumed office in May 2015 to
about a little more than 5,000 MW now,
which is a commendable achievement.
However, from our perspective, our
study for Nigeria to attain self-sufficiency
in electricity supply, there is need for
more than 5,000 megawatts for the 200
million Nigerians and in fact studies
conducted not too long ago showed that
we shouldn't only limit ourselves to the
current system but we should note that
if the economy is to grow by 6% GDP manufacturers look for before they
growth, then by 2020 we should have decide to invest in a foreign country.

“W
hen you say the
transmission system
is already restricted, I will say
yes, the transmission system
is limited in capacity and
it is weak and fragile. The
Transmission Company of
Nigeria says it can wheel more
than 7,000 MW for distribution
to consumers.”
electricity of about 40,000 MW.
Now, one could say that is too big, it
is not possible. In actual fact it is doable
and the way to do it is to continue
with what is happening now but to be
strengthened and to be improved upon,
but to have massive expansion of the
energy mix. Currently the energy mix for
electricity supply in Nigeria is from two
sources mainly, Gas and Hydro power.
Apart from hydro and gas there are coal,
solar, wind, biomass, biofuel and nuclear.
So we can have five more sources. When
we move from two sources to an energy
mix of seven sources, the level of security
of electricity supply is much higher, and
this is one of the criterions that large
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 51
Now when you say the transmission
system is already restricted, I will say
yes, the transmission system is limited
in capacity and it is weak and fragile.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria
says it can wheel more than 7,000 MW
for distribution to consumers. But I
will quickly tell you that in view of the
projection that I mentioned to you that
by next year if the country is to have
massive economic growth rate of 6%
of GDP then the electricity should be
about 40,000 MW and so the nation has
option but to significantly expand the
transmission network. Of course this will
not be possible within a year or two and
so resort has to be made on the use of

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
“I wish to say that whenever
energy is mentioned it is
electricity and transport fuels
that come to mind. Regarding
transport fuels I wish to stress
that the whole world is moving
to electric vehicles which will
surely replace fuel vehicles
within the next 20 years. This
is because electric vehicles are
unstoppable and the earlier
Nigeria braces up and faces the
challenge the better. ”
off-grid and mini grid solutions along
with provisions of embedded power
plants for large municipalities.
These two things I mentioned, the
expansion of energy mix and the issue
of use of off-grid and mini-grid plants,
are part of what the United Nations has
been encouraging which technology-
strong countries have been fine-tuning
based on their respective policies on
decarbonization, decentralization
and digitalization that they adopted.
Decarbonization is moving away from
fossil fuel based plants and focusing
attention on options with no carbon
dioxide emissions like plants based on
solar, wind, hydro and biomass/biofuels.
Decentralization strategies are based on
the fact that the central or national grid
cannot reach all the nooks and crannies
of the country and this is in addition to
the fact that the grid is weak and needs
to be strengthened all of which lead to
the off-grid and mini-grid pathways.
Digitalization is the use of computers and
other components of information and
communication technologies (ICT) to
bring together electricity from different
sources that may not be synchronous and
may be intermittent, and to harmonize
them.
These are some of the things the World
Energy Council strongly recommends to
its member states including Nigeria.
I wish to say that whenever energy is
mentioned it is electricity and transport
fuels that come to mind. Regarding
transport fuels I wish to stress that
the whole world is moving to electric
vehicles which will surely replace fuel
vehicles within the next 20 years. This is
52 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
because electric vehicles are unstoppable
and the earlier Nigeria braces up and
faces the challenge the better. The major
challenge for Nigeria is the dependence
of the nation on the sale of oil for much
of its revenue and in less than 20 years
the international demand for our oil is
surely going to fall significantly because
of the advent of electric vehicles.
There is the compelling need for the
immediate adoption and implementation
of a very robust blueprint for massive
generation of revenue other than from
sale oil and gas. This can be attained from
large-scale agriculture and agro-allied
industries, large-scale open cast and
underground mines and solid minerals
processing, manufacturing and tourism.
Many nations survive on just one or two
of the four mentioned areas to survive
very well.
At this point I will like to stress
that oil and gas is a highly valuable
commodity, all nations like it because of
its strategic importance in all national
economies despite that the fact that its
bigger use as a transport fuel is going to
decrease significantly. This is because
it will continue to be used for the
production of petrochemicals, plastics,
fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and
in the production of coal tar for road
construction.
Can you describe your experience at
ABU?
By the time I graduated from the
mechanical engineering department
of ABU, we had teachers from all parts
of the World; Europe, Asia and other
parts of Africa. I believe the facilities
for the laboratories and workshops
were adequate and functional while the
classrooms and lecture halls were never
over crowded. We were just about 25 to
30 in all the three classes of engineering
degree programme. It is not like today
with the student population that has
grown to ten to fifteen times the numbers
in the seventies while there seems to be
no significant expansion of the facilities.
So, currently there is less impact of the
practical aspects of the curriculum on
the engineering students that are being
turned out.
Would you say the training you had
at ABU actually contributed to your
success in life?
Yes, it did. We had excellent teachers
and I’m still in touch with some of them.
There is Prof. S.Y Aku who was my
lecturer and head of department at ABU.
He is now the Chairman of the Nigerian
National Merit Award Governing Board.
Coming back to your alma mater, can
you still recollect some of your class
mates?
Yes, I can recollect quite number of them.
Apart from Nigerians from all parts of
the country we had a Cameroonian, a
Pakistani and an Israeli in the class. The
most prominent classmate of mine is Dr.
Abdullahi A. Aliyu, former Permanent
Secretary of the Federal Ministry of
Power.
Can you describe your experience at
ABU?
ABU provided me with the opportunity
to acquire top class mechanical
engineering degree programme which
paved the way for my enrolment into the
doctor of philosophy degree programme
at the University of Sussex in the United
Kingdom, directly without going through
a masters degree.
My studentship at the ABU made
me to be very time conscious as I did
not want to miss any lecture or tutorial
session. I was never late to any laboratory
or workshop sessions.
While at the ABU I made friends not
only from the faculty of engineering but
from other faculties as well. I also made
friends with some lecturers and other
staff of the institution. I am still in touch
with a number of the friends I made at
the ABU.
“A BU provided me with the
opportunity to acquire top
class mechanical engineering
degree programme which paved
the way for my enrolment into
the doctor of philosophy degree
programme at the University of
Sussex in the United Kingdom,
directly without going through
a master’s degree. ”
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

What is sustaining
the standard in
Northern Nigeria
today is the excellent
foundation laid
by ABU - Professor
Olugbemiro Jegede

E
meritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede
was the foundation Vice-Chancellor
of the National Open University of
Nigeria; the former Secretary General
of the Association of African Universities (AAU),
Accra, Ghana; former President of the African
Council for Distance Education; African Regional
Vice President of the International Council for
Education for Teachers; and the immediate Past
Secretary to the Government of Kogi State. He
shared his fond memories of his beloved alma
mater, the ABU Zaria, with the magazine.
Excerpts:

Can you tell us more about yourself?
I started my education at St. Peters
Anglican Primary School, Ogori, Kogi
State and from there to Crowther Memorial
College, Lokoja for my secondary school
education. So from there, I went to Federal
Government College, Warri for my Higher
School Certificate (HSC). After the HSC in
December, 1971, I went to Ahmadu Bello
University. Of course, usually those days, in
between high school and the tertiary level
you have about nine months or so to do
things; usually they send people to teach in
schools. Initially, I was sent from Federal
Government College, Warri to teach at
Federal Government College in Sokoto.
actually came from Federal Government
College, Warri under the distinguished
Principal, PH Davis, a seasoned and
renowned British educationist. I was
employed within 24 hours as a Science
Instructor at the Military School where
I taught Biology and Integrated Science,
before I went to Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria. At that time, I had a choice; the choice
of either being sent to the Nigerian Defence
Academy or going to the University for my
degree, this was in 1972.
But I decided I was going straight to the
university. That time, there was no JAMB.
So we could apply to as many Universities
as we wanted. I had admissions in three
universities. Ibadan gave me admission
to read B.Sc. Forestry, Lagos admitted me
to read Industrial Psychology and ABU
admitted me to read B.Sc. Education. The
teaching experience I had at NMS, which
was quite interesting and illuminative, gave
me the urge to accept the offer at Ahmadu
Bello University. I did, and since then, I
haven't regretted the career choice I made.
ABU gave me the tremendous start that
I needed in life. The Faculties of Education
and Science where I studied during the
early 70s had fantastic lecturers. They
included Professor Jack Reed, Dr. Brown,
Professor Njidda Gadzama, Dr. Ogoghorie,
Dr. Sani Muazu, Professor Oyewole, Dr.

They normally exchanged ex-students to
teach at their schools. Along the line, I
was invited by the Late Colonel Daramola
and General Ogundeko who were at the
Nigerian Military School, Zaria (NMS).
General Ogundeko was the Commandant
and Colonel Daramola who was a Major
then, was the Deputy Commandant. They
were so excited meeting somebody who
“A
Mani, Professor Badmus, Professor Aliyu
BU gave me the Abdullahi, Dr. Lawrence Shirley, Dr Dorayi
tremendous start that I Aminu and Dr. Sabinah Attah. The Dean
of Education, Professor David Adamu
needed in life. The Faculties of Baikie, who in fact insisted that I accepted
Education and Science where I the admission in 1972 to ABU, was a very
studied during the early 70s had good role model. He is a great teacher and
a very humane and caring academic, who
fantastic lecturers.” we have all grown to like. 
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 53
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 ABU was a fantastic place then. It was
very cosmopolitan, non-discriminatory,
intensely accommodating and had
students and staff from all over Nigeria
and had a reputation of having students
from many parts of the world. We had
Ethiopians, Cameroonians, Nigeriens,
Chadians, Sudanese, South Africans,
Zimbabweans and Chinese students. The
Chinese students came to study Hausa. We
had British, American, Polish, Canadian,
Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Australian
and Egyptian academic and non-academic
staff at the three major campuses in Samaru,
Kongo and Kano. It was such a wonderful
and glorious time and university. Nobody
cared whether you were from the East, West,
South or the North of Nigeria or indeed
from Mars. ABU in its entirety displayed
and lived the universal characteristics of
a university.
ABU served as the academic home for all
Nigerians, we related well with one another.
Hardly would anybody ask you where you
were from. ABU was incredible in many
ways. Many of the friends I still have today
were made in ABU. And most of my mates
were not even from my State, they were
from different parts of the world. ABU was
a mini global village then. Those were the
good old days, when just mentioning that
you were a product of or a student or staff
of ABU, doors opened for you quite easily.
That's why anywhere I go around the world,
I will always have friends, people to stay
with. I traveled a lot around the country;
I was in Uyo a couple of years ago to give
a convocation lecture. And unexpectedly
I ran into some of my friends and former
mates in ABU, and they all wanted me to
visit their homes while one or two wanted
me to stay with them. Being a student at
54 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
“A BU served as the academic
home for all Nigerians, we
related well with one another.
Hardly would anybody ask you
where you were from. ABU was
incredible in many ways. Many
of the friends I still have today
were made in ABU.”
ABU in the 60s and 70s was such a fabulous
and terrific time in the history of Nigeria.
What they now have is a sham or
caricature of what we had. A university is
supposed to train you both in learning and
in character, and that is what we had and in
great measures, we learnt to socialise and
understand the society, and how to manage
people whether in the classroom or on the
sports field or in student congregations, or
at the staff club. We were not just raised
to be book worms. We had the best of the
emerging world of higher education in
Nigeria then. I could remember that in
those days, Sunday lunch which attracted
a meal ticket of only 50 kobo would fetch
each student a three-course meal: you'll
have the soup first, and then the main meal,
followed by fruit salad and you'll have a
tin of peak milk to go to your hostel with
it later. The chicken portions were massive
and each piece could actually serve for three
meals! Today, 50 kobo cannot buy anything.
Those were the days people were dedicated
to their jobs as lecturers and taught us to
be responsible.
They took leadership positions as role
modelling everywhere on campus whether
it is at the staff club, in the church, mosque
or classroom; we had visionary people
from all over the world. Today, we have
over 170 universities in Nigeria and hardly
can any one of them, including the first
generation universities boast of twenty to
thirty international or foreign students.
What makes a world class university is that
it is able to attract quality students and staff
from all parts of the world. A university is
supposed to be a universal environment.
The universality is in the mix and variety
of students, staff, in academia, in your
relationship with people. Many Universities
in Nigeria today are just glorified secondary
schools. We virtually have reduced what
should be enviable citadels of learning
to local government institutions! They
are too inward looking and displaying
characteristics of inbreeding!
This is largely because of so many factors.
Professorial positions have been politicised.
Everyone now wants to rush to become a
Professor. You listen to some Professors
and you don't even understand what
they are saying. Some Professors are not
worth the paper that the title ‘professor’
is written on. ABU had solid people who
were making excellent contributions to
Nigeria, to the world and to the political
scene. ABU prepared many of us, (and I
am an example of such group of people)
for the outside world. With all humility, the
success I have achieved outside of Nigeria
working or serving as external examiner
overseas, Convocation or University special
lecturer, Quality Assurance consultant or
other positions have been largely due to the
training at Ahmadu Bello University which
gave me the solid foundation required to
face the world outside of the classroom.
ABU, in those days, had a human
resource development policy that its best
students were invited back to the university
as Graduate Assistants to be trained as
academics as a strategic way or producing
a cohort of academics to gradually replace
the aging ones. During our time, which
was about 12 years after independence, we
still had many lecturers who were from
outside the country, and Nigeria was very
interested in making sure they developed
the human capital to replace many of these
expatriates. So when I left ABU, after NYSC,
I was invited back together with some
of my mates, colleagues and friends, like
Emmanuel Ocholi, Tunji Odeneye, Mahdi
Adamu, John Ayanwole and many others.
A number of us who became Vice
Chancellors either at ABU or at other
Universities were part of this breed that
came back to the University as Graduate
Assistants. The training was rigorous,
meticulous and quite painstaking. Our
lecturers left nothing to chance and we were
made to not take anything for granted. Each
sentence you wrote in your essay or thesis or
project must be meaningful. And you must
be ready to defend it. Contributions at Staff
meetings or Senate must be of the highest
quality otherwise just shut up because in
academia your ideas can be taken to the
cleaners at the slightest opportunity. We
were taught that it is superior argument
that must be upheld and not who you are
or what you represent. You could watch
two academics at a seminar room tearing
each other’s ideas to pieces as if it was war,
and yet an hour after that they hold hands
and share drinks or pepper soup at the staff
club! We were thoroughly grilled in our
post-graduate training and were given two

to three years to get our master degrees or
you were shown the door out. In my case,
I didn't want to go straight into academics
when I got back to ABU. Initially, I joined
the Ahmadu Bello University Press and
within a short time, I became something
equivalent to Managing Editor, I was an
Editor in the University Press where they
publish academic books. I got myself to
study the system, understanding how books
are published and understanding how
academic minds work through the books
they write. One morning, after a number of
meetings with Professor Baikie persuading
me to cross over to the Faculty of Education,
I woke up and decided I had to go back to
the Faculty. From then on I brazed myself
for all the attendant academic work. I had
my Masters in Science Education. I went
for my PhD in Science Education in the UK
through the Commonwealth Scholarship
Scheme. Before then, I had to go to the
UK on the Inter University Scholarship to
develop the research instruments for my
master’s degree.
During my first degree at the ABU, I
also had the privilege of spending the
three years on campus with wonderful
classmates and colleagues. One of them is
Felix Ogbaudu who, after our first degree
and NYSC, joined the Nigeria Police and
worked meritoriously to attain the rank
of Assistant Inspector General before
he retired. Felix, who is from what was
then called Bendel State, now Delta State
(Bendel was split into Edo and Delta), was
my roommate, my course mate and my
classmate for the three years– what I call
a three-in-one colleague. We were two in
a room. We started from Ribadu Hall for
the first year and later migrated together
to ICSA Hall for the remaining two years.
Felix, till today has remained a very
close confidant and more like a brother to
me. My other classmates and coursemates
included the former President of Nigeria,
Late President Umaru Yar'adua. We sat
beside each other during lectures. His
Excellency, Dr. Umaru Abdullahi Ganduje,
the current Governor of Kano State was
also my classmate and coursemate. Others
included, Alhaji Sahabo Bawuro, Chief
Daniel Enebi, Mrs. Comfort Olakunle (nee
Ogunsola), Mrs Utong Etim-Bassey, Late
Chief Esai Dangabar and Mrs. Eno Alabi.
You can imagine us all now grown up and
looking back at how ABU groomed us and
developed us to fit into the society.
After my Ph.D. in 1981, I came back
to ABU as a lecturer. I stayed there till
I became Assistant Dean and rose to
Associate Professor. I left in 1988 for
my sabbatical to Australia. I came back
and within that period, I was invited,
interviewed and appointed as Professor of
Education at the University of Abuja just
about the time the University was starting
with Professor I.B Mohammed was the
foundation Vice Chancellor. He picked the
best of the best available in many areas,
including science, education, theatre arts,
mathematics, engineering, law, and so on.
When I joined the University of Abuja, I
was appointed the Foundation Dean of the
Faculty of Education as well as the Head of
the Department of Education. Given the
training ABU gave us, we were taught to
work hard and to let our work speak for
us. In those days, nobody thought about
any godfatherism to help anybody. That
was not it. I was at the University of Abuja
“A
number of us who became
Vice Chancellors either at
ABU or at other Universities
were part of this breed that
came back to the University as
Graduate Assistants.”
for a year and a half as the foundation
Dean of Education, foundation Head of
Department of Education and Professor
of Science Education, and succeeded based
mainly, again on the solid foundation
ABU had instilled in me. At ABU, Late
Professor Samuel Aleyideino who was
the Dean of Education in 1981 when I got
back from my Doctoral studies in the UK
gave me added responsibility of being the
Coordinator of the Long Vacation Term
Programme (LVT). It was a part-time
programme where serving teachers are
trained towards their Bachelor’s degree
during the holidays. It was tough training
for me where I rarely had time for myself or
family as I worked virtually 24 hours on the
LVT programme. Little did I realise at that
time that it was actually preparing me for a
role in open and distance learning that has
now blossomed globally. So when I left for
my sabbatical to Australia, at the Science
and Mathematics Education Centre at The
Curtin University of Technology, Perth I
was appointed to coordinate the Masters of
Science Education programme for students
who studied through distance learning. My
training as a science educator at ABU and
as LVT Coordinator were enabling steps
in carrying out this responsibility. These
positions as well as becoming a Professor of
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 55
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
science education in 1989/1990 developed
my later career enormously.
I published my first paper in an
international journal just after my master’s
degree in 1978 at ABU. It got me immensely
interested in research work and since then,
I neither stopped nor looked back. Up till
today, people still reference just two of us
(Professor Peter Okebukola and I) as the
best Africa academics who have published
the most in science education journals
overseas. I mean world renowned science
education journals. There was hardly any
science education journal existing in those
days in which we did not publish. We were
worked really hard together all the time and
I believe we still have the highest citation
in science education in Africa.
The second training I got in open and
distance learning was when I came back
from Australia, after my sabbatical and had
facilitated the distance learning programme
for Master of Science education students in
the University in Australia. I was asked to
use that experience to write a proposal to
starting the centre for distance learning and
continued education at the University of
Abuja. Within one year, I accomplished two
major assignments. First, I developed the
proposal which led to the establishment of
the University of Abuja Centre for Distance
Learning and Continuing Education. The
Centre was a replacement for the National
Open University (NOU), (not NOUN,
which started in 2002). NOU was started
in 1983 and promptly closed in 1984 by the
military government which at that time,
who did not understand what distance
learning meant. Second, as the first Dean
and Head, Department of Education at
the University of Abuja, I single-handedly
developed the course outlines for 100
-700 levels (including Bachelor, Master
and Doctoral degree programmes). It was
work all the time whether at the University
campus (it was a model primary school
built by the FCDA that was converted into
a temporary campus) or at the Giri staff
quarters where I had a house.
Talking about curricula development
in our Universities, I would suggest very
seriously that all the curricula in all the
Universities need to be reviewed because
what we are still teaching is the curricula
meant for yester years. Whatever we have
now are no more relevant and we are just
training people with yesterday's tools. The
future belongs to a different category of
learning, we need to teach learners how to
learn, and we need to relate to the future of
learning. Our university teaching should
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
no more emphasise on certificates but
on the acquisition of skills that are easily
discernible by the world of work and can
be immediately deployed once a graduate is
hired. Besides, what we teach should have
relevance to developing the individual
and producing entrepreneurs rather than
dependent on seeking for work when they
could also become employers of labour
themselves.
What we teach in the universities and
indeed at other arms of higher education
today is, unfortunately and sadly out
dated. Like one of my friends said, we
are still using analog answers for digital
questions in Nigerian higher education. It
is not working and that is why education
in Nigeria seemed to have collapsed.
Education is the foundation of any society.
First of all, you have to be healthy, if you are
not healthy, you cannot teach, study or do
anything. Education is the building block
of society. Once education breaks down,
every part of society breaks down whether
it is transportation, industry, economy,
engineering, or anything else. The kind of
training and orientation we are giving to
the current and future Nigerians is not what
we should be giving to them. We are not
training them to be self-confident or self-
reliant, we are not training them to look
at the future and ask how they can be self-
employed. All we are doing is giving them
bits and pieces of information that will
make them pass exams. As soon as they get
out of the classroom, they become failures
because they cannot fit into the society, they
cannot employ anybody. They can't fit into
anything outside the classroom. So why is
it that when your mobile phone spoils, you
take it to the computer village, looking for
technicians, but why can't you take it to
computer science department for repairs?
If I was in government today and have
my way, I would advocate that we change
the whole system. Why can't I, say, as a
State Governor, build a range of secondary
schools, in the State using an assemblage of
a Dean of Engineering, a Dean of School
of Surveying, and a Dean of Architecture,
to form a consortium with at least three
of their best students each to execute such
a contract, from planning through to the
construction stages? I would charge them
to build for me 40 primary schools in the
State within a year. That can be done. I
would tell them that the contract I will
give you will stipulate that the payment
for the job would go to your university as
part of the Internally Generated Revenue to
run the university with a sharing formula
56 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
for all involved, where everybody who
participated gets a bit of it. Even the B.Sc.
Architecture students and others, used to
build the schools, could then have their
school fees paid from that. So if you're a
poor student, you can pay your fees with
your skill.
You can actually remodel the system. It is
also possible to get architecture, surveying
or building students to work together with
young doctors in a hospital to come up
with a modern or 21st century hospital
structure to be replicated in different parts
of Nigeria. God in His infinite mercies has
blessed Nigeria, has blessed Africa but we
don’t seem to be ready to take advantage
of the abundant blessings available. By
the time you involve these top students
and their staff, in such an integrated
manner described earlier, in the nation
building process, you will be surprised at
how developed the country will get. The
sun is free; the vegetation is free, the sea
“D uring my first degree at
the ABU, I also had the
privilege of spending the three
years on campus with wonderful
classmates and colleagues. One
of them is Felix Ogbaudu
who, after our first degree and
NYSC, joined the Nigeria
Police and worked meritoriously
to attain the rank of Assistant
Inspector General before he
retired. ”
and rivers are free; everything that is so
important to life is free including oxygen,
the air we breathe. Why can't I have an
engineering department working with
another department to say let's develop
solar panels for Nigeria. Instead, we still
buy solar panels at exorbitant rates from
abroad. In those days at ABU, they taught
us how to use what we had to develop
yourself. We were supposed to have
automotive engineering departments in
this country; nobody has been able to
produce a knot, a tyre or a bolt. There are so
many research institutions in Nigeria that
have gone moribund. There are so many
all around, even in Lagos. For example,
in Oshodi, all those industrial estates, the
Federal government has got at least ten
research stations there. You have others,
National Institute of Trypanosomiasis,
National Institute of Veterinary Medicine;
all of them appear to have gone dead or
can barely exist. Nothing seems to be
happening.
The only research station I know that is
working very well is IITA (International
Institute for Tropical Agriculture) in Ibadan
and it is because it is not owned by Nigeria
government. No sooner did we establish
specialised universities in Nigeria than they
started doing what they were not supposed
to do. How can you have a university of
technology, a university of agriculture,
awarding degrees in humanities, arts
and culture? Honestly, we've reached a
stage where we should start sanctioning
people, start sanctioning Universities, start
sanctioning Professors. In those days, I
knew that if I needed to buy yoghurt,
milk, meat for my family, I would go to the
Institute of Agricultural Research at ABU.
They had the animal science department
producing all these there. Everything was
there I didn't have to go elsewhere outside
the campus for the products. I knew exactly
where to go to. So the university was
making money. The university was teaching
students to use their knowledge, their
brain in making practical decisions and
products for the immediate community
and the society. All interested people in
Samaru-Zaria would queue up on Fridays
to buy these products at the Animal Science
Department which was then headed by the
late Professor Umunna. I wonder if such
still exists! There were similar situations in
other Departments of the university where
knowledge and information distilled from
research activities were taken to the public.
For instance, Agricultural Economic
Department at AERLS, as well as the Social
and Economic Research Department and
NAPRI (National Animal Production and
Research Institute) were at the forefront
of taking information to the society. The
knowledge from the Faculty and Institute
of Education were used in setting up
and running the ABU Staff School and
Demonstration Secondary School.
The first artificial insemination of cattle
was done in ABU. But the question is where
is that place today? The country has gone
hopeless. Everybody wants to be a Professor
overnight. Once they finish their Masters,
they dash to one obscure university for PhD
you cannot vouch for. Academics begin to
moonlight, migrating from one university
to another So it is quite conceivable and
rather easy in Nigeria now, in a fraudulent
manner to be a Professor within six years of

earning a PhD and from Lecturer II. People
move around so quickly short circuiting the
system, and such hot afternoon professors
cannot articulate what they are supposed
to be professing in! You can't even engage
some of them to discuss or explain a simple
theory in their area of specialization, as they
won't even know what to talk about. We
have so watered down a number of things
in our educational system that it has started
affecting the whole society. In medicine, if
you did a wrong diagnosis, or your surgery
was not properly done, you know that this
is what has happened to or killed your
patient; the results will show immediately.
The damage you do to the society becomes
immediately known. But if you inject the
wrong thing into the educational system,
you won't see the damage immediately; it
comes ten years or 15 years or 20 years after.
That's what is happening in Nigeria now.
We are sowing the seed of lack of quality
education. Nobody knows where we are
heading to as a country where mediocrity
has replaced meritocracy, and when the
foundation is not properly laid, no matter
what you do, nothing good grows from it.
I wish it were possible to stop everything
we are doing for a year or two, and re-
engineer what we are doing in this country,
especially with regards to education. These
are the issues. Let me just tie or relate this
to my career and educational background
so that you know what I'm talking about.
When I left this country after my stint
at the University of Abuja, I went back
to Australia, I was actually invited to go
back to Australia, not that I applied. They
called me on phone that they were looking
for someone to start the research centre
of a distance education at the University
of Southern Queensland. They said they
had gone on the internet to check the most
suitable persons for the job and had settled
for me out of three candidates. So I went.
I wasn't even interested in how much they
were going to pay me. I was more interested
in doing the research, to enjoy what ABU
had trained me to do. I am glad I went
back to Australia, after the sabbatical year
there. I started the research at the centre
for distance learning and with the team
I assembled began the research work in
a number of critical areas in distance
education. Within three years, I got the
Institutional prize for the best researcher
at the University of Southern Queensland.
From there, things started happening
positively for me in charting a second
academic career, this time in Open and
distance learning. By the grace of God and
the impetus for hard work, I now hold two
professorial chairs – the first is Professor
of Science Education and the second is
Professor of Open and Distance Learning.
Indeed in Science Education, I propounded
my Theory of Collateral Learning in 1995.
This area of study, the socio cultural factors
in the learning of science and mathematics,
has become a fertile ground for research
in teasing out how learners from non-
western environment learn science and
mathematics. As at the last count about 50
doctoral thesis and many more Masters
thesis have resulted from this all over the
world! The latest PhD work in the area
was sent to me a few months ago from the
United States of America.
The Open University of Hong Kong
requested if I could come and do the same
thing for them that I had done in Australia.
I was being invited to many places and
Organisations in the world, including
China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, South
Africa, UNESCO and Commonwealth
of Learning (COL) to give lectures or
and assist with the development of Open
and distance learning. It was at the Open
University of Hong Kong that President
Obasanjo got to know about my work
and dragged me in 2001 to come and
restart open and distance education with
the establishment of the National Open
University of Nigeria (NOUN) and that's
a whole story on its own. Remember that,
as I said earlier, the NOU established in
1983 was closed the following year. So the
country had lost what would have been 17
glorious years of providing enhanced access
to tertiary education for Nigerians then.
The fact that an ABU alumnus was able to
go round the world (I'm not the only one,
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 57
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
there are so many of us ABU graduates like
that around the world) is a testimony of the
quality preparation we had at ABU.
I thank God that after a tough period
establishing NOUN as the foundation
Vice Chancellor, preceded by being
the National Coordinator of Open and
Distance Learning Programme for the
country from 2001 to 2112, NOUN has
started producing thousands of excellent
graduates and giving enhanced access to
thousands (and very soon millions, of
Nigerians who would otherwise not have
gotten the opportunity to see the four walls
of a university classroom. I feel so happy
and fulfilled each time someone introduces
him or herself to me as having graduated at
NOUN or studying there. I was on the plane
the other day to Lagos, and they brought me
tea more than three times. Later on, I asked
the lady why they kept bringing me tea, she
said I was her Vice Chancellor at NOUN,
without me she would not have gotten the
job. So I just get pleasantly embarrassed
anywhere I go because of what I've been
able to do, what ABU has taught me to do.
The greatest thing President Obasanjo has
done for education and NOUN in Nigeria,
Africa and the world was to have subjected
himself to study for Postgraduate Diploma,
Master and Doctoral degrees at NOUN,
the university he established for the masses
in Nigeria. He showed the whole world
that he believed in the excellence being
established at NOUN and lent credibility
to the integrity and quality education the
university gives by testing it himself. That
mark of approval and recognition by a
President cannot be bought by any weight
of gold or trillions of naira. As soon as I
was leaving NOUN, I thought I was going
back to the Open University of Hong Kong
because they were waiting for me. My office
was ready.
The next thing, I got was a job with the
Association of African Universities (AAU)
as the Secretary General, so I couldn't go
back. I went to Ghana. AAU, diplomatic
mission, is the mouthpiece of the African
Union on higher education. I was there for
almost two years before they came to drag
me back to Nigeria to be Secretary to the
Government of Kogi State. For the first time
in the history of the Association of African
Universities (AAU) I started the building
of the Secretariat for the Organisation.
For 42 years, they never had it. I used the
Universities in Ghana to compete for the
drawing, surveying of the building project
of the Secretariat and the Residence of the
Secretary General. 
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 There are so many things we can do
that we are not doing. I'm glad that
the first generation universities had a lot
of quality we didn't know or appreciate
until many of us went overseas and
were in a position to compare our first
generation universities with those overseas.
Unfortunately, that quality has declined.
You'll go to a department now and you'll
be asking, is this department of so and so?
Is this where you graduated from? You
will be thoroughly ashamed that the place
has become a caricature of the old place
you graduated from. Hardly can anyone
there tell you the vision and mission of the
Department or of the institution for that
matter. The classrooms have dilapidated
furniture, the lecture theatres are like pig
styles, the laboratories are non-existent in
realty on by name. Everybody wants to
get the top now without working for it;
everybody wants to steal the money now.
Then you have situations where professors
and lecturers are harassing students in many
ways. Students are forced to buy outdated
lecture notes by lecturers, project report
writings and essays are contracted out even
to lecturers by students and plagiarism is
the order of the day. Students are after the
easy way out to graduate and easily find
ways to bribe their lecturers.
Many spend their weekends attending
parties (there are stories of undergraduate
girls been flown in private jets to Dubai
and elsewhere for weekend parties) or cult
functions and never step into the lecture
halls and yet want to graduate with a
second class upper division degree. If we
don't change our approach to education,
nothing would change for the better.
Politics in this country is not meant for
the straight thinking person. You can see
all of the things happening and I don't want
to be labour the point. A country gets what
it deserves. A State gets what it deserves.
If you want a riff raff as your governor,
you will get it. Governors don’t think of
anything beyond their own four years and
never interested in the continuation of
projects started by previous administration.
The dictum that government is a continuum
does not have value in Nigeria. Places like
Malaysia, China, and Singapore, Hong
Kong are doing very well because they
develop plans for 50 years. It does not
matter who comes in, it's always their plan.
When I told Nigerians in one of my public
lectures few years ago that we should forget
about examination and change our idea
about sessional or terminal examinations
because it is not a good measure of
58 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
“I published my first paper in
an international journal
just after my master’s degree
in 1978 at ABU. It got me
immensely interested in research
work and since then, I neither
stopped nor looked back.”
someone's intelligence or whatever he
knows, people thought I was crazy. I like
the way they thought I was crazy, I don’t
mind that, it is good to be crazy with
innovative ideas. Singapore is taking the
lead in education now and has abolished
exams in the school; in the primary school,
secondary schools and very soon, the
Universities. You can give me exams and
I would quote all the theories, postulation
and whatever, yet, when I go out, I cannot
apply it. Education or knowledge is what is
left in your brain when every other thing
has disappeared. When everything you've
crammed for exams is gone, whatever you
have left is the real education you have. That
is what you can use outside the system and
that is what you can use thereafter.
How can you explain that the curricula
we have in the university do not take care of
next year or the person graduating. I think
what we should do in the university system
is that as soon as someone is graduating, as
we present him his certificate we should
also inform him that the certificate you're
giving him can only last him for the next
2-3 years. The certificates we give these
days must have a used-by dates inscribed
on them as their value is terribly limited
and whatever education we have given
to the graduate would expire in 3 years
maximum. After that, s/he must go back
to school and learn again. Students don't
know what to do outside. There are homes
you go to today and find up to five to
six graduates that don't have jobs. The
polytechnics are not any better than the
Universities. Polytechnics are supposed
to be hands-on training institutions, but
that's not what they are now. So what
kind of an educational system are we
building? Everything has broken down. The
polytechnic was designed to meet a special
need of and occupy a particular niche in
the society, but they want to be like the
Universities, teaching the same courses and
doing similar things. They want to earn the
same salary.
In those days, I was a foundation
member of ASUU. ASUU had a different
intention when it started in the early 70s,
but now some people have hijacked ASUU
to run so many different things. Many lazy
academics hide under the body now to do
all sorts of nonsense. We need to rethink.
Today, it is science and technology that run
the society, not arts and humanities. The
outcomes of the 2017 World Economic
Forum point to that direction. You'll recall
that at some stage in this country we said
that admissions into universities should be
60:40 in favour of science and technology.
But, no, we've not been able to reach that.
Many universities still have more students
in the arts than in science. So how can
we develop? The world is being ruled by
science and technology, whether we like it
or not. Artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D
printing, cognitive science, mechatronics,
block chain, and others. These are the
areas of knowledge and research ruling
the world now and will be in the future.
Everything we do is computerized. They've
just developed phones that are flexible.
By now, all these things I've mentioned
ought to have been incorporated into the
curricula of our universities and should
have been used to train students in
secondary schools. But we don't have it.
Go to China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong
Kong, India and Pakistan, this is what is
ruling their world. Yes, crude oil is still
selling in Nigeria, but give it another four
or five years, oil would no longer sell. If
it's going to sell, it will only sell in Nigeria
or other African countries. The policy in
the USA is that all the cars that are using
petrol would be banned by the year 2022;
similar policies have emerged in Canada,
UK, Japan and other developed countries.
You'll no longer have cars using petrol or
drivers. So where would they dump the
cars? They'll dump them in Africa and
majority in Nigeria. Graduates can no
more think of buying a new car when they
get jobs, it is 2nd or 3rd or 4th hand cars!

We cannot make our cars and we can only
promote the used cars market in Nigeria.
Sadly, people now throw lavish parties
for owning a used car imported from the
USA or Canada or the UK, 59 years after
our political independence. Meaning we
are still not independent economically
or technologically, and yet Ajaokuta steel
industry is wasting away.
I can't believe what has happened to
Nigeria. In 1976, a few years after I finished
my National Youth Service Corps and I
came back to ABU, I got a vehicle loan of
N3,600. In those days, everybody was able
to buy brand new cars. The generation
before us even had cars waiting for them
before they finished school. Everybody
in the university should have a general
training before you start building on it.
Knowledge is becoming interrelated that
we have to begin to think of what we want
and also most importantly what we need
as a people, as a country.
Thank God ABU has got so many
Alumni; all we need is to come together in
such a way that we can first restructure the
future of that University in terms of what
we want the institution to become in the
next 10, 20 years. Also, we need to look at
how each person or group can contribute to
that. ABU has gotten people today who are
capable of funding the University without,
or with little, input from government.
There is no reason why we can't compete
with Harvard or MIT or Cambridge or
Oxford in many ways including university
advancement and endowment. We should
give back to the system in such a way that
it can run itself. It's a lot of burden on
the federal government running all these
Universities.
For me, it's not a question of whether
there is money in our universities; it is
that we are not using the money wisely.
How are people using the money? That's
what we should he asking. If you say we
don't have money, how come universities
are taking money from TETFUND and
TETFUND still has billions not fully
accessed? Nobody is looking at that because
they are not trained to be analytical or
critical, innovative or creative. Nigeria is
not paying any serious attention to research
which should become the bedrock of our
development in all facets of our nationhood.
Nigeria has not got any central or national
Research Council for competitive grants
for cutting edge research, in spite of our
growth as a country. The right educational
maters are not happening. We say we are
the giant of Africa, are we really? Do we
even know what that means? All we do is
embezzlement, stealing, corruption, telling
brazen lies. Imagine a country where our
so-called VIPs and bureaucrats go for a
meeting and promptly start with prayers (in
fact some quarrel if it is not to begin or end
the agenda of the meeting). Yet, no sooner
is the prayer said than the attendees begin
to tell lies and deceive one another. Then
again they end with prayers and disperse
laughing and seeking for lunch ordered
as part of the meeting. Why do Nigerians
mock God?
By now, Nigeria should have been
exporting planes to African countries or
anywhere in the world. We should be
exporting arms and ammunition to other
parts of the world. What is maintaining
the foundation in the north of Nigeria
today is the foundation that Ahmadu
Bello University has laid. Beyond that,
whatever we are having is just a caricature
of whatever had been. Nigeria needs more
than the 170 Universities we are having
now. With over 200 million people, Nigeria
needs lots of universities to cope, but we
need to plan strategically for the growth.
What we need to do is to drastically
revise the national policy on education
completely. We also need to change the
focus on education to one that will be
tilted towards science and technology,
engineering and mathematics. We must
make that the basis of our development.
All our children must have the basics of
all these. We must begin to train people
who are ready to go into the labour
market prepared. Give me university
undergraduates of 18 to 25 years, that age
range, I will turn them to programmers,
they should be able to programme, learn
computer language, develop applications,
master 3D printing and block chain usage.
Once they can do these, they can do
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 59
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
anything. That's what we need to do. In the
next few years, Nigeria will lose about 10
million job markets. We need to create new
jobs for the 21st Century labour market.
The time bomb is ticking.
We need to refashion the whole curricula
in our system and get the best to be teachers.
If we don't get the best teachers to teach, it
will definitely affect every other profession.
Get the best engineers, the best doctors, the
best scientists, the best mathematicians,
etc to go and teach and pay them more.
Then we would have started to effectively
and efficiently produce the appropriate and
hopefully adequate citizens who would fit
into the new world. Then everybody will be
happy. We need the national policy that will
determine how many engineers or doctors
or architects or builders or teachers Nigeria
would need next year and 20 years from
now. We need to rejig the whole system. We
need to change the system. These days, even
the world of printing has changed. Things
have changed but it has not permeated into
the Nigerian system.
The world is moving but Nigeria is
stationary. We cannot use yesterday’s
solutions for today's problems. It will
never work. If you keep doing that, you
will never move. That's why we need people
who actually understand governance. For
someone to become the President of this
country, he must know a lot about what
science and technology really is. He must
know what artificial intelligence means. He
must know how science and technology
affect the life of the ordinary person on
the street. The white people came and
colonised us; they are already looking at
how they can colonise the moon and mars.
We still rely on rumours, road side thinking
and local fortune tellers! There is no order
anywhere, not on our roads, not in the
hospitals, not in the classrooms, not in the
National Assembly, not in motor parks, or
taxi or railway stations, not in public places
and we have not devised ways for mass
movement in a society that will soon grow
to be the 5th most populous country in
the world. Leadership is all we need. Rules
and regulations are neither monitored nor
enforced. The most difficult thing in this
country is to sack anybody. The easiest
thing however is to hire someone. The
whole education system has to change.
That's what we are talking about. Our
medicine has to change. Our engineering
has to change, Computer science as well has
to change. Perhaps ABU Alumni should
come to the rescue one way or the other.
Thank you.
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Professor Dalandi Slim Matawal was the immediate past Director General of the Nigeria Building and
Road Research Institute, (NBRRI). He speaks with the magazine on his achievement as the DG, his
early life, education and career. Excerpts:
Sir, let us start by asking you to tell us
about yourself and growing up?
First, please accept my unreserved
apology for responding rather late to
your request. The truth is that so many
people come for interviews and it is
difficult to discern who is genuine, but
the way you persevered makes me feel
sorry that I should have attended to you
from the outset because after scanning
through my stack of mails, I noticed you
had been sending requests since 24th
April 2019.
My birth name is Danladi Matawal,
the latter being the family name, and I
was born about 64 years ago on Sunday
(thus the name Danladi or "Son of
Sunday") 30th October 1955 in Bokkos,
Plateau State, Nigeria. My Dad was an
Adult Education Teacher in the 1950s
and 1960s, later on a Missionary with
the Christ Apostolic Church, then after
re-training himself at ABU Medical
Auxiliary, Kaduna, converted to
Dispenser in the local Health Dispensary
under the Local Government from where
he retired and was made the Village Chief
of our area of Bokkos. Inspite these, our
60 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
ABU academic
content was
adequate and
in line with
International
Standard
- Professor Danladi
Slim Matawal, fnse
major life sustaining avenue was Crop
Farming, which I actively engage in every
year up to date since so much farmlands
were bequeathed to us the children after
his death on 10th October 1995. My
mummy, Mama Undong Matawal, had
died much earlier in 1955 whilst I was in
Primary class 5.
I attended the then Native Primary
School Bokkos, where I finished Primary
7 in 1st position in 1968. I proceeded
to Government College Keffi in January
1969 and finished with Division One
in 1973 with my major strength being
in the Sciences, especially Mathematics
and Physics where I scored A1. I was
admitted to HSC to read Maths, Physics
and Chemistry but after spending 1st
term (3 months), I was admitted to read
same courses in SBS/ABU which was
on scholarship, so I left GC Keffi. In
1975, I registered for Civil Engineering
in ABU and graduated with First Class
in 1978 and had one of the prices in
final year. I was then nominated for the
Commonwealth Scholarship scheme
which I won and got sponsored by the
British Council to graduate for the MSc
of the University of London and DIC of
the Imperial College London in 1981. I
also won the Foundation Engineering
Course performance price at Imperial
College.
I returned in 1981 and after stint of
work here and there, I was employed by
Ahmadu Bello University as Lecturer II
in 1987 and posted to the then Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa College of ABU in
Bauchi, now Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
University. I was appointed Professor of
Civil Engineering on 1st October 1999,
approximately 20 years ago, and
served as Head of Department of Civil
Engineering for an aggregate of 6-years,
Dean of Engineering for 4-years, and
dean of PostGraduate School from 2008
- 2011, when I was appointed Director-
General/CEO of the Nigerian Building
and Road Research Institute, NBRRI,
where I served for 2-terms of 4-years
each and after 8-years, I returned to my
academic duties as Professor at ATBU
Bauchi. I have served the University
system in quality assurance exercises,
served various Government Boards of
Parastatals and Community Services.

As a successful technocrat and administrator, what would
be your advice to people who find it difficult to follow their
passion and turn it into opportunities?
Every aspiration requires hardwork, discipline, perseverance
and some measure of goodluck (or being spiritual, God's
guidance). These days particularly when population has
grown and competition really fierce, there is no room for
laziness, truancy and other non-disciplinary traits because
people want to invest in other human beings and can easily get
disappointed when there is no discipline. I always buttress to
my University Students that though their ultimate degrees are
in 'CHARACTER and LEARNING', the character always comes
first before the learning and for completeness, one must have
the two. Therefore when the opportunities come our way, let us
always with discipline and dedication always strive tenaciously
use it appropriately and add value to it for the benefit of
mankind.
Why did you opt to study at ABU Zaria?
There were just five (5) Universities in our time: Ahmadu
Bello University Zaria, University of Ibadan, University of
Ife, University of Lagos, and University of Nsukka, which
were their names at the time. The truth is therefore that there
was not much alternative because everywhere was ABU at
Zaria OR ABU at Ibadan, Ife, Lagos and Ife. But since I was
admitted from HSC to SBS/ABU, the choice was pretty straight
forward. The only competition came sometimes in 1974 when
the Northern Nigerian ICSA asked me to proceed to Royal
Camborne School of Mines in UK for a degree in Mining as a
special northern intervention. The letter to me came late after
the batch had received their admission and were processing
their travel documents and I had no money to travel to Kaduna
on my own; and also that Mining did not really look appealing
to me.
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
“T here were just five (5) Universities in
our time: Ahmadu Bello University
Zaria, University of Ibadan, University of Ife,
University of Lagos, and University of Nsukka,
which were their names at the time. The truth
is therefore that there was not much alternative
because everywhere was ABU at Zaria OR ABU
at Ibadan, Ife, Lagos and Ife.”
What motivated you to choose your course of study?
The truth is that I do not have much idea how I ended up in
Engineering, specifically Civil Engineering. The reason is that
my father being fairly literate literally ruled that I was to study
Medicine. The only problem was that while in Secondary
School, each time I thought that I had cleared my Biology
expecting to get almost 100%, when the result came out, I
always scored a B and in WAEC, it was a C3. On the other
hand, my scores in Mathematics and Physics were always an
A in exams or as it turned out, an AI each in WAEC with a
B2 in Chemistry. In 1971, I got the Benue Plateau state prize
for the best Beginners in Technical Drawing. Therefore, it was
predestined that I should do one engineering or another from
Form 3 when we were streamed into Arts, Medical Sciences,
Engineering and Commerce classes (Forms 3; I, II, III & IV,
respectively). There was construction boom in Nigeria at the
time and I chose Quantity Surveying, Architecture and Civil
Engineering. The University chose Civil Engineering for me
and I simply obeyed them; it seems it was predestined to be
from the beginning.
Would you say the training you got at Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria actually contributed to your success in life,
please give us a run down?
I think there are two dimensions to this question. The first
is the academic content which was quite adequate and in
line with international standards. That is why when I went
to the University of London's Imperial College of Science &
Technology; I passed with even a price in one of the courses.
This would not have been feasible if the content was not
adequate. Secondly, going to ABU Zaria opened a very wide
horizon of connections in the country and enriched the
reference library.
Can you still recollect some of your school mates who are
still today doing well in their various professional careers?
Professor Abubakar Sani Sambo of USDUS is a prominent
alumni being a former Vice Chancellor and DG/CEO; Hon
Justice Nasiru Ajana is the Chief Judge of Kogi state; Engr.
Andrew Yakubu was Group GMD of NNPC though he became
incarcerated; Engr. Mustafa Bello is a former Minister of the
Federal Republic; Engr. David Kile Jime made it as Director of
Federal Highways as MD of FERMA before he died; Professor
Garba Aliyu Babaji is a former Vice Chancellor; Mrs. Patricia
Bala is a former Director-General/CEO of National Film
Verification & Censorship Board, etc, while some of our
Teachers like Professor Buba Bajoga, Professors S Aku, Kwale,
SA Ola, Salihu Mustafa, Dr. Tijjani Abdullahi, etc, and 
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 61
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 Seniors like DanMatsanin Jos Dr. Jonah Madugu who is a
former Minister of the Federal Republic are all alive.

Ahmadu Bello University is noted for churning out highly

rated individuals in Africa and around the world, what were the
factors that responsible for this?
I think the most important thing was the exposure to national
and international politics through routine lively debates that
took place on the campus. Vibrant debates ensued on all
national and international issues and often, national policies
were formulated based on outcomes and visions of debates at
ABU Zaria. Underlying this was a firm foundation for academic
work. The Staff came from all over the world and there was no
"inbreeding" in the sense of training as most deserving Staff
were sent all over the world to learn other Arts of civilization
and benefit from the most intelligent people all over the world.

Do you indulge in any religious or social activities while on

campus; if yes tell us your experience?
There was no religious extremism and fundamentalism at the
time we graduated and I indulged in Sunday Church services,
primarily, but our friends and associations cut across religious
barriers. It was after we left that we learned that our University
Chapel got burned down.

Did you meet your spouse in ABU and where is your hall of
residence?
I had a girl friend who wanted to marry me from the same
area as myself while at ABU Zaria but my eyes were set on a
much younger girl in Secondary School who I later married.
Unfortunately, the one I married later died after we spent years
together with Children and I remarried. My Hall of Residence
in SBS was Alexander Hall while as undergraduate, my Hall was
Umar Suleiman, Hall A3, Room 10, ground floor.
How much of impact did she have on your life?
Little impact since I did not meet my spouse at ABU.
Can you recollect an experience that remains indelible in
your mind while at ABU?
I was just a workaholic and few things made much impression
to me. I recall the "Ali-Must-Go" demonstration in 1978
when we had to vacate campus within 1-hour and I came
back to my room to pack my box and items and then found
this Human Pool of Blood in front of my room as the Soldiers
had shot a Student. I can never forget the sight of that blood
in my memory as it illustrated the height of inhumanity and
buttressed how lucky we were to have run away that morning.
I run and passed the rail line behind Samaru village until we
were called to pack out in 1-hour.
What are some of the values that you have learnt as a child
and you are passing unto your own children?
Aggressive Independence and Freedom of Movement,
Expression; Sincerity and Humility; Hardwork and never
depending on anyone else; Strong Conscience; Humanitarian
Services to the Poor and Needy; Service and total submission
to God Almighty the Creator are values that the younger ones
must emulate to impress their Daddy.
What does integrity mean to you?
Integrity is working and earning respect because of strong
positive qualities in character and service, especially Sincerity,
high Morality, no Corruption, Neatness, Transparency,
Emotional Stability, etc.
As a way of giving back to your alma mater, is there any
project you have done for ABU as a form of philanthropy?
As a Director-general/CEO, Laboratory Equipment has been
manufactured and is to be distributed to five (5) universities,
one per geopolitical zone. ABU Zaria is the beneficiary for the

“I
ntegrity is working and earning respect
because of strong positive qualities in
character and service, especially Sincerity, high
Morality, no Corruption, Neatness, Transparency,
Emotional Stability, etc.”
North-Western geopolitical zone when the shipments arrive
this year.
Finally, your advice to the younger generations who look up
to you as role model and mentor?
Success comes through hardwork, dedication, perseverance and
discipline. Allowing other people of bad character, bad conduct,
poor discipline and even high irresponsibility to influence you
is to sign a guarantee for your ruin.

62 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

ABU moulded
my worldview
and gave me a
head start in life
- Dr. Adulrazaq
Abubakar Garba

D
r. Abubakar Garba is one of the foremost geologists in Nigeria; his career spanned various aspects
of geology with major interest in Economic Geology. He has made significant contributions in
areas of geosciences especially in exploration leading to discoveries and development of mining
projects in Nigeria. Dr. Garba is a member of several professional bodies both in Nigeria and
around the world. He is currently the Director General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency. He
speaks with the magazine on his recognition as one of the respected ABU Alumni. Excerpts:

Can we meet you?

My name is Dr. Abdulrazaq Garba. I am
the eldest child in my family. I started my
pre- nursery and nursery primary school
in Sokoto and later proceeded to Capital
School Sokoto between 1969 and 1976. I
later proceeded to Government College
Sokoto to complete my secondary school
education in 1981.
My journey into the world of geosciences
started with interaction with an elder
cousin who studied geology at the Ahmadu
Bello University Zaria. This interest was
further bolstered by interaction with
Geology Students of ABU Zaria who
occasionally come on field work to Maru
town in Zamfara State and camp in Maru
Teachers College where my father was the
Principal. Also, occasionally I do follow our
security guard (Maigadi) on his expedition
to some rivers around Maru panning for
gold contributed to my resolve to study
“T his interest was further
bolstered by interaction
with Geology Students of ABU
Zaria who occasionally come
on field work to Maru town
in Zamfara State and camp in
Maru Teachers College where
my father was the Principal.”
geology and make it a career.
As a successful technocrat and
administrator, what would be your
advice to people who find it difficult
to follow their passion and turn it to
opportunity?
Well, my simple advice is that you should
do what you love and love what you do.
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 63
This is what is called passion. If you have
passion for anything you will be dedicated
to it and you will turn such passion to
opportunity.
Why opt to study at ABU?
Well, I can say it was God’s arrangement
because I decided to opt for SBS, ABU after
a brief stay in Federal School of Arts and
Science in Sokoto.
What motivated you to choose your
course of study?
As I said earlier, I have a cousin who
studied geology and that was where my
interest was kindled.
Would you say the training you got at
ABU Zaria contributed to your success
in life, please give us a run down?
At every point in life, there is always a
lesson to learn. At ABU, there were a lot
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 of ups and downs which helped me to be
strong. As a student of geology there are
lots of challenges which I had especially in
the practical aspect of my study. I must also
say that the discipline and responsibility
exhibited by the founding fathers of the
institution and people we considered as
role models helped me a lot. Moreover,
I saw every situation and experience
as an opportunity to learn and all these
contributed to my success in life.

Can you still recollect some of your

classmates who are still today doing well
in their various professional careers?
Yes Prof T. Najime and Dambatta Umar
both of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Mr.
Salim Malami chairman of Solid Mineral
Development Funds is also a classmate,
some are even in the same Agency with me.

Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is

noted for churning out highly rated
individuals in Africa and around the
world, what were the factors that are
responsible for this?
The answer to this is simply the fact that

the founding fathers laid a foundation
of an institution to mould future leaders
through excellence, hard work, dedication
and honesty. This could be seen in the
quality of lecturers who were committed
to achieving all these lofty ideals without
fear or favour.
Do you indulge in any religious or social
activities while on campus; if yes tell us
your experience?
I must say that I was moderate in school.
Hence, I was not neck dip in any activity.
Did you meet your spouse in ABU and
where is your hall of residence?
Well, where I met my wife? Let me keep that
to myself or give you as a riddle to solve. As
per my hall of residence, I resided in ICSA
hall room 123 in SBS and Alexander hall
throughout my undergraduate.
How much of impact did she have on
your life?
Well, I told you that was personal; but
I want you to know that behind every
successful man is a good woman.
Can you recollect an experience that
remains indelible in your mind while
at ABU?
The experience that remains indelible in my
mind was during my final examinations.
On that fateful day, I read from 12 a.m.
64 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
“A
t every point in life, there
is always a lesson to learn.
At ABU, there were a lot of
ups and downs which helped
me to be strong. As a student
of geology there are lots of
challenges which I had especially
in the practical aspect of my
study.”
to 5 a.m. the exam was to start by 9.am.
Unfortunately, I slept off till 10:15 a.m. by
the time I got to the hall exam had gone
more than half way! At the initial stage the
invigilator did not allow me to enter the
hall. After a lot of persuasion, he allowed
me in; this was 30 minutes to the end of
the exam. But you know what? I passed the
subject. This is because I had a good mark
in my test and assignment.
What are some of the values that you
have learnt as a child and you are passing
unto your own children?
The values I learnt as a child that I am
passing on to my own children are honesty,
humility, hard work, generosity and fear
of God.
What does integrity mean to you?
Integrity to me means being able to stand
by your word, keeping to time, being
truthful, and doing the right thing even if
no one is watching.
As a way of giving back to your Alma
Mata, is there any project you have done
for ABU as a form of philanthropy?
I wish I could be rich enough to say drill a
borehole with portable water in the school
or give some outstanding student bursary
awards or perhaps build a classroom with
equipment in Geology Department in
ABU Zaria but then as a public servant
where will I get the money? Maybe I set
up a foundation to solicit for funds………
General laughter
Finally, your advice to the younger
generations who look up to you as role
model, as mentor.
My advice to the younger generation
is that first and foremost, they should
have belief in themselves. They should
not allow anybody or any situation to
intimidate them. They must know what
their passions are and follow it with
dedication and determination. Endurance
and contentment are very important. They
should remember that one steady step will
follow the other. Rome was not built in a
day. Above all, the fear of God is the key.
That will take them far in life.
TUS ETUR, SAM QUI SANTORATEM

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 65

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Can we meet you?
Thank you very much; my name is Ahmed
Bolaji Nagode. I am the Director General
of National Power Training Institute of
Nigeria (NAPTIN), which is an agency
of the Federal Government of Nigeria
under the aegis of the Federal Ministry
of Power, Works and Housing. NAPTIN
has a mandate to build human capacity
and coordinate training activities in the
Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
My first Degree was in Political Science
from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), I
graduated in 1984, and my postgraduate,
a Master's in Public Administration was
from the University of Ilorin in 1991. I
also have another postgraduate degree, a
Diploma in Management from University
of Lagos in 1994. I've undergone some
courses both in Nigeria and abroad. I am
married with children.
You said you read Political Science from
your Alma mater, Why the interest in
political science?
My focus at the time was to become a
diplomat and that focus spurred me on
in my career. However, as is the norm
with undergraduate scheme of study for
Political Science, second year offered me
the option of International Relations or
66 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
ABU remains
one of the
most respected
universities in
Sub-Shara Africa
- Mallam Ahmed Bolaji
Nagode
M
allam Ahmed Bolaji Nagode is the
current Director General of the
National Power Training Institute,
an agency mandated to build capacity
and develop the manpower needs of the Nigerian
Electricity Supply Industry. He shared fond memories
of his alma mater the ABU with the magazine’s team
of Editors.
Political Science. Auspiciously, I ultimately the role models from defunct northern
discovered Political Science was the better Nigeria who was ABU Alumni. We believed
option. What I mean by a better option is in our role models who had attended that
that I could still work within the Nigerian school and for us to emulate them meant
Public Service–the Civil Service and I had attending ABU. Factually speaking, ABU
the opportunity to work in the Foreign was the leading University and I think it is
Service. still the leading University.
Opting for International Relations, To further buttress the point, from Kwara
a specialized area, it would have boxed State we had some leading academics at
me in and I would only have the option ABU. For instance, Professor Ibrahim
of working in External Affairs. I passed Gambari who also happens to be like an
excellently in my first year and had the uncle to me, these academics progressed
choice of International Relations but I to become outstanding in their chosen
opted to continue with Political Science. To professions.
surmise, a successful career in the Foreign I decided to study at ABU because I was
Service as a diplomat motivated me to in awe of Professor Gambari and I did
study Political Science at ABU not regret it. But I must say that I did my
A-levels. We used to call it the SBS (School
Despite the fact that we had some of Basic Studies) the good thing about
Universities around, is it because you SBS is that it is a one-year programme.
come from the north that you choose In Kwara polytechnic, you would spend
ABU? two years, but with SBS, you are going to
On the contrary, at the time, it was popular spend one year. The upshot of this is some
opinion that Ahmadu Bello University of my friends and classmates went to Kwara
was the premier university, not just for polytechnic, the fact that I went to ABU; I
the North but also for Nigeria in terms was a year ahead of them. So even within
of strength, numbers and in terms of social circles, due to my having attended
representation. The University of Ibadan, ABU, I was up there, I was like an eagle. It
University of Nsukka, OAU, these are other was from SBS in Zaria where I wrote my
first generation universities. IJMB. I passed and decided to go to ABU.
We had attachment to ABU because of

Anyway, the first generation Universities,
their products are a bit very proud. The
feeling is that if you didn't school in
any of the foremost universities, you
didn't go anywhere, and I don't think it
should be so because second generation
universities like the University of Ilorin,
Uniben, Uniport, have also churned
out a lot of prominent personalities in
Nigeria, but ABU is distinct and quite
special, probably because they occupy
strategic positions in public and private
sectors in Nigeria, they are more proud
than graduates of other Universities.
What are the reasons for this? Why ABU
products are strategically positioned in
the position of authority at various levels
in Nigeria?
Speaking from my background in the
training sector, I will say that there are
certain accomplishments that distinguish
ABU as a citadel of learning. One
achievement is the infrastructure another
is the faculty and most certainly the
curricular. Considering these things, ABU
was second to none for undergraduate and
postgraduate study. It was arguably one
of the most developed institutions, I'm
talking about 1979. It had one of the largest,
campuses, you know, in Africa.
In terms of the halls of residence, you
look at Suleiman Hall; look at Queen
Amina hall as the benchmark for campus
life. In terms of Academic excellence, the
Faculty of Arts & Social Science at ABU,
especially its Political Science Department
was the leading FASS (Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences) of the day. We had the best
of brains in that faculty. That was the era
of Bala Usman, Usmane Bangura, Okelo
Oculi, Sam Oyovbaire, and Patrick Wilmot.
We had the likes of Professor Ibrahim
Gambari, Femi Odekunle, Prof Sam
Oyovbaire, among many others. The good
thing about the faculty is that it encouraged
healthy debate; it challenged the students
to study and become prolific.
There was this debate between Bala
Usman and Usmane Bangura, which was
moderated by Professor Sam Oyovbaire.
This particular debate created an intellectual
atmosphere that fascinated us the students,
an atmosphere where healthy competition
and healthy dissent were encouraged.
It gave us the motivation to dedicate
ourselves to learning. Subsequently when I
encountered other universities, I discovered
that in the study of Political Economy in
Nigeria, I can say that no University, even
University of Ife that produced the likes
of Wole Soyinka, Biodun Jeyifo, and Kole
Omotosho was near ABU. I eventually
found myself belonging to some groups,
some intellectual groups. They will always
rate ABU top notch in terms of progressive
intellectual study.
I can say that the ABU Academic scene
was healthy and it broadened our scope.
That is you want to belong to the Liberal
school of thought. Many lecturers were of
that school of thought, and you want to
belong to the progressives; you definitely
have the likes of Bala Usman, Usman
Bangura and others who were progressive,
world-class academics. I enjoyed my time
while at ABU.
Do you still remember some of your
classmates?
Yes. Most especially, in my faculty, I can
still remember some close allies: the Acting
Vice chancellor of Osun State University,
we call him Blackson; I have another friend
who happens to be a brother in law, He
was the General Manager at Crittal Hope
in Kaduna. He's now a General Manager
at Dangote Holdings. I have classmates
who have done very well in their areas of
specialization. I have a classmate who was
a registrar at Kwara Polytechnic, now works
with NECO. I have another friend from
school called Patrick Wilmot. Certainly,
there are quite a lot of them out there that
have done very well for country and self.
In addition, I will not just look at my
own classmates of the same faculty, but
classmates generally. One of them is
being sworn in today as the Senator of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Ibrahim
Oloriegbe who happens to be from ABU,
we were schoolmates. We participated
in student politics, together. The likes of
Najatu Mohammed, she was married to the
political adviser to Governor Rimi, and was
Student Union President in 1981.
I was a member of the SRA, Students
Representative Assembly. I represented
Suleiman Hall, one of the biggest halls
in ABU where I would interact with my
classmates.
Did you meet full course meals while
at ABU?
This experience I am pleased to recount.
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 67
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Especially at the SBS and in the University,
it was quite an experience. I think we were
paying about 50 kobo for full course meals
and we would have on the side dessert and
beverages like coffee & tea. It was splendid.
On Sundays, the cafeteria served two pieces
of chicken: fried chicken and smoked
chicken. I remember the Sunday breakfast
menu included quaker oats, coffee, bread
and eggs, potato chips and eggs. For the
Sunday afternoon menu, we had a choice
of jollof rice, fried rice or white rice. It was
an outstanding full course meal of high
value and I think it was value for money
and a marvelous experience then in terms
of the cost.
In addition to the full course meals was
the laundry service. It was an experience
similar to top hotels, where you record all
your laundry on a sheet and put it on the
door before going for lectures. The laundry
man would take your laundry and would
return it dry-cleaned and it would be
there on your door when you return from
lectures. It was simply amazing.
Today, when you hear stories of students
cooking for themselves and stolen pots of
soup it sounds unbelievable. Looking back
with nostalgia, what is now of concern to
me is that you would leave your belongings
and you go to the classroom from 8:00
AM you come back 6:00 PM and you still
meet your things intact. And then you
will even keep your key, you will not take
your key along with you. You put your key
on the shelf, and you come back, nobody
would encroach into your property. So, It's
really, really amazing, that is how I will
put it. Now you begin to wonder where
the moral decadence started and how we
found ourselves in our current situation
because we're talking about the 70s and
early 80s. Everything was orderly and, we
had a wonderful time.
Why is it that our leaders who underwent
this training, enjoying all the basic
facilities in the university, who are now
leading us, why can't they replicate such
in the present university system?
Well, it is sad and I think every society
records their periods of growth and there
must be good planning to manage your
growth in terms of infrastructure, in terms
of population. I think the problem, if you
ask me started when we jettisoned proper
and adequate planning process. And what
I mean by that is, you know very well that
you will have these kinds of numbers
maybe in the coming years. Ideally, you
should have a plan to accommodate that
surge, but if you take stock of events, it
looks like we are caught up in that very
challenge.

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 Did you meet your Wife at ABU?
I didn't. I wasn't so lucky to do that. My
wife attended Usman Dan Fodio University
and we met at the local level at home, but
I happen to know some of my cousins,
my friends who met their spouses at ABU
and eventually got married. And then, you
know things were really nice in terms of
being orderly. Queen Amina Hall then
used to house female students and then it
was always a privilege to have access to that
place. Not that you're going to have access
into the female rooms in Queen Amina, but
at least at the reception, we call it Common
Room. There, you can easily have access to
your female friends at the common room.
Did you run after ladies at School?
Well, I will say that I didn't have a girlfriend
when I was at ABU.
You didn't club or get involved in any
social activity?
No I didn't. What I did then was to
probably engage in the local core school
politics. That's the student union politics.
I was the secretary of my Ilorin Emirate
student union and then I happened to be
a member of the student’s representative
assembly. I remember that being involved
in activism meant we had to undergo a
kind of peaceful demonstration, leaving
our campus in Zaria to Kaduna to visit
the British Council and the American
consulate In Kaduna. It was really a tense
atmosphere then: I recall a confrontation
with Armored Police Vehicles, Ambulance,
stern looking cops on horseback at every
turn because maybe the law enforcement
agents at the time wanted to intimidate
us, to disabuse our minds of any form of
violence. After our protest, I think in 1981
or 1982, we went back to the campus. I
engaged in, cultural things too - things that
had to do with my learning.
Is there any experience that remains
indelible in your mind that you can't
forget as a student of ABU?
I can recollect an incident that happened
in my first year. It was not totally a kind of
student crisis, but it would lead to that. The
then school administration was able to nip
it in the bud. It didn't lead to the closure
of the school, but I think it was something
that everybody was worried about that
if it was not properly managed, it would
have led into the closure. So I must say
that throughout my three years in ABU,
we never had school closure.
We were on the brink of closure of the
premises, but the school authority took a
mature stance that enabled dialogue with
the student representatives and we came
out of it stronger and there was no crisis.
So when you see schools now being closed
68 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
for six months, almost a year, it's sad. My
recollection of my time at ABU was that
we had hitch free sessions and I think it
helped most of us a lot. I got in to starting
my degree in 1981 and I finished 1984 on
time. So that was one thing I think I mostly
talk about.
As a technocrat and a great administrator,
what's your advice to people who find it
difficult to turn their ideas into great
opportunities?
If you find yourself adrift of your
convictions, you must urgently adjust
yourself, retrace your steps, and then go
back and do what you believe in. Personally,
this is of the utmost importance. If you
have passion in what you do, I think the
sky is the beginning for you because if you
don't have interest in what you're doing,
there's no way you can take it to the highest
level. I must say this because we had a very
solid foundation maybe from the family
to my alma mater, ABU was a citadel of
knowledge and looking at the products of
ABU you cannot but believe me.
For instance, Professor Ibrahim Gambari
became a minister and also an ambassador
to United Nations. So if you see that kind
of personality who touches you and then
made the best of their career, you will
always want to emulate them. Hence, what
I am trying to say is that those aspiring
should aspire to the utmost and let their
passion drive their ambition in terms of
ensuring that they are doing the thing they
believe in and they have interest in. If you
have interest in it, no matter what it is, you
can get to the pinnacle of your profession.
You see some people, they will study
history, they study language and they are
really up there distinguishing themselves
in their careers because they wanted to be
the best they could be. You've seen it, I've
seen it happen.
Of recent, a professor of literature died,
he used to be a professor in Canada. He
died, but if you look at where he started,
you will see that it was from a humble
beginning. In spite of this and because he
had that passion, he followed his career,
he led his life and he accomplished much
in his life. Peer group influence is equally
important, but it's always good to really
have good influence, not the unhealthy
ones. I remember my final years at ABU,
when I was leaving the university, we had
some groups, they were just into intellectual
adventure, you know, we wanted to read
many books. The reading culture was very
high.
So if you study, you know very well that
it will definitely enhance your knowledge
base and that helped us a lot. It made it
possible for us to be the best we could be.
By the time I left the university and I went
for National Service, I knew I had potential
because I could write very well. I could talk
about some other areas outside my field. In
our small groups during service, we would
talk about international politics and read
numerous memoirs, read a lot of books on
chess, geography, science and other topics.
No knowledge is lost. So at the end of the
day, it really impacted on my career. I found
chess to be intellectually stimulating. In
fact, I played chess for UNILORIN at the
NUGA games!
You may see someone that is in a family
of lawyers or judges, and decides not to be
one, and may decide on finding himself
in another field. But because he believes
in what he's doing, he’ll end up coming
out outstanding. If you look at people like
late Justice Oputa’s son, Charly Boy, Legal
Luminary, Femi Falana's son, Folarin Falana
(Falz), they decided to just follow their own
interests, whether one likes it or not. At
least they carved a niche for themselves.
They made names for themselves outside
family influence because they believed in
their craft and the upshot is that they are
doing well. So that's my advice. Whatever
you decide to do in life, do it well and then
ensure that you put your best into it.
Is there any book you're reading
presently?
Actually, yes I am. I'm reading Michelle
Obama's autobiography, “Becoming.” I've
just started and the take away from it, I
would say is that this is a woman from a
middle class American family, and from
day one she and her brother were taught
to believe in themselves, to really make
sure that they would not be bullied on the
basis of race or gender. The first thing I
discovered in that book is that a woman
must stand up to bullies. She should believe
in herself. She must believe that she can
be the best of what she could be. I think
she proved that herself even with the odds
stacked against her. She went to an Ivy
League School, Harvard University and

eventually practiced Law in one of the
biggest law firms in Chicago where she met
her husband! We are talking about one of
the most powerful and charming first ladies
in the world.
I follow American politics and with
nostalgia I still remember Michelle Obama’s
speech at Hillary Clinton's Presidential
Convention night and it resonated. I will
not say that she overshadowed the main
personality there, but her speech was
powerful and rousing. That's when she said,
when they go low, we go high. I can say that
the substance of many great people like
Michelle Obama isn’t an overnight event;
it's something that you build over time.
What were those values you have learned
as a child and you're passing onto your
children now?
I learnt the value of honesty, of high
integrity, of discipline and equally being
of good behavior in terms of leading by
example. I have always said to people,
there's a need to form a relationship
with your children to make sure that
you communicate with them and then
tell them things. My mom was a strong
disciplinarian when we were growing up,
she would tell me not to go near drugs,
especially Indian hemp. She'll say that if
you get near Indian hemp, you're going
to get mad. Psychologically, as children,
we are gullible. We take everything on a
surface level. That's why you don't expose
children to all these movies, especially the
bad ones.
I believed up to the time I left the
university that if I should even try Indian
hemp, I'll run mad. If my mom had not told
me that, maybe I would have tried it and
would have led to another thing because
I had some people around me that were
indulging in it but because my mother
had cautioned me, I never went near it. It
saved me and saved my career. My mother
being a disciplinarian transferred that to
me to make sure that I communicate with
my children, to make sure that I teach
them good values that will definitely help
to shape their life and bring them up to
become great, like their parents.
Well, I think in life, what I normally
say is when you have very strong moral
values in terms of the way you're brought
up, there's no way you'll take your moral
values without religious values. Where I am
from, if you look at Ilorin cultural values,
it's woven into our Islamic values. There
is a saying in my own place by the clergy
people, whilst praying for you they say,
"May God save you from seeing yourself
as someone who is important.” What this
means is that everywhere you find yourself,
you should know very well that it was just
by God's grace and mercy that brought you
to that place. A thousand and one people
are equally qualified to be there just like
the seat I am holding here. I mean it's only
when you don't have shame that you will
say, yes I'm the one that should be there.
Definitely, there will be other people who
are equally or more qualified to be in that
position. You should know nobody in life
is indispensable. The moment you realize
that, you know very well that you are
nothing; you are just a creation of God. So
you need to be humble and prepared to give
your best so that you can impact on your
environment and leave your environment a
better place than you met it. That has been
my principle. I'm worried and sensitive to
what people say about me in terms of how
I have impacted fellow human beings in
life. I think it's very important.
What does the word integrity mean to
you?
It means a lot, everything actually. I must
go back historically. My name is Ahmadu,
but I try to relate it as Ahmed, to reflect
modern interpretation of what the name
means. My father named me Ahmadu.
He named me after the Premier of the
northern region. They believed in the
Premier because he had two things. He was
just in his dealings with the people. He was
the DO in Katsina. He was an Ilorin man
going on to be DO in Katsina where you
have one of the strongest emirates. They
believed in the Premier and that was why
he named me Ahmadu. Throughout my
father's life, he would not call me Bolaji,
that's my middle name but he would call
me Ahmadu Sardauna.
He made us believe that the Premier
through leadership taught them to have
integrity. Growing up, either when I was
in ABU or when I left the University, if you
look at the Premier, I don't think anybody
had shown me this is the mansion the
premier had, all his life. That tells a story.
I’m saying we should learn from those
who have distinguished themselves. If you
look at some of our early leaders, they led
exemplary lives with high levels of integrity.
If we had followed suit, I don't think we'll
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 69
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
find ourselves where we are now. I believe
that there was a time in this country, if you
had an extra house, you may not be able
to show it out of shame. If you brought a
new vehicle, they will first ask you where
you got the vehicle. If they knew that your
source of income could not afford it, they
would stay away from you. That was the
level of moral standards back in the day.
Indeed, the society encouraged you to be
of high integrity.
My father used to tell me, one thing that
he owed us his children was education.
Anything outside that, go and fight for your
life and that was what he did throughout
his life and it helped us a lot. When I was
in the university, he never allowed me
have extra clothing, because he believed
that if you had all things, you would not
be able to face your studies. It was when I
grew up I started imbibing all those things.
So what I'm saying is, to be a person of
high integrity is exceedingly important. It
defines a man.
It defines your profile and is something
that you have to leave for future generations,
to talk about you. If you are of high integrity,
they will always talk about you, if you're of
low integrity, they will always talk about
you. In life, everything is ephemeral. It's
just vanity, whether you live long or you
don't, you're going to leave everything.
You can learn from the fact that integrity
pays because people would always see
you as a role model. So I think integrity
is something which we should inculcate
even in our school curricular, in terms of
teaching people moral values, teaching
people how to live a good life and selfless
life. I think if we can achieve that, I think
we'll definitely be moving towards having
a very prosperous and great nation.
What's your advice to students of your
alma mater?
I’ll tell them that they should aspire towards
their dreams, to be good students of Great
Ahmadu Bello University. My advice to
them is, you see, there are stages in life.
I remember about a time before we left
the university, graduates would have job
waiting for them. They would have official
cars waiting for them. My advice is they
can still be the best of what they can be by
putting in hardwork, by ensuring that they
are highly disciplined and by really being
patriotic. If they are patriotic, believe in
Nigeria, work for the growth of Nigeria,
definitely the sky is their limit. Hard work
gives everything. After you finish school,
you know you're just about to start. Let
the training you got at school translate
to something you can put to practice in
your life. I believe the students have great
prospects and Nigeria would profit from
this.
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

ABU, Zaria was

a mini Nigeria
where we were
well trained
- Arch. Abdul-Rahim
Abdul-Karim

A
rchitect Abdul-Karim Ola Abdul-
Rahim is one of the foremost architect
n Nigeria. After meritorious service in
the Federal Housing Authority, he set up
his own firm - AKMAS Integrated Solutions - an
architectural consultancy, project management as
well as instruction.
In this special interview, he speaks on his
recognition by Black Heritage Magazine as one of
the foremost alumni of prestigious Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU) Zaria. Read on:

Tell us about your career and growing up?
I retired as the Deputy General Manager (Design and
Implementation) with the Federal Housing Authority, Abuja.
I hail from Ilorin, in Ilorin West Local Government Area of
Kwara State. I was born on 17th May 1953, at Igbara-Odo-
Ekiti in Ekiti State where I started my educational pursuits in
primary, secondary and modern school.
I attended Government Secondary Technical School,
Kontagora in Niger State and obtained my West African
School Certificate in June 1973. I proceeded to the School of
Basic Studies, Zaria between January 1974 and 1975, where
I obtained the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB)
Examination Certificate. I hold a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. Degrees in
Architecture from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria in 1978 and 1980 respectively.
I am a member of several professional bodies such as
Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Architects’ Registration
Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and Society of Construction
Industry Arbitrators (SCIArb). I have also won some
professional, religious and trade union awards such as, ARCON
Recognition, Islamic Welfare Foundation and Amalgamated
Union of Public Co-operations, Civil Service Technical &
Recreation Service Employees (AUPCTRE).
I have had vast work experience in both the private and
public sectors. I started my career with teaching Architecture
at the then Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta during my
70 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
NYSC assignment between 1980 and 1981. Thereafter, I started
working with Messrs Allied Architects at Ibadan from 1981 to
1982. It was a highly paid job then.
I joined the Service of Kwara State Government in July 1982
as Architect I in the Ministry of Works and Transport and rose
to the rank of Assistant Director (Architecture & Building). I
was the Superintendent Architect in charge of the Maintenance
of the State Government residential buildings within Ilorin
Metropolis from 1987 to 1991. On secondment, I was appointed
Project Officer (Infrastructure) for the Federal Government/
European Economic Community (EEC) sponsored Middle
Belt Programme (1991 – 1996). The programme constructed
basic health, adult education and women centres as well as
design and implementation of rural social infrastructure such
as cottage industries, livestock/open market stalls, incinerator,
V.I.P latrines, sanitary wells and borehole drilling in various
locations in Kwara and western parts of Kogi State.
I joined Federal Housing Authority in 1996 as Chief
Architect. I was Zonal Manager (Benin Zone) coordinating/
supervising FHA construction works covering Ondo, Delta,
Edo, Osun and Ekiti States between 2000 and 2001. I was the
Project Manager, FHA Lugbe Housing Estate, Abuja (2001-
2005), Project Manager/Secretary Ministerial Task Force for
the Completion of FHA Obada-Oko Housing Estate, Abeokuta,
Ogun State (2005-2006) and DGM/Head Architecture Unit,
FHA HQ 2007 til I retired. In all these, I provided outstanding
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

“I
didn’t plan to study Architecture in the first
instance; I did Mathematics, Geography
and Physics at my A' Level. What prompted my
interest in the course then was that whenever I
saw an architect passing by or demonstrating their
professional prowess, I was always amazed.”
Would you now say the training you got at ABU contributed
to your success in life?
Of course, yes! Architecture made me a successful man; I can
specifically attribute my breakthrough in life to the decision
I made to study Architecture at the ABU. We had the best
training anybody can get anywhere in the world, that’s the
reason why we have so many ABU graduates of architecture
that are doing well and successful both nationally and
internationally

While in the university, did you belong to any social club or

leadership to my colleagues and equally promoted and
encouraged teamwork as well as delegation of duties.
I can also recall that I served as Board Member of Kwara
State Town Planning and Development Authority between 1992
and 1994, Council Member, Architects’ Registration Council
of Nigeria between 2007 and 2010. I was also a member of
Vision 20:20 Thematic Working Group on Housing from July to
September 2009.
I had used my professional skills to assist in carrying out
some community, religious and social projects. Some of these
include design, construction and supervision of the completion
of the Emir of Ilorin Palace Entrance Façade & Reception
Gallery; Ilorin Foundation City Hall Complex, University of
Ilorin Juma'at Mosque; Onishesin, Olosa, Ita Ajia & many other
Mosques all in Ilorin Kwara State.
I am married to Mrs. Rafat Aduke Abdulrahim and blessed
with children among them are a medical doctor, education
manager and engineer.
engage in religion activities?
I think I belonged to one of the elite clubs on campus, I can’t
really remember the name of the club now. During our time,
we had limited numbers of ladies so as a result of that, most of
them would always prefer to befriend most of our members.
I also belonged to the Muslim Union, the MSSN and Ilorin
Emirate Union which later metamorphosed into various local
government unions in Kwara State.
Did you meet your wife in ABU?
No, I didn’t meet my wife in ABU. She was a nurse at the Kwara
State School of Nursing, Ilorin when I met her but we are from
the same town. Coincidentally, two of us were born in Ekiti
State where our parents lived. 

Why did you opt to study in ABU, Zaria?

Naturally, my choice would be ABU since my catchment area
belongs to the Northern region. All my peers actually applied
to study at ABU and I also did same. I got the form of the
School of Basic Studies, I filled it, submitted and ABU gave me
admission. So there wasn’t any reason for me to go to any other
universities except ABU. We were well trained in ABU. We had
best time as students.

So why did you choose to study Architecture?

To be sincere with you, God destined it. I didn’t plan to study
Architecture in the first instance; I did Mathematics, Geography
and Physics at my A' Level. What prompted my interest in
the course then was that whenever I saw an architect passing
by or demonstrating their professional prowess, I was always
amazed. I liked their creativity. Although my thought was that
Architecture was a very simple course but by the time I enrolled
and became part and parcel of it, I realized that it wasn’t easy.
I was looking at Architecture like Mathematics but it wasn’t, it
was a very challenging course got me and one must be versatile.

Do you still remember some of your classmates in ABU?

I have many of them; somebody like Architect Ibrahim Gaya,
the former governor of Kano State was my classmate in the
School of Architecture. There is Architect Waheed Brimoh who
rose to become president of the Nigerian Institute of Architects.
In my state, Kwara, I have Architect Ayo Bello who is doing
fantastically well, former Nigeria’s Vice President, Architect
Namadi Sambo was two years my senior in ABU. We have so
many of them that I can’t remember now.

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 71

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 Is there a particular experience that remains indelible in integrity. People should know you for what you stand for. They
your mind? can vouch for you. Someone can maintain professional ethics
There are so many incidents that I can’t recollect now, but the without compromising his integrity. My life so far, people can
one that readily comes to my mind was the Dimka Coup of testify to the kind of person I am.
1976. The news of the coup started like rumor and everybody
had to scamper for safety, we had student’s demonstration as If you were to choose a university again, would you still
well as a result of the coup. choose ABU, Zaria or recommend it to your children and
Again another event that I cannot forget was the “Ali Must grandchildren?
Go Riot”. We were protesting against the cost of so many things That question is not a difficult question at all. But you know
with regards to education. Police came and dispersed us and situation has changed generally. You know there was no JAMB
all that. Most of the students escaped through the dam at the during our own time. You only applied to various schools,
back of ABU. We used trailers to block the major road in front and then you know we were not so many. So somebody can
of ABU and when the authority felt that police could no longer be picked at ABU, at UI and others at the same time. SBS is
keep us under control, they called for soldiers and when they equivalent to A' Level. Once you have your A' Level, you would
came, the situation became tensed and they were beating us and be admitted straight into the department of your choice. At our
did all sort of things. But you can’t compare military with the time, it was 6-5-3 - 6 years in primary school, 5 in secondary
police, military were more tactical in handling us. school, another 2 years in higher school, and then three years in
the university. Today, the basic aspect of it has been eliminated.
What are the lessons you learnt as a child that you are And if any of my children has an opportunity to go to study
passing to your children? at ABU, fine. One of my children who had his B.Sc. at the
To start with, I thank God Almighty that I was born a Muslim. University of Ilorin, had his Masters at Federal University
Islam taught us everything about life, including how to take of Technology, Minna, is currently undergoing his PhD in
care of the children; it has been stated in the Holy Quran. All ABU. He's an engineer. I enjoyed the school, I enjoyed the
the good virtues and characters that my father taught me had environment. In fact, ABU was a mini Nigeria.
been graciously transferred to my children, they know the right
thing to do all the time. Your piece of advice to the present students of ABU?
I would like to zero my answer down to the students of
What does integrity mean to you? Architecture. My advice is that everybody should take his job
Integrity means a lot to me because one must be known with a seriously. Do your work promptly. Don't allow assignments
certain trait and character. If you have integrity, your yes must to accumulate. And only the best is good enough. Don't be
be yes, if you have integrity, you must not indulge in shameful stupidly selfish. Architecture is not Mathematics whereby you
acts. You must always consider weight of your action before don't want someone to see what you're doing. The more you
taking steps. You must be seen to be upright and just. allow yourself to be criticized, the better for your job.
I give you an example, while I was still at the FHA, one of
our contractors tried all he could to bribe me so I could allow
him to reduce the quality of the job he has been paid for but
I refused. He had bragged that no one could stop him from
doing what he liked, he sent me N30,000 and I told the person
that brought it pointblank that I would not take it the money.
I directed him to tell the contractor to meet me at the site so
that we could inspect the job together. The contractor became
annoyed, he threatened that he would use his power to send me
out of FHA and I challenged him to go ahead.
But for God that was on my side, each time the FHA Team
decided to come and inspect the site he always met me on
site too. So he felt I was making life difficult for him by not
cooperating to do what he liked. To cut the long story short, the
report I submitted to the MD of the FHA then was endorsed
and he was forced to do the right they.
Much later, after I had made him do the right thing, this man
did not send anybody to me again, he just asked me to come
and inspect his site again. He gave me something that was more
than double the same money he was offering and making noise
about the other time. That's my own interpretation of integrity.
Even when the management was having problem with the
man over some partnership issues, I was the one sent to go and
mediate.
Immediately the man saw me, he said "Na you they send
come?" He knew that I was not going to fight and was not
going to behave unruly, but I would ensure that what must be
done must be done properly. That's my own way of looking at
72 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

Could you start by telling us the history of your early years
and academic background?
My name is Mukhtar Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. I'm one of the sons
of the late Prime Minister, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. I
was an undergraduate at ABU from 1973 to 1976, where I studied
sociology. I also taught sociology at the College of Arts, Bauchi.
I've been a student of Arabic and Islamic studies in Saudi Arabia
and Egypt for three years. I have these two complementary sides.
Sociology as a social science trains us to understand society. Of
course, it's supposed to give us the tools for building a better
society. Religion does the same thing. So they merge in my life
and my lifestyle. Basically, one is a social builder. In the process,
in 2003, President Obasanjo brought me on board as a Special
Assistant on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. I learnt so much
from him. He is a man of power; a man of vision; a very strong
Nigerian; a person with incredible gifts of leadership. He mentored
me very much. He has a style. It's a rare style. He's a real 'Egbon.'
In the process, I got to know how industries, especially, the small
and medium scale industries were organized (and disorganized at
the same time). It's sad that simple things like electricity stopped
Nigeria from being a great nation. Since the year 2000, few men
have done a lot to improve the situation, though we do what we
can under the circumstances.
It was a great honour to be in university in Nigeria during the
1970s, especially in our period. We were not affected by the crisis of
strikes, which plagued the system for the next 20 years. By the time
we graduated, it was still quite sane. We had one or two strikes,
but it wasn't as bad as it became later. Teachers were well paid.
We were being fed - 20 kobo for breakfast. You'd go into the hall
and have your pap and akara. For lunch you had a choice between
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
ABU is an
embodiment of
true knowledge
- Mallam Mukhtar
Abubakar Tafawa
Balewa
M
allam Mukhtar Abubakar Tafawa
Balewa is one of the sons of the
Nigeria’s late Prime Minister, Alhaji
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, He
spoke extensively on his illustrious family, national
issues and fond memories of his student days at
the famous Ahmadu Bello University (ABU).
fish and chicken. On weekends, we had an orange or an apple.
You'd pour your own tea. It's now just a dream. The way things
have gone, we pray definitely, the government will pay attention
to the educational system - the whole system, anyway. We need
to have a foundation from primary school to university for you
to be able to make an impact. Fortunately, when I was teaching
in the college of arts, early in the day, in Bauchi, I found out that
the level of foundational education for people who had finished
secondary school left much to be desired. They were coming to
take their IJMB for admission into university, but after two years,
some of them who were doing Arts could still not spell. That sort
of degeneration was so sickening. To think we actually read Karl
Marx and others and had to make comments on them and then
write our theses on them. 10 to 15 years later, everything had
evaporated. Foreign lecturers had gone. The system had collapsed.
I think the educational virus which hit us and rid us of that energy,
is the biggest crisis of the country over the years. We want to see
a new Nigeria coming. It's a mantra. If we all don't do something,
nothing is going to change.
What ABU has actually contributed to me and many others,
which we have not lost, is the ability to see through any situation,
to crack any code. However, either it was in engineering or social
sciences, or in any field. Even if it was music, it was to get to the
heart and soul of whatever one was doing. When they did national
arts festival, that's Festac, and built the national arts theatre, it tells
you that the country, culturally, was moving very fast. Look at us
thirty years later. It tells you of a country that has abandoned its
image and ego of what it was in the past and became something
else.
I think because we lost that critical intellectual element that
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 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 kept us going, today, we have fallen
apart. Boko Haram is an expression of
ignorance, and failure of society to actually
address the problems of its youth. I will
also add that increasing poverty and our
borders becoming quite porous have had
major negative effects. The people on all
sides of the border used to come to Nigeria
to trade but, now there's nothing really left
to trade in but crime. That’s the reason why
those (smart) boys who are into crime, if
they could find legitimate avenues, this
country would be in a better situation.
The patents alone that we could get from
information technology, on apps and so on
would really mean well for us.
My training in ABU was definitely a life
changer because I came from a western
background having left Nigeria four
months before the assassination of the
late Prime Minister. He sent my younger
brother, Sadiq, who is a media consultant
and I to the UK, having himself studied
in England during the war years. There he
saw how the British managed their society
despite the distractions that became the
lot of the country. He saw the formidable
results of their hardwork, patriotism, and
resilience. In a nutshell, having studied in
the West and come back to Nigeria, it honed
one’s skills. The West is very critical. They
won't take you at face value. I was told one
of our former Ministers; the late Ransom-
Kuti was employed at the UN after being
minister. They’d given him a computer on
his desk, a cabinet and so on, and he took
his jacket off, hung it on the rack and asked
'where is the secretary?' They said, "That is
your secretary" So they were expecting him
to type by himself. That was a professor of
medicine and former minister. You know
there was no 'I am somebody' attitude. I
look forward to a day when Nigeria would
be like that.
We are blessed. Our greatest blessing
is our people but unfortunately because
there has been so much loosening of the
strings that have bound us together; we’re
slowly disbanding. We failed to manage our
opportunities. We are lost in our minds.
It is a mind that has become blind that
will not see. Unfortunately, this is where
we are. We look forward to a new Nigeria
because so far I think we are still in post-
colonial phase. We are still looking to our
colonial masters in Europe. Remember
that the Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, and
Indians have escaped, when even the
Brazilians escaped from colonial mentality.
Even Rwanda is escaping from colonial
mentality. We still have our chains invisibly
74 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
tied to us. I think we have a lot to do. I really
hope we stop depending on government
and put our resources together to build a
better country.
We need visionary leaders. In fact if
we had just one visionary leader who has
experience in governance, who has a track
record of integrity, who sacrifices his life
for his country, then like it happened in
other countries, Nigeria would become
great again.
Why is it difficult that the pre-colonial
Nigerian leaders are more of men of
competence, character, integrity than the
group of leaders we have around us now?
If you put a mad man in a straight jacket
and his hands are tied behind his back, so
he cannot move around his head or hands
himself, it's a straight jacket to contain his
violence. But if you put a straight jacket on
a sane person, it is a constraint on his sanity.
We have taken all the traces of freedom
from the people and straight jacketed them.
We've taken the education away from them,
we've taken the financial resources away
from them, we've taken electricity, hope,
and belief in the country where everybody
remembers with pride, their green, white
and green flag. I don't think many children
have as much attachment to Nigeria as
in the past. We have to give back those
“I t is sad and inconceivable
that some hooligans would
come and divide the country
for their selfish means and then
in the end, everybody ends up
regretting.”
basics that defined us as a people for the
community, for Nigeria, to become sane
again. We are locked up psychologically in
a deep well. If you keep thinking, you're just
going to sink deeper, with no end in sight.
Our academics need more support.
Universities need to be brought up to speed.
We need proper vision. Our secondary
schools have to be competitive. If you look
at what India is doing, you will marvel at
their level of quality of manpower; the
doctors, the scientists and so on. See what's
happening in Zamfara. So we're in a funny
situation.
Nigerians have the potential to take this
country to a very different trajectory. We
ask God Almighty to make it possible for
that to happen, that the sun should now
begin to shine. It is sad and inconceivable
that some hooligans would come and
divide the country for their selfish means
and then in the end, everybody ends up
regretting. One hand does not raise a roof.
Nigeria is a very strange mixture. We must
set aside our many polarities and move
forward together.
Meaning problems we found ourselves
in was caused by our leaders?
Exactly! That’s because they wanted our
oil and had no interest in the country. It
would be strange if there was a marriage
and people gathered for the bride and
groom, suddenly the bride and groom
come and then the groom sees another
woman, while he's about to marry this
woman, he now says, I don't know o, can
I go ahead with this marriage. Suddenly,
when they are about to say do you take this
lady as your wife; he grabs the other one
and tells the officiating minister, I want to
marry this one. That's what is happening in
our country. Ditching the country, they've
chosen money. That's our biggest problem.
What do you remember about your
father, the late Prime Minister?
Well, you see my old man was a public
figure so I didn't see very much of him
growing up. But I know that as a father, of
course he was very responsible to me. I was
ten years old the last time I saw him. Then
we went off to England and four months
later he was dead. What I know about my
father was I regarded him like any normal
child would his kind father. I was a bit
precocious. I used to ask him questions
a bit deeper than an average ten year old.
One of them was, came up in 1965, when
there was a lot of unrest and he was being
criticized by opposition politicians, as a

lackey to his party president, that he was
too weak and so on. So I met him one day
and confronted him, he was sick with food
poisoning, for a few days. I met him and
stood by his bed, and I said "Baba, why
don't you resign and leave this job?" So he
said "I'm doing it for my country". Those
were his words. So if my ten year old boy
asks me the same question today, and I was
to give him an answer, I'd never look at him
the same way again. There's a certain level
of concern on one side, and understanding
on the other side. Now that I look back at
our relationship, I would like to imagine
that it was quite special. But all of us had
individual connections. He was an open
man. He was a teacher. He saw what he
saw in each of us and related with us at
our various levels. He wanted my sisters
to get good education, and they did. Those
who were not married early are graduates
and so on. I think I was too tender to be
able to understand him as a leader and as
a politician. But there was this respect for
his aura as a solid person who was always
there for you at all times. When he spoke,
even you as a child knew he was saying
something of meaning. Looking back at
it, you'd say "Wow that was a meaningful
education.” Because it's like seeds were
being planted within you by the man.
Later on, when the tree blossomed, you
saw that you were left with a garden. He
left the seeds and later the trees came to
blossom. May God have mercy upon him
and grant him paradise.
Nigeria, again also realizes what it lost.
It was a whole generation of leaders who
went. It was a whole legacy that left and we
still are mourning their loss. However, our
country never remained the same. When
you take the blood of innocent people,
there can be no peace. We cannot sleep
anymore. Our conscience is haunting us.
If we have learnt anything from 1966, it
is that one strong indivisible country is
better than a pack of tribes. We're falling
apart and everybody wants to go their own
nationalistic way.
What can you say about the
administration
Muhammadu Buhari?
of President
President Muhammadu Buhari is a soldier
first and foremost, retired, but still a soldier.
He's principled, he's disciplined, and he
has good intentions for Nigeria. However,
everybody sees that just one man, one hand
cannot raise a roof. Unfortunately there
are people who come on the entourage of
a leader, who are there only for themselves.
Let me add that they know themselves.
They block progress. They channel
opportunities and wealth to themselves.
That's honestly Nigeria's problem. The
President must work hard for the next four
years to see that Nigeria becomes a country
that is functioning. Functioning ministries,
functioning ministers, functioning system,
and you can only do that by finding the
right people who have similar discipline
and passion for the country to be great.
Otherwise, it would be the same old story.
You spoke glowingly about Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo earlier; some people
have the opinion that he's a corrupt
man?
To me, Obasanjo is an Egbon. I have
the greatest respect for him. Everybody
who comes to rule must have something
peculiar about him that other people, in
hindsight, in history may wish to criticize,
but it's either you criticize this side of a
football or that side of a football, but it's
still a football. They are all leaders, it's the
same ball. You'll find one or two traits in
every one of them which are the same. God
gives power to whomever he wishes. For
example, whoever thought Umar Musa
“L et he who is without sin
be the one to cast the
first stone. We should stop being
hypocritical and face facts. But
as far as attitude is concerned,
to power itself, Obasanjo was
like a lion. He'll take his share
whether you like it or not.”
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 75
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
Yar’adua would become President, and
then Goodluck Jonathan after him, and
then after him Buhari would come. When
anyone becomes President, just take him
as he is. Constitutionally, there are ways to
check and balance. We have the national
assembly to decide.
Let he who is without sin be the one to
cast the first stone. We should stop being
hypocritical and face facts. But as far as
attitude is concerned, to power itself,
Obasanjo was like a lion. He'll take his
share whether you like it or not. He'll take
it from you. He's a powerful man. Another
man would be waiting for something to
happen. Another man would be planning
for something to happen, another man
would not even be there, and everybody
comes with his own character. We've seen
different characters in Nigerian leadership.
Sani Abacha was similar to Obasanjo. They
were professionals with methods of getting
things done.
The first lesson we were taught by
President Obasanjo which really endeared
him to me was the first thing, he said,
they taught him at officers’ training in
India. It was: “You must know what you
want”. If you don't know what you want,
nobody can help you. If Obasanjo had not
been the strong man that he is, he would
have crumbled long ago. The man keeps
bouncing back. In fact, we should tell him,
Baba, you're our father and mentor, please
stay out of government’s way. You had your
time, thank God for it. You had more than
enough. You're respected all over Africa, all
over the world, please don't shake the table.
We have things to respect Obasanjo for and
things to criticize him for. But he has things
that apart from Murtala Mohammed and
Abacha, I don't really see anybody who
had that strength and guts to lead. Our
most brilliant Head of State was Babangida,
but he never had the strength of Obasanjo.
Obasanjo is a phenomenon. He remains my
Egbon. One day I will tell him when we're
alone, please let it be. I'm sure he will take
it in his stride.
What do you want the present school
authority of ABU to do in order to move
the citadel forward?
There's a minister of education who is also
an ABU product. The thing is the vision is
more important. It's not about today and
tomorrow, it's about 20 years, 30 years.
What does Nigeria want to be in 50 years
time? The Japanese already know. The
Koreans, Indians, even Rwandans know.
So ABU must know!
 TUS ETUR, SAM QUI SANTORATEM

76 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

TUS ETUR, SAM QUI SANTORATEM

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 77

 D
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

Dr. (Mrs.) Hannatu

r. Mrs. Hannatu
Adamu Fika is no
doubt one of the

adamu Fika, OON eminent alumni

of the prestigious ABU, the
Executive Secretary of the

Wherever you go and Federal Government Staff

Housing Loan Board shared her
memorable experience with the

the system works well, magazine team. Excerpts

there must be ABU Let us start by asking you to tell us about

yourself and growing up?
Dr. Mrs. Hanatu Adamu Fika is now by the

alumni there grace of God, the Executive Secretary of

Federal Government Staff Housing Loans
Board. A Parastatal in the office of Head of
Civil Service of the Federation, we manage
the revolving fund in the public service to
enable them own their own homes. That’s
the official side of me.

On a Personal Note
Dr. Mrs. Hanatu Adamu Fika is a Nigerian
by Nationality. I came from Lassa, Askra
Uba Local Government of Borno State. I
am married to Dr. Mohamed Adamu Fika
in Yobe State, with children.

Educational Background
I went to Lassa Primary School, Senior
and Junior Primary School and exited in
class Six. I did my Secondary School in
Government Girls Secondary College,
Yola. I happen to have been one of the
first students of the Secondary School,
under then Adamawa Province. I went
for Higher School Certificate in Kano, in
Dalla Girls College. After which I went to
Ahmadu Bello University and graduated
in 1976 with a Bachelor Degree in History.

What was your interest in choosing

ABU as your institution of choice?
Well actually , in those days , [I didn’t ]
have to be interested in any University
because there was a system and partially
that Ahmadu Bello University was one of
the Pioneer Universities in Nigeria and
happened to have been in the region where
I was comfortable to go to School. Because
I remember very vividly, when we took
common entrance, when I was in class 6,
I was supposed to have gone to Lagos but
my mother was scared that Lagos was too
far from Adamawa Province and anything
could happen. And you know then, most
people had tribal marks as identification

78 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7


and I didn’t have any. And then for me to travel from one end of
Nigeria to another end just to go to school while there were a lot
of schools. My mother preferred me to go to Government Girls
Secondary School, Yola. So, maybe that made me to go to Ahmadu
Bello University which was in the North and you couldn’t have
blamed me because it was a familiar terrain and the language
spoken there was a language I understood and people who went
to the school with me were largely people from the North; so as a
smart girl then, I wouldn’t have opted to go to Ibadan or Nsukka.
This prepared my mind to go to Ahmadu Bello University.
What about your course of study, were you influenced by
anybody to study the course?
Nobody influenced me it’s by choice when I went for my Higher
School Certificate. I studied English, Geography and History. And
when I went to the University, for part one , you will be allowed to
continue the subject that you read for your HSC and in part 2, you
were supposed to specialized in one . So I opted to take History as
the subject I specialized on. It was just an interest I developed for
myself. Thereafter, I met my Husband who was also a Historian
with specialization in Nigerian History. We then tagged along and
became specialists in History. So actually, nobody influenced me
but may be in the later part of my life He (my husband) added
some encouragement.
Did you indulge in any social activities while in ABU?
Well, don’t forget that after my Higher School Certificate,
immediately I did part 1, I got married. As a young married
woman then, how much of social activities would I be involved in?
Even though I indulged, it was being part of the editorial team of
the college newspaper. That was all I did and faced my academic
pursuits and my family responsibilities. I wouldn’t have left my
babies to go to class because I couldn’t attend classes.
You met your husband before you were admitted into ABU?
Well, we met when I was in Dalla and later in ABU where the
relationship became serious.
Is there an experience that remains indelible in your mind
from the institution?
Well I remember at that time, all these issues of Ali must go? The
students never wanted to go to NYSC, and thereafter, our lectures
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
joined ASUU to protest that students shouldn’t go for NYSC
and so on and so forth. I also remember then, the issue was very
strict and then I was already married. So there was this directive
from the University administration that any lecturer who joined
students to protest against the rules of government or students
after graduation from university, those who had taken loan to
build should drop their houses or pay and vacate their homes.
Most lectures then were provided accommodation then. And you
know lectures in the universities then were very ethical. Besides
their salary they had nothing to fall back on. They couldn’t farm,
do business, sell hand out and so on. So they left students hanging,
pulled out of the demonstration which was very indelible from my
mind when I compare the university system then and that of today.
So how can you describe the experience of social welfare and
other benefits to students then?
You know even if you had gone to Polytechnic, you still remember
vividly what we were calling (regalia). All I can talk, about the
Northern state is that all those who studied in the Northern
states went to school free of charge. In addition to that, we had
allowances that we called ‘fidilia’. So, we were being sponsored
by government our parents didn’t have to stress themselves with
sending us to school because, those of us who were girls, in HSC,
the state government in the North then would provide vehicles
for us to go as far as Kano to bring us to and from school. The
vehicles come to our homes to pick us when it is time to go back
to school. That move ensured that, especially girls and including
boys were very safe. Our native authorities then were very efficient
and effective.
When citizens pay taxes, the taxes still came back to us. Nobody
was hiding from paying taxes because the taxes metamorphosed
into school fees for their children The health facilities for every
citizen were provided, they were all part of the welfare.
And when it came to food, we had three –square meals and
one can understand that because the population wasn’t as large
as today’s but still there were quite a sizable number of us who
went to river sites and when it was time to eat , we just head to
the dining hall.
As time went on, sometimes, we started to pay for our meals and
then the payment was with a ticket and because you’ve bought one,
you just head to dining with your tray, take plates to the service
point and collect your meal, come back, sit and eat and you will be
very satisfied. We had a lot of time to concentrate on our studies
and that was what happened.
Would you now say that the training you had in the ABU
actually contributed to your success in life?
Of course, it was a disciplined school, if you don’t read you either
pass or fail and there are no two ways about it. So we had no option
than to be bookworms that was what we used to call it. If you read
very well, you will pass.
Again, another thing was that we were serious students and
before you know it, government gave us something and we wanted
to give back something in return. So we had no option except
to take what took us there very serious. And our lectures, quite
a number of them were good and you know they would not
compromise. We understand that if you come to school, you must
read. And we had serious lecturers. Quite a number of Nigerians
were lecturers. And you know my husband was a lecturer and
he is a Nigerian. So there were a quite number of them and were
really serious. And we wish we could have those types now in
education. Apart from being educated in Nigeria, this government
also trained them abroad to study and they came back to impact
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 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 into the students.
What will be your lasting legacy as you leave this appointment?
Do you still re-connect with some of your class mates? I tried my best here by setting example for the public servants I
Yes I have plenty of them. worked for as admin officer. We have tried within the available
means to ensure that we implement the numerous interventions
Can you mention some? which is our legacy.
Well, the chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission was I want to be remembered as the woman at the helm of affairs of
one; we have one of the Judges of court of Appeal, Barr. Sabo was the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board who made it
one of my class mates. Some of them are deceased. her responsibility to deliver. Who ensured she did her best to put
Coming to the women, I know Zainab Dasuki was one, Hauwal smiles on the faces of public servants so that they own their own
Abashi, you know they were quite a number of them and Dr homes, with member of their family. I also want to be remembered
Chekira , who exited as the Chairman of the Federal Character as officer who tried as much as possible to work with her staff as
Commission was my class mate. Lawal Ubea, I think he is still a team without trying to care who comes from Borno or from
connected with the NNPC , was my class mate , Haruba Baani , Bayelsa, or from Lagos or Ogun State. We are here as a family.
one time Director general of NDE. There are quite a number of Our tribe is Nigeria and so on.
them. I may not be able to mention all of them but they are much.
What are those values you have learnt as a child from your
What will be your advice to people who find it extremely parents and will like to pass on to your children and grand
difficult to follow their passion and turn it into opportunities? children?
Well they have to try because, for me, I had turned my dream You know, when you talk about fear of God, and respect for your
into reality because when I was going to school, I wanted to be an in-laws. Once you fear God you will be a good citizen, and a good
admin officer. Admin officers then were very powerful, because citizen is somebody who respects elders and do the best in their
they dictate what happen in government since they were very ability to achieve whatever responsibility conferred upon them.
close to the powerful people; they implement the program of These are what I am impacting on my children. Quite a number
government. So with that when I graduated from school and of children out there are either into this or that. But I give glory
during our time, to be an Administrative Officer in those days, to God that my children don’t do any of those things.
they were in charge of districts as administrators. I dreamt of being My parents were civil servants and they brought us up as people
that. And I eventually became one, because after graduation, I who will grow to contribute their best to the society and that we
went for NYSC, served in my state Civil Service Commission and have tried to impact into our children, to be good citizens of
had a very fantastic report of performance from Chairman. After Nigeria.
my exit from NYSC I got a letter signed by my Chairman himself,
not the Secretary, and said I should be posted to the class room
to teach. I didn’t find it funny because all these people I mention
their names were my class mates and were given letters of admin
officers to go into divisions. Some went to Gusau, some to Bauchi,
some all over the North East. May be because I was a woman, I
was given a letter to teach in the class room.
I walked to the Chairman after sending a petition to the
Governor of the state, who happen to be the President of Federal
Republic of Nigeria now in person of President Muhammadu
Buhari asking questions why my class mates in the university
whom I completed NYSC together with were given appointment
letters and mine turned out to be” go to the classroom and teach”.
I walked to the Chairman and told him that I wasn’t interested
with teaching because I did not train as a teacher and I didn’t want
to be a failure. So, I took this to Governor of my state then and
happily, the Governor saw a reason in my petition and directed
them to also do me what was done to my classmates.
This actualized my dream of being an Admin officer which I
grew in the system from an Admin officer to a director, before I
retired in 2009 to take up this appointment which also is largely
administrative.

This will take us to the question of integrity what does the

word integrity mean to you?
The word means ability to be sincere, transparent, fear of God,
think of the implications of what happens if you do not do things
the right way. How does it affect you, your spouse, your children,
and the larger society; This is my knowledge about integrity and
the fear of God, plays a key role in the issue of integrity because
in the various religions that we have, in Nigeria, if you fear God
you have to think of the implication of the things you do which
is very ethical. So this is my understanding.
80 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
What is your advice to the present students of ABU, especially
from your department?
Well, they should continue to carry the flag high, so that the
University will continue to be the best in Nigeria, because it is
ABU, then others. Wherever you go and the system works well,
there must be ABU alumni there. They should continue to carry
the flag which we have carried from our predecessors so that they
can always contribute positively to the development of Nigeria.

Could you let us into your growing up years?
Let me start by saying that I was born in one sleepy village
called Samaru Kataf in Zongo Kataf local government of
southern Kaduna state on May 15, 1958. I was 61 this year. I
was born to a very humble family, my father was a farmer, and
my mother was a full time house wife. I lost my father about
50 years ago when I was just about 11 years old. That left my
mother in charge of taking care of four of us. Incidentally, my
mother died January 16 this year at the age of over 90. I started
my primary education in a missionary school built by the
catholic mission, St. Anthony’s Primary School Mabushi a few
kilometers from where I was born. I started my primary school
in January 1965 and went on for 7 years; left for secondary
school in 1971 and by special calling I gained admission into
what was called St. John's College, Kaduna (now Rimi College)
and then St. Joseph's Seminary, Zaria. Because my father had
died in 1969, there was nobody to pay my tuition then so I
decided to go to the seminary where they train Priests or Rev
fathers; the tuition there was highly subsidized.
I was there between 1972 and 1976 and because I was the
only male child of my parents, my mother insisted that I could
not continue with seminary studies since Priests do not marry.
So, I moved to School of Basic studies at the Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria in 1976 a school that was purposely set up by
the Northern states as a way of fastracking graduate education
in the North by picking smart young men that could complete
the A-levels in one year instead of the usual two years. I finished
from there and was admitted into the Faculty of Administration
on Kongo Campus of the ABU. I was there from 1977 to 1980
with the likes of the current minister of FCT Mal Mohammed
Bello, my governor – Mal Nasir el-Rufai, Alh M.K Ahmad,
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
If there is integrity
in this country, 90%
of our problems
will be solved
- Dr. John Markus Ayuba
Dr. John Markus Ayuba is a first class Honours
graduate of Business Administration from the
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 1980 and was the
British Petroleum prize winner for the outstanding
graduate in business administration that year. His
illustrious career saw him work as lecturer, banker
as well as being appointed as the Honourable
Commissioner for Finance in Kaduna State. Dr.
Ayuba belongs to several professional bodies. He
shared his ABU memories with the magazine.
Excerpts.
Mr Peters Abaagu and a host of others. After that, I did my
compulsory NYSC at Abusi Edumare Academy in Ijebu Igbo,
Ogun State, as a teacher; that was how I got interested in
teaching so when I went back to ABU for our convocation, one
of my lecturers, Prof Pandya of blessed memory asked me what
I was going to do after my NYSC.
I told him I was going to work in the private sector because
of my training and that I have had interviews with Unilever,
UTC and the likes. He said to me, my young man you will
never be a happy person. Let me advise you, you better come
back to academics. I asked him why and he said, ‘you have a
first class degree in business administration, if you go into a
private organization, your friends will envy you and make life
hard for you. I didn't believe him even though I felt this old
man was telling me something about life. After the convocation,
I concluded my youth service, came back and first took up a
job with the Kaduna state ministry of commerce while I waited
for offers from the private sector. I worked there for about two
weeks but everyday I got to the office, there was nothing to do
but to read the newspapers. I just felt I was wasting away. So
one day I remembered the advice that Professor gave me, took a
trip from Kaduna to Zaria.
He was so excited to see me, and said ‘I told you!’ I told him
that no one is envying me where I am working and that they are
already preparing to pay me my first salary when I have spent
three months. He said, ‘my friend this is where you belong,
come back to academics.’ In August, I took up the teaching job
in my former department - business administration, I started
lecturing there in 1981. I remained there to December 1988 and
through that period, I did my masters degree and started my
Ph.D programme, rose to the position of Lecturer 1 but I had 
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 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 to leave the University because of certain challenges. us to understand that wherever you came from we were all
The politicization of the headships at ABU then was Nigerians. Where you came from did not matter and academic
very intriguing. Apart from that, this religious violence was competition was fierce but friendly. My journey into the private
beginning to rear its head in Kaduna state. There was a religious sector after a short stint in academics, are attributable to my
riot in Kafanchan which spilled over to the whole state. When I training in the University. The experience of my eight and half
saw this, I felt maybe I should look for work elsewhere because years as a lecturer was in ABU. I met friends from different
the situation really got my young children and wife scared. parts of the country who have impacted positively on my life
We were indoors for almost three days and could not go easily after we left the University such that there is hardly any place I
get food to eat. So by December 1988, I took off to UTC in can go to in Nigeria today that I won’t meet somebody that we
Lagos and that was how my career in the private sector began. have met in one way or the other either as a colleague while I
I spent like seven months at UTC and somebody invited me was lecturing, a course mate while I was still a student. So the
into banking. I joined Icon Ltd (Merchant Bankers} owned
by Morgan Guaranty Trust of the USA and the Barry Brothers
of the United Kingdom. The ministry of industries held the
Nigerian minority shareholding in that bank. This is where I
met the present Emir of Kano, Alh Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; an
amiable, brilliant and down to earth person.
I was there from 1989 up to 1996 where I grew from the
deputy manager to a senior manager, and head of investment
banking. At that time Gen Abacha’s government had taken a
decision to merge the Federal Government-owned Merchant
banks. That included Continental Merchant Bank, Icon
Merchant Bank and IMB. They were to be merged to become
Atlantic Bank Group, which eventually didn’t come through
because as we went on and on, the process was elongated. We
lost focus and market such that even if we wanted to go back
to our separate banks, the market had moved on leaving us
behind. When I found out that those banks were about to be
liquidated, I moved on to Inland bank which had just been
privatized by the Bauchi state Government , at the invitation of
Alh Isa Yuguda( former Governor of Bauchi State and Mallam
Samaila Saidu Sambawa ( former Minister of Sports). I was in
the Inland Bank between 1996 and 2003, where I rose to the
position of General Manager,Corporate Services. From there,
I moved on to Lion Bank at the request of a colleague at Lion
bank then. I hope I am still on my growing up years? (Laughter)
Just as I was settling down in Lion Bank, then CBN governor,
Professor Soludo came up with the consolidation programme
where Banks were now required to have N25 billion capital.
Most of the banks had to merge and in the process there were
several mergers that Lion bank tried but didn't work until it
got acquired by Diamond bank at the very last minute. So, the
two banks merged and became Diamond Bank plc in 2005. I
was the last Managing Director of Lion Bank before the merger
and was retained in Diamond bank from 2005-2011. When
the late Governor of Kaduna state Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa
was elected the executive Governor in 2011 he invited me
to be commissioner of finance. I left my banking job to join training I got from ABU helped me to have a broader view
him and just as I was settling down, he died in a helicopter about life. You need everybody and everybody needs you. The
crash in 2012. I left government service subsequently after training I got from ABU can make me live with everybody
the new government took over and since then have been in any part of Nigeria. I had both Muslim and Christian room-
consulting, politics and farming. I am blessed with a beautiful mates and we lived with no problem. There was this particular
wife and three children - two daughters and a boy, and two room-mate, Lukman, a Muslim who would insist to wake me
grandchildren. We got married in October 1982 and have been up on Sunday mornings when I was lazy about going to church
growing together all these years. because of overindulgence on Saturday he will tell me 'you
must go to church today.’ He was a chain smoker but I have
Would you say that your training at ABU was responsible never smoked in my life yet we shared the same room for one
for your success in life? year. That was how we lived in those days. The lecturers that
Yes! Apart from the academic training I got, ABU was a mini we had were a mix of Europeans and Africans from different
Nigeria where every tribe and religion, rich and poor kids, state tribal and religious extractions all over Nigeria, so we had so
and region were represented. The setting in ABU ENABLED many experiences unlike what is obtainable today where private
82 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

Universities are for the rich and the public ones are for the
poor. In our days, except you were proceeding on postgraduate
studies, studying locally was for the brilliant studies while those
who went for undergraduate studies overseas were those not
accepted locally, but today most parents do not think their
children have not received quality education if they do not sent
them abroad, including sending them to “Universities” run in
warehouses in neighbouring countries!
Is there an experience that remains indelible in your mind?
There are many, I have told you about Lukman my roommate.
Another experience will be the choice of the course I studied
in the University. I finished at the School of Basic Studies (SBS)
with a desire to study law; if I didn’t read law, I would read
history. That was my thought. At the point of filling the course
registration form, there was this young classmate whose name
I cannot readily remember ; he said he saw that I filled my
first choice as Law, and second choice history, and had been
laughing at me. When I asked him why, he said ‘people are
choosing better courses, and you are here picking law; lawyers
lie for the rest of their lives; and history? Forget about those
ones who will tell stories of what real people did for the rest of
their lives; go and read accounting, business administration and
the likes.’ I just looked at him and said nothing.
Coincidentally our forms were not collected that day, so I
took my forms home. By some very strange coincidence, there
was this man called Habila Bawa from Kaduna state who was
already in his third year in Business Administration. We just
met that day and we got talking. He asked if I had decided what
course to study, I told him law and he laughed. He said if I want
to control everybody in the organisation, I should read business
management, because everybody will be under me since I will
be the only one who will be called MANAGER! That was how
I came to chose business administration as a course. I wouldn't
have taken him seriously if not for that incident of my young
classmate that I had made earlier in the day. When considered
against the backdrop of what happens today when parents force
courses of study on their children, today we hardly allow God
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
to decide in the affairs of our children.
Did you indulge in social activities?
Of course, I did. There is this popular saying that “If you look
at the mouth of an old man you wouldn’t believe he was once
a baby who suckled breasts”. Every person who was given the
opportunity to live his or her childhood, teenage years early
adulthood as a student must have played the usual prangs
associated with those ages. I attended parties with my age
mates; maintained friendships with age mates of both sexes; We
may not have engaged in taking drugs then because they were
not in vogue and were abhorred but we engaged in moderate
alcohol binges. We also engaged in a lot of sports to keep fit and
for fun. Commercialization of sports was then not the in thing.
Very interestingly, I’ve been a sportsman all through my life.
I played squash up to a level where I was in later life involved
in squash administration where I became the 1st National vice
chairman of the Nigerian squash and rackets association. I was
the vice Chairman to Dr Kayode Roberts. I made a lot of very
wonderful friends through squash like Barrister George Etomi.
Unfortunately I had a dislocation on my knee which took me
out of squash, and immediately I started looking for what game
to play and I found golf. Golf has been my second hobby, which
is where I spend most of my leisure time.
I was involved in writing for student social magazines that
served as the watch dog for deviant behavior by students on
campus. I operated as an “undercover” reporter who cartooned
students who engaged in antisocial behavior. Occasionally
this got some of us into trouble with fellow students especially
where those at the scene of the antisocial behavior were few and
the culprit could easily point to those who could have reported
the incident to the magazine.
I was also involved in religious activities. Remember I told
you about my training at the seminary, I was an active member
of Nigerian Federation of Catholic Students.
Where was your hall of residence at ABU?
While I was at the school of basic studies, I was in Alexand
Hall (Room E7), one of the oldest halls of residence in
Ahmadu Bello University. When I moved over to the Faculty of
administration on Kongo Campus, I was in GHETTO Hostel,
so-named because of the squalid environment that the Hall was
located. It was located in a poor neighbourhood. I represented
GHETTO constituency in the student parliament for a year
where the likes of Gen I.B.M. Haruna (Rtd) were members
upon his retirement.
Did you meet your wife on campus?
No, we did not meet in the University since we were not
contemporaries on Campus. However if you are interested in
the circumstances, I will let you into them with her permission
(Laughter!)
I met my wife through very interesting circumstance. I met
her at a party. In our days, whenever we are on Christmas
holidays, we attend parties where we had senior secondary,
undergraduates, and post graduate students. I was in the
university then and my wife was just concluding her secondary
school. An argument ensued over a decision the executive
officers had taken and she boldly came out and confronted us.
She was just strongly voicing out her opinion when some of
my friends on the “high” table laughed asking rhetorically 
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 83
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
 who this girl was that was not even afraid of us. The decision
stood, she lost but from there I took a keen interest in her
because of her boldness to challenge us on the high table. One
thing led to the other and by the time she got to school we
started communicating by letters and later married.
If you are given the opportunity will you attend ABU again?
Given the atmosphere that prevailed in our time, given
the quality of academic faculty, given the same academic
programme, given the friendships that prevailed, I will certainly
return to ABU as a student. Indeed given only the choice of
a Nigerian University to attend, I would gladly choose ABU
because of its cosmopolitan outlook among all Nigerian
Universities. Given the name it has made in producing the
brightest minds in Nigerian society, I will make no other choice.
If the circumstances of our time do not exist, I will still be
interested in returning to recreate them for the present and
future generations to enjoy!!!
Everyone claims to have integrity but fails to put it to use,
what's your view on integrity?
Let me be honest with you, integrity is for me everything in life.
If you have no integrity, you have lost the essence of what life is.
I say so because integrity helps you to know how to relate with
your fellow humans. It is not about religion, although religion
reinforces it. There are people who are not outwardly religious
but to me better than some of pastors we know. If you don’t
have character, you cannot be classified as far as I’m concerned.
If there is integrity in this country, 90% of our problems will be
solved. It is because people don’t have integrity that is why we
have kidnapping and killings everywhere. Some people know
why it is happening, some even know those involved but fail to
talk; you may want to say because of fear, no! It is not fear; there
is something they are protecting. When you are not concerned
about your fellow human being, what do you then call integrity?
If you have integrity, you will not want to see your fellow
human being cheated. If integrity goes round, this country will
be better.
If you see any wrong being done and you fail to talk about it,
you have no integrity; you think you will benefit from it, you
think you will get something from somebody benefiting from it
or you hope that in future, you will benefit from it. Integrity is
what tells the character of the person. I have friends who are in
very high positions, some have offered me opportunities to be
with them to enhance my economic welfare and I said no. The
reason is because I will have to devalue my integrity. Integrity is
what you build for a very long time. You don't wake up in a day
and you say I want to have integrity, no! It is built over a long
time, that is why you say 'this man cannot do this' because he
has built a reputation for himself over a long time. Some build
reputation to be known for bad things. I work very hard to tell
my children that if you don't have integrity in life whatever you
“A
part from the academic training I got, ABU
was a mini Nigeria where every tribe and
religion, rich and poor kids, state and region were
represented. The setting in ABU ENABLED us
to understand that wherever you came from we
were all Nigerians. ”
84 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
have gathered is nothing.
My friends tell me I can’t succeed in politics because of some
of my believes but I say to them that I will succeed over time
with perseverance and partnership with like minds. I can't
destroy what I have built over a long time for something I will
collect and it will finish before I am done with this world. It
is very rare to see someone accused of a very grave offence
deciding to step aside, instead the person will fight to the death
and if removed from that office, the person will continue to
sing about how he/she has been unfairly treated because of his
origins or because of other forms of discrimination.
Can you still recall some of your school mates?
Yes I can recall many although unfortunately many have
departed this world. Among those still alive today but in
no particular order friendliness to me but maybe those that
readers may more easily recollect because they have been in the
public domain for a while are the current Governor of my state
(Kaduna) Mal Nasir el-Rufai was my class mate, the current
minister of FCT, Mal Mohammed Musa Bello; I can also recall
Alhaji M.K Ahmad the chairman of PENCOM. I mention
Alhaji Saidu Ali who lives in Jos, there is one Mallam Babayo
Shehu who is presently the managing director of one of the
power holding companies, and he was a banker as well. There is
one Sameel Mohammed from Jos.
I have one Abaagu Peters, a Tiv man from Benue; he lives in
Lagos now and has almost become a Yoruba man. There's also
one Tony Liam, a Tiv man who lives in the United States. He is a
lawyer. There is one retired Colonel Justin Ejioke an Architect;
There's one Clement Ainabe from either Delta or Edo and then
Shittu Mohammed, a Yoruba man from either Kwara or Oyo
state. There are also several ladies; there is the wife of the former
Chief Justice of the federation, she is also a lawyer in Buhari's
administration, and she is the Special Adviser to President
Muhammadu Buhari on social investment safe nets; The first
wife of El Rufai, Hajia Hadiza was also our classmate. There is
this Arch. Saliu Suleiman based in Kano from Kogi. There are
very many other classmates who are doing better than me who
you journalists have not thrown up for the public to know.

What is your advice to those who have
ideas but find it difficult to put it to
use?
First and foremost, they need define what
the difficulty is with implementing the
idea. The difficulty may be finance. If it
is an engineering idea you may need to
first translate it to a commercial idea, so
there may be a problem of translating
it to a commercial idea. You need to
be able to process it through. If it is
financial, think of financial organizations
who are interested in that kind of idea.
You may even walk up to individuals
who are interested in those ideas; they
may lead you to the solution. You may
also need to consider the structure that
may make things difficult. For example,
if you are into alcohol production
somewhere in Kano state or Zamfara
where it is prohibited, you should know
the idea is dead. One thing I have found
is that some people die with their ideas
because they do not share such ideas
with anybody for fear of the ideas being
stolen. It is difficult to know if an idea
will fly commercially if you have not
processed it through others who could be
of help through needful criticism.
Your idea has to be the one that can
germinate in the area where you are
based. Most of the young graduates
today say they have ideas but cannot
translate them to products. When you
have an idea, the first thing is don't
keep it to yourself, say it out because
you don’t know where help may come
from. Discuss it as much as possible with
people without compromising or having
the thought of people stealing the idea
from you but ensure you discuss in the
right place; make it clear to them and
in the process, you may get help. Quite
unfortunately, Nigeria has not gotten
to a state where there are many venture
capitalists. With time we will get there.
As much as possible, discuss your idea
with people, you are the originator of
“A
nother experience will be
the choice of the course
I studied in the University. I
finished at the School of Basic
Studies (SBS) with a desire to
study law; if I didn’t read law,
I would read history. That was
my thought.”
the idea, keep it going. Let me cite an
experience. In the year 1998, I attended
a programme in the UK organized
by Transparency International; it was
a conference on corruption with the
theme, “CORRUPTION AND ITS
VICTIMS” at Cambridge University.
While we were there, I met a Nigerian
journalist. There were three Nigerians at
the conference and we were just having
lunch and we got talking, that was where
I knew he is a journalist with Financial
Times of London. He said he just picked
up a few ideas he wanted to bring down
to Nigeria, but he is having financial
challenges. The second day we had lunch
I asked if he had drafted his idea, he
told me it is a 30 paged document, I told
him to forward to my mail. When I read
through, I got to know that he wanted to
start a magazine business he called News
Africa about Africans in the Diaspora.
I got interested because I have a few
friends in Diaspora. I called a friend
in the US while I was in the UK that I
have someone who is looking at having
a magazine for Nigerians in Diaspora. I
joked that he will have the opportunity
to tell the world about what he is doing.
One thing led to the other, I sent the
proposal to him and at one point he said
he will provide the financing.
I sat down one day after returning to
my banking business, I got a call from
that Nigerian Journalist informing me
he was in the US, and he had a ticket for
me to the launch of the magazine and I
was part of the editorial board. The man
is alive today and I think he is doing well.
When you have an idea, don't let it die
and as much as possible think through to
a conclusion, don't just catch it and say
this is my idea; what are the next steps
so that when people who are willing to
help you ask questions you will be able to
answer.
What is your advice to the next crop of
students at ABU?
They should go into ABU with a mindset
that they are entering one of the greatest
Universities in this world that has built
a reputation over several decades and
with a sense of responsibility to sustain
and improve this reputation for future
generations.
Honestly, it's difficult for them
because most of us in our days already
had jobs waiting for us, while I was an
undergraduate; UAC came to interview
us even at the NYSC orientation
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 85
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
“T
here are people who
are not outwardly
religious but to me better than
some of pastors we know.
If you don’t have character,
you cannot be classified as far
as I’m concerned. If there
is integrity in this country,
90% of our problems will be
solved. It is because people don’t
have integrity that is why we
have kidnapping and killings
everywhere.”
camps and even in places of primary
assignments. What I will tell them is
that they should never give up hope; the
situation we are in today can never last
forever. Even those who are holding on
to the current situation because they are
benefiting from it will find with time that
it is difficult to sustain the stranglehold.
Two, the kind of training they need to
embark upon should not be literarily
reading the book and that is all. They
should as much as possible go practical.
If someone tells you if you want to
market a product do this and that, no! Be
practical. They should concentrate more
on entrepreneurial than just academic
knowledge. They mindset should be how
to create jobs rather than how to be an
employee. They should concentrate on
training to create rather than seek jobs.
I also want to say to them that they
shouldn't give up. They shouldn't give
up because every generation has its
peculiarities. This issue of comparing
then and now shouldn't be. Even
comparing lifestyles with other countries
shouldn't be. My father married at the
age of 18, that is because he didn't go to
school, I may have married at 25, 26 that
is because I finished school, got a job to
do, a house and was looking for someone
to keep me company in the house. But if
you finish school at 30, it takes you five
years to get a job, and then prepare to
marry at 37. You can't live the life of the
past today. Why I am giving this advice is
to reduce the frustration around most of
our present young people because many
ambitions are beyond their expectations.
Just live your life, enjoy things as they
come!!!
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

I was delighted
to have
attended such
a diversified
university as
ABU
- Mr. Tunji Odeneye

M
r. Tunji Odeneye is a respected technocrat and administrator. He got admitted into the
famous ABU in 1972 and graduated in 1975. Odeneye is the founder and CEO of the
OGTB Limited, he shares his thoughts with the magazine on his experience while at the
institution. Excerpt.

Let us start by asking you to tell us about yourself and
growing up?
Seth Adetunji Odeneye is my name. I was born in St Peter’s
Church Vicarage in Abeokuta 67 years ago. I spent my
childhood in and out of Abeokuta until 1959 when my father
was appointed principal Isoyin Grammar School, near Ijebu-
Ode. This is one of the earliest (oldest 100) secondary schools in
Nigeria.
I had my primary education in Emmanuel School in that
location. With vigorous tutoring and coaching both at school
and at home, I got admission to Government College Ibadan,
(probably the best secondary school in Nigeria in its glorious
days). I spent 7 years there studying for both WAEC and Higher
School Certificates. Working in Standard (now First) Bank of
Nigeria for 9 months, I got admission to study Economics in
ABU Zaria in September 1972.
As a successful technocrat and administrator, what would
be your advice to people who find it difficult to follow their
passion and turn it into opportunities?
The most important issue to deal with is to know exactly
what you want to do with your life. If you have a passion for
something, e.g. teaching, or artistic design, that is the pursuit
you should home in on.
Why did you opt to study at ABU Zaria?
Funnily, I was just passionate about leaving the old Southwest
of Nigeria and exploring other parts of Nigeria. I only applied

“T he most important issue to deal with is to

know exactly what you want to do with
your life.”
to Nsukka and ABU. Only ABU offered me admission. I did
not pursue UNN as I was not happy with them asking us to do
entrance examinations, quite a high risk that I took as a young
man of 19 years.

What motivated you to choose your course of study?

I put in for two or three courses- Economics and Accounting,
86 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

probably Business Admin. ABU offered the Economics. I opted
to study it all the same.
Would you say the training you got at Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria actually contributed to your success in life?
It was in ABU that we developed our thinking and critical
faculties. In social science of those days in ABU, there were
always debates about contemporary issues .We became familiar
with many of the national issues and what the ‘northern’ and
national viewpoints were. I was glad that I attended such a
‘diversified’ university. In our time we discovered that ABU
actually pursued the national spread in its admission without
sacrificing its commitment to the immediate catchment area.
We had in our time 14000 students from 98 different ethnic
nationalities of Nigeria. That gave me a really nationalistic view
of Nigeria. One was able to relate to people that one never met
before. Coupled with the high percentage of expatriate teaching
and research faculty, ABU was for us a place of pride and
excellence.
After leaving ABU, I could compete with world class students
from other parts of the world academically. Indeed in my first
year of study of my accounting profession, I was told I had the
best performance in the class.
Can you still recollect some of your school mates who are
still today doing well in their various professional careers?
Oh, so many. Adamu Bello former Agric minister, Lawal
Batagarawa, engineer and former education minister,
Emmanuel Ocholi, investment banker, Kayode Adepoju,
Ex Special Adviser on Works to Governor Abiola Ajimobi,
Mohammed Haruna, ex MD of New Nigerian Newspapers
and now INEC Commisioner, Ammuna Lawan, ex permanent
secretary of Petroleum and Health ministries, Olu Jegede,
professor and pioneer VC of National Open University of
Nigeria, Eddy Manasseh, Former SGF of Adamawa State, James
Mivanyi, former Senior Manager of Mobil, David Garnvwa,
former President, National Association of Town Planners, etc.
Ahmadu Bello University is noted for churning out highly
rated individuals in Africa and around the world, what were
the factors that were responsible for this?
I believe the academic excellence of the faculty and students,
especially in Engineering, Law, Business, Sciences and
Agriculture. ABU was one University that accommodated both
the not so intellectually strong and very academically strong,
building the former to world class without relenting standard
for the latter group.
Did you indulge in any religious or social activities while on
campus; if yes tell us your experience?
In those days there were only two places of worship, the church
“A fter leaving ABU, I could compete with
world class students from other parts of the
world academically. Indeed in my first year of
study of my accounting profession, I was told I
had the best performance in the class.”
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
“S
tudent Union elections were vibrant. I
remember Adamu Waziri, from Yobe, we
supported him for presidency. I remember the dry
pre-rain hot seasons. You could hardly sleep in the
rooms during those February to April hot season.
I remember the chilly dusty harmattan seasons of
November to February- hot and dry in the day,
cold and dry in the nights.”
and the mosque. Both were near each other then? Yes I did
attend some church services.
Did you meet your spouse in ABU and where is your hall of
residence?
No, I did not meet my spouse there. It was in Ribadu and ICSA
Halls
Can you recollect an experience that remains indelible in
your mind while at ABU?
Student Union elections were vibrant. I remember Adamu
Waziri, from Yobe, we supported him for presidency.
I remember the dry pre-rain hot seasons. You could hardly
sleep in the rooms during those February to April hot season.
I remember the chilly dusty harmattan seasons of November
to February- hot and dry in the day, cold and dry in the nights.
I remember the various Sports travels for NUGA and WAUG
to UNN in the East.
I remember the death of two friends riding a scooter in an
accident on the road to Kano to observe Sallah.
What are some of the values that you have learnt as a child
and you are passing unto your own children?
Study, hard work, integrity, humility and love for fellow men.
What does integrity mean to you?
A lot. That is why it has been difficult to operate in the sassy or
mischievous atmosphere of Nigeria in the past twenty years. It
seems you need to be crooked to relate to others.
As a way of giving back to your alma mater, is there any
project you have done for ABU as a form of philanthropy?
Not that I am aware of. The Alumni is not strong here down
south, is it?
Finally, your advice to the younger generations who looks
up to you as role model and mentor?
Advice? Is there a younger generation? Have they not been
discouraged dismayed with what is happening to them and
their country?
I can only ask them not to limit their horizon to Nigeria.
They should position or train themselves to be globally relevant.
The internet makes it possible to reach places one never thought
about. It may help for them to explore the world. That way
Nigeria will not be a constraint but an operating base.
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 87
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES

In ABU, we had the

best training, well-
groomed lecturers
and sound academic
records - Mallam
Muhammed Sabiu Zakari

M
allam Muhammed Sabiu Zakari is
a respected and versatile Federal
Permanent Secretary in the federal
ministry of transportation. He started
his illustrious working career with the old Kano
State Civil Service before his transfer to the Jigawa
state civil service immediately after its creation. His
dedication to duty, integrity and patriotism saw him
transferred to the federal civil service where he rose
through the ranks by dint of hardwork to the position
of Permanent Secretary. Mallam Muhammed Sabiu
Zakari’s intelligence and integrity was on display
when he spoke with the magazine on his career,
family and education at ABU. Excerpts:

Can we have insight into your early years
and academic profile?
My name is Muhammed Sabiu Zakari.
I hail from Hadejia in Jigawa State. My
father was born and brought up there.
Since he was small at that time, during
the colonial days, the white men saw him
and liked him so much. They were into
mining. They appealed to the then Emir of
Hadejia at that time and took him to Jos in
Plateau State. There, my father underwent
several training and emerged to be one of
the workers in the then (Amalgamated Tin
Mines Nigeria Ltd. (ATMN).
I cannot recollect what name it was
called then before it was changed to ATMN.
That was where my father worked. I saw a
wristwatch he was given as part of the gifts
when he spent 37 years of service and I
know he retired in 1969. It was where most
of my brothers grew up with him. Normally
at that time the mother goes home to
give birth and return to her matrimonial
home. I schooled to some extent in St.
88 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
George's Primary School, Rayfield and
also Islamiyah Primary School in Jos, also
partially in Kano. I went to Government
Secondary School, Dambatta in Kano State.
I did my primary school from 1968 to 1974.
And then I was in Government Secondary
School, Dambatta from 1974 to 1979. It was
there my name changed from Muhammed
Sabiu Zakari to Sabiu Zakari because at that
time when we were in form 1, form 2, that
was 1974 to 1975, 1976, incidentally, our
class monitor who was older than me was
also bearing Muhammed Sani Zakari and
I am Muhammed Sabiu Zakari.
Most times, when we write exams, they
change our marks. Some of my marks
would go to him and some of his marks
would come to me. That put me at a great
disadvantage because I used to get more
marks than him but he normally would
be allocated my marks which were better,
so you'll find me coming around number
16, 17 in the ranking when actually I was
supposed to be among the top 5. As a result
of that mixture of marks. At that time, most
of our teachers were foreigners either from
Britain, Canada Egypt or from the Southern
part of the country. I think we only had
one teacher from the northern part of the
country, he was teaching us Islamic Studies.
Our Mathematics, English teachers were
from Britain, Canada, Egypt, so they don't
differentiate between Muhammed Sabiu
Zakari and Mohammed Sani Zakari. So
that caused that problem. A Briton, who
was teaching us English language, Mr.
Henderson called the two of us and asked
that one of us should drop one of the three
names. He was older than me so he refused,
but I accepted to remove the Muhammed.
That's how I became Sabiu Zakari. To date,
some of my seniors in secondary school
and some of my classmates still call me
Muhammed because that's the name
they knew me with. I finished secondary
school in 1979 and then I went to school of
preliminary studies in Kano from 1979 to
1981. When I finished, I went to Ahmadu

Bello University, Zaria in 1981. I finished
in 1984.
I went for my NYSC in the then Kwara
State. Kwara State then was made up of
Kogi State now. Where I served, was at
the Ajaokuta Steel Company and Borgu
Secondary School. Borgu is now under
Niger State. Ajaokuta Steel Company is
now in Kogi State. So the places I did my
NYSC in Kwara no longer exist in Kwara.
It is now part of Kogi or part of Niger.
Immediately I finished Youth Service, I got
employment with Kano State government
as an administrative officer on level 8 at
that time in the office of secretary to the
military government of Kano State. From
1985 up to 1987, I went for my Masters
degree in the University of Jos. It was
supposed to be a maximum two year
course, (1987-1989) but then the major
course work should have been completed
in 1988. Unfortunately, the introduction
of the increase in fuel price in 1987 caused
the delay in the University. The school was
closed down for about 6 months. Instead
of finishing the course work in June 1988,
we couldn't finish until either December
or January of 1989.
I quickly tried to finish my course
work, I finished in good time and I got
my certificate of masters dated January/
February 1990 when the school did its
matriculation. I then came back to Kano
because I went for my master’s program
under in-service of the Kano State
government. They were paying my salary
while the programme was going on i.e.
master’s degree in public administration.
On coming back, I was still retained in the
same office of the Secretary to the military
government, and then at that time, I was
promoted to a senior admin officer on
level 10. Up till April 1990, when I went
to Kano State History and Culture Bureau
as a Principal Administrative Officer on
Secondment. Few months later, after about
6 months, I was promoted to level 13 and
given acting level 14 to serve as the Board
Secretary.
It was under the chairmanship of the
Emir of Gumel which now happens to
be Jigawa State, but that time it was Kano
State. The Emir, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed
Sani was the chairman of the Board. It was
during one of the board meetings that there
was promotion exercise of which I was the
secretary of the meeting. My name was
not among those to be promoted. But we
had about 5 board meetings before that
particular meeting, so when they asked
me to step aside from the meeting, I didn't
know what was the reason then. Normally,
the board meetings were produced both
in English and Hausa. When I stepped
out, later, I was asked to come back about
30 minutes later. I came back and we just
continued the meeting. We finished the
meeting and I produced the minutes of
the meeting. That's all. I took the minutes
to the Executive Director, which was one
Dr. Tijani Garba who was also seconded
by Bayero University, Kano to come and
be the Executive Director of the History
and Culture Bureau. After I gave him the
drafts of the minutes, when he finished,
he packaged everything and took it to the
chairman of the board.
After they finished and he had done the
final draft of the minutes, I saw my name
among those to be promoted to level 13 at
that time and then to act on level 14 as the
Board Secretary. I didn't ask him, I gave
my secretary then to produce the minutes
as he gave me. She did it and I took it back
to him. He went, he signed, the board
chairman signed, before we came for the
next meeting, he called me and told me
at the time they asked me to excuse the
meeting, the board wanted to know how
well I was doing and that they felt that my
performance was good; that I was an honest
officer and had performed creditably well.
There was minimal correction in the
minutes I had been producing so far. So
the board felt I should be promoted.
That's how I got my promotion on merit.
After some few months, Jigawa State was
created and my local government happened
to fall in Jigawa State and we had to move.
So I moved from Kano State to Jigawa State.
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ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
On getting there in 1991, I was posted to
ministry of education, Jigawa State as an
Assistant Director. As at that time, my
other colleagues that we were employed
together, 16 of us were employed as Admin
officers in 1985, on level 8. About 4 or 5 of
us happened to fall under Jigawa State, so
the five of us moved to Jigawa State and
my colleagues were actually on level 10
as at then, while I was already on level 14
because of that advantage I got, so when we
moved to Jigawa, with the military regime,
after about four months, the civilian
government came in January 1992.
Ali Sa'ad Birnin-Kudu became the
governor. At the State level, it was civilian
governors, while at the Federal level, it
was military government, with a military
president which was Gen. Babangida.
I continued as an Assistant Director on
level 14 in the ministry of education while
my colleagues were on level 10 in their
various ministries. There were accusations
of officers elevating themselves that some
people when they got to Jigawa, changed
their grade levels. They were given higher
positions to be favored. A committee was
set up by the then Governor, Ali Sa'ad. I
didn't even know. The committee went
down to Kano to verify most of those that
were being accused, of which I was one. I
had no idea about. When the committee
finished their work, they came back, they
realized that my own promotion was not
done in Jigawa, it was done by the board,
and in fact it was even sent to the Kano
State Civil Service Commission then for
documentation and reasons to justify that.
So I was left on that level.
Nobody touched me but I never moved
from level 14 to 15. That was how I stayed
and my colleagues were moving from
level 10 to 12, 12 to 13, from 13 up till 14.
However, before our real movement to
14 came, I decided to leave the state civil
service. Even before I left the state civil
service, I was posted as the State liaison
officer in April 1994, to be the State Liaison
officer in charge of Lagos and Abuja. On
the death of the then military Head of
State, General Sani Abacha in 1998, Sole
administrators were appointed, I was here
in Abuja as the liaison officer of the state
because later as Abuja became developed,
they now separated the Lagos liaison office
and the Abuja liaison office. A colleague of
mine we joined the service together was
now appointed the liaison officer for the
Lagos office.
I remained in Abuja. It was in the evening

 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
that a call came in from Jigawa State, after
the death of General Sani Abacha by the
Permanent Secretary of the government
house of Jigawa State. He said the governor
asked him to find out if I could get to
Jigawa the next day by 11am. He called in
the night around 8pm. I told him I could
but that it would be a bit difficult for me.
He then promised to get back to me. I
waited for him, after 15 minutes he called
back and said I could take the next day to
travel and make it to Jigawa the day after.
I was worried. I went back to the office
and called him back, I asked if there was
any problem? He was surprised why I was
asking him that question. He thought I
knew the reason as people were lobbying
to be appointed as Sole Administrator of
Local Government. So I was appointed
without me even knowing. At that time,
the military governor of Jigawa was Colonel
Rasheed Sekoni an indigene of Lagos State.
I was appointed sole administrator of one
of the local governments in Jigawa State
and that was Gwaram local government,
which was the largest local government,
most populous and was receiving the
highest allocation from the Federation
account in the state.
That was why I was being called, as it
was for us to be sworn in. While I was
there, already I was interviewed because
I wanted to transfer my service to the
federal government, with the federal civil
service commission. I was there as the sole
administrator, just about three months to
the end of my tenure, because we were
meant to serve for ten months, my offer
came out. I showed my appointment letter
to the governor. At that time, Rasheed
Shekoni had left, it was Lt. Colonel
Abubakar Zakariya Maimalari who was
the military governor of Jigawa State then.
So I showed it to him, telling him of my
appointment and I wanted to go. He now
said they can still write to the SGF here and
inform him that I'm almost three months
through since they were handing over on
the 29th of May 1999. That they could write
to the SGF to delay my appointment until
the handing over. I wrote and the SGF
accepted.
After the handing over, I transferred my
services to the office of the Secretary to
the Government of the federation. That
was where I was deployed. I was there up
till the time I was posted to the office of
the Special Adviser to the President on
National Assembly Matters. I worked with
Ambassador Aminu Wali who was the first
Special Adviser to President Obasanjo at
90 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
that time on national assembly matters for
four years. After he left, Senator Ita Giwa
was appointed. I worked with her for the
period she served. Umaru Musa Yar'adua
came as the President, she was reappointed
and I was with her. She decided to leave.
Senator Abba Aji was appointed as the
Special Adviser. I continued with him.
Till February 2009, when I was posted to
Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
That time, I was due to become Deputy
Director. It had been due since 2008. I left
the national assembly in February 2009.
Abba Aji insisted that I must not go. I said
that I'll have to comply with the service
instructions. Since I left that his office, to
report to Mines and Steel, I never went
back there. I never went back to him and I
never went to him one on one. I remained
in Mines and Steel.
While I was in Mines and Steel, I
got my promotion to Deputy Director
retrospectively to 2008. While there,
Senator Joy Emordi was appointed Special
Adviser to the President on National
Assembly after Senator Abba Aji. Somehow
they called me through a friend that she
needed certain people there to work with
her in the office of the Special Adviser on
National Assembly. She said I should see
her whenever I was available. I never went
because I felt that was a place I was since
I was a level 13 officer, there was no way I
can be doing the same job up till the time
I was on level 16. I never went to her and
never saw her one on one. But she did call
me. That was how that ended.
While I was in Mines and Steel, I got my
promotion to level 16 as Deputy Director.
I was posted to Federal Government Staff
Housing Loans Board. I was accepted, but
then, the person I was supposed to take
over from refused to handover, saying that
he was going to retire in some 6 months
time from then, so there was no way he
would handover to me. I went back to
the Head of Service, I was asked to stay
and wait. I waited for about 11 months. I
remember the posting was in December
2010, I was never posted until September
2011 when I was posted to the ministry of
water resources as Deputy Director. Before
then, I was posted to Trade and Investment,
but then, it was not called Trade and
Investment as it is today. I resumed around
April, May 2011. On getting there, they said
there was no vacancy because the person
on seat had not been moved, so how could
they have posted me there.
So I had to go back to the Head of
Service again. I had to wait till around
September 2011 when I was finally posted
to Ministry of Water Resources. I was in
Water Resources up till April 2012, when
I was posted to the office of the Head of
Service as the same Deputy Director. Then
I was due to become a Director in January
2012. Unfortunately, a day or two to the
exam we were asked not to come for the
exam because there was no vacancy. We
later wrote the exam in 2013 when I got
my promotion as Director effective January
2013. In November 2015, Mr. President
appointed me as Permanent Secretary,
and I was posted to Federal Ministry of
Transportation where I am till date.
Why did you opt to study at ABU?
At that time, when you were in secondary
school, we used to do mock exams before
the WASC. That mock gives you a guide
into how your result in WAEC was going
to be. The mock was even more difficult
than the WASC. That time, there was
division 1, there was division 2, division
3, that was how the grading of the mock
was. After our mock examination, I got
division 2. We got forms for school of
basic studies, ABU, and school for general
studies, Bayero University. I didn't know
when the forms for school of basic studies
for ABU were being distributed. I collected
form for school of general studies, Bayero
University. I completed the form and wrote
the examination.
We normally go for an entrance
examination, so the school will take us
in a bus on a particular day of the exam,
straight to Kano. From where I'm schooling
to Kano is about 56 kilometers. We were
taken on a Saturday, we wrote exams and I
was confident that I had passed. On coming
back, we continued. Normally, the results
and the admission will come out even

before WAEC result was released. At that
time, we called it WASC (West African
School Certificate. That was in 1979.
While we were waiting our WASC results,
normally these admissions into these
universities would come out. You report
to the university, if you fail, you withdraw,
and then they admit those who pass. The
admission for Bayero University came out.
My name was not among those admitted.
I didn't get admission. I never applied
for ABU in the first place. I didn't even
know when the form was distributed. The
implication was that I must have failed
their entrance examination. That was why I
was not admitted. But then, the next chance
was when WASC came out, if you pass,
certainly some who were admitted would
have been withdrawn because they might
have failed the exam. So that was my hope.
Incidentally, my WASC exam was better
than my mock result. So I had the requisite
qualification. I went to Bayero University
with my same WASC result to pursue a
replacement. I went there the first day, they
collected my result. I was asked to come
back the following day. I went back and
incidentally, there's someone who is now
a general manager in NNPC. He read law
in ABU. That was how we became friends.
We went first, second, third, fourth day
and they kept asking us to come back.
Fourth day was a Thursday, we were
now asked to come back on Monday. On
Monday, we were also asked to come back
again. We used to trek. We were always
trekking from Bayero University up to
Gidan Murtala in Kano where we would
be separated for each of us to go his way.
We now decided the best thing was to now
look for another alternative. We concluded
that the University was just playing on our
intelligence. Especially because we saw
other people whose results were not as good
as ours getting admission. We decided not
to waste our time. We thereafter went to
the school of preliminary studies in Kano
that offered the same kind of course but the
only thing was we wanted to be University
students. So we went. That day we went,
we got admission. That school in Kano
was affiliated to Ahmadu Bello University.
That friend of mine is still alive and we call
ourselves BUK Man i. e Bayero University
Man.
They write IJMB Exams which candidates
of SBS, ABU Zaria were also writing. After
finishing school of preliminary studies,
before you write the IJMB, naturally you
will fill JAMB form. So that when you pass
your exams, you will get direct admission
into any University in Nigeria. While filling
the form, because of the disappointment I
got earlier when trying to get admission
to Bayero University, I completely ignored
Bayero University. I felt ABU should be my
choice. It was one of the Universities that
everybody looked up to then, especially
in the northern part of the country. I saw
my name in the newspaper being admitted
into Ahmadu Bello University in 1981
without making any effort apart from
filling the JAMB form and I got my JAMB
admission letter through post office. It was
after I graduated from ABU that a friend
of mine who went to University of Sokoto
told me that I got two admissions to read
public administration in ABU and read
Bsc. Economics in University of Sokoto.
I didn't even know until after I graduated
from ABU.
What influenced you to choose your
course of study?
My initial thought since I was in secondary
school was to read Economics. I was the best
student in economics at secondary school.
I used to teach most of my classmates then.
I got A1 in my mock but when WAEC
came, I couldn't make it in economics.
When I went to preliminary studies, I
insisted I was going to do economics. The
economics teacher from Britain gave me
a chance to register. He tested me and
realized I really knew economics. So I
did economics in my preliminary studies.
In IJMB, I got it. When I was filling the
JAMB form, ABU introduced a new course,
Public administration. We were the first
set of public administration students at
ABU Zaria. On seeing that, I decided to
now change my mind because someone
told me it was better for me to read a
professional course. When you read public
ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 91
ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
administration, it encompasses economics.
It encompasses accounting, everything.
And really, it is true because we were
exposed to all these courses as well.
The current Accountant General of the
federation was my classmate. We read
accounting together in part one. Even
though he read Bsc accounting in the
end, but we were all in ABU together
then. I thought economics was a single
honour course. While studying public
administration, the economics I had as my
background really helped me a lot.
Can you still recollect some of your
classmates at ABU?
There is Professor Tai Okosi; she's currently
a national commissioner with INEC.
There's Professor Shehu, he is a Dean
with Bayero University. He was a Rector
in one of the Kaduna State polytechnics.
Senator Ubali Shitu from Jigawa who just
left the senate. The accountant general of
the federation was also my classmate. Some
are permanent secretaries in the State,
others are retired. At the federal service,
apart from the accountant general, I cannot
recollect other names because ABU is a
very big university. There could be some
of them whom we might have finished
together but I might not even know.
ABU products are in every strategic
position in Nigeria, what do you think
is responsible for this feat?
There was the discipline. I didn't lobby
before I got into ABU. It was simply on
merit. The issue of exam malpractice is
strange to me. It was not in the character
of places like ABU in those days. The
kind of training we had, there's no way
you cannot be proud of what you went
through. At that time, there was this course
we did, workshop in public administration.
That workshop we were taught by people
like Ambassador Al-Gazali. He was one
time Chairman Federal Civil Service
commission. He taught me workshop in
public administration. By the time I joined
the civil service as an administrative officer
in 1985, I knew how to write, and keep files
because Ambassador Al-Gazali taught us
all that.
He rose to become the Head of Service
old north eastern state were very well
groomed by learned people who taught
us. We did things both practically and
theoretically. We were few in our class;
Very few. Not up to 100 in that public
administration class. As we went along,
the number kept on reducing. When you
 ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
fail you fail. There's no issue of carry over
at that time. There's something we used
to call September Conference then. After
failing, you'll be asked to rewrite an exam.
They also call it resit exam. If you pass, you
move on, if you fail, you're withdrawn from
the University completely. As far as I can
say, there was strictness in ABU then. Prof
Ango Abdullahi was the Vice Chancellor
and it was a really disciplined school.
There was no joke in anything we did. You
are either in the academic or you leave.
I think there's a lot of reason for anyone
who was in ABU to now think ABU was
really a tough place. If you were able to pass
through ABU with all those seriousness,
then you have done well. We don't fear
anything. We face anybody. We were well
drilled on how to speak.
We knew exactly what to say as far as
what we read is concerned. When I went
to University of Jos to undergo my masters,
because i was a product of ABU, I was
there with confidence. I had no problem.
Incidentally, one of my lecturers at ABU,
Dr. Bala Takaya, I met him at University of
Jos as a lecturer as well. I had no problem
at all because I was on top of everything.
I was on top of my studies because I was
well grounded. I was given a very good
foundation from Ahmadu Bello University.
That's how I stand anywhere I am and I'm
never afraid to face anyone or anything.
Did you also meet free laundry services
at ABU?
No, I did not. The year I gained admission
into ABU, all those things were stopped.
Throughout my three years in ABU,
there wasn't a strike. It was the then Vice
Chancellor who realized the things that
were causing the strike. He then decided to
remove those things. Like the free laundry,
it was stopped the year I entered. From
1981 that I entered ABU up till 1984 that
I finished there was no single strike. I only
experienced strike when I went to the
University of Jos for my Masters. Even the
strike was not as a result of the students,
school authority relationship. It was a strike
coming out because there was hike in fuel
prices. Yes, the meals were cheap as they
were just 40 kobo.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner all 40 kobo
each, at least, during dinner, apart from
the meal, there was always coffee, by the
side. So some of us who could not afford
to eat the food, they could go and get
the tea, while getting bread at 10 kobo.
Except few of the students who are from
well to do family, hardly will you find
92 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
someone who would eat breakfast, lunch
and dinner. We used to call it either 1-0-
1, 0-1-1, 0-1-0. You have to skip because
you cannot afford 40 kobo in the morning,
afternoon and night. We were lucky
because our various State Governments
sponsored us. I maintained myself within
the confines of that scholarship. Not only
to use the scholarship for feeding, paying,
registration, for handouts and so on. We
never bought handouts that time. They
were given to us free. It was a very good
training.
Did you indulge in any social activities
while at ABU?
No.
What about ladies, did you chase them,
go clubbing?
Not at all. My records are still there and
some of my classmates can bear me witness.
I am a man of myself, I don't do such things.
I am social to an extent, but I relate with
males and females that I happen to have
had a relationship with in one way or the
other as far as academics is concerned. I
was in ABU purely to get a degree, and that
was what I set myself up for.
Did you meet your spouse on campus?
No, I didn't. I have two wives. One of them
happens to be ABU alumni as well, but the
time she went to ABU, I had left there about
10, 15 years back before she went there.
Where was your hall of residence at
ABU?
In part one, I was in Ali Akilu Hall while
in Part III, I was in Hostel 3. In Part II it
was off campus.
Is there any experience at ABU that
remains indelible in your mind?
The only thing that I would never forget
that happened to me at ABU is that when
we wrote our promotion exams, promotion
from part two to part three, which was our
final year, about four of our classmates were
invited by the school authority, specifically
the faculty and the department. Two of
those invited out of the four happened to
be from Kano State. When they came back,
incidentally we were all friends, they told
us that they were invited and told that they
performed very well in their exams, that if
they kept that performance, they will get
at least second class upper. They hardly
give first class.
The highest you can get is second class
upper. I was challenged that I was not
among those being thought of as getting
that class. In fact, among the four, there was
even a lady, that is the Taiye Okosie. I made
up my mind that I will do my best to make
sure that I'm also among those that will
make that grade. In fact, that influenced
me. At the end, 16 of us got second class
upper. If there was anything I can recollect,
it was that particular incident. It really
influenced the outcome of my results at
ABU. Other things are normal things I
consider that can happen.
Would you now say the training you got
at ABU contributed to your success in
life?
Oh yes, definitely. The lecturers in ABU
are all very serious and hardworking. They
don't even give you the face to come for
any joke or any trivial issue. You're either
there for academics or serious discussion.
Yes, they were very free and can even
open up during lectures. They don’t invite
you for petty issues. No matter what, you
have to earn what you will get. With that
background, when I went to civil service, I
was just my own self. While in Kano State
service, I got employment with First Bank.
I even resigned and went to First Bank. But
I was there for about one week. I quickly
came back to withdraw my resignation.
It was sent to Kano State civil service
commission. They accepted my withdrawal
and I left First Bank within one week. I left
the bank because I discovered that their
operations didn't tally with what I expected
to see. Even then, after about four years, I
also went again. I saw an advert from an
anonymous source. It was later I realized
it was FSB international. I went for the
aptitude test and I passed.
I was called for an interview. The man
that interviewed me later asked if I had
anything to ask him. I said yes. I asked
him "Please, I want to know if you will
employ me, what level are you going to

put me on?" Then he told me that it was the
next level after fresh graduate. Meanwhile,
I was already three levels ahead of fresh
graduates. I told him unless you're giving
me the next higher grade, I will not take it.
He told me that was beyond his authority.
I told him and insisted on getting a higher
level. It was later I realized that his wife
and I were classmates in primary school. I
bumped into the man and his wife whom
I had known earlier about three months
after that interview. He said I had really
surprised him as some people would have
gladly jumped at the bank offer. He said he
had recommended me to the board. But
they said there was no vacancy for a higher
grade. I had master’s degree, working
experience; I realized I could not just take
anything. He said that's how it should be.
Unfortunately, he died in that Dana crash
sometimes back.
How did you meet your first Wife?
I met her through a friend. I escorted a
friend who recently retired from national
assembly as either a deputy clerk senate or
clerk senate. It was in 1986, I escorted him
in the evening to his own girlfriend's place,
who later became his wife. Incidentally,
when she was coming out to him, the lady
who later became my wife escorted her. By
July 19th, it will be exactly 32 years since
we got married. I married her July 19th
1987. I told my friend that I liked the lady
that escorted his girlfriend. He said that's
okay, that she is a very good girl. That's how
we met. The rest is history. Incidentally, I
married her at least a year before my friend
got married to his own wife.
How much of an impact does she have
on you?
A lot, we have eight children. Four boys,
four girls. First, second and third, all boys.
Fourth, fifth and sixth all girls. The last two
are twins, a boy and a girl.
The first one is an Electrical Engineer.
Second is an Economist. Third one is
a Civil Engineer; very intelligent. He
got second class upper from Bayero. He
insisted he was going to study his Masters
in London. I told him I cannot afford it.
Later, he got through a friend who has a
relative teaching in a Malaysian University
and that University happens to be number
17 on World ranking. I realized that what
I was going to spend for him if he went to
that University in Malaysia would not even
be up to what I will spend if he studied here
in Nigeria. So I agreed. He went to Malaysia
for his masters and he came out to be on
top. Immediately he got back, Julius Berger
picked him up. He worked with them for
about a year, and left.
What are some of the values that you
have learnt from your parents and you
are now passing unto your own children?
A lot, my father was highly disciplined. He
will not beat you but the way he would look
at you, you dare not make any mistake. I
stayed very long with my father. He died
while I was entering my final year at
University. My secondary school period
and a greater part of my university period
I was under the tutelage of my father. He
will always make sure that you're at home.
Since secondary school days, I imbibed the
culture of watching network news, reading
newspaper because that was something
I learnt from my father. He was always
listening to news and reading.
So I became current with happenings
around me at an early age. That has helped
me all through my professional life,
especially during my promotion exams.
In civil service, we write promotion exams
and part of the questions was current
affairs. That habit of reading and watching
news has helped me. I never failed any
promotion exams throughout. I learnt
from my father who was disciplined and a
working class person. He was focused on
his career. All of these qualities I want to
bequeath to my children.
What would be your advice to people
who find it difficult to follow their
passion and turn it into opportunities?
Many people come here to tell me they
had been posted somewhere and they
were rejected. You see, it is all part of life.
Nothing goes smoothly. Anything that
goes smooth there may be a problem. You
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ALUMNI INTERVIEW SERIES
just try and take it as it comes. Don't allow
yourself to be frustrated by anything. Take
anything that comes to you as a source
of your strength that will propel you to
do better. Some people believe that you
will need to know somebody before you
get something, even if to some extent
that may be true in some aspects of life,
I think it is better to remain on the path
of maintaining your dignity and integrity
to just do your things normal and avoid
looking for anyone's favour. I am happy
that I have never gone to anybody. That
I don't have any godfather. Yes there are
people who I can say have made a mark in
my life. They have valued my hardwork and
recommended me at one time or the other.
What does integrity mean to you?
Integrity to me means staying focused and
doing the right thing the way it should
be done in accordance with the guiding
principles or the rules and regulations
of the land and of your creator. Whether
we like it or not, even people who do not
believe in God also believe that there is
right and wrong. Integrity means staying
focused on the right path and course. We
are all humans. We make mistakes. Nobody
is above mistakes. But any mistake you
make must be a genuine one. That means it
was either a mistake or an ignorance of the
actual thing. I don't think I have ever gotten
anything I don't deserve; I will have rest of
mind. Anything I get must be something I
have no issues with.
What do you want to be your lasting
legacy once you leave this ministry as
the Permanent secretary?
The lasting legacy I want to leave is to
ensure that people do things right and
that is whoever comes to take over from
me should be able to continue with that
and ensure that he encourages the staff to
imbibe that culture as well as also ensure
that we respond to members of the public
promptly to whatever they ask. I don't like
a situation where letters are sent to us and
are not attended to. We are in an era of
freedom of information, accountability,
and transparency, it is good that whatever
we do people know what we do and how we
do it. When we are wrong, we should accept
criticism and the criticisms should be
actual ones and not ones for any immaterial
motives. We should be criticized in a way
that we would be able to improve. I will
love to leave a legacy of transparency,
accountability, and truthfulness whenever
I'm not here.
 ENTERTAINMENT, FASHION & STYLES

African
Inspired
Fabrics for
Cute Couples
By Folorunso Abosede

C
heck out African fabrics for
couple selection for the very
best and unique styles. I believe
that some of these styles will
inspire you to go for your outing with your
partner.

94 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

ENTERTAINMENT, FASHION & STYLES

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 95

 ENTERTAINMENT, FASHION & STYLES

96 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7

 ANIMAL KINGDOM

Nile
Crocodile
N
ile Crocodile is the
second largest extant
reptile in the world
and an apex predator
of rivers and marshlands. The Nile
crocodile is the largest crocodilian in
Africa and responsible for attacking
hundreds of people each year.

ISSUE 5 VOL.7 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL 97

 MEN OF HISTORY

Professor
Ishaya
Sha’aibu
Audu

Vintage
professor
Ishaya
Sha’aibu
Audu
welcoming
Britain Professor
former Ishaya
Prime Sha’aibu
Minister, Audu as
Margaret a young
Thatcher doctor

Professor Ishaya
Sha'aibu Audu
First Indigenous Vice-Chancellor of ABU

P
rofessor Ishaya Sha'aibu Audu was a Doctor, Professor
and Politician. A Hausa Christian, he served as
Minister of External Affairs (Foreign Minister) from
1979 to 1983 under President Shehu Shagari.
Early life, education, and career in academia
Audu was born on March 1, 1927 in Anchau, a village near
Zaria, Kaduna State to a father who had converted from Islam
to Christianity. Initially educated at St. Bartholomew’s School in
Wusasa, he moved to Yaba Higher College in Lagos and then to
University College, Ibadan (since renamed to the University of
Ibadan) in 1948. In 1951 he left for the University of London in
England, where he stayed until 1954. In 1955, he studied at the
University of Liverpool (also in England). It was in 1958 that he
married his wife, Victoria, with whom he had six children.
Audu lectured in internal medicine at the University of
Lagos in 1962 and was promoted to the position of Vice
98 BLACK HERITAGE INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 5 VOL.7
Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University in 1966. (He had
been the personal physician of Ahmadu Bello, namesake of the
university.) He also travelled to the United States where he was
employed as an associate research professor at the University of
Rochester, New York, and wrapped up his education at the Ohio
University in Athens, Ohio from 1964 until 1968. Ishaya Audu
was the vice presidential candidate of the Nigerian People's
Party which had Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as its Presidential
Candidate in 1979 Presidential Election.
By the end of the vice-chancellorship of Ishaya Audu in the
mid-1975, ABU was solidly established as Nigeria’s largest
university and among Africa’s academically strongest university.
The first indigenous Vice-Chancellor of ABU who made
tremendous contributions to humanity and etched his name on
the sands of time through his exploits in academic, medicine
and politics died on August 29, 2005 at the age of 78.