In my primary school days, every school leaver wanted to go to the famous Barewa College Zaria, in then North Central State, now Kaduna State, or Government College Keffi, in then Plateau State, now Nasarawa State. But the only people who made it, or so it would appear, were either those who were very brilliant like Nasir El Rufa’i and AbdalLah AbdulRahman, or someone who was very well connected. Though yours sincerely wanted to go to Barewa College, I was neither brilliant nor well connected enough to be admitted to the school.
Not everyone must have an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) like Albert Einstein, the German/American Jewish Scientist, who was once told to his face by his science teacher that he had no future in science, but went on to formulate the famous theory of relativity (E = MC²), or the brilliant British armchair-bounded atheist Physicist, George Hawking, who formulated the theory of ‘Hawking Radiation’, or the German Jewish Max Planck, who is credited with the formulation of the Quantum Theory, or the even more famous Isaac Newton, who formulated the equally famous law of gravity. This is to prove that not all those who were NOT admitted to the two famous schools were dullards.
Far from it. Some of those who attended other secondary schools in those days, even though they might have possessed what were, or one of the things needed for admission to the colleges, went on to pass out with flying colours, furthered their education, and became architects, medical doctors, and other professionals. People without the brain or the wide shoulders to cry on, like me, could not, by any chance, achieve such shining feats.
We have brilliant people like Architect (Alhaji) Bishir Salisu Haiba Malumfashi, Dr. Nafi’u Funtua, Dr. Salisu Katsina of the Katsina General Hospital, Alhaji Salele Iro (Late), and Dr. Mohammed Isa Dandashire (son of a Katsina State-born schoolmate), who finished his first medical degree from a first-generation university as the best all-round student, not only in his department but in the university as a whole. He scored 9 A+ in his final examination to take all the prizes home. He is now abroad furthering his medical studies and is a very sought-after doctor by leading hospitals worldwide.
Someone’s capacity to be the best in their field, in most cases, amounts to nothing in Nigeria, if there is no so-called “big person” to make a case for them, regardless of the job they may be looking for. This is a country where most of the ‘big’ people, who began as ‘nobodies’ but became ‘somebodies’ because of politics, would not help others grow.
Politics in Nigeria is NOT about service to the people; it is about self-service. Not a few of the ‘rich’ politicians today were, at one time, ‘nobodies’, but for one reason or another, they became ‘somebody’ thanks to the few ‘helpful’ politicians who were on hand for them. Yet, many of them do not want to return the favour by assisting others.
The brilliant people are not by any means limited to the sciences; there are many more in the social sciences and the humanities. These include bright minds like Professor Attahiru Jega, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Malam Mohammed Haruna, Malam Adamu Adamu, Alhaji Mahe Rashid of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) fame, Malam AbdulMumini Bello, Malam Kabir Yusuf, Hajiya Naja’atu Muhammed, Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf (Late), Hajiya A’isha Kabir Yusuf, Olusegun Adeniyi, and Simon Kolawole, among others.
These ‘brilliant minds’ include the likes of Alhaji Idris Tune, one of his predecessors in office as Head of Service (HoS) in Katsina State, Alhaji Lawal Aliyu (mni), Alhaji Labiru Musa Kafur, Malam Garba Shehu, and the person under whom I last worked. The person is not only brilliant and bright but is also generous to a fault, with a sharp memory that is somewhat ‘photographic’, because of his acuity in remembering past events, no matter how long ago they may have happened.
Of course, there are other brilliant contemporaries of mine, but I have not included their names because I did not know the secondary schools they attended. Such people include, but are by no means limited to, Architect Waziri Bulama, a former National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and Malam Jelani Aliyu, the Nigerian auto designer who designed the famous VOLT electric car, manufactured by General Motors (GM) in the US.
There are the billionaires (some of them self-made) like Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Alhaji AbdusSamadu Rabi’u, Chief Adenuga, Chief Arthur Eze, Alhaji Dahiru Bara’u Mangal, and a host of others, whose magnanimity makes it possible for many poor people to eat three meals every day, courtesy of their feeding programmes. One cannot be a BILLIONAIRE by being a DULL person, even if such a person did not go to the secondary schools of choice at the time.
The security services in the country are also in the habit of always snapping up the first-class minds, the moment they graduate, or are about to graduate, from their schools. It is the practice globally. Some agencies even sponsor potentially bright students to pursue higher education, so that they may automatically be absorbed into the service once they complete their studies.
This is done by agencies (especially intelligence organizations) to get local staff who would be sharp enough to approach and recruit foreigners to spy on their country, and possibly do more.
Although favouritism and cronyism developed over the years in Nigeria, the two have been elevated to an art by the present regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which has made them into a state policy, to the extent that they have reached the highest level they have never attained before, no thanks to the pervasive corruption that is the hallmark of the current leadership style in the country.
Take a look at the appointments the president has made since assuming office, and the retention of underperforming aides, despite their glaring failures in their assignments. The implications of this are as clear as the sun on a summer day.
Anyway, El Rufa’i is well known to most of us, even the apolitical ones among us. For those who do not know, his then (I do not know whether it still exists, and what his role in it is) company, ‘El Rufa’i and Partners’, was the major participant in building the local government offices of the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), created by the then Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB).
After that, the one-time Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, picked him to head the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) as its Director-General (DG). He was later appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) due to his brilliant performance at BPE, before he eventually became the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State under APC.
The lesser-known AbdulRahman AbdalLah, who was also brilliant, intelligent, and smart, was a lecturer at the then Kaduna Polytechnic before transferring his services to Katsina State when his schoolmate and close friend, then called ‘WICKED’ because of his expertise in Judo (he was said to show no mercy to his opponent in the ring), became the Governor and later Nigeria’s President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua, of blessed memory.
Malam (everyone seems to be a Malam) AbdalLah peaked in the service of Katsina State as the Secretary to the State Government and Head of Service at the end of the second term of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua as Governor.
He took the baton of the office from another brilliant son of Malumfashi, Alhaji Bello Musa Dankano, who rose through the ranks to the pinnacle of the civil service and became SSG/HoS in the state during the last military administration in the country.
There are many pretenders to qualifications that they do not possess but claim to have obtained from some recognized foreign institutions, which is a very bad development for the country. The ‘Billion Naira’ governor and the number one citizen in Nigeria are alleged to belong to that unedifying category.
Not only that, there is absolutely NOTHING glamorous about someone being a spy for a foreign nation (whether friendly or hostile), especially if that someone happens to be the number one citizen of his country.
By the way, I want to make it clear that I have never been an intellectual person who is well-read, nor do I possess a sharp mind. I have also never had the presence of mind to do many desirable things at the right moment. Therefore, those who felt, or feel, offended by this sloppiness should regard it as part of my behavior, which is not intended or meant to offend, whatsoever.
May God give Nigeria leaders who will not come with one face (hidden motives), only to show their real selves and the evil that they came with, against the generality of the citizens.
Labaran wrote from Katsina.
