Abdullahi Isa No Sweat: Life and times of a veteran journalist

I first heard the name Abdullahi Isa No Sweat in the 1990’s on a BBC Hausa programme, “Taba kidi, taba karatu”. As fate would have it, in September, 2002, I was posted to Adamawa State as Correspondent of Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, and this provided me the opportunity to meet the famous Comrade Abdullahi Isa No […]

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first heard the name Abdullahi Isa No Sweat in the 1990’s on a BBC Hausa programme, “Taba kidi, taba karatu”.

As fate would have it, in September, 2002, I was posted to Adamawa State as Correspondent of Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, and this provided me the opportunity to meet the famous Comrade Abdullahi Isa No Sweat, and since then we became very close.

On resumption of duty in Yola, I was faced with many challenges; being in a new environment, because this was my first time of being posted out of the station and to the North eastern part of the country.

I spent about three months in Yola without setting my eyes on Abdullahi Isa No Sweat because he was away on duty, but we spoke on phone.

When he came back, I was formally introduced to him, and he said, “Oh! Are you the one I spoke with on phone?”

One day we were discussing and I told him how I first heard of his name on a BBC Hausa programme and he opened up to me on his story. He said he was a widely travelled man, having visited many countries of the world: Vietnam, England, India, Pakistan, Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabic, USA, UK, among others.

He said in the early 1980’s the late President Shehu Shagari visited Pakistan while he (No Sweat) was there, and that he tried to meet the President.

He said when he went to the venue of a meeting where President Shagari met with Nigerians resident in that country, to his surprise, his schoolmate at the Yola Provincial School, now General Murtala Mohmmed College (GMMC), Yola, was the Aide De Camp (ADC) to President Shagari.

No Sweat said, “We recognised each other and after the meeting, the ADC took me to see President Shagari who asked me what I was doing in Pakistan. He thereafter advised me to return home and settle down. Some months after my encounter with the President, I decided to return home to settle down permanently.”

When No Sweat returned to the country, he settled in various places before settling in Kano and started work as a journalist with Triumph, a state government-owned newspaper established by the late Abubakar Rimi.

While working for Triumph, No Sweat began unionism activities with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and was one of the oldest members of the union before his death. He served in various capacities in various chapels and councils in Kano, Adamawa and at the national level.

No Sweat is a very famous name in Yola. He had contacts with the high and mighty: both in Yola and Abuja. He, therefore, used that opportunity to arrange interviews with people like Prof. Jibril Aminu, Murtala Nyako, Hassan Adamu, among others, who were all our classmates at the Yola Provincial Secondary School.

It was No Sweat who introduced me to politics of NUJ. In 2005, when the tenure of the exco of the Correspondents Chapel expired under our able Chairman then, Mamman Mohammed of NAN, No Sweat hacked a plan for me to succeed Mamman as chairman.

He kept pressurising me to declare and contest for the chairmanship; which I declined. My reason was that I was just two years in Yola and I did not want to involve myself in NUJ politics that time.

But after putting more pressure on me; with the support of some of our colleagues, I decided to contest for the vice chairmanship. I won unopposed, while late Abel Orih Idoma of Thisday emerged the chairman.

But as fate would have it, the Chairman; late Abel Orih Idoma, was transferred to Benue State and I had to take over the affairs of the chapel as vice chairman and acting chairman for some time before I was also transferred to Kano.

While in Kano, Abdullahi No Sweat visited me several times. He would call to say he would be coming to Kano and I would make arrangement with the Kano NUJ chairman so as to accommodate him at the NUJ Secretariat.

Incidentally while in Kano, his daughter, Hauwa’u, secured admission at the Police Secondary School, Shanono, and he kept visiting Kano and I would accompany him to Shanono to see her on visiting days.

Because of his love for education, No Sweat enrolled his children in one of the best and expensive schools in Yola then, ABTI Academy.

After finishing ABTI Academy, No Sweat heard about the Attahiru Bafarawa Institute for Quar’anic and General Studies, which was renamed Sultan Maccido Institute for Qur’an and General Studies, Sokoto State, and enrolled his children there.

No Sweat was simple and kind, but he could be temperamental. In 2007, during the political campaigns period, Gov. Sam Egwu of Ebonyi State and the presidential aspirant of the PDP visited Yola.

Journalists went to meet them at the Presidential Lodge and we were confroted by an overzealous aide of the governor, who in the course of our engagement, spoke abusive words in Igbo. No Sweat immediately replied him in Igbo; which surprised the man and he immediately apologised to us and led us to see the governor.

He was a true Nigerian who spoke fluently in several Nigerian languages; apart from international languages.

His love for journalists and journalism knew no bounds. This was evident in his commitment to issues of journalists and journalism. Even age did not deter him from participating in activities of journalism.

My prayers for him one year after his death is that may Allah forgive him his shortcomings; grant him Aljannah Firdausi and give the family and other friends the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

 

Mujtaba Ramalam Bello is a journalist and wrote this piece from Gusau, Zamfara State