At 78, I design computer software for banks – Hafiz Wali

You come from a family of many professionals. How did you and your siblings make it?My brothers who are still alive include Na’ibi Suleman Wali, a career civil servant and later a minister; Dahiru Wali is a pharmacist and proprietor Tsamiya Chemist, Professor Sadiq Wali, is the Chairman of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. […]

You come from a family of many professionals. How did you and your siblings make it?
My brothers who are still alive include Na’ibi Suleman Wali, a career civil servant and later a minister; Dahiru Wali is a pharmacist and proprietor Tsamiya Chemist, Professor Sadiq Wali, is the Chairman of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. If you remember, he was a personal physician to four former presidents of Nigeria. All my sisters are dead. My brothers who are late include Brigadier Abba Suleman Wali, who was until his retirement the Adjutant of the Army. Others were the late Ahmed Tubri, who worked at Farm Centre, Kano. Then there were Alfa Wali and the late Isa Wali, who was the father of Maryam Uwais. Our late father encouraged his male and female ‘gidanwali’ children to pursue education. According to him, Islam charged adherents to strive to go to even China in pursuit of knowledge.

Can you explain the history and role of Wali title in Kano?
It was a ‘borrowed’ title from Zaria and other places. There was Wali in Borno, Zaria, and maybe Katsina, preceded the title in Kano, I cannot really remember. My father was the childhood friend of the late Abdullahi Bayero, the father of the immediate past Emir of Kano. He brought Wali close to him when he became Emir. The Emir wanted to turban my father as Waziri (Prime Minister) in his palace, but my father declined. According to my father, he was an Islamic scholar and did not want to be given a royal title.
But Malam Abukakar, known as ‘Mai-sajen Jamus’, a disciplinarian and a close confidant of the Emir and the son of WaliAminu of Zazzau told my father to accept the title of Wali, which is the equivalent of an Attorney General and it was reserved for non-princes who are knowledgeable to guide the Emir on Islamic law. My father agreed and was turbaned as Wali. That is how the first Wali of Kano emerged and after his death, scholars and friends of the reigning Emir were turbaned as Wali.

Who were your teachers in Kano?
I learnt all my Islamic education from my mother. It is noteworthy that the late Emir of Kano Ado Bayero and many others studied the complete Qur’an in my family compound, from my mother. At that time, you could not differentiate between a prince and a non-prince, as we all realized who our parents were in the society only when we grew up. My mother was vast in Islamic knowledge, such that she used to recite the Qur’an while my father translated the meaning. I was admitted into elementary school at the age of between 8 and 9. Malam Mukhtari Yola was the headmaster, while  Ibrahim Dantiye, and Muhammad Koki were the teachers. In the Middle School, the headmaster was Usman Gwarzo. We also had a teacher called Aliyu Gwarzo. Ambassador Maitama Sule was a year ahead of me. He was in ‘Remove B’, and I was in ‘Remove A.’

What is ‘Remove’?
It is for those who passed and are about to proceed to either Barewa College, which was for gifted students, or to continue their education in any other secondary school. Mostly three or four pupils with the best results were in ‘Remove’. And those on ‘Remove’ taught in their schools after completion, if the need arose.

What was your relationship with the late Head of State, General Murtala Muhammad?
We were from the Fulani Gyanawa Dynasty. Murtala was the mate of my younger brother, Tubri.  We were from the same area and we did our childhood play together. He respected me a lot. When he met me at Barewa College, he used to come and seek for advice from me. I used to counsel him on the right thing to do. But, you know that he was an independently-minded person.

What of when he became the Head of State?
I didn’t visit him until his death. The late Mallam Aminu Kano was a member of our clan, too. I have forgotten but a book was written on the Gyanawa Dynasty.

Who were your friends?
At the Elementary School I had friends like Atiku Fagge, Magaji Ringim, and lots more. At Barewa College, my mates were Rilwan Lukman, and Benji Isiaku, who was an Electrical Engineering Lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University ABU, Zaria.  He is from Wusasa. Zakaria Borno, a former Governor North-West, Commissioner of Police Usman Faruk, and Jarman Gombe. The late Alhaji Umaru Dikko was older than me by two years. But we all liaised well with Barewa College Old students, like General Yakubu Gowon and many others.  Many are deceased now, like the Hassan Katsina, Yusuf Yero, who co-founded Dangi Pharmacy in Kano. He was the father of the Publisher of Daily Trust, Malam Kabir Yusuf. There was also  Sa’idu Gwarzo,  and many others.

How did you choose your career as an educationist?
In our house, each family member chose what he or she wanted to pursue at will. But mine was an exception as my elder brother, Isa Wali, did not want me to go into technical education. He said that I was supposed to study Medicine or Engineering with my good results, and not technical education. But I wanted to be given the free hand to choose the course of my choice, like my other brothers did.
After taking the decision, I went to tell the late Emir Sunusi that I was going to England to study for a degree technical education, but that Isa Wali did not want it. The late Emir Sunusi told me to go and study what I wanted and that I should make good use of it. The Emir said: ‘the white men couldn’t have defeated the Hausa land in various battles without their technical advancement. I want you and our children to study the secret of the white men and come back to teach our younger generation.’ I told him I will.

How did you start your career?
I started as a teacher in Maiduguri at Yerwa Secondary School. Some of my students are Gaji Galtimari, Commissioner of Police Galadima, Mala Alamai, Gambo Gubio. Later, I was transferred to Idah Craft School in Igala land in the then Benue Province, now Kogi State. From Idah, I was transferred to Mashi Craft School in Katsina State.   I also taught at Wudil Technical College and was later promoted to the rank of Inspector in Kaduna. After that I got Ford Foundation scholarship to study Systems Engineering in the United States.
 
After Independence a Briton was said to have reported you to the Sardauna, the then Prime Minister of Northern Nigeria. What did you do?
The Inspector of Education came to my school and saw that I taught students both theory and practical, as we built extra-classes and hostels. The white man asked me and I said I was teaching my students practical by using them to build those structures. The Briton queried me, arguing that I was delving into the duties of the Ministry of Works. He did not care about the source of funding. The source of the funding was my students, I asked them to ask their parents to contribute the moneyfor practical materials. Following a formal complaint by the Briton, I was summoned by the government. I was asked to meet the then Minster of Education, the late Mallam Isa Kaita. I told him that I got the money from the proposal I wrote and the fund was made available.  The minister submitted his report, consulted others and instead of punishing me, the government gave me commendation for the effort.

How were you considered for the scholarship that took you to the US to study Systems Engineering?
What happened was that a Polish working with US Embassy came to Mashi Craft (now Technical) School on a visit. He was impressed with my performance, and promised to contact me, which he did. The fruit of his effort was that the US gave me scholarship to go and study for a master’s degree in Systems Engineering through the Ford Foundation in the US. When I told Isa Wali that I was going to the US to study what he wanted, Engineering, he became happy.  
After my return from America to Kano, I was made the chief inspector in Kano and later I was posted to the National Teachers Institute, (NTI), in Kaduna. We did a proposal on distance learning and sent to government. Surprisingly, it was approved. I was called to Lagos and I met the Permanent Secretary, the late Alhaji M.T Usman, who ordered the release of the money for buying the land from the original owners, the farmers in Riga Chikun. I collected the cheque and went to the Military Administrator of Kaduna, the late Group Captain Usman Jibrin, and handed the cheque over to him. He told me that I should keep the money and manage it because I was the director, but I told him I didn’t want to handle any money. The Military Administrator announced it on radio, wrote the then Emir of Zazzau that the farmers should come with the papers and collect their compensation. The governor, representatives of the Emir and the District Head of Riga chikun, I and farmers assembled. They were verified and sent to the bursary to receive their cash in compensation for the land being used for the NTI. Now, I want a situation in which distance learning should be encouraged so that the literacy level in Nigeria could improve significantly.

How did you get the contractors?
I opened a bid and some Italian indigenous companies won. That was Stabilini. I told them I wanted quality or nothing. I warned them that construction was my field, hence I would detect it if they compromised the quality of work they were given. That is how uptill now the building is fit and the environment serene.

I learnt that you were a teacher to some of the brothers of the present Governor of Kano Kwankwaso?
The father of the Governor Alhaji Musa Kwankwaso brought Dahiru and Rabiu, the governor, and said he wanted them to study Western education, with craft, so that they can be independent and self-employed and not just wait for white collar job after graduation. Instantly, I admitted Dahiru and said Musa should be returned the next academic session, as he was just six years old. As you know, the courses in technical schools require some physical strength because it would require the use of machines. It was not meant for young boys. I later employed Dahiru, who has become an expert printer, to head the Printing Department of NTI. He later died while working with NTI and I felt his death as my pupil.
After some years at the NTI, I worked on secondment on the Board of the Commonwealth of Learning and was later employed as a staff. I worked in Canada for over two years before I came back to Nigeria. Canada was very cold, but I coped well, though I was always wearing my traditional Hausa Kaftan (long dress) throughout my stay in Canada. Upon my return to Nigeria, I was made the Special Assistant to the then Minister of Education, Professor Franck Nwabueze. After that I wrote for my formal retirement from the civil service.

How did you plan for your retirement?
I was born in 1936 and I thought it wise to retire at the age of sixty, as stipulated by law. I established the NTI in 1976, and was to retire in 1992. I was tired of working. I felt that it was high time I retired. I quit in 1992 from NTI. But Professor Jibril Aminu was adamant that I should continue with my work so that the dream of establishing a vibrant distance learning education programme could be realised. How would one feel if one stayed in one place for decades? It is better you have a change of scene? I was succeeded by Mohammed Bunza, who is presently the Sarkin Bunza in Kebbi State. I was later made the first Vice-Chancellor of Bagauda University and now Wudil University in Kano.

What is your advice to your son and now your leader, the new Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sunusi II?
I wish him well. I told him that he can summon me any time for me to contribute. But I respect his zeal for education.He is knowledgeable and an expert in banking. I pray for him to be successful.

Do you advice Nigerians to go into technical education now that white collar job is not easy to come by?
When I was a principal, I told my students to strive and acquire handcraft, as they would be sought for always. Look at how engineering students and technicians are being sought after always. From power to construction to computer and lots more, engineers are needed. For instance, without computer now there wouldn’t be any development.

What are you into presently?
I can say I have bought some farms, but I didn’t go into farming as the managers were not serious. I am now a consultant computer system analyst, making and selling programmes to banks, financial institutions and those that want to design new programmes for a special purpose.