Encounter with Sokoto steward who served 13 govs

Recounting his experience to Daily Trust, Dambuwa who is well-known, especially among senior civil servants in the old Sokoto State comprising Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, said he once rejected an offer from a military administrator to build a house for him. “I feared that the authorities may collect the house from me whenever the person […]

Recounting his experience to Daily Trust, Dambuwa who is well-known, especially among senior civil servants in the old Sokoto State comprising Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, said he once rejected an offer from a military administrator to build a house for him.

“I feared that the authorities may collect the house from me whenever the person who built it for me was being probed,” he revealed.

He however, described the period from February 1, 1976 to May 2015, when he worked with 13 governors both military and civilians, as satisfactory, successful and rewarding.

On how he became a steward at the Government House, Dambuwa recalled that: “I was introduced to Alhaji Shehu Mohammed Kangiwa in 1976 by one Malam Bello Sullubawan Dambuwa when the late Kangiwa was living with his family along Clapperton Road Sokoto as a permanent secretary. When he was appointed a minister and transferred to Lagos, my family refused the invitation for me to join him, so I was employed at the state ministry of health on his orders.

“When the late Shehu kangiwa came back home to join politics, he invited me back to his house to continue with my job as a steward and placed me on the same salary scale as I was at the ministry of health,” he explained.

Dambuwa added that: “Kangiwa contested and won the election and we moved to Government House together, he later died and we relocated to the house of Garba Nadama who as his deputy was sworn in as Sokoto State governor. After sometime, a coup was staged and a military governor was posted in the person of Garba Duba.”

He explained further that: “We continued with Garba Duba, Garba Mohammed Lere, Ahmed Mohammed Daku, Bashir Magashi and then the civilian administration returned. Malam Yahaya Abdulkarim was sworn in and he retained most of us. Another coup took place that brought in Colonel Yakubu Muazu. After him, another military governor Adisa Raji was appointed, and then Dan Asabe Garba before another civilian regime was put in place in 1999.”

The veteran steward said when Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa emerged as governor in 1999 he worked with him till 2007 when his then deputy, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko was elected twice, between 2007 and 2015.  He had a stint with Aminu Waziri Tambuwal before he retired in May 2015.

On his secret to the long stay in the corridors of power, Dambuwa said it was loyalty to his bosses and his simple way of life, devoid of greed. “I respect their wishes, and sacrifice my all for their satisfaction and comfort, hence my appeal to all of them,” he declared.

He said each day proved challenging to stewards working in the Government House, especially when there were visitors, stressing that:  “The work really kept me away from my own family because for 24 hours, we remained at the beck and call of the governor.”

 Dambuwa emphasised that they had to be at their best always. “We tried to satisfy our ‘ogas’ as they were good to us,” he stated.

One unforgettable experience he had on the job, Dambuwa recalled, was during the tenure of Col. Duba as military governor, when some property got missing and a serious inquiry was made.

“We had to miss our Friday prayer that day because we were placed under serious interrogation by the military personnel. It was later discovered that the governor’s wife gave away the properties without his knowledge and they later apologised for detaining us wrongly,” he recounted.

Dambuwa said he is still very much in touch with a number of people he had worked with. “Many of the ADCs (Aide de Camps) who served both military and civilian governors were my ogas and they have been good to me. Even now, I still communicate with some of them.”

When asked to appraise the various administrations, he picked out late Kangiwa and Colonel Daku’s regimes as the best in terms of welfare and concern for their staff. He also said former governor Nadama donated Zakkat to staff on several occasions.