Remembering Adamu Liman Ciroma, ten years on (1)

This is because he achieved his legendary greatness by dint of earned merit all the way—hard work and patient pursuit after academic excellence in college and university, and capacity for even more hard work, a reputation for integrity, honesty and transparency in office.I met Malam Liman for the first time in 1946, not in Potiskum […]

This is because he achieved his legendary greatness by dint of earned merit all the way—hard work and patient pursuit after academic excellence in college and university, and capacity for even more hard work, a reputation for integrity, honesty and transparency in office.
I met Malam Liman for the first time in 1946, not in Potiskum or in Fika as might be expected, but in Maiduguri where he had gone to spend a part of his holiday with his brother, the late Ciroma Baba Gana.
However, even before we met, stories of his academic exploits and brilliance had already reached us at both Fika and Potiskum, especially when in 1944 he was short listed to sit for the entrance examination to Kaduna College (Barewa College). That year he was the only successful candidate from Borno Province and was eventually admitted into the college in February 1945. As God would have it, three years later, as one of the three successful candidates at the entrance examination held in 1947, I too got admitted into the same college in February 1948. And from then, we instantly took to each other and became very close.
Throughout or stay in school, Malam Liman was my role model, kinsman, confidante and mentor. There was mutual respect and affection between us; and we always liked each other’s company. After retirement, both of us settled down in Kaduna; and I used to visit his house every other day usually staying long enough to pray Salatul Dhuhr and Asr or Maghrib and Isha before returning to my house. He also occasionally paid visits to me.
As usual, on Friday, 21st May 2004, I visited him as usual. Even though he did not look unwell, but as we chatted, he had complained of chest pain; and I thought it was the normal kind of pain resulting from old age, fatigue or exhaustion. After the Isha prayer, I informed him of my intention to travel to Abuja the next day and return the following day.
I did return to Kaduna late afternoon on Sunday on 23rd of May 2004 with the intention that within one hour, I would go to Mallam Liman’s house just before Maghrib; but because my driver had already gone, I decided to wait until after Maghrib prayer. However, at the mosque, I saw Malam Liman’s driver and he informed me that Malam Liman was at Jinya Hospital  where he had gone in the morning to rest for the day.
I headed for the hospital and I was on my way to the hospital, when a call from Dr Mahmud Tukur came in, and he told me that Dr Tukur Abdullahi, the proprietor of Jinya Hospital, had been trying to contact me to let me know that Malam Liman suddenly died. By then, I had already entered the premises of Jinya Hospital and I met his widow, two of his sons, his younger brother, and a host of friends and other relatives standing and wearing mournful looks. After the body had been taken back to the house, arrangements were made for funeral prayers for 10 am the following Monday.
Even though we live with the certain of Allah’s declaration in the Holy Qur’an that ‘every soul shall have a taste of death,’ every death leaves behind shock and sorrow in its wake. In particular, Malam Liman’s death took many people by surprise because, until his just before he died, he enjoyed robust good health and lived an active and exemplary life.
From the calibre of sympathizers, the confetti of tributes and the testimony of colleagues and those who worked under him or with him, it was clear that he had touched the lives of all those who associated with him in a profoundly positive and permanent way.
Mourners and sympathizers painted Malam Liman as a great patriot, a pan Nigerian per excellence and a visionary technocrat of proven integrity, and, above all, a most well rounded human person. Being very close to him, I can attest to the fact that these praises were not given in the typical ‘speak-nothing-but-good-of-the-dead’ platitude of Nigerians who praise the dead to high heavens in simulated deference; rather, these were genuine, heart-felt tributes to a great administrator and statesman.
Malam Liman was born on 30th September 1930 and entered Potiskum Elementary School 1936. From there, he went on to Middle School Maiduguri in 1941 together with six other successful boys from Fika Emirate namely—Muhammadu Sabo, Bomai, Accama, Suleiman, Gimba and himself from Potiskum Elementary and three others—Baba Idris, Dala Fika and Ciroman Fika from Fika Elementary School.
On arrival at Maiduguri, the authorities decided that only Muhammdu Sabo and Baba Idris were offered direct entry into the Middle School while the other five were made to repeat elementary class IV at the Yerwa Central Elementary School which shared the same premises with the Middle School; and only the following year were they admitted into the Middle School. Malam Liman was one of the few boys selected from class II and III who sat for the entrance examination to Kaduna College; and that year he was the only successful candidate in the examination and was admitted into the college in February of 1945.
Malam Liman completed his studies at Barewa College in December 1948 but 20 of the graduating students including him were asked to return for six months to enable them sit for the entrance examination into the newly opened University College Ibadan. Of the 20, only four of them passed the entrance examinations to UCI.
Malam Liman and his classmates had three categories of employers they could apply to: Government department, Native Authority (NA), or the private sector. The heads of Government department and private sector organisation had visited the college to persuade them to join their organisation. Mr B.E Fag, the head of the Antiquities Department, lectured them on the relevance of history in the development of a nation, and this impressed and attracted Malam Liman and another of his classmates Musa Abubakar who both joined the Department. Following his success at the entrance examination to University College Ibadan, Musa Abubakar resigned his appointment; but Malam Liman remained in the Antiquities Department at its headquarters at Ibadan.
When the department’s headquarters was later moved to Lagos, Malam Liman was entrusted with the task of transferring the delicate artefacts. It was a testimony to his vigilance and frugality that not a single artefact was damaged and the movement was done at minimal cost. For this effort, a commendation letter was given to him and, in the Colonial Service; this was the equivalent to a medal of honour.
In 1950, the Nigerian Government strengthened its policy of rapid Nigerianisation of the senior segments of the public service; and in order to get Nigerians who could fill the posts, suitable candidates were identified for the award of scholarship to enable them acquire the requisite qualification for appointment at the senior service levels.
In accordance with the new policy, Malam Liman’s department recommended him for overseas scholarship, but the then director of education and chairman of the interview panel, one Mr R.A. Macdavidson, frustrated that opportunity. However, in 1953 another window of opportunity opened up when the Northern Regional scholarship scheme was established. Having missed the Central Government’s offer, Malam Liman applied for the North Regional scholarship and was awarded a scholarship for a certificate or diploma in the first instance tenable in the United Kingdom.

Fika, the Waziri of Fika, is a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation