Reminiscences with Alhaji Abba Abdullahi

Alhaji Abba Abdullahi was the deputy governor of Kano State during the administration of Colonel Ndatsu Umaru, between 1990 and 1992. Abdullahi, who was born in 1939, joined the civil service in 1965 as assistant secretary in the Ministry of Education, under the Administrative Service of Northern Nigeria. He shared his experiences with Daily Trust […]

Alhaji Abba Abdullahi was the deputy governor of Kano State during the administration of Colonel Ndatsu Umaru, between 1990 and 1992. Abdullahi, who was born in 1939, joined the civil service in 1965 as assistant secretary in the Ministry of Education, under the Administrative Service of Northern Nigeria. He shared his experiences with Daily Trust on Sunday.

 

From the position of an assistant secretary in the civil service you rose to become the deputy governor of Kano State; how did the journey begin?

I attended Dambatta Primary School from 1945 to 1950 and proceeded to Kano Middle School (1950-1954). I was at Katsina Provincial Secondary School for my A-level from 1954 to 1958. From there, I went to the Nigerian College of Art, Science and Technology, Zaria, from 1960 to 1962. The school is presently known as Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). I left the shores of Nigeria to study in Karachi University, Pakistan, where I got BA (Hons) in Political Science (1962-1965). I also attended the Economic Institute University of Colorado, USA in 1971 and Tennessee State University, USA for my MA (Economics) from 1971 to 1972. I also attended University of Pittsburgh, USA for a Senior Executive Course in 1978.

On October 15, 1965, I joined the Administrative Service of Northern Nigeria as assistant secretary in the Ministry of Education, Kaduna. I was posted to Bauchi as a divisional officer in charge of Bauchi, Ningi and Dass native authorities and later in charge of Katagun, Misau and Jama’are, from 1965 to 1967.

I was also posted to the Ministry of Finance, Northern Region as principal assistant secretary (1967-1968) and later deployed to Kano State in April 1968. I served as secretary, Ministry of Finance from 1969 to 1975 and rose to become a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Youth and Sports, where I served from 1975 to 1976. I was also a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources from 1976 to 1977. I was a permanent secretary, Security and Executive Council Affairs, Military Governor’s Office from 1977 to 1978.

Similarly, I was a permanent secretary in the Research and Analysis, Cabinet Office, from 1978 to 1979. I retired from active civil service in 1980.

I held several political positions. I was appointed commissioner for finance and economic planning from May 1984 to December 1986. I was also a commissioner for local government and community development from December 1986 to January 1988. I was a member of the National Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission in September 1989. I was also the director, Nigeria Industrial Development Bank Limited (NIDR) in May 1990.

The last political position I held was that of deputy governor of Kano State from August 1990 to January 1992; that was during the military era.

 

How would you describe your experience in the civil service?

I started as an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Education. The policy was that you would be posted out to acquire experience in the field, so I was posted to Bauchi Province from Kaduna. That was during the colonial era.

At that time, after a successful interview you would be given a car as a senior civil servant. I got my first car and spent two good weeks learning how to drive. After that, I drove myself with my children. One of them is the one sitting by you; he was just a baby then.

Unfortunately, we had an accident in Jos and I placed a call to my colleague and classmate, Sanusi Mohammed Gwarzo.  Then, the telephone was working very well, unlike what you have now. I told him the location of the accident and he asked me to wait there. He came in his car and took me and my family and gave me a place where I stayed in Jos. I later telephoned Bauchi and spoke with the provincial secretary.

I told them what had happened and they promised to arrange a new vehicle to take me to Bauchi.  They sent a driver and I had to go because the man I was taking over from was retiring from civil service. He was appointed an emir, so he was very eager to leave. He had to leave before I could reach Bauchi, so his handover note was given to the provincial secretary, Colonel Watton, who later handed it over to me.

When I entered the house he occupied as a very senior officer, I didn’t even get the chance to settle down when I saw another car behind my car.

When I came out of the car, I saw a senior officer from the office, who said he brought a paper for me to sign and that they needed my authorisation. That was my first assignment in Bauchi.

That means you started working on arrival.

Just as I was entering the house, I saw some people following me and I asked if all was well. They told me that there was a dead person who needed my signature for burial.  I brought my file, signed and asked them to go and bury him.

The provincial secretary that left before me was the one who used the house, and I found that everything was intact. In the morning, we waited for the provincial secretary, Colonel Matton, who would put me through.

 

Was he British?

Yes, all of them were mostly British because those were colonial days. He said, “Mr. Abdullahi, here are your handover notes. The one you are taking over from has left. He was in a hurry because he was appointed as an emir and he went for his installation. Read the handover notes and meet me in the morning and let’s discuss.” This happened when I was about to enter the quarters allocated to me.

I read the handover notes, and as instructed, I met him in the morning in his office. He said to me, “Well, go ahead, you are now in charge of Bauchi. If there is something you need to know more, come and we shall discuss. You have to get ready to proceed to Azare in the northern part of Bauchi. Don’t worry, get set, you are now the new head of northern division. If you have any problem, just come and we will discuss.” I said okay.

The following morning, I was led to Azare, where I took charge of Azare, Ningi, Dass and Jama’are. They were all under the Native Authority (NA). I stayed in Bauchi for one to two weeks in order to rest before we proceeded. I read the notes and met him. We discussed everything and I took off to Azare. I stayed there for some time. The emir was very cooperative. It was one of the biggest Fulani settlements and I am a Fulani man, although I don’t speak Fulfulde as such.

How long did you stay there?

I think I spent three to four years there as officer-in-charge.

 

Apart from Bauchi, where else did you work?

At that time, all the administrations under the Native Authority were under the premier’s office. We went for training in Ghana, and on our return, I was posted to the Ministry of Finance in Kaduna the following year. The ministry had Europeans as officers, and we worked with them.

 

Did you work with the premier directly?

Of course, yes. All the administrators were under the premier as all the parent ministries worked with him. From the premier’s office I was posted to finance department.

 

Where were you posted to after the creation of states?

I was posted to Kano, where I worked with the late Audu Bako as an assistant secretary. Everywhere you went, you worked as assistant secretary, deputy assistant secretary or director; that’s how it was then. So I came back to the Ministry of Finance, Kano when Audu Bako was the state governor. It was a military regime, so they were not given power to do what they liked. They followed bureaucratic provisions in whatever they did with money.

Although it was a military regime, Audu Bako, who was a policeman, governed Kano. It was only Kano and Sokoto that had policemen as governors. During that period, I was the one to approve anything that had to do with money because I was the budget officer of the whole state.

Bako had passion for agriculture and his attention was there, such that if you allowed him, the whole budget would go for that sector.

 

Did you encounter any problem with him in the course of your duties?

No; not at all! He would not spend his money like others. And the Nigerian currency had more value than the British pound. I can remember that the Nigerian pound was 35 shillings while the British pound was 2 shillings. When doing the budget, we were aware that it was what the ministry submitted that would be reflected, based on the call circular.

If they said they wanted something, I would say okay, but agriculture would get it, health would get it and education would get it. Perhaps what really gave the country the needed support was that every financial state officer had to be in Lagos every month to defend his spending and discuss all the money collected as revenue in the whole country, from groundnuts, cotton and other resources within the import and export money.

 

Did you work with the late governor of Kano State, Abubakar Rimi?

Rimi was my friend and he worked under me. Though I was his senior in everything, we remained friends. Whenever he was coming back from Lagos to Kano, I would send a vehicle from my department to go and take him to see his people and return back. All I did was to give him a voucher for fuel.

 

Groundnut and cotton were the major sources of income for the North; but at a point, these commodities started disappearing, what happened?

North was very rich because of groundnuts, cotton and other commodities. Nigeria depended on money from these common agricultural products. We farmed them here in the North and took them to Lagos. They were produced in local areas; and by then, Kano was very busy with commercial activities. Foreigners were coming in form of UAC, UTC and other multinational companies, majorly from Europe.

Kano was next to Lagos in terms of economic activities, but today, these companies are all gone. I believe their departure marked the end of groundnut pyramids in Kano and the subsequent fall in cash crop cultivation in the North.

 

You said that Audu Bako was very much concerned with agricultural projects, as a financial officer under him, were you part of his irrigation dam project?

Of course, I was part of the project. In fact, I was in charge of the Hadeija Jama’are River Basin Development Project. That means we were behind all these dams you are seeing today.

 

Tell us about your family?

I have three wives, over 30 children, many grandchildren and many great grandchildren.