The man Tambuwal @ 56

Those who know Aminu Waziri Tambuwal well enough know there is a stubborn streak beneath that humble, obliging mien. Now and again that willful, defiant side shows up, astonishing allies and rivals alike. It has always been like that with him Growing up in the village of Tambuwal, Sokoto State, he was not exactly spoilt […]

Those who know Aminu Waziri Tambuwal well enough know there is a stubborn streak beneath that humble, obliging mien. Now and again that willful, defiant side shows up, astonishing allies and rivals alike.

It has always been like that with him

Growing up in the village of Tambuwal, Sokoto State, he was not exactly spoilt for choice. In 1966 when he was born, there was only so much available in terms of schools, professions or opportunities. So he went to the Tambuwal Town Primary School, and then Government Teachers College, Dogon Daji to prepare as a teacher. But afterwards, he decided he wanted to be a lawyer instead.

They told him it could not be done, not with a teacher’s certificate, not with the extant law curriculum, not – and swish, that non-compliant side showed up, and he went on to read law.

Thus began a trait that became a trend in the life of this accomplished lawyer, parliamentarian and politician.

He is a great one for consensus but in the end, he is his own man.

He seemed to have loved the Law, the sheer combativeness of it, the fact that it was such a great leveler. But a few years later, he decided he wanted to be in politics instead. In 2003, he finally quit his job to contest elective office into the House of Representatives.

He won, on the platform of the ANPP, becoming the representative of the people of Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency.

Two years later he was the Minority Leader of the House, beloved by his colleagues from every shade of the political divide.

It was no surprise when Tambuwal won the 2007 elections back to the House, but then he decided he wanted to leave the opposition, to join the party in power, the PDP.

It took courage to leave, but he has always had that in spades. He again crossed the floor, was lucky enough to be made the Deputy Chief Whip of the House (2007 and 2011).

He brought to the leadership of that House not only his experience as a former leader of the opposition but a clarity of thought and a personal integrity that was unsullied by politics.

In returning to the House for a third term in 2011, so many things troubled him and he believes that either things would be done differently or the nation’s democratic journey would stagnate and rot.

Moreover, the 2011 elections were the most divisive yet as the PDP faced a great deal of internal crisis not helped by its handling of the controversial zoning arrangement.

The new House apparently had its own agenda. The members were determined to assert their independence. They were not going to just rubberstamp some name submitted by some party caucus. And just like that, the battle line was drawn.

Hon Aminu Tambuwal stepped forward

He was on familiar territory: The party was against him; the Presidency was against him, the system was against him. Indeed, even close friends and associates felt the odds were too much, that the deck was stacked too high.

He went ahead and did it, and won the Speakership – against his party’s own candidate.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who is not one to mince words was to say a couple of years later at a public forum in Sokoto, “Mr Speaker, I was one of those who didn’t like your emergence as Speaker. But I have watched you and I like what you are doing. You have done well.”

He had indeed. By the time he completed his tenure, the House of Reps on his watch had become the true bastion of democracy, a veritable People’s Parliament.

Tambuwal has always said that power is transient and should be used for no other purpose than the protection of the people’s welfare. “We forget too easily that we are mere trustees. The people are the real owners of power.”

Yet even before his tenure ended, he had already set his eyes on other things. Ambitious and energetic, he had considered making a run for the presidency in 2015 but he was, in that rare instance, prevailed upon to contest for the gubernatorial election for Sokoto State instead. As his first tenure as governor was ending, he took another stab at the presidency but he lost out in the primaries, so he went back to complete his second tenure – on the platform of another party, and he won.

Now as 2023 approaches, there are indications that he would again contest for his party’s ticket for the presidential elections. He seriously believes that this country deserves better, and that he could do better.

His tenure at the Sokoto State government house has been a difficult one largely because of the security situation in the state.

As with the nation, the violence has overshadowed his tenure, a tenure that would have been remarkable for his revolutionary effort to make education both accessible and qualitative. His policies and programmes in that regard were solid; increased budgetary spending, mass enrolment of pupils, heavy recruitment and training of teachers, palatable incentives for female education, revamping infrastructure.

There had been similar efforts in agriculture and water resources and the health sector but eventually, the full scale of what his years as governor amounts to would only be clear after the detritus of this war by bandits clears.

He is not one for grandstanding so he may not have been able to elicit the praise due him. He has always tried to remain the same hardworking, humble and meticulous man he was before all the titles and offices came, believing that unless you are the same in your private life as you are in public, one day you will unravel.

As he celebrates his 56th birthday, it appears there is still one ladder he intends to climb; the presidency. Oh, please don’t tell him it cannot be done!

 

Olu Jacobs wrote via [email protected]