Thoughts on Alhaji Alhaji’s milestone of 80

Alhaji (Sir) Abubakar Alhaji is a man propelled into fame by a sequence of unpredictable events with an impact so profound that it can rightly be considered providential. Unassuming and without guile, never having aspired to national office, he is not consumed by driving aspiration. The Sardauna of Sokoto is endowed with the virtues of […]

Alhaji (Sir) Abubakar Alhaji is a man propelled into fame by a sequence of unpredictable events with an impact so profound that it can rightly be considered providential. Unassuming and without guile, never having aspired to national office, he is not consumed by driving aspiration. The Sardauna of Sokoto is endowed with the virtues of a royal prince: sincerity, positivity, and integrity. ‘Triple A’, as he is fondly called, is not a run-of-the-mill personality. To talk about him requires a dissertation because his footprints are everywhere in this country. You will also find his legacies in other countries. So to pay tribute to such an extraordinary person calls for more than extraordinary effort.

Alaji is a famed technocrat, financial/development expert, and a diplomat. He is among the who’s who in Nigeria, and is highly respected, not only in the professional world, but also amongst regular folk. There is always a sense of balance in his decisions as he was a key player in Nigeria’s public financial sector throughout his public service years.

For more than three decades, he rose through cadres to the positions of a federal permanent secretary, special assistant to the president, and later a minister. Unlike so many of his contemporaries, he knew that simplicity and concentration produce lucidity and decision. Thus, he devoted most of his public life to the economy and nation’s development.

Among his notable achievements were strengthening supervision of banks, private sector participation (liberalization) of the economy and establishment of regulatory agencies.

An avid disciplinarian, the Sardauna of Sokoto has the admirable quality of organizing people to achieve difficult goals with consummate ease. He left his distinct footprints wherever he worked during the course of his long professional career in Nigeria and other organizations including the World Bank and IMF, where he was a consultant. He was involved in managing Nigeria’s relationship with its external creditors and on the Nigerian negotiating team for “Lome II Agreement” and signing on behalf of Nigeria’s IMF loan request from the Republic of Ireland in 1974.

Alhaji is known for his courage and conviction to swim against conventional thoughts, especially on complex economic phenomena. He never hesitated to candidly express his thoughts in his own inimitable ways. Born to the family of Alhaji Muhammad Sani Ibn Khaliru Barau Ibn Abdullahi Barau Ibn Muhammadu Buhari Ibn Shehu Usmanu Danfodiyo in Sokoto State on 22th November 1938, his first contact with learning was the compulsory Islamic education, and he later enrolled into Barau Primary School Dogon-Daji. He was at Government Provincial College Kano briefly and later Katsina College where he completed his secondary education. Upon completion, he left for Bournemouth College of Commerce, United Kingdom. In 1961, he gained admission to the University of Reading where he graduated with BSc Degree in Political Economy in 1964.

He joined the Federal Ministry of Finance in 1964 as an Assistant Secretary (External Finance) under late Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, the then Nigeria’s Minister of Finance. In 1965, he left for a course in Public Finance at the IMF Institute Washington DC and upon his return, was promoted to the position of Exchange Control Officer at the same ministry. In a quest for additional knowledge, he attended the Hague Institute for Social Sciences for a course on Industrialization.

From 1969 to 1996, Sir Abubakar Alhaji served in many capacities too numerous to mention. Here are a few: Director of External Finance; Deputy Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Finance; federal Permanent Secretary in the following Ministries – Trade, Industries, Finance, National Planning, Special Assistant to the President and Minister of State (Budget & Planning), Minister of Budget and Planning, Minister of Finance and Economic Development and Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He tried hard to encourage economic debate within the federal ministry of Finance, and much of the work that informed Nigeria’s budget from 1979-1992 was done under his watch and with his active leadership.

Alhaji also served as the governor for OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID); Governor for Nigeria (World Bank); Governor (IDEF) Dakar; Governor for Nigeria (AFDB); Alternative Executive Director, AFDB; Executive Director, Multilateral Investment Agency (MIGA) – an affiliate of Word Bank; Vice President, Nigeria Economic Society; President, Nigeria National Union, UK; Vice President of Nigeria-Britain Association and was a Consultant to International Monetary Fund (IMF) assigned to African Department and the IMF Institute.

He led Nigeria’s economic and trade delegation to IMF, World Bank, IDB, AFDB and many countries of Europe, Asia, North America, Africa and Middle-East. Even after retirement from public service, he was appointed jointly by the governors of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara in 1999 as their Honorary Economic Adviser, a position he held until May 2015 on voluntary resignation.

In 1974, his uncle – the 17th Sultan of Sokoto, Sir Abubakar III conferred on him the title of Sarkin Shanun Sokoto and in 1991, he was further elevated to the title of Sardaunan Sokoto by his uncle and father-in-law, the 18th Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki of blessed memory. At the community level, he was the Special Adviser, Gamji Old Members Association (GOMA) 1988 and Patron of Sokoto Emirate Development Association. Alhaji Alhaji was conferred as a Knight of British Empire (KBE) in 1989, Commander of Order of Niger (CON) 1992 and was awarded with Honorary Doctorate Degree of Science by the Usmanu Danfodiyo University in 1991.

On 9th April 1990, African Concord Magazine ran a special edition on him titled “The Prince with Power in his Pocket”, even with the power in his pocket then, Alhaji Alhaji never abused the privilege nor used the influence of the offices he occupied for self enrichment or endorsing illegalities. To him, holding public office is a service to humanity and nation, not an entitlement.

A contemplative man by nature, he took his family, humanity, community, state, country and religion to the heart of his existence. He is the type that doesn’t fancy the limelight. He is blessed with one wife Hajiya Amina Abubakar, 6 children and thirteen grandchildren. Among his children is Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, the current Minister of State (Industry, Trade and Investment). May Allah grant the Sardauna more peaceful years in sound health.

Yahaya wrote from Gwarinpa, Abuja.