Maitama Sule: Always A Delight
Mon, 16/07/2012 ? 2:40am | SAM NDA-ISAIAH Columns The Monday Column ? Last Word
It?s always a delight to sit with Alhaji Maitama Sule, Danmasanin Kano? First Republic and Second Republic minister. He was also Nigeria?s very effective permanent representative to the United Nations. The Danmasani represents the ideal definition of an elder statesman. Even though he is already over 80 years old, apart from his bad eyesight, he is healthier than many people of his children?s age. His very keen sense of history and his mental sprightliness sometimes put his younger listeners to shame.
It would be saying nothing to describe the Danmasani as an orator. He is, in fact, the gold standard of oratory in Nigeria. I knew Danmasani had been speaking well of me long before we met physically. He had consistently read my columns and had followed my progress every step of the way. I know this because of what some people have told me he says about me and what he himself tells me.
The first time Alhaji Maitama Sule called me himself was in 2009. I was in court with the late President Umaru Yar?Adua in the twilight of his government and the Danmasani didn?t like that at all. LEADERSHIP was clearly at war with the late president and, even though Danmasani thought LEADERSHIP was more on the side of the truth, he didn?t like what was going on. He called me one evening and said he was coming to see me in Abuja the following day. I was so embarrassed and asked what was so serious that he would not summon me to Kano instead. He told me he didn?t like the war going on between the late president and me and he would not just sit down and watch two northerners destroy themselves. He had talked to some family members of the late president and they had agreed to cooperate with him. I told him I would go over to Kano to see him at once. It must not be heard that Maitama Sule travelled all the way from Kano only to see me. I was not nearly that important.
But I didn?t need to go to Kano eventually because he spent nearly one hour on the phone with me. He told me he had always been very proud of what I was doing. Though I might not know it, he said, many of them were watching me and following everything I did. He told me that I was not the wrong party in the dispute with the presidency but he needed me to sheathe my sword. He then went ahead to pray very fervently for me. After that, he also called a couple of times. I visited him once at his home in Kano. He was very lively, witty and intelligent. He always had stories to tell and he seemed to remember every tiny detail of the happenings 50 years ago and beyond.
On my birthday, he was one of the elder statesmen I invited for the ?Morning of Reflections?. He did not call to ask for details. He came into Abuja a day early and was the first to arrive at the venue. And, as usual, it was a delight to listen to him and savour the diction and oratory only he could deliver.
About a fortnight ago, he was in Abuja and I went to see him where he was lodging. It was one of the most enlightening experiences of my life. The fratricidal conflicts in northern Nigeria has obviously taken a toll on the Danmasani. He is currently not a happy man at all. He told me this is not the north he grew up in. He took me down memory lane. He told me how the Northern People?s Congress (NPC) was formed. The idea for the formation of the NPC originated from Alhaji Abubakar Imam, the first editor of Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo. He was joined by the then young Maitama Sule himself, Yahaya Gusau and Dr R.A.B. Dikko to become the prime movers of the socio-cultural group. All of them deferred to Dr Dikko and made him the president-general. Thus, R.A.B. Dikko, a northern Christian, became the first leader of the NPC. Dr Dikko remained the leader of the NPC until the organisation became a political party when he had to resign as Dikko himself, a civil servant, was barred from political activities. That was when Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, took over. The Sardauna respected Dr Dikko, the Danmasani said, and always deferred to him whenever they were together.
The Sardauna himself embodied northern unity. His neighbour was Michael Audu Buba. Sunday Awoniyi was in charge of his security and Ishaya Audu was his personal physician. These were all northern Christians and some of the closest to the Sardauna. He appointed the then Dr (later Professor) Ishaya Audu as the first indigenous vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Ishaya Audu?s religion was not an issue to him, the Danmasani said. Even the formation of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had the Sardauna?s imprimatur, Danmasani told me. In fact, CAN?s original appellation was Christian Association of Northern Nigeria (CANN). Jolly Tanko Yusuf, a Sardauna prot?g? from Takum, and Dr Ishaya Audu met Sardauna and told him they wanted an umbrella body for northern Christians. The Sardauna was very happy to hear that and also gave them a few tips. They told Sardauna that they also wanted, like him, to start converting pagans to Christians. Even though the Sardauna at the time was the vice-president of the World Muslim Congress, he was more than glad to grant them the permission they sought. The Sardauna believed that pagans should be converted to Muslims and Christians.
The traditional ruler closest to the Sardauna was Sarkin Kagoro and Sardauna travelled frequently to see him, sometimes to pass the night at the Kagoro palace. Sardauna?s friendship with Sarkin Kagoro developed before independence. The colonial rulers wanted to create the office of minister of local government but the northern chiefs and emirs kicked against it. The traditional rulers did not want to serve under anyone. Only the Sarkin Kagoro did not see anything wrong with the idea of a minister for local government. He, in fact, supported it. And, when eventually the Sardauna became the first minister of local government to be appointed by the colonial masters, he found strength and wisdom in the support of Sarkin Kagoro and that marked the beginning of their very close relationship.
The north was so united at that time that even the opposition elements like Aminu Kano, leader of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), and Joseph Tarka, leader of the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC), found cover in a united north. The government was always big enough to give everyone a cover, and whenever Aminu Kano or Tarka visited Kaduna, they didn?t leave without seeing the Sardauna. Also, whenever they visited Lagos, where Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was prime minister, both Aminu Kano, whom the prime minister famously called Molotov, and Tarka visited.
Most importantly, there was justice and fairness and the rule of law worked. When Alhaji Tijjani Hashim, who was then a permanent secretary, built a petrol filling station near Hamdala Hotel, Kaduna, the Sardauna gave him a choice to either resign and face full-time business or sell off the business. He sold the petrol station and continued in the civil service. How times have changed! Today, presidents own portions of Transcorp, incorporated during their presidency.
Maitama Sule was the youngest minister in the cabinet of Tafawa Balewa. He was the minister of mines. And, as the minister of mines, Jos was his second home. He still loves Jos a lot. He took over from Ahmadu Ribadu as the minister of mines. As the minister of mines, he was also in charge of petroleum resources and power. He built the first refinery in Port Harcourt and took Nigeria into OPEC. Yet, when the first coup took place in 1966 and he had to go back to Kano, he had to take a loan from his permanent secretary to be able to pack his belongings back to Kano. And he went back to his father?s old mud house where he competed with rats for space. He had no house of his own anywhere ? not in Kano, Kaduna or Lagos and, in fact, had no bank account anywhere.
He said he respected R.A.B. Dikko immensely. Dr Dikko stood for him as a guardian during his marriage. He so deferred to him that he was always careful around him as Dr Dikko was a very strict and serious person. He remembers R.A.B. Dikko fondly. His situation was also compounded by the fact that he had a secret crush on one of Dr Dikko?s pretty daughters but he respected him too much to make any moves. He wonders how the north became what it is today that Muslims and Christians are killing themselves. The north, with one voice, elevated and supported Yakubu Gowon to become head of state and he remains Nigeria?s longest-serving leader at a stretch. He also told me how the then Major Yakubu Danjuma risked his life on July 29, 1966, for the whole north, not the Christian north. At a point, the Danmasani got so emotional that he broke down and cried profusely. I understood clearly what was happening to him. What is happening in the north today is unacceptable.
Danmasanin Kano fondly calls me the Walter Cronkite of Nigeria. Walter Cronkite, of course, was the famous American journalist and columnist who was once dubbed ?the most trusted man in America? and who once turned down a popular call to become the president of the United States. I do not yet know why the Danmasani calls me Walter Cronkite as I do not know how many people would agree that I am the most trusted man in Nigeria. Neither have I turned down a request to be the president of Nigeria yet, but it?s a delight to listen to him. I see him as a father figure. After our long conversation at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, he hugged me, prayed for me and told me very confidently that I had a very bright future ahead of me. It was a very emotional meeting.
I wish the Danmasanin Kano many more happy years, and may God show him the kind of peaceful and prosperous northern Nigeria that he yearns for while still on this side.
E A R S H O T
I Am Still Laughing
When the news came, I honestly believed there must have been a mistake somewhere. Dame Patience Jonathan, a permanent secretary? No, I thought someone else with the same name as our own first lady had just been appointed permanent secretary in Bayelsa State and newspaper editors, including those of LEADERSHIP, were trying to pull a fast one on innocent readers. I knew Dame had entertained us immensely with the inimitable way she speaks her English and has proved to be a comical distraction, but I didn?t think things are this bad.
But it?s true and authoritative. Patience is now a permanent secretary and the reason for that has very unintelligently been explained by the Bayelsa State government. It is not just incredible, it is insanely preposterous. These people certainly do not know what government is about. They just think everything is a joke and there are no limits. First, it was Tompolo, a former militant, awarded the contract for maritime security, and nobody ? from the very top of the political establishment to members of the intelligence and security services, including the service chiefs ? was dutiful enough to tell the president that even he as president does not have the power to take the country for a ride. And now, Patience has been appointed a permanent secretary and no one in government has been courageous enough to call the president to order as is done in other democracies. By the way, what does Jonathan think Nigeria is? Idi Amin?s Uganda, or some republic of Zamunda?
We should not be surprised if Jonathan decorates Patience as a five-star general tomorrow and nobody would utter a word. Jonathan truly doesn?t give a damn, but it would appear as well that Nigerians do not give a damn about their country anymore. That is the part that should worry us.
