Poorlitics

By Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Sam Agha Egwu

The story of the little boy from Goniri.  Bukar Abba Ibrahim first ran for Governor with only N20,000 (about $3,590) in his bank account in 1992. Yet he defeated well-resourced political heavy weights. How did he do it?  In Nigeria it is extremely difficult to succeed in politics without huge amounts of money, bribes and thugs, but Buk

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sam Agha Egwu
• Release date: Nov 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781916407718

Bukar Abba Ibrahim

His Excellency, Alhaji, Dr. Bukar Abba Ibrahim (CON, FNIQS, FNIAE), Three times Governor of Yobe State, Three times Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Galadiman Gazargamo Sardaunan Potiskum, Walin Gujba. This is just to use a few of his over forty titles, but he is fondly called Bukar, using just his first name, which is strange for a Nigerian politician. Politicians in Nigeria love praise names and flattering titles. Bukar started as a civil servant and the only indigenous quantity surveyor in Borno State. He became Commissioner in Borno and later Governor of Yobe State. He holds the record as the longest serving Governor in Nigeria. He then went on to the Senate where he is now a third term Senator.

Book preview

Poorlitics

THE LITTLE BOY FROM GONIRI AND THE PROGRESSIVES’ MANIFESTO

(International Edition)

His Excellency

DR. BUKAR ABBA IBRAHIM

(CON, FNIQS, FNIAE)

Three times Governor of Yobe State

Three times Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Galadiman Gazargamo

Sardaunan Potiskum

Walin Gujba

Compiled, Edited and Written with Sam Agha Egwu

POORLITICS

THE LITTLE BOY FROM GONIRI AND THE PROGRESSIVES’ MANIFESTO

(International Edition)

First Published in UK for Nigeria in 2018 by BASS BOOKS as part of the Black and African Success Series.

Copyright © 2018 Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Sam Agha Egwu.

The right of Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Sam Agha Egwu to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

Paperback ISBN 978-1-9164077-0-1

eBook ISBN 978-1-9164077-1-8

Hardback 978-1-9164077-2-5

BASS BOOKS LTD

www.bassbooks.co.uk

[e-mail]

ABOUT BASS BOOKS

BLACK AND AFRICAN SUCCESS SERIES

…stories that must be told.

What do you often hear about Black and African people? Crime? Corruption? Disaster? Many mini Mandelas, Mo Ibrahims, Martin Luther Kings dot the African landscape and Black diaspora.

BASS BOOKS record the lives of successful Black and African people.

Fascinating lives of adventure, achievements, culture and history.

Scripted in a simple, exciting style, for all people to enjoy the lives of these living legends and the principles that make them so successful.

BASS BOOKS aims to distribute worldwide and like Chinua Achebe’s African Writers Series, all the people we record will be there for posterity and generations to come.

If you are a success, or know someone who is, and would like to be recorded for posterity, please contact us.

www.bassbooks.co.uk

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DEDICATION

"For me, I do not care whether power is in the North or South.

In fact, I do not want power in the hands of the North or South.

All I care is that power is in the hands of a Nigerian who cares for the North and South."

- Bukar Abba Ibrahim

This book is dedicated to Nigeria

To my Mother, Ya Kellu Yawudima

To my biological Father, Abba Ibrahim Bello

And to my political father, Mallam Aminu Kano

CONTENTS

ABOUT BASS BOOKS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

MAPS

BOOK LAYOUT

FOREWORD BY SENATE PRESIDENT DR. BUKOLA SARAKI

INTRODUCTION: DISCOVERING BUKAR

BOOK 1 - PROLOGUE: BEATING THE ODDS

P1Perseverance Is The Key

P2Love Your People

P3Choose Honour

P4Combatting Corruption

P5Leadership and Corruption

P6Progressive Political Leadership

P7Poorlitics

P8A Progressive Political Future

BOOK 1 - PART 1: THE EARLY YEARS

CHAPTER 1: FEUDAL CHILD

1.In The Beginning

2.The Sultan’s Saga

3.Flight To Goniri

4.Goniri And Kanem-Borno

5.Mai Anguwa

6.Western Education Is Haram

7.Battle Of Bukar

8.Showdown At Shehu’s Palace

9.The Breakthrough

10.Aminu Kano: My Political Icon

CHAPTER 2: COLONIAL BOY

1.Poverty And Laughter

2.The Civilised North

3.Family Living

4.Learning Judgement

5.Family Trading

6.Tasting My Future

7.The Child Politician

8.Biske Koljibe Plays

9.The Railways

10.Friends And Musketeers

11.Independence

12.Ahmadu Bello: Progressive Conservative

CHAPTER 3: INDEPENDENCE MAN

1.Lost In Kaduna

2.My First Mentor

3.Happy In Maiduguri

4.Loving School

5.Loving Teachers

6.Loving Memories

7.Painful Memories

8.My Many Names

9.University Dreams

10.Echoes Of 1966

11.Hangovers From War

12.Ibiam, Ojukwu: Sacrificial Leaders

CHAPTER 4: UNIVERSITY DAYS

1.Choosing My Career

2.Games And Politics

3.Bilharzia Operation

4.Reminisces

5.Ivory Tower Oasis

6.The Youth Corper

7.Orientation And Assignment

8.The Death Of Murtala

9.Payback Time

10.Awo: The Social Builder

PICTURE STORIES

BOOK 1 - PART 2: POLITICS AND CHANGE

CHAPTER 5: THE CIVIL SERVANT

1.Starting Work

2.Quantity Surveying

3.A Unique Role

4.Corruption Clashes

5.Maryam, My First Wife

6.Wonders Of Europe

7.Power To The People

8.Naivety To Reality

9.A Crop Of Progressive Leaders

CHAPTER 6: THE COMMISSIONER

1.Dealing With Politics

2.First Political Foray

3.Commissioner Bukar

4.Working For The Masses

5.The Home Front

6.Sowing Success Seeds

7.Being Real

8.Zik: The Great Emancipator

CHAPTER 7: GOVERNOR, MILITARY YEARS

1.Political Rumbles

2.The Armed Robbers

3.Little Left, Little Right

4.Maryam’s Vision

5.Run Bukar Run

6.Battle For Governor

7.Governor Bukar

8.Abiola And June 12

9.Our Achievements

10.The First Lady

11.Aisha, My Second Wife

12.End Of The Maradona

13.Abiola: The Socialist Capitalist

CHAPTER 8: GOVERNOR, DEMOCRATIC YEARS

1.Second Governorship Campaign

2.Three-Term Governor

3.First Of First Ladies

4.Bashir, Our Son

5.Approach To Governance

6.Assault On Poverty

7.Security, Peace And Politics

8.Primary And Secondary Education

9.Higher Education

10.Economy And Enterprise

11.Waziri: Politics Without Bitterness

CHAPTER 9: GOVERNOR, THE YEAR OF DREAMS

1.One State One Export

2.The University

3.Khadija, My Third Wife

4.Presidential Campaign

5.Chop Their Money

6.Shades Of Democracy

7.The Succession

8.End Of The Duel

9.Third Term Debacle

10.End Of The End

11.A Harvest Of Progressive Governors

PICTURE STORIES

BOOK 1 - PART 3: REFLECTIONS FROM THE SENATE

CHAPTER 10: REFLECTIONS

1.An Unblemished Record

2.Journey To The Senate

3.Duties At The Senate

4.Awards And Titles

5.Mockery And Legacy

6.Neglect Causes Violence

7.The Foolishness Of Bigotry

8.Demons and Scandals

9.Saraki: An Uncommon Leadership

CHAPTER 11: RISE OF THE PROGRESSIVES

1.A Short History

2.The Buhari Paradox

3.The Tinubu Phenomenon

4.Magic Of The Merger

5.Path To The Primaries

6.Third Senate Campaign

7.The Presidential Campaign

8.Insurgency Campaign

9.A Personal Dilemma

10.Progressives In Power

CHAPTER 12: THE FATHER OF YOBE

1.My Families

2.Gratitude To God

PICTURE STORIES

BOOK 2 – THE PROGRESSIVES’ MANIFESTO

THE PROGRESSIVE MANIFESTO

M1. Principles For Progress

M2. SEE The Future

M3. Security

M4. Education

M5. Enterprise

M6. Breaking Barriers

M7. Building Bridges

M8. Unifying Opportunities

APPENDIX

Family Members

Traditional Titles

Emirate Councils Of Yobe State

Glossary

Recommended Reading

About The Authors

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Firstly, I thank God for without Him nothing is possible.

Secondly, I thank my wives Hajjia Maryam, Hajjia Aisha and Hajjia Khadija. You have been the most excellent people and have made enormous contributions to this book by your lives and your words. Thank you. I also wish to thank our eighteen children.

Thirdly, I thank Sam Agha Egwu, who conceived this book, pushed me to do it for posterity, and then with his team, video-recorded, transcribed, compiled, edited and helped me to write it.

I would also like to thank those who helped me to produce this book: Victoria Uzowulu and Hilary Atuadu for the video recordings; Victoria Uzowulu, Eze Ibe, Oscar Osahon, Micah Audu for transcriptions; John Kamba and Victoria Uzowulu for interviews and editing; Chinelo Iwenofu, Victoria Uzowulu, Yusuf Ali and my children Mohammed, Ibrahim and Aminu for initial proofreading; John Kamba, Ike Anyaduba, Oge Ajuzie for final proofreading; Simi Vijay, Yusuf Salisu Bawa and Theophilus James for book cover design and Sam Agha Egwu for creative authorship and book design.

I would like to thank my staff Dr, Emmanual Iwueke and Yusus Ali, who encouraged me to carry out this enormous task despite many setbacks.

I would also like to thank His Excellency, Alhaji Aliyu Saleh Bagare, my most able Deputy in my second and third tenures as Governor, for his financial contribution towards the publication of this book.

And finally, Mr. Goodie Ibru, for facilitating the launching of this book. Without his provision of money and facilities it would not have been done.

MAP OF NIGERIAN REGIONS

PRE-INDEPENDENCE - 1967

MAP OF NIGERIAN ZONES AND STATES

(States Created From 1967)

BOOK LAYOUT

(How To Read This Book)

Foreword: By His Excellency, Dr. Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Introduction: Discovering Bukar by Sam Agha Egwu, Co-Author of this book who has known Bukar for over a decade, and explains why the personality of the man led him to record his life for posterity..

Book 1 - Prologue: Beating the Odds is Bukar’s initial description of his character and the key principles that led to his success.

Book 1 - Part 1: The Early Years is a touching story of little Bukar growing up in poverty in the rich history and culture of a Northern Nigerian village in a feudal, colonial setting. The story of how he even went to school is a gripping tale, as compelling as his spectacular success.

Book 1 - Part 2: Politics and Change gives a fascinating insight into the strategies and intrigues of everyday politics in a developing African country, from a master of his art. It chronicles his awakening into politics, the path to triumph and his dominance of Poorlitics, the politics of the poor. It reveals the secret of mobilizing the masses through progressive political leadership that focuses on their real needs.

Book 1 - Part 3: Reflections from the Senate is a review of his political successes and failures. He also tells the intriguing story of the rise of the progressives from being the underdogs to dominating the political space.

Book 2 - The Progressives’ Manifesto is the development philosophy of this political strategist, based on the accumulation of his experiences, distilled into solutions for Nigeria’s development.

FOREWORD

I have known His Excellency and Distinguished Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim for many years. I first met him when I went with my father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, to secure land for our bank in Yobe State. Senator Ibrahim was the Governor then. He generously provided land for our bank.

It is amazing that he has taken his time to develop the concept of Poorlitics, which is a system that allows people, even when they are from a humble background, to succeed in politics by offering practical, development-oriented, progressive political leadership. This is exactly the same route to success taken by some of the founding fathers of Nigeria, like Alhaji Aminu Kano, Dr, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

It is this same system that forms the basis of the politics of Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim and there is no doubt that he has recorded tremendous success. He has risen from being a very poor peasant boy in his village in Yobe State, to be elected three times as Governor of Yobe State and three times as Senator, with three successful wives. One became a Minister of the Federal Republic; another is a serving Permanent Secretary.

I am humbled that my own father is included in these array of greats that used this same method like that embraced by Senator Ibrahim to succeed in Kwara State and National politics. I am elated reading the kind words in the book about my late father, my family and I.

I recommend this book to any young Nigerian who wants to succeed in politics. Bukar’s book is an eyeopener. If more people adopt his philosophy and methods, this country will transform rapidly into the nation of our dreams, in which politics is basically about serving the people and making positive impact in the lives of the people.

Senator (Dr) Abubakar Bukola Saraki

President of the Senate

Federal Republic of Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

DISCOVERING BUKAR

If you do not have wealth, or a political godfather, and you want to climb to the top of the political tree to serve your people, this book is for you. It will teach you the principles and methods of Poorlitics: practical, project-based, Progressive Political Leadership. Bukar Abba Ibrahim explains his political success through the story of his life. We compiled, re-arranged, researched, checked out facts, fleshed out history, added flair and made it easy to read in the Bass Books style, whilst retaining his meaning. As a friend of over ten years, and co-author, I know enough about him to introduce him.

In writing this book, Bukar became for me, a socological study, like a laboratory animal, to understand the principles of what we came to call Poorlitics. I discovered that other successful politicians used the same method of people-oriented service, fighting for their people long before they seek office, over many years, until their people trust them, look to them for political leadership, and support them with their resources.

Bukar is a Nigerian politician who is famous for being free of corruption, testified to by Nuhu Ribadu, former Czar at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Nigerians have seen so much corruption and deception, that it is hard to believe that there is a politician that avoids personal corruption. Bukar was a senior civil servant, a Commissioner, three times Governor and three times Senator, yet depended on his salaries, the gifts he invariably received and the businesses he created. Most of the gifts are given away to the needy anyway. That is why the man intrigues me because he had so much opportunity to amass incredible wealth, yet remains far from that.

Bukar reminds me so much of Aminu Kano in his simplicity, cleanliness of heart, truthfulness, humility and lack of pride. He never bears a grudge and forgives wrongs against him with a dismissive wave. When he promises he tries to deliver. If he cannot; he will tell you. He is direct and does not pretend. There are few politicians in Nigeria that I will write about in such terms. If you used such phrases for Mandela or Martin Luther King, it would not seem exaggerated, but for Bukar, a contemporary Nigerian politician, it might seem contrived. Bukar is no Mandela or Gandhi, but this is his character.

He does not boast of wealth or position, rather he boasts that he is corruption free, of what he did for the poor and his hopes for Nigeria. I have been a witness, observing him closely in his homes, offices and political life. Read and judge for yourself. His words ring true as he exposes himself, warts and all.

The first time I met Bukar, I was leading a British Universities delegation. We were waiting in a large reception room when, suddenly, the double doors burst open and an entourage was walking hurriedly past. In the centre, was a fair man, just under average height, in his white flowing gown of Northern Nigeria and the signature red hat of the Kanuri. He flashed past, then stopped and turned. He walked towards me with outstretched hands.

Are you the gentleman from the UK, he asked.

Yes, Your Excellency, I replied.

I am very sorry for keeping you waiting. Please wait for me I will soon be back. He said with a beaming smile that conveyed warmth and concern. That was my first impression. No airs, directness, honesty. I was shocked. No Governor in Nigeria had ever stopped to shake my hands and apologise for keeping me waiting. I had met many. They would have just walked past and summoned me later.

Thirty minutes later, he was back. Again, with outstretched hands and smiles he invited us into his living quarters to share a meal. That was it. For the next ten years, I will be close to this man observing him. We became friends and I got to know his family. The closer I got to him, the more I discovered his humility, strength of character and principles.

Bukar has served in government at the highest levels. Very few, are more qualified than him for the Presidency, but he treats the idea nonchalantly as he knows that political success in Nigeria is not based on merit, but on social and political strings of powerful puppeteers. He is, however, committed to using his experience to help young people become honest, successful, progressive political leaders. That was why we wrote this book, to show that politics can be a rewarding career that can give wealth, power and the opportunity to change people’s lives for the better.

Bukar is totally detribalised with a huge capacity to embrace all peoples. He is one of the Nigerians with the most chieftaincy titles from all corners of Nigeria. He does not seek the titles. They just come from people whose lives he has touched. He embraces the titles as a cultural experience to discover more about the people of Nigeria.

The country certainly needs a character like Bukar to heal divisions from ethnic and religious prejudices and strife. I was impressed with the way he kept peace in Yobe State as Governor. He always moved rapidly to diffuse areas of tension by visiting the people concerned to find solutions. For this alone, I wish he was in a position to use this skill to ease religious insurgencies and militancy in Nigeria.

Bukar does not boast, nor blow his own trumpet. He is not given to self-promotion and publicity. That was why I opted to help him write this book, to explain to people what I discovered in him. I hope you read and enjoy this book as he narrates his life and philosophy to you. I hope you discover through it, what I saw in him.

The writing of this book is entirely my decision. Bukar did not want it at first. He felt that too many sycophantic books had been written about him, so I persuaded him to tell it in his own words. I have done this book over the past five years, in the national interest, so Nigerians would know that they have a truly progressive, democratic leader, and that one could succeed as a politician without corruption. Young politicians can discover how to achieve political success without first amassing wealth or signing away their future to a godfather.

We have detailed the principles of Poorlitics, how to start with little and climb from poverty to the very top of the political tree. The most famous progressive politicians like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and Joseph Tarka, used this method to rise spectacularly in politics. By specifically spelling out the principles and methods, through a study of the life of Bukar, the book can transform political leadership and campaign in Africa, as young people read it as a systematic guide into people-oriented politics. For older politicians and global icons like Gandhi, Martin Luther King or Mandela, it was an accidental process of discovery, rather than a systematic process of consistent service to the people, based on practical knowledge.

Poorlitics is the politics of the poor; the politics of mass mobilization. The book describes how you can become a successful politician, even if you are poor. The principle is simple. If you give to the people what they want, the people will give you what you want, many times over.

Bukar is a left of centre, progressive politician that is people oriented. He got his Party, ANPP, to initiate the All Progressive’s Congress Party (APC) by moving for a merger that ultimately defeated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). His vision was to create a truly progressive, people-oriented, welfarist party committed to mass education. The ending of the book chronicles the rise of the progressives. At the end, Bukar expresses sadness that his dreams for a true progressive party has not been realized and hopes that one day that dream will be perfected.

I instigated Bukar to encourage his party, ANPP, to move for a merger of the progressives. It is possible other people did the same. However, the dream of a progressive party that we had, was for me frustrated when one of the old war Generals was brought back to power, and we started having cases once more of autocratic rule. I stepped away from it all. I can only hope that one day we will have true progressives in power.

Sam Agha Egwu

Co-Author

October 2018

BOOK ONE: PROLOGUE

BEATING THE ODDS

PERSEVERANCE I S T HE K EY

I want to tell this story, to help our young people understand, that no matter how poor you are, no matter where you come from, if you pull yourself up, and focus on the right objectives, and take yourself to school, and study hard, and work even harder, even if you were so poor as a child that you had no shoes, you can still succeed. One of our former Presidents used to boast he had no shoes as a child, but look at what he attained in life. I too had no shoes, not until I was circumcised at about age eleven, but I did not become Governor of Yobe State three times, because a godfather elevated me, but because I learnt early to choose my friends and mentors well, who guided my path. Many of us who are people of repute today grew up without shoes but we made it.

P2 LOVE YOUR PEOPLE

I became Governor of Yobe State three times, because I fought for it, I struggled for it, against near impossible odds and persuaded my people, through love and hard work, to vote for me again and again, without rigging, in some of Nigeria’s most free and fair elections. I had no fear of losing, because my people knew I was truly one of them, because they knew I loved and cared for them, and they loved me back in return.

They say givers never lack, but also, those that lack never give. Too many of our politicians lack the spirit of truth, giving and loving, so they take and take. That is why our nation is so poor, because those that seize positions of power by guns or rigging, rather than trust the people to vote for them, cannot, by their nature, care for their own people. They do not love the people enough. They have not done enough for their people to trust that the people will vote them into power. That is why they use the gun or rig elections. As I am given, I give away, yet the gifts keep coming. That is the choice of Allah (SWT), the blessings of God.

P3 CHOOSE HONOUR

Nigeria today, in 2017, has become a country where people glorify lying above all other. We cannot even trust the words from our highest offices. With the millions of impoverished young people across Nigeria, I must tell this story, my story, so that they can know that they too, can succeed – without rigging, without corruption, without lying. Even with these changing times when it seems that lies succeed the most, keeping faithful to the truth can still help you succeed even more.

I love to speak the truth. Sometimes my truth annoys, disarms, irritates, but it helps to clean the atmosphere of lies in our society. Perhaps that is why some press people and politicians think I say things that are surprising, because I do not mind saying those things that others want to sweep under the carpet.

Whilst many others show their wealth as their badge of success, I show my truth as my badge of honour. My greatest badge of honour in government, is not that I am a CON (Commander of the Order of the Niger) but because I have never been a con. I have never tried to con my people, to deceive them into voting me into power so that I will steal their resources. I was one of the only two Governors that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) thoroughly investigated, because I was not part of the PDP ruling government at the time, and gave a corruption-free bill of health.

P4 COMBATTING CORRUPTION

As a Governor, if you do not steal a kobo, you can come out richer than Suleiman (Solomon) because of all the free gifts people bring, during your children’s naming ceremonies, your marriages and children’s marriages; indeed any social celebration brings clean gifts of joy and gratitude free of corruption; expensive gifts of cars, clothes and jewelry. Without abusing your position, you can accumulate great wealth, so why do some leaders take part of the little that goes to the people?

That I did my best to be free of corruption did not mean that my government was not corrupt. In Nigeria, at least during my times as Governor, every government was corrupt. If you want to fight corruption, be ready to fight almost everyone, so you must combat it with wisdom. There are many reasons for corruption: bad leadership, criminality, poor pay, extended families and the myriad realities of a developing country. Seek understanding, then seek solutions. As a Senator, I was one of those who relied on his salary and allowances, rather than chase contracts. It did not make me a saint. It was my choice. Those allowances have been much anyway, so I I have always shared with my people as much as I could. As I gave away, more was given to me.

P5 LEADERSHIP AND CORRUPTION

Corruption kills our society, our governments, our productivity, yet it is leadership that breeds corruption. How we select our political leaders fuels corruption. Nigeria needs a new approach to politics, which is seen as a costly investment by both politicians and the people. It need not be. In our politics today, politicians put huge personal funds into publicity, bribes, security, thugs, rigging and violence. Failure, could mean being ruined for life, so they fight to ensure success. On victory, they recover their investment with profit, and reward supporters, rather than give service to the people. The younger generation comes to believe that is the only way to succeed in politics, and join, reinforcing a process that breeds more corruption and underdevelopment.

P6 PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

My experience of politics was different. As a progressive, I was concerned with maximising benefits and services to the people. Most young politicians today believe this is not possible, but my story is proof that you can succeed spectacularly as a politician following the practical lessons I have learnt in practical politics. I call this practical, project-based, Progressive Political Leadership. It means delivering value to people as a basis to win their support and votes in a democratic setting.

This requires building a strong relationship of trust, love and support with your people, through honest contributions that benefit them, using your own personal resources or that of an NGO, corporation or government. When this is done consistently, especially before seeking political office, and your people are convinced of the sincerity, they will give financial support and vote for you repeatedly in various elections.

P7 POORLITICS

This is what I call Poorlitics. A system of doing politics that allows a poor person to succeed by delivering services, projects and democratic dividends to the poor masses that make up the majority in any community. This book will teach you the skills of working for your people so that they work for you. If you give your people what they need, they will give you the support you want.

Poorlitics teaches you the methods of the politics of poverty in a democracy. It is a powerful form of politics that will get a poor person into politics and ensure you get elected again and again, by a grateful people. This is not theory. I played practical politics. I started with only N20,000 and was elected three times as Governor and three times as Senator. With Progressive Political Leadership, elections cost less as the people raise money for you. You do not need thugs, violence or rigging to succeed as the people fight for you. On victory, when traditional politicians are trying to recover the money they spent, you focus on delivering services, projects and democratic dividends to the people that elected you. This increases their support, increases your chances of victory in future elections and your opportunity to continue making a lucrative career in politics, without corruption.

P8 A PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL FUTURE

I stumbled on the system of Poorlitics and Progressive Political Leadership by the accident of how I began politics. I realised I was doing something that few politicians today were doing, yet was practised by some of our greatest progressive politicians: Zik, Awo, Aminu Kano, Ibiam, Abiola, Saraki, Waziri Ibrahim. They first gave to the people, then the people rewarded them massively.

It is a form of politics already practiced in successful democracies, but adapted to our reality in Nigeria. I have put the principles and methods in this book, based on my life, political experience and the observation of others who practised it. I hope to help our young politicians to learn and practice it by disseminating it through conferences and workshops. If more young politicians learn these principles and methods, the less corrupt our country would be and the more effective, the delivery of democratic dividends to our people.

BOOK ONE

THE LITTLE BOY

FROM GONIRI

PART ONE:

THE EARLY YEARS

"Peace is always worth the price,

because Peace is always cheaper than conflict".

- Bukar Abba Ibrahim

CHAPTER ONE

FEUDAL CHILD

IN THE B EGINNING

My name is Bukar Abba Ibrahim, but that was not the name I was born with. I was born in Goniri, in a small, round, thatched hut with earthen floor and walls made of laterite, with roofs made of grass, as you see in the grasslands of Yobe State today. That is where I came from, the talakawa (the poor masses). When I was born, I had no silver spoon in my mouth. At birth, I was called Bukar Kellube, after my mother, Ya Kellu, a Kanuri by ethnicity. At the time of my birth, there was no register of births and deaths in my village, but from my age when I first went to school, I have deduced I was born in 1949. From what I heard, my struggle to overcome began from the very day I was born.

My mother told me, that at the time I was born, there was no dispensary in or around Goniri, not even in Damaturu. The first dispensary in Goniri was opened in 1960, when I was already eleven years old and in the primary school. The closest place where you could get a clinic was Maiduguri, over one hundred and thirty kilometres away on very bad roads. She told me that when I was born, nobody, not even her, expected us to survive. We were abandoned on the floor of this small hut where I was born. For four days, nobody knew our condition. There were no doctors as we know them today, no midwives, no dispensary attendants. Nobody! However, they were using traditional medicine, just for us to survive.

My mother told me that on the fifth day we both survived. She said it was miraculous. I am just happy we survived or I will not be here telling my story. I gather, it was not easy, either for me or for my mother. My mother had given birth to thirteen other children before me. I was number fourteen and one more girl, who came after me, died. Yet, she said she suffered the most during my childbirth. I thank her that she suffered for me. I remember her. She was a sweet mother. I was very close to her. She later died in the hands of traditional quacks. Perhaps that is why rural health means so much to me.

My grandfather, Mallam Bello, was a Fulani from Sokoto. He was an Islamic scholar when he first came to Borno. He was in Yunusari, in the present Yobe State. One day, he went out in the evening and saw my grandmother Ya Jallo, a Kanuri, coming to fetch water in the village. They said the sheer beauty of the young Kanuri woman stunned him. He immediately fell in love and married her. That was how a young Fulani man from Sokoto married a young Kanuri woman in Borno and started my lineage. I really do not know exactly when my grandfather was born. My father told me that they came through Gazargamo, which was the precolonial capital of the Kanem-Borno Empire, stretching from parts of Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon, across the whole of today’s Borno and Yobe States, and parts of Adamawa, Bauchi and Jigawa States.

My father was half Fulani and half Kanuri. My mother was full Kanuri that came from Yunusari through Gaidam to Kaga. By blood, I am Fulani through my father. By milk, I am Kanuri through my mother. Out of my four grandparents, three were Kanuri and only one was Fulani. I grew up in a Kanuri village, amongst Kanuri people, know the Kanuri tongue and Kanuri culture, although technically my father was a Fulani. I could be called Fulani through my father, but in reality, I am Kanuri. In my upbringing, thinking and social reality, I identify with the Kanuri, and that was why I could become Governor three times amongst my people, freely voted for, by them. Nevertheless, I am happy and at peace with my Fulani heritage, but practically, we are very much Kanuri.

My father married several wives, many of whom I had never seen. My mother was, however, the only one that had children for him. Out of fifteen of us, ten died in childhood. I met some of them before they died. Two of my brothers, Gidado, the eldest, taught me business and Mamman Yawudi, who went to school, lit the light of education on my path. Only two of my elder sisters, Hajjia Bintu and Hajjia Karu, are alive as I write this. So much suffering, so much pain for a mother to bury so many children, but that was how it was in those days, before the coming of vaccinations and health services. The infant mortality rate was so high.

1.2 THE SULTAN’S SAGA

My grandfather went with my grandmother to support and help Sultan Attahiru in his dark days. Sultan Attahiru was the last Caliph of the Sokoto Caliphate, an empire established by Usman Dan Fodio, the great Fulani leader. The Sokoto Caliphate covered most of what became Northern Nigeria, except for the Kanem-Borno Empire in North-East Nigeria, and some pockets of resistance in the Middle Belt region. It stretched from today’s Cameroon into Niger Republic and as far as Burkina Faso. The British defeated Sultan Attahiru in March 1903 after a great battle.

Lord Frederick Lugard, British High Commissioner of the newly created Protectorate of Northern Nigeria, abolished the Caliphate and the title of Caliph, but retained the title Sultan as a symbolic position in the Protectorate. He installed Attahiru’s younger brother as Sultan. Sultan Attahiru said he was not going to be ruled by infidels, meaning the British colonial masters. He said they were not Muslims so they had no business ruling him. Sultan Attahiru fled from Sokoto. He left with his family, close associates and thousands of followers. He said he was going on pilgrimage, but on getting to Burmi, in the present day Gombe State, some one hundred and twenty kilometres from Goniri, he settled there.

Sultan Attahiru had become the people’s hero, because he chose to be deposed by the British, rather than cling to his throne under them. Many saw him as the authentic Sultan because he put Allah (SWT) first, before his throne, so they followed him. He came with a large entourage and many more joined him. There were Fulani people all over the Sokoto Caliphate and the Kanem-Borno Empire. In those days, they used to call the Fulani of Borno, Fulata-Borno, because they intermingled and intermarried with the local Kanuri people, just like my grandparents and parents did. The Fulani came around Sultan Attahiru, to stand by him, to defend him and to show their love and loyalty to him. He was their hero, he chose to lose his turban rather than betray Allah (SWT). They followed him, and settled around him, in their thousands.

The Emir of Gombe became afraid of the growing power of Sultan Attahiru in his domain. He complained to the British authorities that the man, whom they kicked out of Sokoto, had become very influential and powerful and a threat to his throne. Thousands of Fulani had settled all around him with their cattle and military prowess. Other ethnic groups feared the Fulani for their battle skills. The Emir of Gombe felt that if the British did not act, Sultan Attahiru would take over his Emirate.

The British mobilised and attacked Sultan Attahiru. The Battle of Burmi was a very bloody encounter in which many of the British colonial native soldiers died. Hundreds of Fulani were also killed. I have not yet visited the historical spot where they say they fought the war, but many nostalgic stories were told about the battlefield where their hero, Sultan Attahiru, fell. They say there is a certain portion of the land that till today grows no grass, because of the blood and human flesh deposited on that field during the battle.

1.3 FLIGHT TO GONIRI

My grandfather, Mallam Bello, and his followers left Burmi in a hurry after the great defeat. They announced they were again going to Mecca, just as they did after the earlier battle to dethrone the Sultan in Sokoto. Perhaps the pilgrimage story was a ruse to evade the ruthless assault of the British. You probably may have heard the stories of the tough Fulani who follow their cattle and leave their women in the forest to have children by themselves. Well, for us, it was not a story.

My father told us that in their hurry, they actually abandoned him, during the great trek from Burmi to Goniri. My poor father was a small boy of about two years and my grandmother had two other children before him. They said that things were just too hard for her, with their cattle, donkeys and luggage, so they abandoned him in the bush. They left him with other things they could not carry because things were too much for them. After a while, his mother could no longer take it.

Mothers! She could not carry on. She cried and ran back and collected her child. Then the great trek continued. Yes, they abandoned my father in the bush under a tree because they were exhausted from the flight and fear. They were refugees but there was no United Nations then, nor Red Cross, nor Red Crescent, nor Doctors without Borders to help them. They were just fugitives in the bush fleeing from defeat. She was carrying two other children, had to make a choice, and abandoned the youngest. That was how harsh reality was in those days. Sometimes I think and ponder this story. If my grandmother never ran back for her child in the bush, there would be no Bukar today. Thank you, grandmother Ya Jallo for taking the risk in the midst of defeat, to go for your child, my father.

The refugees did not go too far with their pilgrimage as they settled down in the town of Goniri. They did not go there accidentally. There were contacts before, such as inter-marriages and trading between them. Thursday was the market day when the people of Burmi would go to Goniri. Fortunately, for them, the Village Head of Goniri at the time knew my grandfather and trusted him. He said to my grandfather, From the western wall to whatever distance you want to go, you can settle down with your followers and do your farming, your cattle breeding and your daily living. If you go to Goniri, and watch people in our ward going to the farm in the morning, they would all be moving westwards.

The Village Head at the time gave that land to their parents’ parents. It is amazing that this man’s act of kindness to a group of terrified refugees was to be rewarded almost a century later when I, the grandson of a straggling refugee, became Governor and created an Emirate comprising Gujba and Gulani Local Government Areas, and made his grandson, Mai Mukhtar Gangarang, the Emir. How I wish his grandfather was there to witness his turbaning, that is, the crowning ceremony in which the traditional turban is tied on the head of a king.

Of the forty-five families that moved to Goniri with my grandfather, only two with some Fulani ancestry are still in Goniri. All the others have either disappeared or travelled out on their way to Mecca and never came back. The other family is Alhaji Bello Damaturu’s family. Half of them are in Goniri and the other half are in Damaturu. For our family, it has been over one hundred and ten years since we settled and we are still there. We are happy being there. We know no other place.

1.4 GONIRI AND KANEM-BORNO

I was born in Goniri, which means, in Kanuri, a university town. Goniri was a centre of Islamic learning in the Kanem-Borno Empire. It was considered an Islamic university town in those days because of the numbers of Mallams (Islamic teachers), almajiri (Islamic students) and tsangayas (Islamic schools), who would come from across the then Northern Nigeria to read the Qur’an (Holy book), learn the Fiqh and Hadith, study the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) and so on.

Although there was ignorance of western education, there was no ignorance of Islamic knowledge. In this, we were very good. Western education did not exist until January 1948. Before then, you could say nobody in our village went to school. If any did, it must have been in some other town. The year 1948 saw the first primary school in Goniri, but in Gujba, headquarters of my present Local Government Area, a school was there earlier. The current Emir of Gujba, as I write this book, schooled there.

I understand Gujba has a history of over 700 years and Goniri, our village, was before Gujba. That means Goniri could be up to 1000 years old. About the year 1900, the Arab Sudanese warlord and slave trader, Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah tried to capture Goniri to expand his territory in the Kanem-Borno Empire but he failed. He had been ruling Kanem-Borno for seven years. A very high wall surrounded the whole town with some armed groups to maintain and guard it. Goniri was walled because of the wars that had been raging. When there was war, they farmed within the walls. That was why they called it Goniri Garua, the fortified university town.

Rabih was the last independent ruler of the empire before European colonialism. He was the deputy of a wealthy Sudanese Arab warlord and slave trader. He set out to found his own kingdom after the British captured his master and imprisoned him in Egypt. Rabih’s assault on Kanem-Borno began in 1893, when he attacked the weak and declining empire of the Kanuri people. At that time, Shehu Ashimi, the last true indigenous Emperor, ruled this sahelian empire that dated back to the Middle Ages. Shehu Ashimi sent out his army to confront Rabih but was defeated. He fled, but his nephew Kyari assassinated him and became Shehu. Rabih captured Kyari, beheaded him, then plundered and razed Kukawa, his capital city, to the ground. He subdued most of the towns and villages of Kanem-Borno. He built a palace which local legend says that during construction, there was a shortage of water, and they used blood from his battles to mix the sand for the walls. That was how ruthless Rabih was.

Rabih as Shehu of the Kanem-Borno Empire tried to revive an already old and decadent empire that had feudal structures dating back to the 16th century. He promulgated laws based on the Sharia, the Islamic legal code. He launched a series of raids to plunder and capture slaves. This was his previous business and a traditional activity of the Shehus. He brought in his fellow Arabs to help him run the empire and his business. Their descendants are still in Borno today. In 1899, the French Lieutenant Bretonnet, came to negotiate terms for French control of his territory. Their talks broke down. Rabih attacked and killed him and most of his men. In response, the French attacked in April 1900, overwhelmed Rabih's forces, killed him and mounted his head on a stake as a warning to others to beware.

With Rabih's defeat, the territory he controlled from Sudan to Kanem-Borno disintegrated. All Rabih's territories fell into French hands, except for a small rump that happened to contain today’s Maiduguri, which went to Britain, and became part of Nigeria, the British colonial territory. That was how the Kanem-Borno Empire ended and came under the influence of Great Britain and France. The British had also annexed the Sokoto Caliphate, a much younger, virile and intact empire and which, together with the Kanem-Borno portion, constituted the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria. The administration of the Sokoto Caliphate was so effective that Britain decided to keep it intact and rule through the Sultan in a system of indirect rule.

The British put that remaining piece of Kanem-Borno under the control of the Sokoto Caliphate, which had tried to defeat Kanem-Borno for many years. Sokoto almost succeeded after sacking Gazagarmo, the capital city of Kanem-Borno, but they recovered and drove the invaders away. Finally, a part of Kanem-Borno, now simply known as Borno, came under the control of the Sokoto Caliphate through the British. It was a painful end to a once powerful and proud empire that rivalled other world empires. The might of Kanem-Borno stretched as far as Libya at the height of its powers. This sense of humiliation lingers with the Kanuri people till today. In any case, by 1903, some three years after Rabih’s final defeat by the French, my grandfather and the forty-five families fleeing from their own defeat by the British, settled down in Goniri.

1.5 MAI ANGUWA

My grandfather, as the leader of the refugees, became the first Mai Anguwa (in Hausa) and Makinta (in Kanuri), meaning Ward Head of our Fulani Ward in Goniri. They built their huts of mud and straw, and started farming. They also continued with their Qur’anic studies and boosted Islamic learning with all those famous Mallams and hundreds of their almajiri. They farmed in the mornings and studied the Qur’an in the evenings before going to bed. People from faraway towns like Biu, Gombe, Yola, Dambua, Damaturu and Maiduguri and so many other places, came to Goniri to study the Qur’an.

When my grandfather died, my father took over as the Mai Anguwa. When he also died, one of his sons succeeded him. Goniri had about thirty-two Mai Anguwas. Over them was the Lawan (Village Head). My father was the only Mai Anguwa that was not full-blooded Kanuri. Any non-Kanuri who came to town would come to our house for accommodation, feeding and other needs, depending on whether it was an official or private visit. If it was private, most people go to the people they know, not necessarily the Mai Anguwa, but if it was official, the Mai Anguwa would take care of them. Almost everybody knew each other anyway, so that was good for security. That was why we did not have security problems then.

My grandfather lived and died in Goniri. My father lived and died in Goniri. My eldest brother lived, traded and died in Goniri. I too was born in Goniri, grew up in Goniri, but I did not want to live and die in Goniri. I wanted to see the world. That led me to struggle to go higher until I became all the things I achieved, further establishing my family as the leading family in Goniri. I knew my eldest brother, Gidado well before he died. I worked with him, stayed with him and traded for him. I used to represent him in village markets all around our area, even when I was in the primary school.

In later years when I was Governor, the Mai (King) of the Emirate, appointed my other brother, Mamman Yawudi, the first District Head of Goniri. During my time as Governor, we created fourteen Emirates in Yobe State and made Goniri a district. If Gidado, our eldest brother had survived, he would have been the Mai. All these were in keeping with our family tradition of service and leadership to the community, following the footsteps of my father and grandfather. The eldest son of brother Mamman, Gidado Yawudi (named after our eldest brother), succeeded his father as the District Head of Goniri. Gidado Yawudi also became a Director in the Yobe State Ministry of Finance.

1.6 WESTERN EDUCATION IS HARAM

Our people were learned but were not educated in what Hausas call Boko, and we Kanuri call Kera Kerdibe, the learning of the unbelievers, that is, the white colonial masters that ruled us. Our people were educated in Islamic learning. In fact, for a long time, most thought that Kera Kerdibe was haram, that is, forbidden because they did not like the ways of the white man. However, the Prophet (Pbuh) said that we could even go to China to acquire knowledge.

Many of our people threw away the baby with the bath water because they did not like the colonisation of Islamic lands and the morality of the white man. They rejected his education, his science, his technology and many Imams (teacher priests) taught us that it was haram. The concept that the learning of the white man is haram did not start recently but from rejection of colonial oppression. It is at the root of the mass illiteracy, poverty, religious insurgency and violence in Northern Nigeria today, right into the second decade of the twenty-first century.

It was this perception of Kera Kerdibe that first brought me luck. Whilst others rejected it, somehow my father and a few others did not. That was the story of how I took the place of my older cousin, Bukar Ngwalibe, in the new primary school that came to Goniri. His father, until his death, never allowed any of his children to go for western education, claiming that it was haram. The situation then is now forgotten because so many of his grandchildren are now very well educated. Some of them are already graduates and some are still in school. Many things have changed now, but at that time he said no, and that was it. His no was no.

From what I know now, it was on 1st January, 1948 that the Borno Local Education Authority decided to open a primary school in several villages across Borno Province, which was at that time, what we have in 2016, as Borno State and Yobe State put together. I remember this date, because my elder brother, Mamman Yawudi, was one of the first children enrolled into the Goniri Central Primary School and he told me the stories. The school enrolled him in class one in January 1948. My brother told me that they used to go to school by 6 a.m. without breakfast, and then they would return by 9 a.m. for breakfast, called Sa Luar in Kanuri. One day, he returned to discover that I had been born. I am not sure about the month. He