Penultimate Saturday in Katsina a ceremony of great significance held in the palace of the Emir, HRH Abdulmumini Kabir Usman where he turbaned Senator Ibrahim Ida as the Sardaunan Katsina. Senator Ida is a friend of this page and a keen follower, who has never hesitated to contribute to debates on thorny national issues. I had prepared to attend to witness the ceremony and had even had a chat with him in his Banex Plaza office a few days to the event to get a proper perspective of what the ceremony entailed. Unfortunately, unforeseen happenings deterred my journey to Katsina. Nevertheless, I followed the events as they unfolded and I am satisfied I did not miss much.
Ibrahim Ida is stepping into the shoes of Ibrahim Coomassie, the late Inspector-General of Police, who served as the first ever Sardauna in Katsina Emirate. The title of Sardauna is said to have originated from Sokoto, the headquarters of the Caliphate, where most readers would recollect that the title became synonymous with Sir Ahmadu Bello, the late Premier of Northern Region. Sir Ahmadu Bello was not the first Sardaunan Sokoto but his stature in the North then made the title popular and the most sought after. The late Sultan Siddiq Abubakar III had also been a Sardauna, before becoming Sultan in 1938.
In the court of the Sultan of Sokoto, the Sardauna literally means captain of the bodyguards. He could also be the commander of the princes in times of war who would lead to clear the routes for the Sultan and also serve as the striking arm and last defence. Now, borrowing chieftaincy titles among emirates in the North is a historical phenomenon. For example, Katsina Emirate had borrowed the Dan Maje from Kano emirate, a title that Ibrahim Ida held earlier. As for the Sardauna title many emirates have borrowed and bestowed it on their very distinguished citizens in whom they probably see more of the qualities of Ahmadu Bello the Sardaunan Sokoto. The Sardauna title has now found a home in Kano and is held by Ibrahim Shekarau, the former Kano State Governor and later Minister of Education who is now warming up for a Senate race. It is also in Jigawa State where Senator Bello Maitama Yusuf, the Second Republic Minister of Interior and Commerce, holds the title as Sardaunan Dutse.
The new Sardaunan Katsina is therefore in good company. He is coming into a title whose pedigree is unimpeachable. The Emir of Katsina must have found in Ibrahim Ida the right qualities suitable for holding the Sardauna title. Ibrahim Ida has established himself over the years as a community leader in Katsina. He had spent most his life in public service. He had a flourishing banking career in Bank of the North where he rose to the position Assistant General Manager, based in Lagos and in charge of southern operations. He became a Commissioner of Finance in Katsina State and subsequently transferred his services to the Federal Civil Service. In due course he was appointed Permanent Secretary and served in various departments and ministries including the Ministry of Defence.
He told me that he relished the long period, some four to five years, he spent in the Economic Affairs Office of the Presidency where his rich experience in finance came in handy. Among the many ad-hoc duties he performed he singled out his function as the Coordinator of the Economic Summit, as one of the most productive. This was a body that was set up in the early 1990s to garner ideas from both the public and private sectors on how to move the Nigerian Economy forward. As part of those efforts he became the Secretary, Vision 2010, a major planning tool with a forward-looking program that took a whole year to prepare, drawing from the experiences of the leading lights in both the private and public sectors. Many regretted that the excellent document produced was jettisoned and was hardly used after.
He helped to set up the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), a body created by the Federal Government in 1994 to manage the excess funds from the petroleum pump price and use it to address the infrastructural deficit in the country. He coordinated the of activities of PTF as the Pro-tem Secretary until when it was solidly on its feet. He then retreated to his Presidency office. He was Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence when he finally retired from the Federal Civil Service and went back to school to complete the law program he had started earlier. He became a barrister and established his practice before jumping into the political arena. He stood and was elected Senator for Katsina Central in 2007.
I understand that the streets of Katsina were alight on the day Ibrahim Ida was turbaned. Besides the teeming visitors from far and wide that filled the palace of the Emir of Katsina, the town witnessed a spectacular durbar of richly embroidered horsemen. The newly-turbaned Sardauna, may be giving a meaning to the title, was said to have led a processing of 100 horsemen in all-white flowing gowns and turbans trotting majestically around the town. Those who saw it said it was a memorable sight.
Now, after the spectacles of the ceremonies the responsibilities attached to the title of Sardauna of Katsina loom large. Senator Ida would be held to account by both the Emirate Council and the people of Katsina of the pledge he made that he would use his wide outreach for their well-being and development.
MOURNING THE DEATH OF USMAN ABUBAKAR
Penultimate Friday, friends and relations of Usman Abubakar congregated at the Abuja National Mosque for the funeral rites of Usman Abubakar. He died after a brief illness in Abuja.
Our paths crossed at very tender ages when we all came in as form one students in Government College Keffi, in 1967. Many of us came from far-away places in the North. Usman came from Sandamu, a village in Daura Emirate that is close to the border with Niger Republic. We shared the same room in the first two years and were also in the same class up to form three. Even in those early days Usman was a leader in many respects. He was the archetypal bookworm, an exceptionally brilliant student who didn’t partake in any of the known students’ frivolities. No wonder at the completion of our studies Usman scored a distinction in every subject thus getting the magic aggregate 6 in WASC.
We came to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) together, then the only university in the North. He read Electrical Engineering, graduating as one of the best students in his class. He set up his own practice and in 1984 became Commissioner of Works in the old Kaduna State and later Chairman of Jebba Paper Mills. In Kaduna he was well known as a community leader, who actively participated in the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI).
His last public service appointment was as Chairman, Nigerian Railways. It was an assignment he was particularly passionate about. I discussed with him a number of times in the last two years where we sat to reminisce over the railway system that was available to us during our school days. I used to remind him that I normally took the train, along with other students, from Maiduguri to Jos and all the way to Gudi where we would find the school lorry waiting to take us to Keffi. It was a mode of transportation that was reliable, safe and efficient. He had strong hopes, as he assured, that very soon we shall have the same and probably even a better system back.
My condolences to his family, relations and all our colleagues. May Allah grant Usman eternal rest in Aljannah Firdausi. Amin.
