Alkaliali2004@yahoo.com

An article recently written by one Dahiru Maishanu, an adviser to Sokoto State Governor Alhaji Aliyu Magatakardan Wamako, titled “Between Bafarawa and University Education” and posted to Gamji Website was not only venomous but a deliberate misrepresentation of facts. The last sentence in the article “every dog has its own day,” should have been the first, so that the reader is put on alert that it is a dog barking because Bafarawa refused to throw him a bone some years ago.

To be fair to the writer, however, he made it clear in the first paragraph that he was out to abuse the man because when he (Bafarawa) was the Governor of Sokoto State, he did not approve “an application I had earlier submitted to the state scholarship board for the government to pay part of my MBA tuition fees to The Hague University of Professional Education.” I also salute the writer because he was bold enough to mention that he had been harboring grudge against Bafarawa since 1987, because, as a “young reporter” then, he wanted to interview Bafarawa “being an independent petroleum marketer”, but unfortunately for the young reporter, the interview “did not end well.”

However, why the interview didn’t end well, the writer did not volunteer, which definitely were the geneses behind Maishanu’s hatred towards Bafarawa. But it is a known fact to anybody familiar with the Nigerian Media industry that any interview with a big shot like Bafarawa that did not end with a pat brown envelope changing hands “did not end well.” And to Maishanu, then starting a career as a journalist, a man like Bafarawa who will not tremble with fear and yield to the intimidation and blackmail of overzealous reporters is “a person whose idea of business and human relations was different from the norm.”

Then came the second encounter, 18 years later, when Maishanu went and saw Bafarawa at his London home and asked him to pay the tuition fees for his MBA degree. The mission failed; and the antagonism renewed. Without holding brief for Bafarawa, one would have loved to hear that Maishanu was applying to study a technical or science related course for which he needed assistance – because it was part of Bafarawa’s education policy to give scholarship to those studying such courses abroad. For, in that particular year, 2005, when Maishanu visited Bafarawa there were 50 Sokoto State students studying medicine in Bulgaria under a special programme for the training of medical doctors re-introduced by Bafarawa administration. This was apart from the other hundreds of Sokoto indigenes given full scholarship to study in Cuba, Russia and China, under a special Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA). Their areas of study were medicine, engineering and other science related courses. The lean resources of Sokoto State cannot afford to serve the whim of everybody who just wanted to brag by name-dropping a foreign university as “my Alma Mata.” Equally, for one to apply for a scholarship to study here or abroad, there must be requirements and procedure. And if Maishanu was really qualified for what he applied for, must he go to the state governor, personally, begging him to use his position and help him?

Ignoring the fact that Bafarawa was running the state according to the rules, policies and priorities of the state, his refusal to unjustly intervene and force the Sokoto State Scholarship Board to pay Maishanu’s MBA tuition fees was angrily misinterpreted by the aggrieved applicant as “a phobia for education.” To Maishanu, just because Bafarawa does not have a university degree, the very mention of someone studying for a master’s degree was enough to make the Governor “green with envy.” What Maishanu failed to understand is the fact that not everyone needs a university degree in order to survive or excel. Certainly not people like Bafarawa. For, while some of us, low-IQed, are busy chasing paper certificate in order to find a place in the society because we knew deep down inside us that we could not make it any other way, the stars of Bafarawas were already shinning on the horizon. For positive thinking people like Bafarawa, lack of a university degree was never an excuse to recoil into self-pity, apathy and lack of vision and mission in life. Without a university degree, Bafarawa worked his way up to become a business icon and a political colossus in this country. Then why envy someone who is just pursuing a degree as a meal ticket? And who says one must have a university degree before one could become good and effective leader? What university degree did people like Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, Malam Aminu Kano and Alhaji Shehu Shagari have before they led us? Among all Nigerian past Heads of State and Presidents who, except Umaru Yar’adua, assumed the leadership of this country with a mantle on one hand and a university degree on the other? And what indication do we have, so far, that he is any better than them because he has a degree?

So, if people like Bafarawa need any university degree is for either cosmetic purposes or real quest for knowledge, not as a meal ticket – like many of us do. But that is not to say the former governor did not consider human capital development through high education as important. That’s a gross misrepresentation of facts, because it was Bafarawa administration that introduced the Higher Education Scheme for Serving Officers (HESSO) in the state. The scheme provided for teachers to go on studies with their full salaries while enjoying full course allowances. This was done to enable them pursue Degrees and Post-graduate studies of their choice without hindrance. Further more, a revolving loan scheme for teachers was introduced, under which school principals were given car loan facilities and unqualified teachers were sponsored to attend sandwich programmes and Post Graduate Diploma in Education to enable them have relevant teaching qualification. All these measures were put in place by the Bafarawa administration in order to promote higher productivity and efficiency. Teaching, a profession relegated to the back seat before the advent of Bafarawa administration, suddenly got back its respect and honour. From 1999 to 2006, a total of 5,545 primary school teachers were sponsored for Degree, NCE, Diploma and Certificate programmes by the Bafarawa administration. The State Ministry of Education in collaboration with the State Primary Education Board, Shehu Shagari College of Education, and the National Teachers Institute organized special training programmes for Grade 11 referred and SSCE holders teaching in the state primary schools. This idea was motivated by Bafarawa’s desire to phase out Grade 11 and SSCE teachers from the mainstream, so as to make the National Certificate of Education (NCE) the minimum teaching qualification in the state’s primary school system. . To achieve this purpose, sixteen outreach centers were established across the state.

Furthermore, in its determination to ensure that Sokoto students benefited from any given opportunity, Bafarawa administration sponsored over thirty SS1 students to the United States of America under the auspices of Iowa Resources in International Service (IRIS) for a year intensive study in Computer and Applied Sciences. Some of these students are now undergraduates in our universities, studying Computer Science and Medicine. During the programme, parents of the students were sponsored by the state government to visit their wards in the United States. Over N10m was expended to cover such visits and the provision of materials to the students.

Maishanu also talked of Bafarawa awarding himself a professional chair in politics by, allegedly, boasting, “he was better than any university professor in the land where the art of politics was concerned.” The writer also accused the former governor of “scolding PhD and Masters degree holders who served as his commissioners and special advisers by saying an empty A4 paper was worth more than the degrees they had.”

Well, it is pertinent to remind Maishanu that Bafarawa was not the one who “awarded himself a professorial chair in politics”. It was the politicians and academicians themselves who bestowed that honour on him. Alhaji, Dr. Yusuf Maitama Sule, Danmasanin Kano, once said at a public function “Bafarawa is a peculiar character. His political sagacity is superb; and he is always ahead in terms of practical politics.” Like Maitama Sule, the former PDP presidential aspirant, Owelle Anayo Rochas Okorocha, also said at a political rally in Sokoto, “Bafarawa is a strategist. He is a man who knows what people want and knows how to give it to them. A man that shares the feelings of his people, always thinking ahead and confronting challenges with courage. Bafarawa has been revealed through his performance. He is indeed a strategist.” Also, according to another politician, Senator Sa’idu Kumo, Garkuwan Gombe, “Bafarawa is a complete, proactive and competent leader. He is down-to-earth and listens to people often, in the belief that he is in the position to serve them. A man with revolutionary ideas that call for complete change in how people perceive politics, he is always committed no matter how much it will cost him to achieve his goals. I would say his leadership type is indeed rare.” Equally eulogizing the political acumen of Bafarawa, Dr. Ibrahim Tahir (Talban Bauchi), former Ahmadu Bello University sociology don and minister of communications, once told an audience in Kaduna “Bafarawa is a most improbable, highly exciting find with a completely traditional socialization… yet breaking new ground, carrying significant and meaningful development to every nook and corner of this neglected area; yet managing also to acquire national relevance and substance as the Northern voice and as a major national party figure.” So no matter how hard it might be on Maishanu, those who know politics have already spoken. That Bafarawa is a political professor and strategist.

As for “scolding PhD and Masters degree holders” whose certificates are worth less than a empty A4 paper, we are not sure whether, really, Bafarawa did that or the writer was just exaggerating on an incident concerning some nincompoops in the former governor’s cabinet imposed on him by his political party. Certainly, Bafarawa’s case apart (even if it really happened), there are millions of degree holders in this country whose certificates are not worth more than the paper on which they are printed. Only last year, an ambassadorial nominee disgraced himself in front of a Senate screening committee by tumbling and groaning over simple economic questions that any good secondary school graduate can answer. The media had a field day, because the man had a Bsc degree in economics. We have such certificate holding illiterates who, because they serve the ruling party, are appointed commissioners, advisers, ministers etc. And if Bafarawa was unfortunate to find such imbeciles in his cabinet and he scolded them for their incompetence – what’s wrong with that?

Ironically, Maishanu accused Bafarawa of being “fundamentally deficient in formal education”, yet very angry that the former governor now registered for a degree programme in International Relations at an American University. Obviously, the writer finds it difficult to accommodate the challenge and the competition that the man “with only a pivotal educational background” will also very soon become an alumnus of an American University. A typical case of “our territory is now being invaded by our enemy.”

The main thrust of Maishanu’s article was to paint Bafarawa black and portray him as a former state governor who hates the elite and neglected education in his state. This is far from the truth, because Bafarawa administration had allocated more money to the state Ministry of Education than any other ministry. It also set up the Education Resuscitation Committee, a partnership between the State and local governments. In this partnership, the State made a monthly contribution of ten million naira (N10, 000,000.00) while the 23 local governments contributed (N1, 000,000.00) one million naira each. This money was meant for educational development and was used to provide urgent intervention in areas of need.

One of the major priority objectives of the Bafarawa administration in Sokoto State was the training of the much-needed middle and high-level manpower in all fields of human endeavour, particularly in science and technology related areas. At the Shehu Shagari College of Education, a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) Degree programme was reintroduced by the administration. When Bafarawa administration took over, facilities at SSCOE were in a very bad stage of disrepair. It had to spend over one billion, three hundred million naira (N1.3b) to renovate the dilapidated structures in the college, in addition to procurement of teaching/learning materials and vehicles worth more than four hundred million naira (N400m).

Prior to May 1999, the institution had a population of 1,716 students. By 2006, the student population had reached about 10,000 for both NCE and degree programmes. In addition, Post-Graduate Diploma in Education, Advanced Diploma and Certificate in Education are now being offered by the college due to Bafarawa’s efforts.

Equally, the Bafarawa administration had initiated the establishment of a State owned polytechnic to develop technical manpower for the State. The sum of nearly one billion naira (1,000,000,000) was spent on the construction and equipping of the College of Engineering and Environmental Studies, consisting of four engineering schools i.e. electrical and electronics, building, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering with twelve laboratories, eighteen conventional classrooms, auditorium, lecture theatres and administrative block. Already, before the former governor left office, the College of Engineering and Environmental Studies had taken off with a student enrolment of nearly 8,000. At that time, five other colleges were accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to commence National Diploma Programmes.

Bafarawa administration had been footing the bill of registration and other fees for Sokoto state University students. About eighty million naira (N80m) was spent each year on students for registration and other fees in various universities across the country. The former administration had also sponsored students in Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Niger Republic, USA, etc to study one discipline or the other.

On assumption of office in May 1999, Bafarawa commissioned a study to assess the position of secondary education in the state. The intention was to ensure that the six-year secondary education programme is implemented to the letter. This is borne out of the conviction that for Sokoto State to advance properly in education, the second ladder in the educational system had to be accorded the necessary importance and attention. It was Bafarawa’s belief that secondary education determines the quality and quantity of students in tertiary institutions as well as the future manpower of the State and nation.

After receiving the report, the Bafarawa administration set out to drastically improve the system. The rehabilitation of dilapidated school buildings and provision of new ones, procurement of essential instructional materials, furniture and equipment, provision of a conducive teaching and learning atmosphere as well as the enhancement of student and teachers welfare packages became the major focus of the government. A lot of repairs and rehabilitation was carried out in the state’s schools. For this exercise, more than six hundred and one million, seven hundred and forty-four thousand, nine hundred and eighty-eight naira (N601, 744,988.00) was spent.

To ensure the smooth take off of GSS Isa, at its permanent site, all required facilities such as classrooms, hostels, staff quarters, water and electricity (borehole and generator), offices, assembly/dining hall, toilets, etc were provided at the permanent site of the school. The sum of two hundred million naira (N200, 000,000.00) was spent. Similarly, the then GSS Bafarawa was re-opened and the sum of three hundred million naira (N300, 000,000.00) was expended in the provision of more classrooms and hostels, installation of borehole and generator, construction of staff quarters, administrative block, toilets and workshops, before it was converted to a technical college and transferred to the Ministry of Science and Technical Education. In addition, GDSS K/Marke was established and the sum of sixty million naira (N60, 000,000.00) was spent on construction works involving classrooms and administrative block. Expansion of Gwadabawa cost the sum of fifty-six million naira (N56, 000,000.00) in 2006. More than one hundred million naira (N100, 000,000.00) was spent by the Education Resuscitation Committee in developing the permanent site of GSS S/Birni. The Committee also rehabilitated the Giginya Barracks Nursery and Primary School.

The Bafarawa administration had also reconstructed, rehabilitated and built additional structures at GGSS Illela and Ahmad Adamu Muazu Science Secondary School, Goronyo, and re-designated them Science Model Secondary Schools for Girls and Boys. Over N300m was spent in the building, rehabilitation and provision of all the required materials befitting any Science Secondary School. The Bafarawa administration had also constructed and equipped science laboratories at Sokoto Teachers College, Habsatu Ahmadu Bello Memorial Arabic Secondary School and Sheikh Sultan Abubakar College Sokoto and Sani Dingyadi Unity Secondary School. A.A. Raji Special School had also enjoyed comprehensive rehabilitation and construction of additional structures. During the period under review, students’ furniture worth N350m, were purchased and distributed to all secondary schools in the state. Equally, computers worth N120m were purchased and distributed to all senior secondary schools in the state. Textbooks for libraries and references were also purchased and distributed at the cost of N160m.

Equally, Bafarawa administration considered primary education as the bedrock of all other stages of learning. After an assessment of the performance of previous Administrations in primary education, Bafarawa decided to take development in this area to another level. Hence, he embarked on rehabilitation of ailing structures and provision of additional ones, provision of teaching aids, improved welfare package, regular training of teachers and recruitment of more practitioners. And the efforts have produced very encouraging results by uplifting and promoting the standard of primary education in Sokoto State.

The sum of one hundred and sixty-two million, nine hundred and thirty-nine thousand, and sixty-five naira (N162, 939,065.00) was spent on the establishment of 3 model-boarding primary schools at Yabo, Isa, and Balle. Classrooms, hostels, staff quarters, libraries, laboratories, boreholes, generators, boundary wall fencing, etc were provided. The schools are designed as centers of excellence. The schools took-off with an initial student population of 72, each, drawn from the 23 local government areas.

The Bafarawa administration also initiated the Primary Education Resuscitation Programme even before the Federal Government started funding the UBE scheme. The sum of six billion and five hundred million naira (N6, 500,000,000.00) was earmarked for this purpose. More than 3,000 classrooms were constructed in the state, and classroom furniture, books, and other teaching/learning materials were also provided. The Bafarawa administration also purchased three Toyota Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV),

more than 1000 motorcycles, computers as well as teaching aids to compliment and boost the efforts of the UBE Board. This was not part of the projects earmarked under the N6.5billion intervention and UBE funds. Also, in 2004, 500 blocks of 3 classrooms each were provided across Sokoto State at the cost of more than one billion, five hundred million naira (N1, 500,000,000.00).

From the few cases selected above, one can see clearly that within the eight years it served the people of Sokoto State, the Bafarawa administration had paid proper attention to, injected and invested a lot of resources in the education sector in the state. This is on account of the administration’s avowed commitment to improving the standard of education from its pre-1999 status to greater heights.