Bukar Abba: A Leader With A Difference -By Ifeanyi Emeka

Bukar Abba

At every given opportunity, political scientists and commentators usually point out leadership as one of the fundamental problems facing Nigeria. They pronounce this in classrooms, lecture halls, conferences and on the pages of newspapers.

But one clear task they have refused to undertake for Nigeria is identifying the qualifications and qualities that make a good leader. This question is rarely posed! For Instance, for anybody to become a medical doctor, journalist, lawyer, teacher and engineer, the requirements are clearly defined, but in the case of leadership, no clear-cut requirement is stated thereby making it an all-comers affair. Since that is the case, why would there not be leadership problem in Nigeria when a man who has never managed any group of persons successfully suddenly says he wants to lead the people as their leader?

According to Steve Richard in his work titled ‘Here are the qualities you need to be a top political leader,’ he said a leader is one who should be considered whenever there is a vacancy for a top job in a political party.

He noted that, ‘politics is a tough vocation requiring distinct areas of expertise.’ I do not believe that we would have better politicians if more of them worked elsewhere first before politics. When outsiders move in to politics, they often struggle to adapt.

They make mistakes because they do not understand the unique rhythms of politics; hence, the fatal dangers of one error after another is to the disadvantage of the people. Some of the best politicians have been mastering politics in their entire career. It therefore take some practices to master the game if anyone wants to play!

Fortunate enough, one man who meet all the qualifications required of a great leader is Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, three times former Governor of Yobe State and the current Senator representing Yobe East Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim is a man I admire alot because he brings handsome, honesty, intelligence, confidence, morality and compassion in to all that he does.

This is the only former governor in the National Assembly whose dossier is clean and does not have any case of corruption with EFCC or the ICPC. Senator Bukar Abba is a strong believer in the concept of politics without bitterness propounded by the great Ibrahim Waziri who was also the founder of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP).

Just as the law of homogeneous attraction stated that like attracts like, His Excellency, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim is happily married to the beautiful daughter of the great Ibrahim Waziri, Her Excellency, Hajia Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim who is also Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

The most visible asset of this great Senator are; good name, experience, political network, laudable track records in office and trust in God. For Example, when he was Governor of Yobe State, he did a lot in the area of education, infrastructure, industrial development and social services.

Under his watch as governor, he established Nine Tertiary Institutions, 35 Modern Secondary Schools and 600 Comprehensive Primary Schools. Before his coming as governor, the state had less than 300 Primary Schools with dilapidated infrastructures, but at the end of his tenure as number citizen, Yobe State, the Pride of the Sahel can now boast of more than 1, 100 modern and well equipped primary schools across the state.

As a marital and ideological inlay of the great Ibrahim Waziri, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim is a great advocate of social justice because according to him, without justice, there would be no peace. This was why he promoted liberal land policies when he was Chairman, Senate Committee on Housing. His goal was to make housing available to all Nigerians irrespective of their class and social status. And as the current Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim have supervised legislative oversights that addressed issues related to the control of water and air pollutions, industrial waste management, desertification and erosion control, oil spillage, ecological fund and marine resource management.

Like I said earlier, a good leader is one who is well disciplined, humble and renders selfless services to make the lives of his people better. Haven achieved that feat in Yobe State, the Pride of the Sahel, it is my earnest prayer to Almighty Allah to give Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim the strength and the opportunity to make Nigeria great again.

Ifeanyi Emeka writes from Lokoja,
Kogi State Capital.