“Wannan yaron naka, ya na
da kwakwalwa ta fitar hankali.”
The above quotation was how the then Vice Presidential Candidate, Kashim Shettima described Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia when he visited the palace of HRH, the emir of Hadejia on a courtesy visit. It was in the midst of the recent presidential campaign tours. Some of us saw that statement as a sign of something positive to come.
The recent visible presence of Shettiman Hadejia when the new Vice President reported to take over his wing of the Villa, further reimposed the point that something was in the offing. The appointment of Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia as the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) to the President in the office of the Vice President is a welcome develooment.
This writer view Senator Hadejia as one of those older than their ages. I first met him around 1999 as budding young man who was then freshly appointed the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice by his friend, Governor Saminu Turaki. Ibrahim may not be your good example of a typical politician, but he get your paper (and Computer) work done to near precision. No wonder some of us describe him as “Baturen Dan Siyasa” He rose through the ranks from Attorney General/Commissioner of Justice to Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and the Deputy Governor of Jigawa State during the first tenure of Gov Saminu Turaki. He contested for Governorship in 2007 under the defunct ANPP after refusing to follow Gov Saminu into the PDP.
Upon the formation of APC in the buildup to the 2015 elections, Hassan again became Deputy Governor for the second time under Gov Badaru Abubakar. In 2019, he became the Senator for Jigawa North East. Although the 2023 Jigawa Governorship ticket was secured by the incumbent Governor Umar Namadi, Senator Hadejia who also contested the primaries under the APC, accepted the result in good faith, was among the early callers to congratulate the winner and did all that was humanly possible to ensure the party’s success both at the presidential and governorship elections.
His idea of the dividend of democracy is to bring physical development rather than share consumables among the people. If he had my ears, I would have advised him to mix the two in reasonable proportions. Hassan brought many developmental projects to his JNE Senatorial zone which are too numerous to outline notably, the JAMB/NOUN Centres, CBE exam centers, College of Precision Agriculcure, Yamidi, Federal College of Education, Kirikasamma, the SUBEB model school Hadejia, the Girl child school bicycle scheme, the Hadejia sports complex, the ongoing Hadejia Airstrip project in addition to getting employment for many indigenes of the zone and the state among others. Some of Ibrahim Hassan’s spectacular ‘projects’ which required a genius to perform was when he and the late Air Vice Marshal Hamza Abdullahi literally set up a mobile office moving with computer, letter headed papers etc. to track down the fluid and itinerant Governor Saminu Turaki to sign the letter of appointment for the current emir of Hadejia HRH Abubakar Maje, while ‘marking’ Saminu bumper to bumper.
Another magic one was how the then deputy governor to Governor Badaru worked wonders to get his principal out the Gagarawa farmers’ agitation against large land acquisition by the late Chinese Industrialist Mr. Lee. Watching Vice president Kashim Shettima depend his principal, Bola Tinubu, is a display of extra ordinary brain work. It was not difficult of the VP to discover the gifted Senator from Hadejia having worked closely at the Senate Chambers; it takes a sharp brain to discover another. That made the two of them. The presidency and the nation, are better for this development.
Like the Hausas would say on this combination of Vice President Kashim Shettima and his newly hired Deputy Chief of Staff Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia: “Aiki ga mai kare ka.” May Allah SWT be The Guide to this worthy ambassador of Jigawa NE in particular and Jigawa State in general.
Garba Isa can be reached at kofararewa2018@gmail.com
