|
New Page 1
Jubril Aminu’s reflections and rhapsodies
ANDY IKE EZEANI
The last time
I saw Professor Jubril Aminu up close was in 2001, somewhere in Washington D.C.
He was Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States of America (USA).On this day at
Marriott Hotel in downtown D.C.,I believe, he was holding court as it were,
superintending over elections and constitutional fine-tuning of an association
called Nigerians in Diaspora Organization(NIDO).The Washington gathering was to
be one of the foundation laying outings of the body.
The body was no more than a contraption by
the government of Nigeria, for purposes that seemed as hazy and suspicious as
they come.On the face of it, an effort any day to gather Nigeria’s multitude of
citizens scattered across the broad continent of North America or any other
place is most commendable. To foster these scattered compatriots into a
cohesive, identifiable mass that could be deployed in the pursuit of national
interest will be a worthy accomplishment by any government. Any such cohesive
group if it is successfully harnessed will, no doubt, provide a veritable pool
from which their beleaguered and ill-administered home country can draw a fresh
force to propel any renewed move forward. Who knows, the impetus that Nigerian
governments have consistently failed to find at home to lift their blessed but
cursed land, may yet come from Nigeria’s children abroad.
It does not matter that many of these ran
away from the country, pursued either literally by atrociously despotic regimes
or by economic and social injustice and suffocation. Ensconced and often far
more professionally fulfilled in the organized societies of their settlement,
many of these compatriots are often so desirous to give something to help their
troubled land. Most often, the avenues for them to contribute their quota is not
clear. Worse still, some of them have had bad stories to tell of characteristic
mismanagement at home of contributions from their sweat, voluntarily advanced to
help out. Few turn away for good, many simply clamp up and are suspicious of any
request for them to donate anything to Nigeria, including their time.
A convocation of Nigerians in the Diaspora
to form a distinct and cohesive unit seemed so sound an initiative. The number
of Nigerians in the Americas at that Marriott gatherings and the far flung
locations from whence they came testified to the love the Nigerians abroad have
for their motherland.
But something about the NIDO move seemed
suspicious. At that first and close watch, the initiative came across as another
contraption by government for purposes that seemed hazy and every inch
suspicious.Prof.Aminu’s firm grip on proceedings and elections of founding
officials of the body did not ease the feeling that NIDO was a tool being
sharpened for some set agenda.
Prof.Aminu had a successful tenure at
Washington D.C., any way. His tenure went far more than the NIDO initiative. He
presided over the gradual restoration of some confidence in Washington towards
Nigeria. His work along this line was undeniably made easier by President
Obasanjo, who has always been Washington’s friend all along.
Before Washington D.C, Prof. Aminu had of
course, been Minister of Education and then Petroleum Resources. Before then, he
was vice-chancellor of University of Maiduguri, among other things. The man is
not all about the past. He has proceeded to become a senator since then.
Last week, the senator from Adamawa
dropped by in Lagos on the invitation of his close friends, to mark his 65th
birthday. It was a most interesting gathering in more ways than one. There was,
for one, the opportunity to meet him again since Washington, to ask him what
exactly they were up to and with the NIDO thing and where now the initiative is.
He insists NIDO was a noble objective, but don’t ask him what has become of it.
As it turned out, few others among the
small group of his friends also had things they needed him to throw more light
on. There was his nomadic education policy for instance. How far? Being a
sitting senator, there are, of course, matters of the Senate, its unflattering
profile, its leadership deficits, its chosen position as a miserable handmaid of
the executive and then the fundamental issues relating to Nigeria’s future,2007
and all.
Jubril Aminu is not running for anything
at the moment. All he came along for early last week was a relaxed birthday
socialization among friends. But there he was with questions and calls for
clarifications. Thus did the birthday outing transform into something of a
‘Jubril Aminu explains’ kind of forum. And was he in his elements? Aminu takes
jokes and criticisms in his strides. And he gives as much as he takes. His
intellectual strength and broad knowledge of issues are quite impressive too.
You do not have to agree with him on all issues, but even where you don’t agree
with him, he strives to let you see where he is coming from.Oh yes, he can be
partisan and very defensive of primary interests. But he is by no means the
fundamentalist he was once cast in the image of.
May be someday in the Senate, Senator
Aminu will join forces with some other clear-minded and well meaning Nigerians
to see through a law which he believes, and rightly so, will foster true spirit
of nationhood in Nigeria. That is the citizenship law. At 65 and with experience
behind him, Prof.Aminu believes that the sooner what is presently called
indigenship is discarded and citizenship law takes over, the better Nigeria will
be. He made vast references to original Hausa people who occupied prime
political offices in the Eastern Nigeria of old and Igbo people who lived so
long in parts of the North that they became part and parcel of the inner
leadership caucuses of societies in the North. So who really is an indigene and
who is a non indigene, he asked.
Whatever committee Aminu is heading or is
a member of in the Senate, the leadership of that house may consider making him
their chief image maker. The man is robust in his defence of the Senate, even as
he conceded that it is not exactly a house of nobles.
So for all his intellectual strength and
vast experience in administration and public policy management, why is Jubril
Aminu not gearing up for a shot at the presidency instead of giving advice to
those planning to run, among them Vice president Atiku Abubakar and General
Ibrahim Babangida? He demurs, and makes a subdued reference to resources and
lack of necessary encouragement from people. Ha! Who does he expect to give him
the encouragement? May be Jubril Aminu is not yet ready for the high stake. The
reference to resources and not ideas and integrity is however, very instructive.
Mark what propels those who seek and may eventually get Nigeria’s leadership.
|
