The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Adamu Ciroma

  • They don’t make them like Adamu Ciroma anymore

    As the Nigeria Airways F27 aircraft landed and began taxing to a stop at Kaduna airport, an announcement came that in obedience to new protocol order, passengers would have to wait for a senior military officer in the plane to disembark before they could do so.

    Malam Adamu Ciroma, managing director of the New Nigerian, wasn’t sure he had heard correctly and turned to another passenger who confirmed the announcement. The plane had barely stopped before Malam Adamu shot up, grabbed his briefcase and as he walked down towards the door kept muttering to everyone’s hearing “Nonsense! Nonsense! Nonsense!” He came out and descended the gangway before anybody else.

    This story is in no way apocryphal.  It was told by Rasak Aremu (of blessed memory) then associate editor of the New Nigerian to us young Turks (among whom numbered Clem Baiye, Abba Kyari and Mohammed Haruna) who, wet behind the ears, could do with the kind of mentorship that few are privileged to have and which Malam Adamu Ciroma, supported by Malam Mamman Daura, as editor, provided.

    I first met Malam Adamu when he came to Federal Government College, Sokoto in 1971 (I think) to deliver a lecture on the press and society under the auspices of the Press Club whose editor I was. The New Nigerian had by then acquired a reputation for the exemplary quality of its production and particularly its editorials and I counted myself lucky when in the interval before pursuing a university education, my desire to work there was granted. Malam Adamu had simply asked me “when do you want to start?”

    Malam Adamu often told us: “nobody gives you freedom, you take it”. His courage resonated from his commitment to principle. Thus anyone who thought that the New Nigerian could take its fearless positions, lucidly argued and magisterially delivered, only because it was based in the north or enjoyed the protection of some godfather or a mythical caliphate was sadly mistaken.

    Institutions are built – or destroyed – by men. Malam Adamu set the standard for the New Nigerian and by his example influenced a generation of journalists. He earned the respect of all who worked under him not only because of his integrity and sense of fairness but by his competence and dedication to his work.

    Many of us were almost in awe of him. Malam Adamu you would go to late in the evening to report there was no editorial ready for the next day. He would suspend whatever else he was doing and ask you to pass him some sheets of paper lying out of his reach on his desk. He would lift up his head for a minute or two; he will bring it down and then begin writing. The next time he would raise his head – usually 15-20 minutes later – it is to stretch out his hand to you and there you have your editorial in a neat scrawl. He would scarcely read over but by the time you have it typed it would not only neatly fit the space allotted but no ‘t’ would have been uncrossed or ‘i’ undotted. And invariably it would turn out to be another vintage New Nigerian editorial.

    It is a thousand pities (one of his common expressions) that neither the New Nigerian nor the institution of governance where he served in many roles, has lived up to the high standards he set.

    If anything, the nation is in the very nadir of fortunes. Today to talk to politicians or people in positions of authority about principle or commitment to the public good is to be laughed out of court. But see where we are as a nation, one that in terms of resources still counts among the most blessed. Now it has been determined that in terms of poverty, our people are the most wretched of the earth.  Where else in the world are people perpetually saying that their yesterday is better than their today?  As for tomorrow, the picture, on present evidence, is best not contemplated. Given the privations people face, it is no wonder that bitterness and unreason define the landscape.

    But we must halt the decades of drift which given the blood-fest and medieval bestialities on the Plateau, Zamfara and elsewhere is fast becoming an unthinking gallop to a collective doom. Who is to tell the small minds orchestrating all the violence that they can’t win? Where are the voices of reason, local and community leaders, to put the hot heads and blood hounds on a leash?

    Pity that Malam Adamu had been incapacitated in recent years by ill-health and was therefore in no position to exert his influence on matters of state. While he never downplayed his commitment to the north, he operated on the principle of enlightened self-interest and was therefore capable of seeing the big picture and making the appropriate intervention that accommodated other interests.

    The times are truly desperate for leadership, not the ones currently on offer by the straw men and small men that dominate the landscape whose ambition is not to make a sharp difference through a gruelling personal sacrifice and well-thought out and articulated body of coherent ideas and programmes that our situation demands but is fuelled by the fact they cannot think of anything else to do.

    The country urgently needs to rekindle the fire of hope and regrettable as Malam Adamu Ciroma’s passing is, he reminds us that there can be a better way to live.

     

    • Mr Abu, a journalist, lives in Lagos.

  • Adamu Ciroma …a man of character

    Mallam Adamu Ciroma, who died last Thursday was a statesman of uncommon gifts and outstanding ability and accomplishments. His versatility was legion; a civil servant, journalist, banker, administrator, politician. He was master of all managerial trades and Jack of None.

    The late Malam Adamu first came to the fore as a brilliant and industrious officer in the Northern Nigeria Civil Service which he joined after graduating with an Honours Degree in the renowned University of Ibadan. He rose rapidly by catching the eyes of his superiors whilst serving both in Kaduna and the provinces.

    One incident marked him as a truly independent and fearless official. A private businessman dealing in pilgrim affairs appeared to want to keep some funds rightly belonging to the Northern Nigerian government. The complication was that the man was very close to the Premier. Nobody wanted to tackle the problem. But, Adamu took the matter head on, as it was on his schedule. His minutes to the Premier is preserved in the archives in Arewa House, Kaduna.

    “Hon Premier, this money belongs neither to you nor to Alhaji X. It belongs to the people of the North”. In the interest of good manners, usually associated with these columns, I have refrained from identifying the man. In any case, he is dead now. Adamu’s Nigerian and expatriate superiors were horrified at his forthrightness. One of them asked: “Are you sure you want the Premier to see this?” to which Adamu replied “Yes”. To cut the story short, although the great man was slightly annoyed the money was swiftly returned to government coffers.  Thereafter, Adamu became a minor celebrity, his minutes was the talk of town for several weeks.

    His civil service career was not limited to the North. He had a stint in Lagos where he gathered valuable federal experience before returning to the North and to one of his landmark achievements. A new newspaper, The New Nigerian, was set up by the regional government just before the bloody military takeover of January 15, 1966. The mood of the people in the North was that the paper should be run by Nigerians.

    The regime’s leadership of the civil service cast around far and wide for a suitable candidate who will spearhead the campaigns to publicise and protect the interests of the North. They picked on Adamu Ciroma. He was the first and the best editor of the New Nigerian. He wrote powerful, thoughtful but always constructive editorials and articles. His command of English was uncommonly brilliant.

    It was during this time, 1966–1967, that a group of enlightened young men, sensing that a vacuum was being created because the military leadership was hopelessly inexperienced and they were beginning to be surrounded by opportunists with dubious bona fides. This group decided to cohere and assist the governments with proposals and advice on running the country. Adamu Ciroma was usually their spokesman, such were his gifts of articulation and communication. It was during these heated debates that Mal. Adamu uttered one of his memorable dicta. He said the North must modernise and to modernise it must Westernise. This was a subject of discussion for months.

    Unsurprisingly, the New Nigerian developed a love–hate relationship with the military governments with a few instances threatening to reach breaking point. Luckily Mallam Adamu survived and handed over to a carefully planned set of successors.

    Having grown out of the New Nigerian the new military government of Gen. Murtala Muhammad appointed him as Governor of the Central Bank and good judges within the bank still regard his tenure as one of the best in the bank’s history. It was during his time in the CBN that knowledgeable people began to rate him as a possible future leader of the country.

    He resigned from the CBN and stood election in the Constituent Assembly that was the precursor to full blown political activity and democratic government.

    It was during the proceedings amidst the severely tense Sharia debate that Adamu Ciroma announced to the assembly the North’s ‘’irreducible minimum’’ condition for a closure to the issue. After gathering support and making extensive contacts among Assembly members, Mallam Adamu built a formidable team and network to vie for the Presidency in 1979 when the military promised to hand over.

    On the first day of the convention, Adamu’s team was confident of the outcome. Evidently, those in control of the NPN party machinery became aware that their preferred candidate was unsure of winning. We sat at the venue from 9am to 10pm without any announcement of when the convention would begin. The convention was adjourned without achieving anything that day. If the vote had been taken that day, I fancy Adamu would have won the nomination. Late Samuel Ogbemudia subsequently told me that a distasteful amount of money was sourced from a major multi–national company and delegates were heavily bribed overnight and the result of balloting the following morrow put Adamu in third place. As the French say, Plus ca change… (the more things change, the more they are the same).

    Nonetheless, Adamu Ciroma participated first as secretary to the party and later a minister of Industries & Steel, and later still as minister of Finance and minister of Agriculture. As I say, he was master of all tasks entrusted to him.

    When the military again took over the government, Adamu was detained along with many ministerial and gubernatorial colleagues. He was completely exonerated and released early but the strain of incarceration left indelible injury on his psyche and outlook on life.

    However, you can never keep a good man down. When the civilians returned for a second time, President Obasanjo re-appointed Adamu again as minister of Finance. He brought gusto and competence to his old job, but it was during his chancery at Finance he suffered a dreadful road accident which nearly cut short his political career and spent months on end in a German hospital. His recovery was slow and his face hideously disfigured.

    Nonetheless, when he resumed work, the difference in his performance was not noticeable. He retired honourably although still active in politics. As a man, Adamu Ciroma was forthright, easy to make friends and had a zest for life. All in all, he was a man of good character. For leisure, he enjoyed his golf and was a fierce competitor.

    Historians may recall that the 19th Century English Queen Victoria complained that one of her Prime Ministers, Gladstone, addressed her like he was addressing a public meeting. Frequently in conversation with Adamu Ciroma, he would address even his closest acquaintances like he was addressing a public meeting, with his right index finger pointing severely at one! His tone was usually didactic and stentorian. A sage once said: “Of all nature’s gifts, the chief masterpiece was the ability to write well”. Adamu could write well. He could speak well. And he could listen attentively and patiently. This aristocracy of virtues made him stand out among his colleagues.

    In his senior years, he became deeply religious and generous, almost to a fault. But, he had no time for dilettantes and scroungers. Once, a couple of young men approached him, saying that they wanted to write a book about him so that future generations would remember him. His brusque reply: “I don’t want to be remembered.” Fortunately his wish will not be granted. Adamu Ciroma will be remembered for as long as the present generation lasts.

    May his soul rest in peace.

     

  • Adamu Ciroma …a man of character

    Mallam Adamu Ciroma, who died last Thursday was a statesman of uncommon gifts and outstanding ability and accomplishments. His versatility was legion; a civil servant, journalist, banker, administrator, politician. He was master of all managerial trades and Jack of None.

    The late Malam Adamu first came to the fore as a brilliant and industrious officer in the Northern Nigeria Civil Service which he joined after graduating with an Honours Degree in the renowned University of Ibadan. He rose rapidly by catching the eyes of his superiors whilst serving both in Kaduna and the provinces.

    One incident marked him as a truly independent and fearless official. A private businessman dealing in pilgrim affairs appeared to want to keep some funds rightly belonging to the Northern Nigerian government. The complication was that the man was very close to the Premier. Nobody wanted to tackle the problem. But, Adamu took the matter head on, as it was on his schedule. His minutes to the Premier is preserved in the archives in Arewa House, Kaduna.

    “Hon Premier, this money belongs neither to you nor to Alhaji X. It belongs to the people of the North”. In the interest of good manners, usually associated with these columns, I have refrained from identifying the man. In any case, he is dead now. Adamu’s Nigerian and expatriate superiors were horrified at his forthrightness. One of them asked: “Are you sure you want the Premier to see this?” to which Adamu replied “Yes”. To cut the story short, although the great man was slightly annoyed the money was swiftly returned to government coffers.  Thereafter, Adamu became a minor celebrity, his minutes was the talk of town for several weeks.

    His civil service career was not limited to the North. He had a stint in Lagos where he gathered valuable federal experience before returning to the North and to one of his landmark achievements. A new newspaper, The New Nigerian, was set up by the regional government just before the bloody military takeover of January 15, 1966. The mood of the people in the North was that the paper should be run by Nigerians.

    The regime’s leadership of the civil service cast around far and wide for a suitable candidate who will spearhead the campaigns to publicise and protect the interests of the North. They picked on Adamu Ciroma. He was the first and the best editor of the New Nigerian. He wrote powerful, thoughtful but always constructive editorials and articles. His command of English was uncommonly brilliant.

    It was during this time, 1966–1967, that a group of enlightened young men, sensing that a vacuum was being created because the military leadership was hopelessly inexperienced and they were beginning to be surrounded by opportunists with dubious bona fides. This group decided to cohere and assist the governments with proposals and advice on running the country. Adamu Ciroma was usually their spokesman, such were his gifts of articulation and communication. It was during these heated debates that Mal. Adamu uttered one of his memorable dicta. He said the North must modernise and to modernise it must Westernise. This was a subject of discussion for months.

    Unsurprisingly, the New Nigerian developed a love–hate relationship with the military governments with a few instances threatening to reach breaking point. Luckily Mallam Adamu survived and handed over to a carefully planned set of successors.

    Having grown out of the New Nigerian the new military government of Gen. Murtala Muhammad appointed him as Governor of the Central Bank and good judges within the bank still regard his tenure as one of the best in the bank’s history. It was during his time in the CBN that knowledgeable people began to rate him as a possible future leader of the country.

    He resigned from the CBN and stood election in the Constituent Assembly that was the precursor to full blown political activity and democratic government.

    It was during the proceedings amidst the severely tense Sharia debate that Adamu Ciroma announced to the assembly the North’s ‘’irreducible minimum’’ condition for a closure to the issue. After gathering support and making extensive contacts among Assembly members, Mallam Adamu built a formidable team and network to vie for the Presidency in 1979 when the military promised to hand over.

    On the first day of the convention, Adamu’s team was confident of the outcome. Evidently, those in control of the NPN party machinery became aware that their preferred candidate was unsure of winning. We sat at the venue from 9am to 10pm without any announcement of when the convention would begin. The convention was adjourned without achieving anything that day. If the vote had been taken that day, I fancy Adamu would have won the nomination. Late Samuel Ogbemudia subsequently told me that a distasteful amount of money was sourced from a major multi–national company and delegates were heavily bribed overnight and the result of balloting the following morrow put Adamu in third place. As the French say, Plus ca change… (the more things change, the more they are the same).

    Nonetheless, Adamu Ciroma participated first as secretary to the party and later a minister of Industries & Steel, and later still as minister of Finance and minister of Agriculture. As I say, he was master of all tasks entrusted to him.

    When the military again took over the government, Adamu was detained along with many ministerial and gubernatorial colleagues. He was completely exonerated and released early but the strain of incarceration left indelible injury on his psyche and outlook on life.

    However, you can never keep a good man down. When the civilians returned for a second time, President Obasanjo re-appointed Adamu again as minister of Finance. He brought gusto and competence to his old job, but it was during his chancery at Finance he suffered a dreadful road accident which nearly cut short his political career and spent months on end in a German hospital. His recovery was slow and his face hideously disfigured.

    Nonetheless, when he resumed work, the difference in his performance was not noticeable. He retired honourably although still active in politics. As a man, Adamu Ciroma was forthright, easy to make friends and had a zest for life. All in all, he was a man of good character. For leisure, he enjoyed his golf and was a fierce competitor.

    Historians may recall that the 19th Century English Queen Victoria complained that one of her Prime Ministers, Gladstone, addressed her like he was addressing a public meeting. Frequently in conversation with Adamu Ciroma, he would address even his closest acquaintances like he was addressing a public meeting, with his right index finger pointing severely at one! His tone was usually didactic and stentorian. A sage once said: “Of all nature’s gifts, the chief masterpiece was the ability to write well”. Adamu could write well. He could speak well. And he could listen attentively and patiently. This aristocracy of virtues made him stand out among his colleagues.

    In his senior years, he became deeply religious and generous, almost to a fault. But, he had no time for dilettantes and scroungers. Once, a couple of young men approached him, saying that they wanted to write a book about him so that future generations would remember him. His brusque reply: “I don’t want to be remembered.” Fortunately his wish will not be granted. Adamu Ciroma will be remembered for as long as the present generation lasts.

    May his soul rest in peace.

  • Jonathan mourns Adamu Ciroma

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has lamented the death of Mallam Adamu Ciroma at the age of 83 years, describing the former minister and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as a  patriot who played historic roles in Nigeria’s development.

    In a statement of condolence to the family of the deceased and the people of Yobe State, Jonathan noted that Ciroma left enviable records while serving Nigeria in various capacities.

    Read Also: Ex-minister Adamu Ciroma dies at 84

    According to a statement issued by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, the former President said: “Mallam Ciroma was a well-respected statesman and committed patriot who creditably acquitted himself and left enviable records while serving our nation in various capacities.

    “It is almost impossible to find a man who bestrode and dominated the worlds of journalism and banking as he did. Mallam Ciroma played historic roles in the social and political development of Nigeria and his death is a sad loss to our nation.

    “He will be remembered for his sagacity, leadership credentials and worthy contributions to the nation’s growth and development.” he stated

  • Adamu Ciroma: Obaseki extols virtues, commiserates with Yobe govt

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has extolled the virtues of late Adamu Ciroma, whose passing at an Abuja hospital, was announced on Thursday.

    Aged 84, Ciroma was at various times former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), former Minister of Finance and Managing Editor of New Nigerian Newspaper.

    Obaseki lauded Late Ciroma for his contributions to Nigeria’s development and his selfless service to building a thriving nation.

    “I am saddened by the loss of elder statesman, Adamu Ciroma, whose passing was announced today at an Abuja hospital.

    Read Also: Obaseki mulls Security Trust Fund for Edo

    “Ciroma was a respected leader, who rose to serve Nigeria meritoriously when the occasion demanded. This can be gleaned from the number of public service offices he held and the panache with which he dispensed his roles.

    “I hereby extend my condolences to the government and people of Yobe State, his hometown, Potiskum, and his immediate family. I pray that God gives them the fortitude to bear the loss,” he said.

    Obaseki noted that “Ciroma’s role as one of the architects of modern Nigeria cannot be controverted,” calling on youths to emulate his commitment to the Nigerian project.