Deputy Senate President and first Deputy Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament Barau Jibrin spoke with reporters on the constitution review, executive/ legislative relationship, Northwest Development Commission and other partisan issues. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU reports.
June 13, 2024, marks the first year of the 10th Senate. How has the journey been thus far?
So far, so good. We have done very well; sponsoring and passing many bills. Our dedication to the legislative process is unwavering and we have been able to work with Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to bring about several laws for the good governance of this country.
We always strive to be on the same wavelength, working in tandem with his vision of transforming our country and returning it to the path of peace, progress and prosperity for the benefit of all. You can see that anytime he brings bills here, we pass them as quickly as possible, not because we are rubber stamp but because we know we have to act fast so that we can all become successful. It is teamwork. But people don’t see this. The President has the passion and the zeal to face the challenges head-on and frontally to turn the challenges into successes. That’s why we are always eager to pass whatever he brings here. And before he brings anything, he always consults and tells us what he wants. Sometimes, we debate issues with him and if you have a superior opinion, he listens to you. He takes yours. If you give him more cogent reasons for an action he wants to take, he will succumb to yours.
What fears or thoughts flashed through your mind when the Senate was inaugurated on June 13, last year?
There wasn’t any fear because I know I’ve been in this system for quite a long time, and I’m very experienced. I know that I will bring my experience to bear in terms of whatever I’m going to do here: to promote the legislature and democracy in the country.
I also want to work in tandem with my party’s programmes; work in harmony and try to tailor our activities to the vision of Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
As the Chairman of the Senate Constitution Review Committee, What should Nigerians expect from your committee?
We will tailor our constitution to meet the wishes and aspirations of the masses. As we speak, we are beginning to prepare the grounds. We have already started collating memoranda, and we have started receiving presentations from well-meaning Nigerians. This is before we visit the geo-political zones of this country, where people can come in person or through written presentations to dictate what they feel should be amended in the constitution of this country. We are going to listen to them.We are going to aggregate the presentations, assess them, work on them, and put forward those that we feel are in tandem with the aspirations of most of the people. We are up to the task. So, they should expect us to have an outcome that will address the aspirations and wishes of the people of this country in terms of the kind of constitution they want.
A bill on parliamentary system of government was sponsored by 60 members of the House of Representatives. What is your view on the proposal?
That is their view. We have received several presentations concerning what people think should be in our constitution. We are going to take that as part of all these solutions. Don’t forget that we have over 200 million Nigerians and will receive several presentations from them – civil society, religious bodies, traditional rulers, professional bodies, etc. So, we will get the presentations, work on them, and process them to bring about the needed changes and amendments in the constitution. All that we are going to do shall be in terms of the preponderance of the opinions of most of the people of this country.
You are the principal sponsor of the Northwest Development Bill. What do you intend to achieve with the bill?
In my presentation during the second reading of the bill, I drew the attention of my colleagues to a region that has been bastardised and destroyed by the activities of Boko Haram and bandits. The state so affected after Borno – which Boko Haram devastated is Kano – they destroyed so much of our infrastructure and killed several people— and moved to Kaduna, where you have the worst of it all: bandits. There is nowhere in this country that the bandits are creating havoc like in the North West geopolitical zone. And the North West used to be the food basket of the nation. But the bandits have destroyed a whole lot of our farmlands. Think about cotton in Funtua and other parts of Katsina State.In Zamfara State, cotton, beans, etc., in Sokoto, Kebbi, you marvel when you see what they could do. Now, farms and agricultural infrastructure are destroyed, and people are now devastated in terms of their economic well-being. That’s those who have not lost their lives. School infrastructure, hospitals, roads, etc have been destroyed. It’s a terrible situation. This is what has become of the North West.The Dawanau Grains Market in Kano is the largest in West Africa. Apart from Nigerians, the people of Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and even Central Africa buy grains from the market, thus enhancing the economy of the entire country. When you go to the market, you meet Yoruba, Hausa, Urhobo, Ijaw, everybody.So, it is an intervention we will make for the whole country. When you replace the infrastructure that has been destroyed, when you intervene to bring about good schools among others, you’re giving people the right environment to operate. Farmers cannot operate without their children going to school; they cannot operate without going to hospitals, without good roads.We have to find a way to bring back to life the farms that have been destroyed. We are just asking for a North West Development Commission, but the whole benefit goes to the country.
What does this trend of zonal development commissions portend for the country? Are we returning to regional government?
We are not asking for regionalism; far from it. When you have a desperate situation, you bring solutions that will assuage the feelings of the people involved and fix the problems. If you can have a commission for every community, do it as long as it brings prosperity.
You have been involved in the country’s political scene since 1999. Can you give us an insight into your personality and family background?
I am from Kabo, a local government area in Kano State, and I am married and have children. I was trained as an accountant, went into business, and later contested elections. I won the House of Representatives election in 1999, representing the Tarauni Federal Constituency of Kano Central Senatorial District.To the glory of Almighty Allah and the support of my constituents/voters, I contested and won elections for the Kano North Senatorial District thrice. When the 10th Senate was to be inaugurated in June, I showed interest in becoming the president of the Senate. But today, by the grace of God, I am the Deputy President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And a few days ago, I also won an election as the first Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament. In the absence of the Togolese delegation, I was made the Acting Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament – Togo is supposed to produce the speaker.
Do you think your upbringing and background influenced who you have become today?
Yes, of course, because when we were growing up, the sense of discipline was not like it is now. Discipline was the watchword, and we were well-guided to be disciplined. I come from a business family that moved around the country. So, I was always taught to be disciplined, religious, educated, and knowledgeable about business because that was my family’s main occupation—how to make you know to turn over N10 to N20. I follow that trajectory, finding ways to become disciplined, religious, educated, and attached to the business of the family so that I can become successful.Because back then, there was the thinking that, at a young age, your parents must take care of you to prepare you for life. And at the age of 17, in our culture and tradition, you get married. And when you get married, you start your own business.So, they will give you your capital. That’s after you have been educated and gone through the Islamic school. Western education was by the side. The main thing was Islamic education.When you start your business and become successful by the age of 20, you start to take care of your parents. You’ll be in the same house. You don’t just take care of them; you also try to reciprocate or do as someone who has come of age because that’s what we saw from our elder brothers. That was the tradition.
But we didn’t strictly follow that because I attended a Western school. I didn’t get married at the age of 17. I got engaged in business at the tender age of 14 and combined it with schooling. So that’s how I grew up. Even when I was in school, I was still engaged in business. That’s how I went from youthful to adult age to where I am right now.
What informed your decision of going into politics?
I remember that at a young age, I began to be inspired by the works of people like Mallam Aminu Kano who were fighting for the downtrodden. That was what attracted me. I listened to his speeches and so on. So not long after, I began attending political meetings whenever they held them in Kano – majority of the youth were not bothered about what was happening politically then. That was when Abubakar Rimi won the Kano governorship election on the PRP platform; he was a vocal person and a good orator. I and many others were attracted by his speeches on the need to come to the aid of the masses, to liberate them, if you like, because then they were talking about liberation.
Not long after I started attending political meetings, the elders decided to call me to serve as their secretary and take the minutes of their meetings. When I started that, I felt uplifted to be among these older people, you know, and to take minutes for them. I felt honoured to do that.One thing that pulled me into it was that there was no money in politics then. Whenever they held their meetings, and they had something to do politically, they wanted money to get that executed, one of them would remove his cap and put it on the table and people would contribute.
But then, as I said earlier, I was into business. So even as a young man, I had money. I didn’t even know I was richer than others at the meetings. So if they said, okay, they wanted, maybe N50 or N60, someone may donate maybe N1, and another N2. This is something I can even bankroll personally. Then I’ll give them maybe N30 or N40, sometimes even the whole amount that was wanted. They felt very happy and comfortable with me.So, before I knew it, I was promoted to be one of them. Even if I was not around, and they had meetings to hold or anything like that, they would look for me. And it got to a stage when there was an election. They said, okay, you go for it. You must go for it; we are going to support you.
It might surprise you to know that the constituency I represented in my first election wasn’t my constituency of birth. I represented Tarauni Federal Constituency in Kano Central, where the Kano State Government House is located. So, it was in the centre of Kano, the capital of Kano State. I’m from Kano North Senatorial District but they accepted and elected me. Why? Because I was involved with them, you know then, politics was not about money. Young men were not even interested in going into politics. So, that was how I came into it.
Do we see such politics presently?
You know, moving from one location and then contesting and winning. The entire equation has changed. Then, it was about passion. It was about ideology. I believed in what the late Malam Aminu Kano was all about and was telling us. I believed in the rhetoric of Abubakar Rimi, a good orator. Their participation in politics attracted me. So, that was it. It was not only me. Several friends of mine later joined us after laughing at me. Why do you like to get involved with these old men? They asked. There were only a few young people involved.But that has changed now. Now there’s no ideology.
Hence, you see people cross-carpeting at will. Back then, it was based on ideology, not money. There was no way you could give delegates money to vote for you then.
What are your landmark achievements these past years in the National Assembly?
I’ve worked with my colleagues to pass various bills and motions that benefit this country. Not only that, I’ve also been able to get in touch with my constituents in the best manner possible, trying to transform their lives and the entire society. I’ve helped to bring about so many interventions, either individually or collectively, in various parts of this country, not only in my constituency. I’m glad that I’ve brought unique representation that has never been experienced before in my senatorial zone. I don’t need to say that. We have created a difference in terms of representation through interventions that have brought unprecedented infrastructural development to my area, social change that has made better the lives of my people in several areas: in agriculture, power, education, you know, which is foremost in my mind because I always believe that education is the backbone of any society, without education, the development we need for our people cannot be achieved.
You spoke about the person and patriotism of President Bola Tinubu. When did you first meet him? How was the encounter?
Mr. President is well known to me. I am a progressive to the core. Let me tell you, we were the ones who brought MKO Abiola to Kano and made him win the election. I was in the same ward as Bashir Tofa, and MKO defeated him. I have known Mr President since then, but we were not in close contact.We became closer when I was elected to the House of Representatives, and he was the governor of Lagos State. The first time we met again was in Saudi Arabia in 2000, when we went on pilgrimage. Somebody introduced us, and he was very generous. He is a very kind man and since then we have been in touch.
How do you relax and when do you spend time with your family?
Relaxation is important, but there’s no time for it. The only thing I try to do, of course, is to exercise. So that’s my secret, which has made me agile and very functional because you can’t do anything if you’re not fit. And younger, too … That’s it. I don’t joke with my exercise routine. I exercise, and make time to relax with my family. Sometimes, I skip my exercise because of meetings. But I try to engage myself in an exercise regime once I have the slightest opportunity, and then I remain with my children and my family. But the time is not always easy to come by.
