Yesterday, December 26th the day after Christmas when Christians all over the globe celebrated the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who laid down his life that mankind would be saved, was also the 48th birthday anniversary of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Born on that day in 1967 in Tafawa Balewa province of Bauchi state, Dogara, rose from a very humble background in that rural community where Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa came from.
He is the last born of a family of seven — five males and two females.
He attended Bauchi Teachers College (BTC) and went on to study law at the University of Jos and later on studied International commercial law at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen,Scotland.
He joined private legal practice before taking up his first public office appointment as Special Assistant 10 years ago.
He was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2007 from one of the most diverse constituencies in the country where Christians and Muslims, and many ethnic groups co-exist together. Yet, within a span of eight years, he has been able to win the confidence of all segments of the people – young, old, men and women- whose lives have been touched by this young gentleman.
Dogara is a natural born leader whose sterling qualities are exceptional;a man who grew through shrewdness, hardwork, discipline, and can best be described as a bastion of hope, courage, and an epitome of humility to anybody who comes close him.
In his public and private utterances and conduct, one thing is unique about him which is that he is a man of uncommon humility, courage, honesty, credibility and integrity.
Close associates and family members would say that he never struggled for anything in life. While he acknowledges God’s divine favour in his life since childhood, Dogara does not take anything for granted.
A highly devoted Christian who fears God and does not take that which is not his, is also a prudent manager of resources, yet generous at the same time.
It takes only a courageous person like Dogara who, even though, comes from a constituency that was a stronghold of the then ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and without the support of his Governor, defected to the newly formed opposition political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Many a friends and associates came down hard on him on account of that singular, far-sighted decision.
However, he remained resolute knowing full well that an era of change was beckoning. He wne on to record a landslide victory on March 28.
I recollect that in August 2014, Honourable Dogara organised an empowerment programme where over 2000 lives were touched.Days later, a friend and former colleague of mine who witnessed the epoch-making event called to tell me that to tell Honourable Dogara to continue with what he was doing for his people and that he would go far. How prophetic my friend was! Ten months later Dogara emerged as Nigeria’s number four citizen.
His election as Speaker was not surprising to those of us who have been close to him.
Friends or foes alike would readily admit that he is an embodiment of leadership.
We are all witnesses to the circumstances that culminated into his historic election as Speaker. But for his courage this feat would never have been achieved.
Indeed, his primary motivation for vying for the Speakership was service.
To him, public office is never to be used for personal elevation, or primitive accumulation of wealth but a call to duty, to serve God and country. It is his philosophy and belief that leaders are like the moon whose light should radiate and reflect on their followers and that leadership is not a zero-sum game.
Whether in public or private, I always see a man who is in pains. His angst is not personal because he is a contended man. He has got what it takes to live a comfortable life but his pains stem from the fact that despite being blessed with abundant natural and human resources, Nigeria, our beloved country, has not been able to provide the basic social services for its citizens as a result of which a vast population of the people are facing existential threat.
More specifically, to him, the greatest resources that God has blessed Nigeria with is human resources which successive governments at all levels have not been able to harness for the good of the society.
He would always say that the most advanced nations in the world are not endowed with natural resources but they invested much in their citizens and today, in the 21st century, wealth has moved from what is buried beneath the earth to what is in human head and that poverty, illiteracy and squalor are the greatest threats to democracy in Africa. Therefore, education is key just as Mirabeau B. Lamar said: “The cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy and, while guided and controlled by virtue, the noblest attribute of man. It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge and the only security that freemen desire.”
As stated earlier leadership, to Dogara, is a call to service and the primary purpose of government in democracy is to serve the common good of the people. Every government decision must be one that is anchored on delivering greater good for the greater number of the people since the primary purpose of government is the security and welfare of the people.
To achieve this, it is his conviction that education must not only be free, compulsory but also of the highest possible standard. It must also be given priority over and above all other considerations as the cornerstone of development of every society without which no progress can be made at both societal and individual levels.
It is also his belief that democracy, which is the best system of government to ever been invented by mankind; should deliver on its promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The Speaker would say that the entire history of democracy has been that of struggle between the included and the excluded, the haves and the haves not. For instance, women struggled to achieve universal suffrage in the United States of America and the blacks also paid with their lives for the right to vote and half a century later, a black man is president of the most powerful nation on earth. Therefore, to him, nothing is impossible so long as there is the will to do.
His dream, vision and aspiration is that sooner rather than later, a better Nigeria will emerge where both the haves and the haves not will have a place that will accommodate them in the system; where a room will be available for all.
The Speaker, strongly believes that a system is evolving where the people will be the true centre of governance and that democracy in Nigeria will soon be able to deliver its promises to the people.
These are his thoughts, these are his visions and what he want to see coming to reality in our nation. Infact, weeks ago, he told a gathering of lawmakers and the president that the time for change is now and that this generation cannot afford to fail.
Already the House under him has gone far in its legislative functions when on December 10 no fewer than 130 bills were presented for first reading,a record in Nigeria’s legislative history.
Today, over 300 bills have been introduced in the green chamber and are at various stages of legislation. The House is cleaning up the country’s statute books as some of the extant laws are 100 years old .
This is not to mention investigations into many sectors of the economy including the Railway, crude oil swap, privatisation, etc.
A passionate advocate for the rebuilding, reconstruction, rehabilitation and recovery of the violence ravaged North East region, Dogara had to step down from his seat to move a motion on the floor of the House calling for national and international intervention in the North East, thereby discharging his primary responsibility of representation to his people.
Again, on December 15, he stepped down to lead debate on five bills prominent of which was the one seeking the establishment of the North East Development Commission to work out a plan for the development of the region.
During his tenure as Chairman of the House Committee on Customs and Excise he conducted one of the most extensive and revolutionary investigations in history of the National Assembly which led to the reform of the service. Millions of dollars were offered to him by undesirable and unscrupulous elements who did not want the probe to go on, but he rejected all and went ahead to conduct the investigation. Today, Nigeria Customs Service is not the same.
Also, when he defected to the APC in December 2013, some powerful people in the PDP offered him N500 million and an automatic return ticket to the House, only if he would return to the PDP, he also declined.
He is the only lawmaker in the history of the House to have chaired the House Services and Welfare Committee under two different dispensations and came out clean.
Gentle and peaceful to a fault but hard as steel yet unassuming and exceptionally intelligent and a natural orator.
These same qualities were said of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of blessed memory and today Dogara is following in his footprints.
To this young gentleman, a lawyer of high repute, erudite scholar, family man and a devote Christian, I say a happy 48th birthday anniversary and wish him many happy returns.
Hassan is Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to Dogara
