By Kabiru Dalha Kabir
Today, Monday the 21st of January, 2019 is a day we will not forget, indeed it is very sad for us receiving the news that Dr Ab Baffa the Executive Secretary of tetfund was relieved of his National assignment in the tetfund. Yes, we are sad because I can say we were not really expecting it now that we are busy working for the reelection of Mr President 2nd term bid. So I must say we received the news with shock, but being Muslims, we all knew that every beginning must one day has an ending, we take solace that the Allah that gave Dr Ab Baffa the seat has reason for taking it away and giving it back to Prof Elias Suleiman now. And as Muslims we cannot question Allah’s decision, and so also because we always pray to Almighty Allah to give us the best, do us the best and give us the strength of iman to accept what He destined for us. And alhamdulillahi, we pronounced Innalillahi wa inna ilayhirrajiun, Allah will surely substitute something better for us in Dr Baffa.
Dr Baffa stayed as ES tetfund for a little over two years now, and I will say without mixing words that his years in that organization can be said to be a great success, both within and outside the organization. I am not a staff of the tetfund, so I cannot say much on that, but what is visible to the eyes I can say he has achieved a lot in his short stay. It is said that, it is not how long you stayed, but how well you make your presence felt during your stay.
Dr Baffa may not have stayed for long in the tetfund, but I am certain he has left indelible mark in that Organization which will take long time to erase. It is always natural to love, like, dislike and even hate a person, more especially when he is occupying a certain position that made him to become inevitably visible, and depending on which side one falls. So also depending on which side one belongs, one can be sad or happy if that person is no longer visible, it is a choice between big hearts and small ones, because only Allah that makes a person to be visible one time and not visible another time. May Almighty Allah always give us the big hearts to accept His decision no matter how hash it may be.
I took time to write what I wrote above because when the news filtered in today, it became the subject of discussion in the media. It really tells so many things, some people are even jubilating that the popular Dr Baffa of #One2Tell10 has been relieved of his appointment, I could not really understand why they are jubilating, because the rationale behind the jubilation is what I could not really decode. All the same, one cannot stop people from feeling what they are feeling and expressing what they feel, but the questions I have been asking myself are, what is their benefit of relieving Ab Baffa from his seat? And now, that he is not there, will Prof Elias Suleiman Bagoro be doing it the way they want it done?
Yes, Dr Ab Baffa FROM KANO, A DIEHARD BUHARIST IS RELIEVED FROM TETFUND AND PROF ELIAS SULEIMAN BAGORO FROM BAUCHI A KNOWN PDP APOLOGIST IS REAPPOINTED, HOW WILL THAT BENEFIT THE PEOPLE OF KANO THAT ARE REJOICING WITH THE ACTION OF THE MINISTER?
May be if the answers of the above questions are gotten, we may have cause to also rejoice with them or otherwise. But unless that is done, I think it is shear foolishness or envy to be REJOICING for what is removed from Kano and taken to the Minority from the opposition party in Bauchi. You have to think otherwise, but you must check yourself thoroughly as to why you are happy or otherwise, when you are truly convinced that you are right, so be it.
Let me for the benefits of records keeping itemized some of the few achievements that Dr Ab Baffa brought to Kano alone:
- Through special intervention, he influenced a One billion naira project to FCE (T) Bichi, his home town, this is apart from staff training funds also in millions.
- He brought in special intervention fund of more than Three billion naira to Maitama Sule University Kano, this was attested by the VC of the institution. This is also apart from staff training funds.
- Billions of naira intervention funds to BUK and staff training funds.
- Billions of intervention funds in Saadatu Rimi College of Education, Kano, plus staff training funds.
- Intervention projects in Kano state Polytechnic and staff training funds
- Various interventions projects and staff training funds in KUST Wudil.
This is just to mention but few. Somebody may say it is the work of organization to fund what I mentioned above, it may be true but I assure you, some projects couldn’t have been done in Kano if he didn’t influence them.
I would also like to say, even though he may not like it, that Dr Ab Baffa has touched so many lives in these his two or three years in tetfund.
In the field of the Buhari reelection bid, I can beat my chest to say Dr Ab Baffa is almost the only Buhari’s political appointee that became conspicuously visible in campaigning for the reelection of PMB from the North. He single handedly formed the #One2Tell Buhari Support Group that has structure from National down to the polling units in all the 19 Northern States of Nigeria, working for 19 million additional Votes for PMB in this 2019 presidential election inshaa Allah. He took the risk against all odds. And MAY BE HE IS PAYING FOR THAT RISK HE TOOK!
This single venture that he took upon himself to what one will say repaying good with good was what set him against other Presidential appointees and even elected individuals, including the Governor of his State. There is so much to say, but I will put a pause here until some other time.
But Let me state here what I said earlier that, Dr Ab Baffa has touched and is still touching so many lives, and we will collectively pray and work tirelessly for the reelection bid of President Muhammadu Buhari in this coming February elections, and we will also do same for all our enemies.
Dr Ab Baffa HISTORY WILL DEFINITELY WRITE YOUR NAME IN GOLD.
May Almighty Allah always guide our thoughts and actions, Amin ya rabbi.
Kabir Dalha Kabir
State Secretary
One2Tell10 BSG
Kano State.
Dr. Bappah Bichi: Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish.
bellomukhtar@icloud.com
As it were, the one time boot kicker of the Minister of Education and a host of people whom the Minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu holds in high esteem, including myself. Dr. Bappah Abdullahi Bichi would stride into the Minister’s residence before the Ministerial appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari. He would sit with us and join in discussions on a variety of issues including politics, governance and a lot of other subject matters
Dr. Bichi was a typical sycophant who would praise the Minister and President Buhari till we began to yawn with boredom. I engaged him in a lot of heated discussions regarding the new administration of President Buhari to the point that the Minister once told me, “Bello, do you not know we have people who actually support every single action the President took”? I became aware Bappah Bichi was one of such people. His script worked like magic
The Education Minister and even myself were firmly of the opinion that Bichi was a Nigerian to the core. He was a member of the transition committee. Upon the conclusion of the transition exercise, a friend of the Minister suggested he appointed this disciplined and dedicated university lecturer as his Adviser on Technical Matters. However, Dr. Bappah was not satisfied, he continued his pilgrimage to the Minister’s residence in his dilapidated Nissan Saloon car which belongs to the university he was lecturing.
Again, the same friends of the Minister asked the Minister to appoint him as the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Institutions Trust Funds. An office the Minister told me he got 26 letters from state governors lobbying for the seat to their various states knowing the importance of the office. Against all odds, Mallam Adamu Adamu made him the TETFund ES and at the same time, to show his greed, Bichi locked the office of Adviser (Technical) at the Ministry and left, leaving the office without a new occupant. Before you know it, Dr. Bichi began by showing disrespect to members of staff of the institution to the point that his arrogance made him commandeer one of the elevators as his’ alone.
Staff of the Fund began to reminisce on their former boss, Professor Sulaiman Bogoro. An extremely humble personality who assisted his staff in carrying files whenever he saw a staff clutching bundles of files. Bogoro was always full of life and smile. He was a very charismatic leader and was loved by every single staff of the organisation. A lot of TETFund staff were shedding tears as it was announced that Professor Bogoro was replaced with an unknown, lame duck and extremely arrogant and unexposed lecturer from the Bayern University, Kano.
No sooner had Bichi taken over, he began to undo a lot of very important programmes of the organisation even with the disapproval of the Minister. Bappah began to nail his coffin when the Minister heard what Dr. Bichi was engaged in during a meeting between the Minister and university Vice Chancellors who lamented to the awe and shock of the Minister. Adamu Adamu asked what were they beating around the bush for? And demanded they told him. A certain VC from a southern university garnered the courage to tell the Minister, “sir; we are finding it hard to remit the 25% of our allocations as we were ordered by the ES.”The Minister was livid with rage and asked what 25%? The Minster was shocked literally, when he was informed the ES asked them to remit the amount for “stakeholders” and “the Minister’s family”!
The Minister told them there and then that he never gave any approvals as such. That was the beginning of his woes at TETFund. Then Bappah Bichi began to nurse a gubernatorial ambition. A lot of people are still of the belief that Bichi had a hand in the Gqnduje Videos (though it is not proved as accurate yet) but, he began to travel to Kano; (his home state) and started sponsoring radio programmes where hired hands would go on air and spew all sorts of campaign jargon thinking he would appeal to President Buhari.
Bichi began a campaign programme so shamelessly with public funds dubbed “One To Tell Ten”! He was cautioned by the Minister to desist from such misadventure but his words fell on dumb ears of Bichi because he had infiltrated the so called “cabal”.
Bichi, equipped with his connections with certain people in high places, began to pay courtesy calls to the ICPC and EFCC. A trick he thought would guarantee his continued pilfering of resources for his personal gain.
Bappah was hated by every single member of staff at TETFund to the point that when the gentleman; Professor Bogoro was announced as the new ES, videos of jubilations by staff of the organisation almost made Bogoro shed tears as he was welcome back to receive the hand over notes by the once all powerful, arrogant and disrespectful Bichi.
I hope the ERFC picks him soon so that he may answer and vomit back whatever he siphoned for his political contraption which will never bring him anywhere near the Kano Government House. While I congratulate Professor Bogoro, I say good riddance to bad rubbish to Dr Bappah Abdullahi Bichi. As the saying goes, “be nice to the people you meet on your way up as they are the same people you’ll meet on your way down/“ Of all people, Bichi will never forget this adage!