Reminiscences With Alh. Isyaku Umar Tofa
Alhaji Isyaku Umar Tofa is the Dan Adalan Kano. He was the principal private secretary to a former governor of the state, the late Audu Bako. He is an international businessman and on the Board of Directors of many banks. In this interview he spoke on his
How has life treated you over the past 71 years? I would say that life has treated me very well in the last 71 years. I am very happy and proud of what I have achieved.
I was born in Tofa village on November 22, 1947. I started primary school in Tofa and later proceeded to Gwarzo. After that I went to Rumfa College, Kano. After my West African School Certificate exams I also enrolled for a Higher School Certificate (HSC) in the same school. I did that between 1966 and 1967. From there I went to the Ahmadu Bello University during the 1968/1969 academic session. I graduated with a bachelor degree in Economics during the 1971/1972 session. In 1975/76 I went to the University of Pittsburgh in the United States for my master’s degree in Public Administration.
How would you describe life in the village then?
It was very interesting. As a young boy I was helping my parents, especially my mother because she didn’t have a female child. I was selling groundnuts for her and doing all the domestic works female children did for their mothers. I must say I enjoyed that part of my life. I made so many friends who I always see anytime I go to Tofa and elsewhere.
You might also be interested to know how I was enrolled into the western school. It was my grandfather who actually took me to primary school, not my father. In fact, I was just recovering from the pains of circumcision and playing with my fellow kids when he called me and held my hand. I didn’t know that he was taking me to a primary school. He took me to our district head, Madaki Bello, and announced that he wanted me to be enrolled in school. That was how I entered school. I was the smallest in class, but I was always number one in examinations. That’s how I got western education. My mother was crying because I was still a small child.
I was the first in my family to enroll for western education. My grandfather and my father were all Islamic scholars. Of course we are also traditional chiefs of the town. We were born as rulers of the town. I am from the Fulani part of the town.
In secondary school, I recall that normally, the big guys were appointed as prefects, but because of my zeal, my teachers, who were mostly white people, loved and encouraged me in all respects. So despite my age I was made a house captain.
Though I was not a sportsman, I was into local school politics. So I became a minister. We had an election twice when I was a minister. Initially, I was in the opposition with British people who were our teachers. We worked together and later formed a government and I became a minister twice. I would say that I became a leader at a very young age. My educational career was very successful and satisfactory.
How was the quality of education during your time, especially in terms of teaching and learning materials, as well as good teachers?
The schools were excellent. If you saw us debating in Gwarzo Senior Secondary School you would think we were undergraduates. We had a good command of
English because our teachers were very good. Some of them were Grade II teachers while some were even Grade III, but somehow they taught us very well. They were very dedicated teachers. There was no issue of who your father was. They didn’t even know our parents because most of us came from villages, but they took good care of us as if they were our parents. School politics was very interesting.
The standard of education has fallen in this country; what do you think is the problem and how can it be addressed?
Fundamentally, the problem is with the curriculum itself. There have been so many changes in the educational policies of the country. Successive governments have been experimenting with the fate of these young people. And this shouldn’t be the case.
During our time, the system was working very well. For goodness sake, why did they change it? Such changes affect the quality of teaching because training institutions were also affected. First of all, they scrapped the teacher training schools at the lower level. They set up colleges of education, but there are no teachers to feed them. When we were in school, the colleges of education were fed by students from teacher training colleges. When the colleges were scrapped, they said everybody should go through junior and senior secondary school, but there is no difference between teachers and others. That has grossly affected the quality of teaching, I must say.
Why did you choose to read Economics in the university?
I want to tell you that after my West African Certificate exams I didn’t want to go for further education. I wanted to work and help my parents, but my principal, an English man, said no, you must continue your education. He vetoed my decision. And he wanted me to stay at Rumfa College. Normally, one could
study three principal subjects. I was a science student, so I chose Physics, Chemistry and Geography. I was the best student in Geography and this combination was only offered in Okene Secondary School, but he wanted to retain me in Rumfa College in Kano. When he saw the combination he drove all the way from Kano to Kaduna to get approval me and one Ibrahim Usman Auyo to study in Kano. Kaduna was the capital that time. And he got the approval. Usman Auyo later became the managing director of Aerospace Management Agency because he went on to study air traffic control.
Economics was part of the social studies we were doing and I saw that it was very interesting. I really like Economics. After the Senior School Certificate I was given admission to read Geology at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). As new students we were asked if we had any problem. I raised my hand and said I was given admission to read Geology, but right in my mind I really wanted Economics because we did it as a subsidiary subject in HSC. Professor Aminu Dorayi took me to the then Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, an Irish Reverend Father James Oconnel. I explained why I wanted to read Economics and the dean said I should go and fill my form and what I wanted to read. I filled it and he signed. That’s how I saw myself reading Economics.
Do you consider parents’ interference in their children’s career choices as one of the reasons for the low quality of graduates in Nigeria today?
To some extent, yes. Fortunately, during my time, nobody knew about western education in my family, so I had nobody to interfere. The only people who could interfere were either my teachers or friends in school. I know that these days, many parents want their wards to be doctors or engineers. But to be honest with you, I have never dictated for my children. I have 10 of them. The youngest one graduated last week Wednesday. His mother was in Coventry in the UK for the graduation. The best people to advise on career choice are usually teachers. The interference of parents in the career choices of their children is detrimental to their performance. Our role as parents is to really give encouragement and support.
Did you work for the government before setting up your own business?
I never worked until I got my degree. Kano State had just been created and we were not up to 10 that came out of the university at that time. And the state was in dire need of administrators. The then governor, the late Audu Bako, directed that all the people who just came out of the university should be made administrative officers. Some were sent to the field as officers. I was sent to the Office of the Secretary to the Government and later on as secretary to the governor. That was the first stage of my life as a worker. I did not get married until a year after I started working.
How old were you?
I was born in 1947 and I started working on July 22, 1972. We Finished in June and I was lucky we were employed in July. In October I had a brand new car and house in a GRA. All of us who came out that year enjoyed that privilege, courtesy of the state government. We were all given houses at government reservation areas because we were senior civil servants. And we all chose the cars we wanted to buy. I remember I bought a Toyota Corona. I was still single.
At that time there were a lot of opportunities. I sympathise with children of today. Several years after graduation they are still jobless. During our time, honestly, we were chased to come in and take up jobs. We were the last set that didn’t do the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. Shamsudeen Usman was one year behind me; so it was his set that started the NYSC.
I used to always write memos for the secretary to the state government. Sometimes he sent those memos to the governor. There was a time I was asked to draft a goodwill message for the governor and I did it because the secretary to the state government, the late Audi Hawedi had travelled. It was an Englishman, Innocent who acted as secretary to the governor. When I wrote the memo he was impressed. He took it to the governor and he was also impressed. He took me to the governor and they said they were very happy with my write-up. They said I should keep it up. Every morning the governor would come into my office and chat with us. His principal private secretary was Bashari Gumel. He was my classmate and housemate in secondary school. He was the private secretary because he read Secretarial Studies. They sent them to Zaria for a nine-month crash programme, after which they were made administrators. He was to go to the UK for one year training but they wanted somebody to replace him. I was not even in contention because I was the assistant secretary and that was a position of a private principal secretary and it must be a senior assistant secretary or principal assistant that would fill up. But suddenly, the secretary to the state government said the governor wanted me to take over from Bashari as principal private secretary. I was shocked. Audu Bako was a very practical man. They were building the Africa House then. He was there with labourers when Bashari took me there and said ‘Malam Isyaku has taken over.’ That was how I became the principal private secretary to the governor. To be honest with you, that was one of the greatest benefits of my life because that man was great. I learnt a lot from him.
He was very practical and he had foresight. A lot of the real projects you see in Kano today were all initiated by him. He was a great man. My association with him was probably one of the best in my life. I always told him that I wanted to further my education, so when I got admission to go to the University of Pittsburgh for a master’s degree, he said he didn’t want to part with me, but since I wanted to go, he approved it. When I went I was still earning salaries here because I was there on the basis of in-service.
My one year allowances were sent to the Nigerian Embassy in Washington. I was given the money when I arrived the US. I spent 16 months in the University of Pittsburgh for my second degree.
What lessons did you learn from Audu Bako?
I learnt the act of discipline. I also learnt perseverance. If he wanted to do something, no matter the level of objection he would insist on doing it because he believed it was good. The other thing is honesty. The former governor was very honest, but unfortunately, he was disgraced. He was so honest that he used to buy a magazine from UK when he went there to study and send the money from his personal account.. Another thing I learnt from him was hard work.
Did you go to any foreign country before you left for a master’s degree in the US?
No. However, while working with Audu Bako there was a time we were going to the UK for trips annually. But I was not even in the entourage. It was the late Malam Inuwa Dutse, who was commissioner for agriculture, that went to Audu Bako and said I must be included in the delegation. So I was among the delegation that visited the UK in 1973. That was my first visit to the UK.
How did you cope with people from different backgrounds?
Luckily for me, there was a very large and good Nigerian community in Pittsburgh. Not only that, the government of north-western Nigeria, which is now Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and Niger, used to send a team to study for nine months in Pittsburgh. They had an arrangement with the School of Public Administration. So they were all there. Luckily for me, I went with my wife and daughter, who was just one year old. So I was not really lonely. Other people from Sokoto and other areas in North-West had their families, so we were interacting.
Were there some difficulties during your studies in the US?
Everything about my studies in the US was smooth. I had no difficulty, Pittsburgh is a cosmopolitan city. It was a commercial and industrial centre. In fact, it was the centre of steel industry in the US. Their football team used to be called the
Steelers. I enjoyed my stay there. As I said, that was the turning point in my life. I had always wanted to be a public servant, but when I went to America I saw how important private enterprise was. That was when it came into me that I should go into business. It was my study in the US that made me to say I must go into business because there, you are better respected if you are in the private sector.
How did you start your business when you came back?
When I came back, the Audu Bako government had been overthrown. In the process, all of us who worked with him were also affected. But two of his close friends offered me a job when I came back. One of them is Alhaji Aminu Dantata who was a commissioner. The other one is Mainasara Alhaji Nasiru Asadi. Alhaji Aminu begged that I should be allowed to work with him. We agreed and I said I would only work for him for three years because I wanted to set up my own business; and he agreed. That was how we worked very successfully. He made me the general manager of his company for three years, after which I started my business. In 1979 I set up my company, Tofa General Enterprises Limited. As an economist I had no difficulty knowing what to do. My only limitation was capital. You wouldn’t believe that I started the business with N150, 000.
Was it a loan?
It was sourced from my savings. The first loan I took was N300,000; and fortunately, I started the business purely on trading. I would go to Lagos and buy a truck of milk, a truck of sugar or a truck of flour and sell to people in the market. I got an office off Bello Dan’dago road, near Sabon-gari market and the Singa market, so traders were always coming to my place to buy the commodities. In the process, my friends from Sokoto who studied with me in Pittsburgh invited me. When I went, they offered to start giving me contracts because they believed that Kano people were good businessmen. To be honest with you, it was the contracts they offered me that really propelled me big in business. For example, I was supplying generators, even to the Government House in Sokoto. Of course I know how to import, so I used my education to go to the United Kingdom (UK) to buy generators. I could go anywhere. They were producing generators for me. They used to call it Erick’s Power Plant. That’s how I was really able to build real capital. As I was saving, I was also using the banks because as an economist I know how to borrow and how to do it without any difficulty. That was how
I was really able to grow big. What I had in my mind was to go into production, not buying and selling because, as an economist we know that production is what makes an economy. The first production thing I did was to set up a bread bakery in my village, Tofa. At that time there was no bread bakery in Tofa; they had to come down to Kano to buy bread on a daily basis. The bakery was known as Tofa Pioneer Bakery. It was doing very well. It provided jobs for the people. And people no longer went to Kano to buy bread.
Does the bakery still exist?
No. When people in the town started setting up their own bakeries, I said it was my intention to encourage them. By that time I had outgrown the bakery, so I left it and told one of the people working there to continue.
The first thing I set up here was Tofa Commercial Printing Press in 1982. Immediately I set up the press I left the bakery. Subsequently, I went and set up a toilet paper company. Ironically, when we were students in the secondary school we came here on visitation, not knowing that one day this place would be mine. It was set up by the French, Japanese and the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC). Later on, the French took it over and subsequently sold it to one Lebanese. The Lebanese had a problem with the bank and the bank sold the place to me.
How have you been managing activities as an economist, businessman and traditional titleholder?
Economics and business are the same. I apply my economic knowledge to my business, which has really helped me. That’s how I operate. On the issue of my traditional title, my great grandparents used to be the rulers of Tofa. They came with Shehu Usman Danfodio. My great grandfather’s tomb is at Hubbare in Sokoto. They are the ones that did the Jihad with Shehu Usman Danfodio. When we asked why they settled in Tofa, they told us that it was the first village they conquered when they came to Kano. When everything was settled in Kano, they said the first village they conquered should be given to them. That was how they came back and settled in Tofa.
However, during the reign of a Kano emir, popularly known as Alu, our great grandparents had a problem with the Madaki. At that time we were under the Madaki because we are known as ‘Yolawas.’ The Madaki removed our great grandfather, Dan Adala Buhari and brought somebody who was not even from the town, a Kanuri man, and made him the chief of the town. He is the great grandfather of Bashir Tofa. It was taken away from us and given to them. It was later that it occurred to me that my grandfather took me to school because he wanted me to bring back the family title. It was important to him. When I was the principal private secretary to the governor, whenever I went to greet him in the village he would say to me, “They told me that you are this and that; all these are not important to me. What is important to me is our heritage, you must bring it back.’’
Since then, it was always in my mind. When it was taken away from us, many of our family members left the town. Presently, in Mecca in Saudi Arabia we have many members of our family. They are as many as we are here today because they were annoyed with what happened. They are not Nigerians now. Some of them are in the military and some are well established business people. If I go to Saudi Arabia now, it is just like coming back home. The moment you see them they look just like us.
All along, to regain our family heritage was in my mind. Fortunately, I became very close to the late Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero when I was working with Audu Bako. However, I never told him that my wish was to regain my lost family heritage. When I became a businessman I invited him to Lagos and he spent two days with me. Our bank was opening a head office in Lagos and they requested me to invite the emir. One day, one of his brothers, the late Galadima Sani asked me to accompany him to greet the emir in the evening. When we went, he told the emir that I was a prince. He was surprised and asked some questions. At the end he said, “No wonder, through your ways and attitude I know you must be from somewhere unique.”
I told the emir that I had an uncle who knew more of our history. I asked to be allowed to bring him. When I brought my uncle to him he asked me to leave them alone. They spent hours together discussing. The emir said to me that one day the heritage would come back to me. At a time, the seat at Tofa became vacant and one of our uncles went for it, but unfortunately, he didn’t get it.
The next time it became vacant, two of my uncles came to me and asked me to go for it because they knew that if I wanted it the emir would not give it to any other person. I told them that I would not go for it since they were still alive. But they said they had sacrificed their own chances. Therefore, I went and booked an appointment with the emir. I told him that the seat of Dan Adala was vacant and I was interested. He asked who I wanted to bring as my candidate and I said, ‘Me.’ He stood up and asked if I really meant I would take it. I said it was the only thing I had not achieved in my life and I wanted it.
The following day there was a meeting of the Emirate Council and the emir told them that he had decided to give the position of Dan Adalan Tofa to Alhaji Isyaku and all the councillors thanked him. The reason was that they all knew the history and really sympathised with us. He said to them, even though he is a village head, I want to turban him as a district head because I know he has a lot of people. It was the only time that such a thing was done in the history of Kano Emirate.
The following day, a senior councillor sent for me. I will never forget the date. It was first of May, which is normally a national worker’s day. I was at home at that moment when the people from Wamban Kano came to tell me that I was needed at the palace. I went and met Wambai and he told me that the emir had made me the Dan Adalan Tofa and that I would be turbaned like a district head as the emir ordered, and that I should go and get prepared. That’s how it was done.
This is how I regained the title of Dan Adala, the village head of Tofa for our family. I did that for six years, from 2002 to 2008. One day, the emir sent one of his sons to ask if I wanted to be made a district head. When I went to see him about 7:00am in his office at the palace, the first thing he said was, “I want to give you the title of Falaki; how do you see it?’ I thanked him but said I would prefer he upgraded the title of Dan Adalan Tofa to Dan Adalan Kano.
The district that was vacant was that of our neighbour, Rimingado, but I insisted on having my inheritance, Tofa. The emir said we would move the district head from Rimingado to Tofa. He then asked if the district head was moved, who would become the village head of Tofa? I told him that I had a younger brother and I would want him to be appointed as the village head of Tofa. That morning, the Emir of Kano granted me three things as I mentioned them. That was why I pray for him as I pray for my parents.
Luckily for me, if one is to be made a district head, the state governor has to approve the appointment. At that time, the Kano State governor was Malam Ibrahim Shekarau who happens to be my student. I taught him in class one in secondary school. I was the first teacher that taught him Mathematics, and that was what he got a degree in. Therefore, when he saw my name he was so excited, even more than me. So he didn’t waste time in approving the appointment.
The title has been brought back to us for sixteen years now, but unfortunately, my grandfather could not witness it. This happened after 100 years the title left our family.
Our readers would like to know some of the difficulties you have encountered in life?
As an economist I always have a passion for investment. I kept investing the little I got. That was how I became a shareholder in banks, a member of the boards of directors of some banks and insurance companies.
Naturally, every life has some difficulties. My first taste of difficulties was when I worked for the Kano State Government and the late Audu Bako was removed during the late Murtala Muhammed coup. I was in America doing my master’s degree and I was recalled to testify before a commission of enquiry, which I did. There was some money collected for draught relief and people were saying it was spent, not knowing that it was kept save by the government. Apart from a project done at Wudil, some of the equipment are still visible. If you pass through Wudil you would see a field with sprinklers. We bought those equipment when we went to England and were shown how it worked. We established one at Wudil and another at Dambatta.
That expenditure was even done via a letter of credit through the banks. All the money was intact. I was invited to testify because they said I had acquired many assets. To be honest with you, the only property I had was a small house in Tarauni, which I bought at £1000. I got the money through the Odoji arrears. I also had a small bungalow I built in my village, Tofa, as well as a plot of land at
No-man’s land, allocated to me by Audu Bako. These were the only properties I had. They searched vigorously but could not get anything.
After I have testified they said I could go back. That was how I went back to complete my studies in the US. Later, they said they had dismissed us from work. I went ahead with my life and started working in a private company. They later sent a letter to me, requesting us to come back to the service, but I said I had left for good. That was indeed a difficult time because everybody close to me was in pain, especially those that knew me. They felt that injustice was being done to me. I see whatever I became later in life as compensation from God for what I have gone through.
Another difficult moment was when I became a successful businessman. During the crisis at the banking sector, one of the banks, Intercontinental Bank, was in crisis. We were locked up for about 12 days by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during Ramadan period. That was very painful, of course. As God would have it, they even took us to court. At the end of the day, they said there was no case against us and they struck it out. As I said, I have no regret. As a businessman I like investing; and this is one of the risks one stands to face.
What are the highlights of your business success?
I was one of the first people to invest in Abuja. I built a six-story house, which I sold at a good price. When I was building it, people wondered how I could spend such money in the bush. While building the house I took a loan from five banks.
From the first rent I was able to settle all the loans four years before it expired.
I keep telling people that I am very happy; even if I die today I am fulfilled. I tell my children not to cry when I die because I am fulfilled.
What is your advice on the Nigerian economy?
Having come out of recession, the economy is growing. But unfortunately, the growth of our economy is not touching the lives of the common people. There is a need to readjust the economic policy to target specific palliatives for the ordinary citizen. The biggest palliative you can give to the economy is employment. We need to review our policy on employment. There are a lot of able young people roaming the streets without employment; and they can be productive. My suggestion is that most of our training institution should stop training employees and start training employers; that is the trend worldwide. Our training system should centre on training people on how to become self-reliant.
What advice do you have for traditional titleholders?
Fundamentally, traditional institutions would survive on loyalty, as well as working and caring for the people. This is what we inherited; this is what we were known for.