The people of ancient Nupe Kingdom of Niger State will today roll out the drums to celebrate one of their distinguished illustrious sons, Hon Saidu Musa Abdullahi, fondly called SMA, as he is turbaned as the first Gwarzon Nupe by HRM, the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji (Dr.) Yahaya Abubakar (rtd) CFR.
This unique event will be graced by top dignitaries and personalities from within and outside the shores of Niger State.
Unarguably, it is an honour well deserved, given the outstanding achievements and contributions SMA has made towards the development of his constituency and beyond.
He graduated from the Department of Economics, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria with a Second Class (Upper Division).
He holds a Master’s Degree in Development Studies from the Bayero University Kano. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Economists.
SMA has more than 15 years of professional experience. His versatility took him to three (3) different sectors namely: banking, oil and gas and construction before he made a foray into politics.
His key competencies are in Business Development, Relationship management, problem-solving disposition and effective mobilization and management of people for result delivery in any assigned responsibility.
He had a stint at Zenith Bank Plc where he was the Head of Marketing Unit of a branch that became one of the top-performing branches in the bank at the time.
At Oando Marketing Plc, SMA was a Sales Manager in charge of five out of the six states in the North East. He performed creditably at Oando Marketing in spite of the activities of insurgents in his assigned area of coverage. SMA’s versatility and craving to break new frontiers took him to Gerawa Group of Companies in Kano (a company with interests in construction and the Agricultural value chain).
He was directly assigned the responsibility of managing the construction arm of the Gerawa Group (arguably the biggest indigenous construction company in Northern Nigeria).
While at Gerawa, he actively participated in the expansion project of the group’s oil mill business which delivered the biggest single oil milling plant in West Africa (1,200 tons per day plant).
He was also part of the team that delivered the group’s rice milling plant, a 420 Metric Tons per day rice processing plant; one of the biggest in the country today.
As a young banker, SMA picked a particular interest in sharing with the less privileged within his immediate community. This he has carried through all his professional voyage as he has been involved in lots of community works, providing succour to the less privileged in terms of their educational and basic health care needs.
SMA has always maintained that material possession is not and shouldn’t be a measure of success but the lives we can positively affect.
Given his history of community service and drive to change the narrative of leadership in his immediate environment and the country at large, SMA took the necessary decision of joining partisan politics, pitching his tent with the Progressives.
He was elected as a member of the 9th Assembly of the House of Representatives representing Bida/Gbako/Katcha Federal Constituency of Niger State. He is the Vice-Chairman, House Committee on Finance and member of the House committees on Banking & Currency, FCT, Agric Colleges and Institutions, Rural Development, Housing & Habitat, Women Affairs, Insurance & Actuarial Matters, Inter-Parliamentary Relations.
He is also the:
i. Secretary, Niger Caucus, 9th National Assembly.
ii. Member, Young Parliamentarians Forum, 9th National Assembly.
iii. Member, Parliamentarians for Out-of-School Children, 9th National Assembly.
iv. Member, APC Young Legislators Forum.
His legislative agenda include:
i. Enhancing access to education at all levels especially at basic education level.
ii. Enhancing access to health care services.
iii. Creating economic opportunities for all Nigerians through the instrumentality of the legislative business so as to enhance the maximization of the Agricultural sector and its value chains.
iv. Enhance visibility and presence of FG in his constituency and indeed in Niger State through attraction of investment to critical infrastructure which are pre-requisite to unlocking the huge agricultural potentials of the state.
v. Kick-start a national discuss on halting discrimination of Nigerians on the basis of their religious beliefs and calling for the full enforcement of their Fundamental Human Rights.
SMA has in the last two years of his foray into politics changed the narrative of representation in his constituency and indeed in the whole of Niger State. He is an active member of the 9th National Assembly. As a first timer, his outreach and interventions in matters of national interest has been quite impressive.
• He is one of the top 5 new members out of 203 with the highest number of bills sponsored in the 9th Assembly. He has sponsored almost 20 bills. Some of which include Religious Discrimination (Prohibition, Prevention) Bill; Rice Import Restriction & Anti-Smuggling/Hoarding Bill, Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences (Establishment) Bill, National rice Development Council Bill, Shea Council Bill etc.
• He ranks among members of the 9th House of Representatives noted for sponsoring motions /proposals for legislative action on the floor of the House. These have sped up legislative actions in a number of cases. One of which led to the reduction of tuition fees at FUT, Minna.
• Within his two and a half years in the saddle of leadership, he has demonstrated that a “clear vision pulls in ideas, people and other resources. Clear vision creates the energy and will to make change happen”. The success story of the strategic intervention on some selected roads in Niger State in particular and the country at large to the tune of N621bn by NNPC under the Federal Government Road Infrastructure and Refreshment Tax Credit Scheme, will not be completed without due reference to the prominent roles played by Hon. SMA. He was one of the leading figures that initiated the idea of solving road infrastructure challenges across the state leveraging on the Executive order 007 of 2019,21 Federal Roads in the country were considered out of which 9 are in the North Central with majority situated in Niger State.
• He has facilitated lots of developmental projects to his constituency. Worthy of mention is the ongoing reconstruction of a multi-billion naira modern market in Bida; conversion of irrigation dyke to a dam in Baddeggi for the purpose of irrigation farming; construction of three cottage hospitals in Gbako and Katcha; rehabilitation of Bida-Lemu Road (30kms Road); construction of classrooms across Bida, Gbako and Katcha LGAs; light-up communities with solar-powered streetlights to enhance security across the three LGAs in his constituency; rural electrification of communities in Gbako and Katcha; establishment of ICT Center equipped with computers etc.
• Payment of tuition fees for constituents in higher institutions of learning.
• Annual sponsorship of constituents for JAMB Examination (about 2,000 constituents have so far benefited).
• Facilitated the appointment of constituents into Federal Civil Service.
• Periodic distribution of food items to constituents.
• Facilitated participation of youths and women in skills acquisition programs.
• Retainership agreement with FMC, Bida for free treatment of patients.
• Free medical and surgical outreach programs for constituents.
As a lover of education, Hon Saidu Musa Abdullahi appreciates the importance of training and retraining and their benefits. In the last two years, he has done so much in this regard in order to enhance performance of his constituents, boost productivity, and improve work culture. He has attended professional training programs/Conferences/Workshops/Seminars on Leadership, Relationship Management, Negotiation Skills, Business Writing and Communication Skills anchored by some of the best training consultants in Nigeria and abroad. Some of which include:
i. Skills Development Workshop on illicit Financial Flows organized by African Tax Forum (ATAF) in Tunisia.
ii. Annual general meeting of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) at Washington DC.
iii. A member of the Think-tank that prepared the final draft of Finance bill 2019 and 2020.
iv. Delivered a pep-talk at the 15th ICAN Northern Zonal Accountant’s Conference (Kano 2020) on the Need for Professionals Participation in Politics
Saidu is a team player, self-motivated and Analytically-minded.
Out of personal philosophy and principles, SMA has accepted one award only since assuming office in spite of entreaties from different quarters.
He is a recipient of “Development Facilitator” award which was conferred on him by the Press Corps of the House of Reps. He is also the holder of the traditional title of Gwarzon Nupe (The Hero of Nupe people); a title conferred on him by HRM, the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji (Dr.) Yahaya Abubakar CFR.
It is instructive to say that he had earlier been conferred with the traditional title of Barijen Nupe in the morning of 13th of September 2020 when the lawmaker paid homage to the royal father on the occasion of the 68th birthday and his 18th anniversary as the Etsu Nupe.
But things took a dramatic turn when in the afternoon of the same day, at the ground-breaking ceremony for the complete reconstruction of the Etsu Musa Market in Bida, facilitated by Hon SMA, the Etsu Nupe who had made several attempts to woo stakeholders to reconstruct the most important and viable commercial hub of the Nupe nation but all to no avail, was overwhelmed by the ingenuity of the young parliamentarian, reiterated his support for SMA’s impressive performance and publicly changed the traditional title of Dan Barijen Nupe he conferred on him an hour earlier to Gwarzon Nupe (The Hero of Nupe Kingdom).
By this unprecedented gesture of the Etsu Nupe, Hon. SMA became the first and only Nupe son to be conferred with two traditional titles in an hour!
Saidu Musa Abdul is the first of the children of Justice Musa Abdul (Rtd) of the Niger State High Court. He’s happily married and blessed with three kids. Congratulations on your turbaning!
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