Meet the erudite Ali Gombes

A family that has produced many bachelor and master’s degree holders, consultant medical doctors, PhD holders, engineers, lawyer, a diplomat and a minister of health, could no doubt be said to be intellectually striking.

The family of the late Ambassador Ali-Gombe, Wakilin Wajen Gombe, is one such family, with nine master’s degree holders, seven bachelor’s degree holders, two consultant medical doctors, two resident doctors, a PhD holder, two engineers, a lawyer and a diplomat.

Late Ali-Gombe himself was arguably the first graduate engineer from Gombe and the entire North-east.

His father, Adamu Garu, died when Ali-Gombe was very young. He therefore grew up under the care of his brother, Malam Abubakar (Baffa Jangade), the then Salaman Ubandoman Gombe, Malam Muhammadu, father of the late Senator Ibrahim Jalo Waziri.

According to his resume, Ali-Gombe was born on April 15, 1933 to Malam Adamu Garu and late Malama Aishatu Fulani in Gombe, the capital of Gombe State.

He was enrolled in the Gombe Elementary School in 1941 and proceeded to Bauchi Middle School from 1946 to 1948, Barewa College, Zaria from 1949 to 1952 and the Technical Institute, Kaduna from 1952 to 1958.

He left Nigeria in 1960 to further his education at the Skerry’s College, Edinburgh, Scotland from 1960 to 1961. He attended the Heriot University, Edinburgh from 1961 to 1965 and bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering.

Ali-Gombe started working as an Engineering Assistant with the Gombe LA from 1953 to 1958. He was a supervisor of works between 1958 and 1960. In 1965, he transferred his service to the defunct Northern Nigerian government as a pupil engineer.

Between 1965 and 1967, he worked as a consultant for various roads and water projects  including the Kaduna North water works, Lafia-Shendem road, Badeyi-Keffi road, Kunya-Babura road and Birnin Gwari-Funtua road.

Between 1968 and 1970, he was seconded to the defunct Interim Common Services Agency (ICSA). In 1969, he was promoted to senior executive engineer. He was decorated and transferred to Mubi as provisional engineer at the then Sardauna Province in 1970.

In 1973, late Ali-Gombe was appointed chief civil engineer in the then North-east State where he served as acting controller of works.

He was a registered engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN).

With the creation of Bauchi State in 1976, he was deployed as the chief civil engineer/controller works.

In November 1976, he was appointed Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Housing, Lands and Survey.

He served as a permanent secretary in many ministries which culminated in his appointment as Acting Head of Service of Bauchi State in 1980 and became the substantive Head of Service in March 1981 before voluntarily retiring later same year.

Ali-Gombe was a member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru in Plateau State and bagged the MNI in 1980.

According to his 12th son, Dr. Musa Ali-Gombe, upon his voluntary retirement from the civil service in 1981, their father was appointed the first black marketing manager of Ashaka Cement PLC.

“Also, from June 1984 to January 1984, he served as the Nigerian Ambassador to Iraq. Furthermore, in 1990 he served as chairman of the Governing Council, Federal College of Education, Potiskum,” he said.

Dr. Ali-Gombe said his father had a stint in politics and was gubernatorial aspirant in the third republic.

He said: “Late Ambassador Ali-Gombe ventured into politics in the third republic and vied for the National Republican Convention (NRC) ticket for the governorship of Bauchi State, he lost to the late Alhaji Dahiru Mohammed Deba.

In 1998, he contested and won the election to represent Gombe North Senatorial District under the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP), but the election was dissolved with the sudden death of General Sani Abacha on June 8, 1998.

Late Ambassador Ali-Gombe served as Commissioner for Works in the old Bauchi State between 1994 and 1995. The last public office he held prior to his death was chairmanship of the Gombe State Civil Service Commission between 1999 and 2003.

 At the time of his death at the age of 71 on May 21, 2004, Ali-Gombe left behind three wives and 23 children. About 14 years after his demise, all the children had established themselves in Nigerian public and private sectors.

Among them is a former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Abubakar Ali Gombe, his second son. Dr. Abubakar is a consultant physician by training, he was the pioneer Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe. He retired as a director in the federal government after serving in different ministries.

 His first son, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Ali Gombe, is a graduate of Agricultural Science and retired as the Farm Manager of Ashaka Cement Company. He is now into private farming.

Another medical doctor in the family is Dr. Musa Ali-Gombe, a Consultant Radiation and Chemical Oncologist, the Head of Radiotherapy and Oncology Department of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe. He is also a lecturer with the Faculty of Medicine, Gombe State University, Gombe. Dr. Maimuna Ali Gombe is currently a resident doctor with the National Ear Care Centre, Kaduna. She is married to Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum. Dr Hadiza Ali Gombe, is also a resident doctor at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano. She is the wife of Dr. Abdurrahman Shuaibu Jimeta, a consultant physician.

His granddaughter, Dr. Jamila Abubakar Ali-Gombe, a daughter to his second son, Dr Abubakar, is also a trained medical doctor.

 Apart from medical doctors, there are two engineers-Engineer Ibrahim Ali Gombe, a Bench Marketing Manager with MTN Nigeria and Engineer Shuaibu Ali Gombe, who holds a master’s degree from the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom and works with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Maryland, United States- based Dr. Aisha Ali Gombe has PhD in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana. She is married to Dr. Ibrahim Musa Yola, a consultant family physician. Another is Adamu Ali Gombe, a lecturer with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, presently a PhD candidate at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.

 In the civil service and other sectors are; Haruna Ali Gombe, a diplomat and former Head of Chancery at the Nigerian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. He is now an Assistant Director Protocol, Office of the Vice President. Isa Ali Gombe holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Quantity Surveying, and works with the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State. 

In the private sector, Abdullahi Ali Gombe, a graduate of Economics and holder of two master’s degrees, is the Executive Director Investment Services, New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC). Suleiman Ali Gombe is a graduate of Economics and an Assistant Manager at INEX Cleaners, Gombe. The last son of the family, Ali Ali Gombe, also a graduate of Economics, works with the Design Reel Options Limited (DROL), a real estate company in Abuja.

Late Usman Ali Gombe, his third son, was a diploma holder, and before his demise in 2008, he worked with the Dispatch Department of Ashaka Cement PLC.

 All 11 female children he left behind have acquired at least a first degree, except his first daughter, Hajiya Salamatu Ali Gombe, who was married to Alhaji Surajo Jibrin after her secondary school education. Her children are now graduates in many disciplines. 

Hafsat Ali Gombe, a graduate of Sociology, works with the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA). Barrister Maryam Ali Gombe, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and is pursuing her LLM, works with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja. She is married to Alhaji Abubakar Habu Mu’azu, a gubernatorial aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state. Hajiya Hauwa Ali Gombe had her first and second degrees in Architecture. She is married to a former Head of Accounts Department at Ashaka Cement PLC.

 Fatima Ali Gombe, is a graduate of Estate Management and married to Alhaji Ubaida Arabi, a younger brother of Alhaji Jalal Arabi, a permanent secretary at the State House, Abuja. Amina Ali Gombe, a graduate of Political Science, is a manager at Hogg Robinson Nigeria Limited Brokers (insurance brokers). She is married to Umar Yari of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Bilkisu Ali Gombe holds a Bachelor’s degree in Quantity Surveying and Master’s in Project Management Engineering from the University of Manchester. She married to Abubakar Musa Yola.

 The last born of the family, Halima Ali Gombe, holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language. An entrepreneur, she is the owner of Classy Cakes Halima. Halima recently got married to Lukman Dahiru.

 One unique thing about the late Ali-Gombe was that he used Gombe as his surname instead of the name of his biological father, Adamu Garu.

 Dr. Musa explained this: “When he was to be enrolled in elementary school, he was staying in the house of the late Ubandoman Gombe, where his older brother who doubled as his guardian worked, therefore he adopted Ubandoman Gombe.  Initially, he was using Ali Ubandoman Gombe, in fact it, was the name on his passport, and he later shortened it to Ali-Gombe.”   

Besides their intellectual prowess, something that made people envy the late Ali-Gombe family is their love and respect for one another.

Contrary to what obtains in most polygamous families, there is so much unity among Ali-Gombe’s children that it would be difficult for an outsider to identify their mothers from among his wives.