Reminiscences with Alhaji Sidi Yahaya

Alhaji Sidi Yahaya is the leader of Nupe people in Kaduna. The 78-year-old retired air officer narrated his days in the military and the events that shaped his life.

How was life at the beginning?

I started primary education in 1950 and finished in 1957. From there I went to Middle School from 1958 to 1959 and got admission into the Institute of Administration, Zaria, now Ahmadu Bello University, from 1960 and finished as an assistant executive officer in 1962. After that, I was employed by the then Northern Nigerian Government. Very happily, my first employment was in the premier’s office. From there, I moved to the Ministry of Finance.

A hospital was to be opened at Birnin-Kudu in Kano then. I happened to be the first assistant executive officer posted to Kano in order to administer the general hospital at Birnin-Kudu. That was in 1953. Afterwards, I moved to Birnin-Kudu, which was then the medical headquarters of Kano Province as assistant executive officer.

How did you get enlisted in the military?

In 1957, the Kano unit of the Air Force was to be opened. There I met the late AVM Yisa Doko, who was a commander in Kaduna and my schoolmate. We met at the airport when the opening ceremony was to take place. That was the first time we met after we left school. He was surprised that I was in Kano, so he asked what I was doing there and I told him it was my work. He expressed how happy he was to see me and revealed that my line of work was what they were in need of in Kano.

He said the Air Force was about to open an administrative school and asked if I would agree to get enlisted so that when the school opened I would be the administrative head.

I objected to it at first because I did not like the idea of wearing uniform. I said that if there would be a transfer from the Northern Nigerian Government to the Federal Government, I would go as a civilian to establish the school for them and remain to ensure that it was successful. But after the transfer, my interest in wearing uniform grew, so I quickly changed my mind. Officially, I was enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force in September 1967, but that was after the school of administration was established.

I retired in 1999 after spending 35 years, plus the seven years I spent in the civil service. I can say I served this country quite well.

Did you hold any position in the Air Force?

I held different appointments in the Air Force. After my tenure as principal in the new school I moved out, first to the army. When Major Dolley heard that I was in the Army he came and we discussed. We attended the same School of Administration. He said that since I established the administrative school, they should please release me to assist him in the Nigerian Army’s school of administration. I also served there for 1 year to help in grooming the children of soldiers.

Back to the Air Force; I was posted to Lagos. Thereafter, the commander of the Air Force also said I should be his personal assistant because he saw my background in administration. The commander was Colonel Alao, the father of the present commander of Jaji, AVM Abdulrahman Alao, who was born in my presence. I served his father for one year. After his death, Colonel Ikwue took over. He became a brigadier. I was moved to the Supreme Headquarters. Then the Air Force office was opened. It was then that it started getting its own share in the Supreme Headquarters. Before then, the Army was the all-in-all because both the Air Force and Navy did not have any office at the headquarters. The Army was the decider. So I happened to be a pioneer in establishing an office for the Air Force at the Supreme Headquarters. While there, I was made the assistant director of admin; from there, I moved back to Kaduna. In Kaduna I was the director training, for ground training, with the late Commodore Okadigbo, who was the commander till I was moved back to Lagos.

Due to my background as a direct commissioned officer, the process of growth differed from those that came from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). There was discrepancy. I was not happy because the young ones were growing while I had no promotion because of the establishment, even with my qualification. However, due to my years of service, the commanders were recognising me and my emolument was quite okay, but the honour was not there. Since the status was not there, I was not very happy, so I made the decision to retire when I reached the required 35 years in service, at the rank of squadron leader.

I asked for retirement, but before it was approved it took six months because my value was worthwhile.

My commander did not talk about it. I told them that I had family problems, yet they did not want me to go because they knew the contributions I made. But I was determined to leave since I did not have the honour that everyone had. My payment was increasing with those of my colleagues, but there was no how you could be promoted above what was in the establishment.

I was commissioned as a flying officer because of my qualifications, but the growth in the cadre was too low; it was not like the regular officer. In the regular officer cadre, after four years, another promotion would come, and sometimes, if you had special qualifications, after three years you were promoted. But it has been corrected. For instance, doctors are specially recruited due to their qualifications. So if you are recruited as a specialist, it is done on special purpose, so your salary is based on that purpose, irrespective of your rank. But you should have the opportunity in rank as much as you decide to remain in service. After I left, it was corrected.

During that time, were other ranks allowed to convert to officers?

Other ranks converted to officers, but it was very rare. When I was in service, there were lots of other ranks who had the opportunity to be elevated to officers due to their qualifications, trade requirements and service. But the provision was under the term of condition of being in the service for 12 years with the right qualifications like being a technician, airman, medical staff. The opportunity was there; and a board of commission would be set to consider them. Those who were lucky were elevated to the officer cadre. Now, some have to crawl, as you will find graduates as airmen and lower rank cadre. They are not given the opportunity to grow.

The emphasis is on those who finished from the NDA because they too are graduates. Probably, those graduates recruited as airmen joined because the demand for graduates was not there and they applied using their secondary school or diploma certificates because there were no jobs. Those who are enlisting with school certificates are not considered. You have a backlog of graduates looking for jobs and there are no opportunities; even if there are, they were little.

You joined the military in 1967 when Nigeria was in the verge of a civil war, can you share some of your experiences?

During the civil war I was transferred to different places. When the military took over in 1967 we all found ourselves in a confused state because we had to abandon what we were doing. We were all in regiment. Then, I had served one year with the late Yisa Doko. The Air Force had one aircraft, VC 10, which was used to bomb the opponents. The bombs were manufactured at the DIC in Kaduna. We loaded the bombs into the aircraft and when we got into the rebels’ territory, we dropped them. That was between 1967 and1968. Everybody was a regiment personnel, except very few persons who were in the office.

Also, the coup brought unity to northern Nigeria as we all felt the pain of losing northern leaders to the 1966 coup. The coup also brought clamouring among some northern military personnel. The impression they had about the coup was that they eliminated all our leaders, so they felt that the North needed to retaliate.

The war taught the North a lesson, but unfortunately, we refused to honour the lesson. The federal troops fought and won the war, and after the rehabilitation, we all moved on with our lives and relaxed without considering how we could defend our territorial integrity for a better future.

The leaders who came thereafter preached peace. Supposing we knew what would happen to northern Nigeria, we would have asked for division. I feel that would have been better.

Some of us in the military never wanted reconciliation. Look at it now; we are lamenting that northern Nigeria is underdeveloped. Southerners have filled the whole North and are controlling northern economy. If we had thought well about the peace we and Sardauna wanted for northern Nigeria, they would not have come back. We would have grown our economy, and what we are lacking today would not have been there. We would have been proud of getting our own oil, mines and other natural resources beneath our land. Now they have monopolised everything and we are sitting and doing nothing. They are the ones dominating the schools and the economy.

The most important thing everyone is fighting for is oil. Southerners are saying they are the owners of the oil. If not for our prayers they would have changed the economic machinery of this country in 2014 and we would have been buying oil from them. That is what they wanted. They employed foreigners to back them so that the constitution would be changed entirely. I am sure that is what the people in Rivers State are aiming at up till today.

I believe that something can still be done since we are in leadership. Those who are in the National Assembly should have the thought to bring change in the constitution.

Every state was getting its share of the economy equally, then they came up with derivation formula, which does not benefit the North. They argued that we were not contributing anything extra to Nigeria, and since oil is serving the country, state allocation should be by derivation. From the amount they budget every year, it is clear that they have more money than northern Nigeria. While the North is budgeting less than N500 billion, southern states with less population budget more than N700 billion every year. The only state in the North that budgets more is Kano. Is that an equal share? When oil was discovered in the 1950s and 1960s, what money did they use in building it? Was it not money from cotton and groundnut? It was money from northern farmers that was used in getting the oil. Why can we not stand to make them realise that the facilities are not for them alone? Our leaders should have made it clear that there was no need to give special money to anyone; rather, it should have been shared equally because it belongs to everyone. When one state is getting 70per cent and another 30per cent, where is the equality?

Some say the first coup is responsible for the imbalance in the country today, do you share that view?

Yes, if you do not change a government you would have a problem. But if a government is changed wrongfully there will be serious problem. There was no need for the coup, but it was carried out due to sectionalism because southerners were against northern Nigeria. They wanted the North to be ruined economically. They studied that we only had agriculture and development in the whole world is not on agriculture alone. It is oil that was sustaining the world.

Some of the challenges the military is facing in Nigeria now are lack of equipment and motivation; how would you compare this to what obtained during your time?

During our time we enjoyed relative peace, unlike what we have now. We had quite limited infrastructures and equipment, as well as other combat materials, but we were not aiming at war; we were aiming at having a peaceful defence in case of disturbance. So you cannot compare peace time with war time. It is due to the insurgency we have now that the military is choked up with equipment because you are defending yourself and enemies are around. Then, we had training materials and personnel were trained overseas.

Do you have any regret leaving civilian life for the military?

I do not have any regret. My colleagues in the Institute of Administration rose to directors of institutions and ministries. I was thinking I would have that opportunity, maybe to become a permanent secretary. But again, I felt happy because I got to mix with other Nigerians rather than being stationed in northern Nigeria, unlike my colleagues in the civil service who did not have such exposure. With help from God, my enlistment in the Air Force exposed me to learn so much about Nigeria, Europe and other foreign countries. So I never regretted; I am very happy.

Can you recall some of the officers you served with?

Apart from the late Commander Alao, Brigadier Ikwue and my brother, AVM Yisa Doko, who was my schoolmate, I also worked with colleagues like Air Officer Umaru, Sqandron Leader Badamasi, Sqandron Leader Ajao, Sqandron Leader Aliyu, Wing Commander Bagudu. These were very close colleagues. We became officers together and retired at the same time. We still see one another because most of them are in Kaduna. We all take Kaduna as our retirement home, and we do meet.

How did your family react when they learnt you joined the military?

It meant many things to them. Then, the military was not so exposed. In fact, when I got enlisted I was transferred as a civilian, but when I decided to take the uniform I did not inform them. I was of the opinion that their minds may be reading something else. When I finished my military training after three months, I went to visit my family in military uniform and they saw me as a different person entirely and were surprised. So I explained to them all that happened and told them that I joined the military to defend the country.

How do you relax?

I am relaxing very happily. Here in Kaduna, I hold a traditional title of Jakarda of Rigasa, so I spend time with the district head all the time in the office, and it is keeping me fit. He is getting some experiences from me on how to get Rigasa community developed with good security.

At home too, I hold a traditional title. I also go home sometimes for Council meetings. At times I go every two weeks. I feel happy because I am still exposed to people and they do call me to attend their ceremonies. I thank God. Maybe that is why I am a little bit fit to see your colleagues who are at home and they look much older.

With your experience in the Air Force, would you like any of your children to join the military?

Yes, they are in the service. One just retired after completing 35 years in service. Now I have two of them serving in the Air Force, one is in Abuja and the other is in Kaduna. There is still that connectivity between my family and the Air Force. When they enlisted, to join the Army was not that hard. If you were a personnel and any of your child or relative wished to get enlisted, all that was required was their names. Now, there is competition in getting into the Army. There are lots of administrative bottlenecks that result to a long process. Sometimes I feel empathy for those who want to join the Army now because the number of applicants is more than what we had before. In those days, only few people wanted to go into uniform professions. Now, there are no jobs and young Nigerians are struggling to find any job they can get. I have two daughters who married five years ago and I had to ask their husbands to allow them go for skills acquisition, though they have master’s degrees. They were left at home with such high certificates. I had to encourage them to search for skills to engage in.

What sport do you do?

Since my schooldays I played football, hockey and squash. When I joined the military I still played, especially hockey and squash. In the 1970s I was part of the Kaduna Air Force 11. It was when I moved to Lagos that I stopped playing football, but I focused on hockey and squash. Now, I do early morning walk for few kilometers to get fitness. Though the body is ageing, I need to exercise it because it keeps sickness away. If I sit in the car always I will fall sick and the body will get old quickly.

What is your favourite food?

I am not the choosy type when it comes to food, but I do not fancy this generation’s appetite for rice and noodles. I prefer eating tuwo, no matter the grain used in preparing it.