Reminiscences with Dr Wada Ibrahim Waziri

Dr. Wada Ibrahim Waziri is the district head of Makoda Local Government Area of Kano State. The veteran nursing officer became popular under the AVM Hamza Abdullahi regime when he served as head of operation of the then Kano State Environmental Sanitation Agency, popularly known as Ruwa-Ruwa. He worked as a civil servant and later got involved in active politics. He is now a traditional titleholder. He spoke on what attracted him to the nursing profession, the powers of the Native Authority and other interesting issues.

How has life treated you in the last 87 years?

Life has treated me tremendously well. I was never in a tragedy throughout these 87 years. I was born in a royal family. I started my education early in Kano Middle School, passed out in the 1950s and started work immediately. I was given a job by the late Emir of Kano, Abdullahi Bayero. I was given a job in the then School of Nursing within the Murtala Muhammad Hospital. I was trained for three years.

The good old days were when the Kano Native Authority was ruling everything and everybody. The schools, the departments, the prisons and everywhere were being governed by the Native Authority. I called it the good old days because everything was smooth. The ruler, Abdullahi Bayero, was so just that he could not take money from the treasury and spend for his own personal benefit. He worked for everybody to see.

In those days, there was nothing like violence, fighting or even stealing within the community.

What attracted you to the nursing profession?

I was picked for the profession by the late Abdullahi Bayero. What happened was that the late emir went to our class and asked if there was anybody interested in nursing. He told us that there were chances in the hospital and our people were needed to fill in some vacancies. He said he was informed that there were no indigenes in the hospital. So, I was among the Kano indigenes that were recruited to work in the hospital and at the same time, teach in our then school of nursing.

After the three-year training, I was posted because both the general hospital and dispensaries were owned by the Native Authority. Every nurse was posted to dispensaries in villages. So I was posted to Kanya Babba Dispensary in Babura district in 1953 when I passed out from the school of nursing, to take charge of the dispensary. By then there was no dispensary from Kano to Kunya, up to Babura. So I was posted to Kanya Babba Dispensary, which was 27 miles from Kunya and 27 miles to Bubura. I lived there for 15 years without transfer. I was later transferred to Dambatta, my hometown.

After a year, that was 1968, the general hospital in Dambatta was inaugurated and I was transferred to Jahun Miga Dispensary. Miga was in Jahun Local Government Area. It was an island. I was carried on the shoulder to cross the river that surrounded the area. Every year, the town closed during the rainy season.

No one entered except the ‘son of the soil.’ I would only go to Kano once to collect drugs that would last five months for my dispensary.

You will be surprised at how the dispensary was established. It was in the early reign of the late Audu Bako during his first tour to the province that he came across the people in the villages and they asked for a hospital. Bako said he would build one for them in two weeks and they wondered how he would achieve that. One of the government officials suggested that since the Bambatta General Hospital was inaugurated, the future facilities and staff of Dambatta dispensary should be transferred to Miga. That was how I was transferred to Miga dispensary.

Had you been to Miga prior to your transfer?

I had never heard the name Miga before then, so I was seriously disturbed when I heard about the transfer. The first person I met to help me halt the transfer was my elder brother, the present Sarkin Ban Kano, Alhaji Mukhtar Adnan. When I asked him to assist me scuttle the transfer, he said it was not right. “You must accept orders, so go to Miga and work,’’ he said. My friend, the late Malam Haruna, encouraged me. In fact, he escorted me to the village. I did not know that Alhaji Abdulahi Bayero was the district head of Jahun until we got to the house. When I saw him I felt very much at home.

The drugs, furniture and other facilities were all taken to Miga on horse and donkeys because there wasn’t adequate means of transport; and the road from Kano to Jahun was so horrible that no vehicle could leave Kano and reach Jahun in just one day. I stayed in Jahun for days before I moved to Miga village. The people of Miga came to Jahun to escort me.

Having passed through some difficulties before getting to Jahun, were you discouraged?

Nothing threatened me at all. I went to Miga and stayed with the villages for 15 years. The courageous aspect of the whole issue was how the villagers attended the dispensary. I was encouraged by the willingness of the people to patronise the dispensary. I remained there until I transferred my service from the Native Authority to the Kano State Government in 1972.

That was how life started. I was transferred to the Kano State Government on the salary of three pounds, 18 shillings, which was quite sufficient for me in a month. I saved and even assisted the immediate members of my family. I remained on that salary until when the government took over the responsibilities of the Native Authority. I worked up to 10 years with Europeans, from 1950 to 1960.

We were brought up by highly disciplined parents. In 1969, I was abruptly transferred to Kano.

You stayed in Kanya for 15 years, what challenges did you face in the village?

Honestly, it was a difficult life for me, but I enjoyed it because I had no option. Life at Kanya and Miga was not equal to the life I enjoyed at home.

How was life at Kanya?

I enjoyed my life there because I was loved by everybody. I made several boys there, including the former director-general of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Muhammed Ibrahim, Salisu Kany and the late Ibrahim Kanya. We still communicate. There is nothing the people of Kanya can do without my knowledge and there is nothing I will do in my house without informing them.

Traditionally, one is expected to marry from a place one stayed for many years. Did you marry from Kanya?

I did not marry from there. You see, in the villages of those years you were not allowed to go near their women. And if you went near their women you would never live well. You will not live in peace with them. So I was not interested in going close to their women throughout my stay there.

What did you enjoy at Miga that you will never forget in your life?

The village head then was the happiest person when I was transferred there. He lodged me in his younger brother’s house and gave me all I needed. I never bought food for all those years. I did not also buy meat because small boys could just go to the river and catch fish for me. The men in the village could also farm for me without my orders. I never asked them to farm for me, even for a minute but I saw 100 bags of rice meant for me. They farmed and harvested for me because of the love they had for me. When I was transferred to the village, no one agreed to come and relieve me. I stayed there for three and half years without complaint.

At Kanya, I would come to Kano and take drugs on the back of donkeys. Every Friday I would go to Babura and administer injection on students and other people. While going to Babura to treat people, my district officer visited me and discovered that my records were intact and neat. He was highly delighted by my commitment to my job and he recommended that I should be given a motorcycle to ease my difficulties. But unfortunately, when my superiors, comprising the supervisory councilor and a health inspector saw his recommendation, they asked me to come to Kano. When I met them, the supervisory councilor said, “So Wada you went to your father and begged for a motorcycle? I told him that the district officer was not my father. I told them that I was the son of Waziri Ibrahim and I didn’t tell the district officer that I needed a motorcycle, but he said I was fit and suitable for a motorcycle. They said it was alright and the supervisory councilor directed the Wakili to send somebody to relieve me. They thought we were enjoying luxury life in the village. So I was returned to Kano from Miga village.

Were you able to get the motorcycle when you returned to Kano?

Of course, I was not given because they didn’t want to have it that they transferred me from Miga.

I can also remember that when I was on training, there was one nursing white woman who asked a question and I didn’t answer. She hit me with a bone and I grabbed it and followed her, trying to hit her with it, but I was prevented. I was later reported to Wakilin Asibiti and he wrote a bad report on me and took me to a disciplinary committee headed by the Sarkin Kano Sanusi when he was the Ciroma Kano. Wali Bashari, the father of the present Wali and Malam Muhammadu Gwarzo were members of the committee. Gwarzo was my teacher in the Middle School. When I was taken to the committee, Wali Bashari said in Hausa, “Haba, Wakili, Yaro yace ta dake shi da Kashi yazo zai rama, mene laifin sa, mu Yaran mu ba su da gata? This statement by Wali doused the tension, and in fact, scuttled the move to punish me, otherwise I would have been dismissed from the school.

Did you regret your action?

Of course, not. Why should I? I was never a coward in my life. People are not trustworthy. They are not gallant because they bend their heads for money. We don’t have brave people now because there is no justice. Love between couples is not sweet because there is no trust. Children don’t pity their parents because there is no trust.

You described life in the olden days as smooth and peaceful; what makes the difference between what happened then and what is obtainable now?

There is nothing more dangerous than mistrust. You know that traditionally, we are divided into three – the chiefs, businessmen and scholars. All these categories stood on their lines. In those days, a businessman had nothing to do with contracts and a scholar had nothing to do with governance. But nowadays, you could find each one crossing into the boundary of the other. They all jump into one another’s jobs and responsibilities.

You became popular during the administration of Hamza Abdullahi when you served as the head of operation of the Kano State Environmental Sanitation Agency, can you tell our readers what led to your popularity?

Well, there are so many reasons. It is now that things are over and things are unfolding that people are realising the importance of the role I played at that time.

When I left the Native Authority and went to the Kano State Government, I was posted to the Ministry of Environment, where Alhaji Baffa Usman was the permanent secretary. Usman advised the commissioner to bring me to the ministry to help them sanitise the environmental department. The commissioner agreed and they brought me to the ministry. Even before I came, Kano was divided into 10 zones for environmental sanitation purpose. There was a head of environmental sanitation, but some people told him that I would push him aside when I came. I didn’t blame him became he was wrongly informed about me. But when I came, the permanent secretary invited all the members of staff in the department and lectured them. He said that whoever didn’t like Wada Waziri Ibrahim should just forget it because he was employed by the government like every other person. And Wada was employed in special a capacity. He said it was better for them to live in peace with him because no one would withdraw him from the department. He made me the head of refuse collection and disposal in the department and the other person was made director.

When I started the job, it was interesting. My instruction was to remove all temporary structures in the streets, so I started from Kofar Mata market. Can you believe that on the very day I started the work, I saw police uniforms, military uniform, guns and other dangerous weapons hidden in the temporary structures by criminals. That gave me the courage to continue with the job. I kept that to myself and superiors only. So I was given encouragement by my superiors and the people I was working with. And I gave myself the encouragement to continue with the job for the sake of God and my people. From there, I made it a duty to check every structure. Nobody accused me of collecting money from anybody; that was why people believed in me and trusted me. However, some people started abusing me and calling me all sorts of names.

Did that discourage you from doing your job?

No. instead, I was encouraged. I had a house in the Jogana area Gezawa Local Government and every day I would go to Jogana town. I would drive my car to Jogana alone and I was never confronted by anybody. Although I was working with police and soldiers, I never went to Jogana town with a uniform man, not even once. It is something I was proud of till the end of the exercise.

When the then Governor Ahmad Daku came to Kano, he was inundated with abuses on Wada Waziri and KASEPPA. On the day he came, I was introduced to him as head of operation, environmental sanitation. He asked what was environmental sanitation and ordered that the exercise should be stopped. He did it without listening to any explanation. That was how he killed the department.

How did you feel when Daku made the statement that eventually ended the sanitation exercise in Kano?

Sincerely speaking, I felt disgraced and that Kano had been corrupted. I felt that a Katsina man didn’t want to see Kano progress in the area of sanitation and that’s why he scuttled the exercise.

Did you ever regret serving as the head of operation of the agency because of what people said about you and the eventual stoppage of the exercise?

I have never regretted any of my actions. When Daku did this to the department, I went back to my office. From that time, people did not come to my office because they didn’t want to be associated with me as the governor didn’t like me. Till the time I left the ministry, nobody came to my office to ask for money because I didn’t collect money from anybody throughout the years I worked as head of operation of the Environmental Sanitation Agency. That is my pride. I always raise my head high that when Daku came and stopped the exercise, nobody accused me of collecting a dime from him while I was in office.

The issue of environmental sanitation has become a serious challenge in Kano today, how do you feel whenever you come across a dirty place within the metropolis?

I always feel bad because the thing has become part and parcel of me. Whenever I see such places I feel terribly bad. And if I had the power and themeans, I would have stopped people from indiscriminate disposal of refuse because it is not only harmful to their lives, it makes the environment to look ugly; which is bad.

If given another chance to serve as head of operation of refuse collection and disposal, what difference would you make?

Honestly, I can’t do anything because I don’t have the strength. I am not as active as I was in those days, so I cannot make any positive impact. But if it means giving directives on what should be done to better the situation, then I can make a positive change in the subsector. Now I am sick person, I only come out from the living room with some difficulties.

What advice do you have for the government on how to improve on environmental sanitation?

The ideas are many. First, money is what matters. A lot of money should be given to sanitation. A lot of trust is also needed and should be followed by the money. Workers should be encouraged to work with trust. But one man cannot do it.

Now, you can hardly get three people that have passion for their jobs. There’s no commitment, no trust and no honour. That is the painful aspect of life nowadays.

Have you ever been involved in politics?

Of course, yes, I am a politician, a big one for that matter. I was a one-time deputy state chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), between 1993 and 1994. In fact, I have been in politics, right from the school. I was actively involved in school politics, and after I graduated I continued.

What attracted you to the mainstream politics?

My elder brother, Malam Lawal Dambazau, was one of the biggest politicians in Kano. My teacher and mentor, the late Damasanin Kano, was also a great politician. He taught me how to play politics and how to speak in public. Whenever school closed, I would go to his house and learn something from him. I will never forget him in my life. I benefitted a lot from him. I was a guest speaker on several occasions, courtesy of him. I represented him in so many occasions. I learnt the practice of history from my elder brother, Malam Lawal Danbazau.

How did your political life start?

It started right from school. I started developing interest in politics from reading newspapers, such as the Comet, the West African Pilot, Gaskiya Tafi Kob and the Nigerian Citizen. I joined the PRP at my doorstep.

Sule Lamido and Nasiru Aliko Koki registered me in the PRP even though I was their senior in politics. They were the leaders of the party when I went to join in 1983. I can remember that when I went to my brother, Lawal Danbazau and told him that I wanted to join politics proper since I had retired, he said I should go and come back the following week. He said I should go and think over it again and again. When I came back, he said that since I had made up my mind to join politics, I should not remember who my father was. He said, “Wada, you don’t ever remember that you are from a ruling family or something of that nature.’’ He said I should not remember that I came from Shehu Usmanu’s family since I had decided to join politics. He said that if I didn’t do that, someone would do it to me and it would hurt me. He asked if I could do that and I said yes. And it all happened because I saw all he told me practically during my political engagements. I can remember that when I was a campaign director to the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua, I was sitting in my office at the party secretariat situated at Sultan Road in Kano GRA when some political thugs, including three women, started abusing me to my ears.

However, I became popular in politics during Kwankwaso’s firt tenure, that is 1999. I was his director of special duties. But that was the only time I felt I should leave politics.

What actually happened?

It is a long story and I don’t want to release it, especially to the press. It was a terrible experience. That was when I quit active politics. I don’t know whether he regretted losing me, but I believe he did because I really served him very well. If you have heard about somebody who returned N103 million to the treasury of the Kano State Government in 2003, it’s me.

I returned the money, not because I did not like money, but because I didn’t want ill-gotten money. The N103 million was not actually mine, and to love money more than a human being or prestige is not in Wada Waziri. And to love money more than my people is not in me. I will never love money to please my mind, forget myself or forget who I am.

What was the N103m meant for?

The money was meant for the campaign of Kwankwaso’s second term bid.

What happened was that I requested for N103m for the campaign and it was given to me. We also organised a fundraising dinner, where we equally generated huge money for Kwankwaso. We used the fundraising money for the campaign and it was quiet sufficient for us to do the campaign. Throughout the campaign, we did not touch the N103m and the money remained in an account for a very long time. It was after we lost the election to Malam Ibrahim Shekarau that I personally returned the money to the treasury of the Kano State Government without Kwankwaso’s knowledge.

Fortunately, on the day I was taking my belongings from my office in the Government House, somebody who was aware of the withdrawal of the N103m informed the transmission committee that I was given such money for campaign. So I was approached by the committee. I was in my office when members of the committee sent for me. When I went there, the chairman, Alhaji Kassim Musa Bichi, threw a direct question to me, saying, “There was N103m you received from the treasury for the purpose of campaign: Where is that money?’’ I kept quiet for some time, then said I was still under my boss and was answerable to him, so there was no reason for the question. But I said I would answer him because I knew where he was heading to. So I said to the members of the committee that I had returned the money to the treasury of the Kano State Government and they should verify if they liked. When they inquired, the receipt was produced for them. The entire members of the committee were shocked when I said I had returned the money to the treasury. Even Kwankwaso did not know that I had returned the money to the state government.

Was that what made you feel bad?

That was not the reason I felt bad. It’s far from that. But that’s my pride in service. Politics of nowadays is dirty. A lot of people we played politics together cherished our lives.

You served under the colonial masters for 10 years, what lessons did you learn from them?

I learnt justice. If they said a certain way would take you to a place, they ensured you followed the road till you reached the destination. Their only problem was that you would never understand their motives of doing things, but they were just.

They would teach you to be just and peaceful. They would teach you to love your job. If you loved your job, the white man would like you and show that he liked you so that somebody would emulate you.

You worked as a civil servant and were also actively involved in politics. You are now a traditional titleholder, which one of them do you like most?

Certainly, the traditional title because that is the one I inherited from my forefathers. I found myself as a son of a traditional ruler. God gave us long life. From Shehu Usmanu till date we have only seven Sarkin Bai. That’s unlike the Makama, our twin brother, where there have been over 10 Makamas and over 10 Madakis. The present Sarkin Bai has been on the throne for 63 years. He worked with about six Madakis. He has been on the throne since 1954.

How do you spend your day?

I spend much of my time with my people. If I am not with my people in Dambatta town, I will be in Makoda, or in Kano to pay homage to Emir Muhammadu Sanusi. Whenever I go to Kano, I ensure that I see my people.

At Dambatta, I normally wake up at dawn, observe my prayer and go to the toilet and take my bath.

My biggest problem is that the moment I wake up, I hardly go back to bed again until night. But I still go to my office; that is my palace at Makoda to discuss issues with my people and attend meetings at the local government secretariat, and so on so forth. I always keep myself busy. I don’t stay idle.

Are you into farming?

Of course, I am into farming, but not in a large scale. I only farm what I will feed my family with. In this year’s rainy season I was able to harvest 100 bags of millet. And I have two rice farms, which I am about to harvest.

What is the size of your family?

I have three wives, but one died. I have only six children and over 20 grandchildren. The last born of my daughter would be handed over in marriage this Sunday.