Professor Jibrin Ibrahim is a person with a commanding presence. I do not mean this in a metaphorical sense, though such could be seen as legitimate. I refer rather to his boisterous presence, taking a potshot at practically everyone and everything with his acute sense of humour, wit and laughter, none of which takes away from his deep, reflective, intellect. There is truly no dull moment with him. He is entertaining, engaging, educative and enlightening. I never miss an opportunity to be in his company. Almost inevitably, I go away, either entertained, educated or enlightened, frequently all.
I first met Jibo, as we all fondly call him, sometime in 1977 or 1978. We were both then students at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. I joined the university then as freshman in 1976 at the Kongo Campus where the law faculty was situated. This was after spending an extended academic year in the pre-degree programme at the School of Basic Studies on the Main Campus of the university at Samaru. These were probably the best days to be at Ahmadu Bello University, neigh, any Nigerian University. It was a great citadel of learning. ABU was a diverse institution, with a rich international faculty. Scholars came from all around the world. A truly vibrant learning and teaching environment. My first real ‘university experience’ was when as a new student, I stepped into the university library, the Kashim Ibrahim Library (KIL), then at its old site in the centre of the academic buildings and the university administrative building was an awe-inspiring edifice. I recall how overwhelmed I was the first time I stepped into the building in 1976. The array of books, journals, periodicals and reference materials was simply stunning. My love for KIL continued when it moved to the massive new multi-storey complex. My favourite section of the library was the new arrivals section into which at the time, every publication from across the world could be found within a matter of days. I would plan to spend about 30 minutes exploring the new arrivals section whenever I visited the library. Often, I ended up spending the whole day. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, situated not far from the KIL old building was beehive of academic activities. Practically every week, seminars, conferences and workshops abound. The intellectual environment had such towering radical scholars like Patrick Wilmot, Yusuf Bala Usman, Bjorn Beckman, Mahmud Tukur and the not so radical, like Ibrahim Tahir. At the Law Faculty, we also had our share of radical scholars like Kwame Opoku, Kharsion Chukol and many others. Though I was studying law at Kongo, I was regularly at the main campus for one activity or the other and it was in this milieu that I built a relationship and lifelong friendship with the likes of Jibo, Nntiem Kungai, Abdulraufu Mustapha, Yahaya Hashim, Asma’u Joda, Abubakar Wai, Husseini Abdulrahman and several others who were in the student movements at the time. The Movement for a Progressive Nigeria (MPN) was the main radical left leaning student movement in the two campuses of Ahmadu Bello University. It was under the umbrella of this movement, and the rich intellectual tradition of that era during which we dreamt and fantasized about a great future Nigeria that our friendships were incubated.
Jibo and Raufu enjoyed a close friendship. They were both students at the political science department. They were recruited as graduate assistants on graduation and shared the same apartment in Samaru which I frequented. They were later to proceed for their postgraduate studies; Raufu to University of Oxford in the UK and Jibo to “Etudes Africaines”, Istitut d’Etudes Politiques, Bourdeaux, France. Our friendship and activism continued even when they both returned to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria to teach with their spouses joining them shortly afterwards. Naturally, we all quickly cemented into one large family.
Prof Jibrin Ibrahim is well known to many for his high academic achievements and publications both locally and internationally. As an academic, he is well published and frequently cited. As a consultant for numerous development agencies and governments both in Nigeria, across West Africa, whether the World Bank, UNDP or ECOWAS, he has contributed immensely to understanding of various development challenges whether it is around security, conflict, religious studies, electoral democracy or governance. His work with the Uwais Commission on Electoral Reforms remains well known and acknowledged. His regular column in the Daily Trust newspapers has become a popular read amongst ordinary Nigerians and policymakers. I am sure there are many persons that can speak better to these immense contributions as an academic or public intellectual. Nonetheless, over the course of the last several decades, I have shared close work and other related experience with Jibo which perhaps could enrich our understanding of his immense contributions to Nigeria and his community.
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I begin from the early 1980s. I believe it was during his studies as a post graduate student at ABU that a major international women’s conference was held at the Samaru Campus of the university in early 1982, championed by women academics and activists like Ayesha Imam, Bene Madunagu, Bilkisu Yusuf, Renee Pittin and a host of others. It was this international conference on women rights in Nigeria that led to the formation of ‘Women In Nigeria’ which quickly became the most prominent women’s rights group in the country. It was under the umbrella of this organisation that several women (and male) leaders were to be groomed and mentored across Nigeria. From its inception, men who shared the vision and ideals of the organisation of promoting women’s rights, equality and justice rooted in the broader context of human rights for all, formed part and parcel of ‘Women in Nigeria’. Jibo, Abudlraufu Mustapha, Yahaya Hashim, Husseni Abdulrahman, many others and I formed part of the initial founders and were joined by some of our spouses, Pat Mahmoud, Charmaine Pereira and Kate Meagher. Our friendship and ties continued to blossom over the years joined in shared vision and aspirations for a greater, just and equitable Nigeria.
Tapping into Jibo’s sharp intellectual mind and deep understanding of the Nigerian political economy has characterised our relationship in the last four and a half decades that I have known him. This has happened not only as a reader and follower of Jibo’s public intellectual engagements and contribution to national discourses, but I have in my own professional life often relied on Jibo to enrich my understanding of national and often international issues.
In 2016, I was elected President of the Nigerian Bar Association, a position I held for two years. Jibo including several colleagues and friends such as Prof. Attahiru Jega, Prof Abdulra’ufu Mustapha, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, Dr. Kole Shettima and many others helped in shaping some of the ideas that we tried to pursue especially around NBAs public interest engagements in conflict-areas of the Niger Delta, the North East, North-Central and North-West Regions of the country. Jibo along with Prof Odinkalu were among the experts we engaged to assist us in interpreting and deciphering the dynamics of the conflicts in Southern Kaduna and other parts of the country. I was aware of Jibo’s work on conflict analysis of the ethno-religious drivers of conflict in Kaduna State, as well as his studies on the Boko Haram conflict in the Northeast region of Nigeria. Thus, when we decided to embark on our study and advocacy tours to the conflict-ridden areas of Kaduna State, Jibo and Odinkalu were among the team of experts that we engaged and brought as part of the NBA team. Jibo brought his years of experience in conflict and religious studies to this assignment, and we found his contributions invaluable. He attended our meetings with lawyers from conflict areas. At the beginning of our engagement, it quickly dawned on us that our first task was to say to our members from Kaduna State that they were not combatants in those conflicts. Rather, they must view themselves as lawyers concerned about rights, rule of law and constitutional order. Their role in conflict situations involving their respective communities was not to line up behind the adversaries, rather, in line with the motto of our association, ‘Promoting the Rule of Law’, to assist in conflict resolution and protection of rights of victims. Both Jibo and Odinkalu, helped greatly in promoting these ideas. In our meetings with the Kaduna State Government officials, our townhall meetings in Kafanchan and various visits to affected communities in Southern Kaduna, Jibo’s expertise in conflict studies helped shaped our engagement a great deal. We benefited from his resourcefulness, knowledge and understanding of the conflict dynamics and in shaping our recommendations for the short, medium to long term strategies for addressing the interactable conflicts in those communities.
A few months afterwards, Jibo along with Godwin Abu, a professor at Federal University of Agriculture Benue State were amongst the experts we engaged to accompany the Nigeria Bar Association Mission to Benue State. This was at the height of the farmers/herders’ conflict in the state and some of the controversial state government policies in the wake of the crisis. During our visit, we met with the state governor and other top-ranking officials, and we visited the camps where displaced persons were sheltering.
In February 2020, my firm decided to honour one of our founding partners, Alhaji Abubakar Boyi Dikko who had died a year earlier. After consulting with family and friends, it was agreed that we organised a national symposium around the theme ‘Farmers/ Herders Conflict’. The choice of the theme was informed partly by late Dikko’s passionate involvement with the farmers/herders’ conflict and the positive role he played in mediating disputes and conflicts involving Fulani herdsmen and farmers not only in Kebbi, his home state but indeed across Northern Nigeria through his various networks. Again, we had to fall on Jibo’s resourcefulness and networks to assist in assembling an array of scholars and researchers in the field who converged in Kebbi for a highly successful National Symposium under the distinguished Chairmanship of the then Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN.
On behalf of my wife, myself and our children, all of whom are extremely fond of Jibo, I wish you a happy 70th birthday. Your life has been a source of inspiration for us. Our friendship has been a source of joy. Do not underrate how deeply impactful you have been on us.
More importantly, few intellectuals of your generation have been so involved in so many facets of our community and national life and have made such an impact as you have!! We wish you a happy birthday and many more years ahead in good health and prosperity.
May your dreams of a greater, united, prosperous, and equitable Nigeria, founded on the rule of law and justice to all come true in your lifetime.
Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN, OON
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