(Being a Book Review of Niger State Under Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago: A Great Democrat by Sayuti Ibrahim Halilu published by Polasphere Books Ltd., Minna, in 2024)
There are two perspectives to view today’s books presentation. First, is the literary attempt by Hon. Sayuti Ibrahim Halilu to document for posterity the activities of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago as a man of vision democratically steering his state to Pax Nigerna (the golden age of peace, progress and development of Niger State). Second, is a celebration of the marriage between a farmer of crops represented by Farmer Bago and the coterie of farmers of ideas represented by the Niger State corpus of writers committed to the uncanny socio-economic transformation of Niger State into the modern El-Dorado (“a place of great wealth or opportunity”) in Nigeria.
Through his 242-page, all gloss paperback with a generous splash of 234 full colour pictures and micro-photos across 88 pages including the front and back covers, Halilu gives a lucid rendition in an exciting free-flowing prose through eight chapters of the impressive activities of Bago that span his childhood background to adulthood, and what makes him tick as the 15th overall governor but the 6th civilian governor of Niger State since its creation in 1976. The chapters, which are preceded by the Foreword crafted by Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives, are: Chapter One: Brief History of Niger State, Chapter Two: The Man Umaru Mohammed Bago, The Background and The Making of Umaru Bago, Chapter Three: Umaru Mohammed Bago – The Politician and A Great Democrat and New Niger Agenda and Achievements, Chapter Four: The Niger State First Family and Humanitarian Services, Chapter Five: Selected Speeches of FGMUB, Chapter Six: Stakeholders’ Views on Bago, Chapter Seven: Farmer Governor Bago Leadership Quotes, and Chapter Eight: Commendations to the Governor; then Conclusion.
There are a lot of sterling claims that need to be fact-checked but on face value they leave the reader with an awe-inspiring vista of the governor as someone who has come to power to do things differently. In the words of the governor, “It cannot be business as usual but business unusual as we will serve the people with the fear of God, transparency (and) accountability, and discipline shall be our watch word”(Halilu 64). What gives the reader hope is the array of the antecedent achievements of the governor as a consecutive, three-time member of the House of Representatives (2011 – 2023) representing Chanchaga Federal Constituency, Niger State. He had put up a stellar performance with remarkable activities of developmental progress. They include sponsoring or co-sponsoring 11 bills and moving three motions that eventually fetched him no fewer than 16 impeccable laurels. Among those bills he co-sponsored is the famously historic “Not Too Young To Run Bill”(Halilu 35) which gave the Nigerian youths the legal framework to aspire and contest for the highest elective positions in the land. Some of the laurels are the “Award of Excellence as the Most Courageous Representative” by the House of Representatives Press Corps on 12th July, 2021 at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja; “Performing Representative Member of the Year Award” at Democracy Heroes Award (Seventh Edition) on 16th October, 2019 at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja; and “Award of the Most Outstanding Representative” by the North Central Zone (Halilu 37 – 38). Even within a year of being in office and implementing his “New Niger State” gubernatorial agenda, one of the foremost newspapers of the country, the LEADERSHIP, deemed it worthy to decorate him as the “Governor of the Year 2023” (Halilu 67).
What makes Bago a “farmer” and “a great democrat”? It is not the well-groomed bearded, handsome face or polished skin or sartorial elegance that makes Bago a farmer despite his simple looks. Nor his being a chip of the aristocratic Alhaji Mohammed Mustapha (the second Baraden Nupe) dynasty with a maternal bloodline from the Jantabo royal family of Lapai. It is the passion to conquer poverty by making use of what you have to get what you want. What Niger State has above every other state of the federation is abundant land mass (76,363 km2, “accounting for about 10% of the total land size of Nigeria, and hosts the longest distance of federal roads, which is about 8% of the entire national federal road network”, Halilu 197). This is augmented with solid minerals, arable soil and abundance of water that feeds three hydro-power stations (Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba as well as new ones such as the Zungeru and Tagwai) in the state which generate electricity across the country. Bago has reiterated the slogan that “we have no reason to be poor as a nation with a proud history deeply rooted in agriculture.” As he told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday 11th March, 2024, at the commissioning of the renamed Minna International Airport, “Niger State is your Agricultural Army to combat hunger and banish poverty from our land forever” (Halilu 203). Bago who is a product of Bida, an agrarian economy, whose 90% of its teeming population are farmers (Halilu 5), should know the value of agriculture. Not only because agriculture remains the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy and the largest contributor to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) but also the fact that the largest economies in the world thrive on agriculture. They include the United States of America, China, India and Russia. Fortunately too, Bago’s impressive academic credentials with two Master’s degrees in Economics and Finance from two Nigerian varsities at Ekpoma and Calabar respectively and an alumnus of Cambridge University, United Kingdom, coupled with his banking career at United Bank for Africa (UBA), Standard Trust Bank (STB), First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and AfriBank, have combined to shape a mindset for agricultural and solid minerals business in governance.
Sadly, the North has neglected the source of its economic advantage, which Bago has the vision to revive. Even on the national platform of the Green Chamber (HoR) Bago co-sponsored an important bill for the Northern Region known as the ”Rehabilitation, Resuscitation, Recovery and Development of North of Nigeria” Indeed, Bago’s lofty socio-economic goals for Niger cast a ray of hope of having a modern reincarnation of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and late Premier of the Northern Region, who made the North have the strongest economy in the country. Sardauna’s astute leadership and developmental vision made the North-Central sub-region the bedrock of tin and columbite mining for exports; the North-East sub-region as the fulcrum of the production of hides and skins, sesame and gum-Arabic; and the North-West sub-region as the hub of the famous cotton and groundnut pyramids which sustained the European textiles and vegetable oil companies. Incidentally, the governor’s father used to play host to Sardauna and other top-ranking Northern officials each time they visited Jos (Halilu 21), where he was popularly known as Alhaji Mamman Bida. He was a prominent businessman in oil and gas as well as a member of the Jos Native Council, who was loved for his great philanthropy, an inspiring legacy inherited by his farmer governor-son.
What makes Farmer Bago “a great democrat”? The author has not provided any practical definition of what he considers to be a democrat. But, we can take an imaginary flight to the Gettysburg National Cemetery, Pennsylvania, USA, where on November 19, 1863, one of America’s greatest statesmen, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) and the 16th President of the United States (1861-1865), dropped a hint of the meaning of democracy while honouring the soldiers that had sacrificed their lives at the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg earlier that year. He said,
“The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth” (Microsoft Encarta 2009).
So the phrase “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” shall be the window through which to assess Bago’s democratic credentials. Is Bago’s government that of the people? As a symbol of his government, he was popularly elected on March 18, 2023. Throughout his campaign for votes he floated the slogan, “Stronger Together”. Ultimately, the Niger people gave him triumphal 469,896 votes compared to his strongest competitor’s 387,476 votes secured by Alhaji Liman Isah Kantigi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 gubernatorial election, posting a margin of 82,420 votes. In politics just one vote can make the difference. That emphatic victory however, can be said to make his, a government of the people. Then, is his government by the people? In other words, is his government a one-man show? Democracy rests on a tripod of three or quartet of four institutions – legislature, executive, judiciary and even the local government councils. The book drops a hint at the infrastructural development of Minna, the capital city, (the soon-to-be-made Smart City) where there is a design to build a four-arms zone housing a befitting serene environment accommodating the offices of the legislature, executive, judiciary and councils. The relationship between the governor and legislators has been described by the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, thus, “His Excellency, Farmer Governor Bago is peaceful, a democrat, a friend of All Progressives Congress. We all admire him on account of his simplicity and consultation in running the State’s affairs” (Halilu 218). These positive sentiments are echoed by Hon. Afiniki Eunice Dauda, the Deputy Speaker, Niger State House of Assembly, who said, “He is full of innovations in the management of the State’s resources. He is a reformer and respects all class (sic) of people. He is focused and resolute, he carries everybody along. He is a wonderful Manager and Administrator” (Halilu 218). On working collaboratively with the local councils, the Niger State Chairman of the Association of Local Government Councils of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Iliyasu Zakari Jikantoro, said inter alia,
“ALGON as a body has never been more proud and full of commendation to a State Government like we are to the administration of the Farmer Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, primarily for not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring that Niger State gets a facelift through a deliberate paradigm shift towards infrastructural development…
“We will continue to stand by the Farmer Governor, continue to support him and not relent in our collective will to promote his visions and replicate his achievements in our Local Government Areas” (Halilu 225-6).
To effectively pull the people together he courted the traditional ruling institutions in the state. Indeed HRH, Alhaji (Dr) Umar Farouk Bahago, the Emir of Minna, said,
“The Farmer Governor has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the traditional institution in Niger State. His support and respect to us are truly remarkable and deserving of praise.
“His efforts to transform and strengthen the traditional institution have been noteworthy. He has consistently engaged with us, seeking our counsel and collaboration on matters of state importance….” (Halilu 233).
The foregoing quotes show that Bago floats a government by the people through effective collaborative efforts with all the key democratic institutions for the ultimate benefit of the people of Niger State. How is Bago’s government for the people? From the outset, he charted the path for his developmental plans for the state in what he calls the “New Niger Agenda” in his inaugural speech, and backed it up with action. He proclaimed, “We can never guarantee the achievement for ourselves without engaging in the development, progress and prosperity for the people who gave us the mandate” (Halilu 41). The governor embarked upon a tour of 25 LGAs in the state for an on-the-spot assessment of the situations and also to connect with the people. Thereafter, he pursued the Citizens Engagement via Townhall meetings in six strategic areas across the three senatorial districts of the state – Minna, Kutigi, Kuta, Katcha, Agwara and Mariga. The vision of his development is predicated upon the maiden Niger State First Green Economy Summit with a view to embarking upon his green revolution, which is massive agricultural investment. He further launched the Gold International Market, Minna. He has also lent support to the continuous exploration of oil in the Bida Basin to diversify the economic base of the state. Further, he has given employment to the people, and empowered students with scholarship and bursary awards, and the national youth service corps scheme members in the state with employment and financial incentives. These are testimonies to Bago’s pursuit of a government for the people. Bago has so far been presented with evidence from the book that he is indeed a farmer governor and great democrat.
A psychoanalytical reading of the governor’s speeches indicates a mind bolstered by the fear of Allah; unalloyed loyalty to the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s ideals and its national leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose name will decorate another monument, an ultra-modern multipurpose complex for sports and recreation, known as the Bola Tinubu Square (BTS) in place of the Trade Fair Complex, Minna; a commitment of service to the people with inspiring slogans and catch-phrases; and driven by the high, record performance of global exemplary political achievers such as the famous ex-Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, the pioneer transformational head of government of the rapidly industrialized Singapore from 1959 to 1990.
Similarly, Halilu’s narrative account dissolves into history, currency and futurism blended with philosophical precepts and inspiring quotes. He has demonstrated competence beyond his current role as the Chairman of Agaie Local Government Area Council to an accomplished author of four books, the last two being his latest. His intellectualism is brought to bear in his works as a holder of a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in both Agricultural and Bio-Resource Engineering from Minna and International Relations and Diplomacy from Lapai respectively.
Commendable as the author’s insightful and well-packaged book is, there are observations to be made. First, in his historical account of the Nupe Empire, he has made allusion to the so-called Fulani Empire (Halilu 28), which is a rather historical fallacy or Eurocentric construct. This is because the epithet “fulani” is erroneously attached to the empire that followed the Islamic Jihad of the 19th century CE led by Usmanu Dan Fodiyo, a Muslim cleric of the Fulani ethnic stock. However, we do know in point of fact that the army of Jihadists comprised different ethnic groups both within and outside the boundaries of Nigeria even though the Jihadists were bound by the Islamic faith, and that the Jihad was a wind that swept across the entire West Africa not limited to Nigeria. Besides, and most importantly, Islam was not introduced to Nigeria by the Jihad or Dan Fodiyo himself. He existed in Gobir, one of the seven Hausa states, in the late 18th century and died in early 19th century. Islam came to Nigeria in the 7th century CE courtesy of the Shuwa Arabs who settled in Kanem-Bornu. In other words, Islam had been in Nigeria for over a thousand years before the birth of Fodiyo. So Afrocentric history holds that what trailed Fodiyo’s holy war was the Sokoto Caliphate of all tribes that were Muslims instead of an ethnic Fulani enclave.
Second, is the rather casual mention by the author in the biography of the governor’s father, Alhaji Muhammad Mustapha, where he wrote, “While late Alhaji Muhammed Mustapha was Mallam Tauhid’s disciple, he also seized the opportunity to attend evening classes with white men and was able to acquire the skill of writing and reading Hausa language fluently” (Halilu 20). Even though it might be true that the governor’s dad learnt the skill of writing and reading from the so-called white men who might be Eurasians: Europeans and Asians (especially Arabs), there is an underlying false assumption about the educational supremacy of the white men over the black men. As a literary Egyptologist, I know for sure, that the art of writing and reading was invented by the black people of Kemet (ancient Egypt). In fact, both the Greco-Roman orthography (A,B,C, – XYZ) and the Arabic writing or script trace their origins to Egypt, which were spread across the world through conquests by the black pharaohs, especially Thutmose III, called the “Napoleon of ancient Egypt”, who conquered 110 countries to establish the first global empire of Kemet. That is why the two oldest modern varsities in the world, al-Qarawwiyyin University of Fez, Morrocco, and al-Azhar University of Cairo, Egypt, are in Africa. In fact, Morocco had a hand in establishing the first varsity in Europe, which is the University of Salamanca, Spain, at the time Morocco ruled over Grenada, Spain, for 800 years. So the oldest writing in the world is the medu-netjer (hieroglyphs) of the black Egyptians, which metamorphosed into other forms of writing such as demotic, hieratic and Coptic scripts. The Roman alphabet is traced to the demotic script while the Arabic script is traced to hieratic script.
Third, the author beautifully cited some two important quotes about women’s positive roles in the lives of their men. The first quote is, “Behind every successful man, there is a woman” and “A man with dreams needs a woman with vision” (Halilu 149). Yet, only one picture in a vanishingly small chapter of Her Excellency, Hajia Larai Muhammed Bago, the First Lady of Niger State, standing alone features compared to the 72 pictures of the husband (two of which he shared with her), and not really quite much was written about her or her office. I am not suggesting a competition between husband and wife but the wife should be projected enough as complementing her husband, since they have both embarked upon the same political journey, with him in the front, and she behind. It is an oversight, which I believe the author will rectify in the next edition.
Fourth, in narrating the achievements of the governor, it is an oversight that his love for his workers by approving a minimum wage of N80,000.00 above the Federal Government’s approval of N70,000.00 for federal workers escaped the eyes of the author. Similarly, the gesture of the governor to the tribe of writers in the state by doling out a N10 million largesse to the Foundation was not captured. In a sense, it is a fundamental error because Bago won the large hearts of the literary world with this gesture. Besides, writers from Niger State have excelled in the literary arena right from the colonial times when Dr. Abubakar Imam Kagara, legendary Hausa author of Magana Jari Ce and Ruwan Bagaja, blazed the trail of Northern Nigerian literature, journalism and nationalist struggle. He was later joined by prominent writers including late Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa after whom the national writers’ village, Mpape, Abuja, was named. Other legion of writers include late Abubakar Gimba, Yahaya Dangana, Baba Muhammad Dzukogi, Farida Mohammed, Hajara Mohammed, Amra Aliyu, etc. The point here is that, there is a fertile goldmine of a knowledge economy that the Niger State corpus of writers is capable of engineering. Therefore, there should be a conscious marriage between farming crops and farming literary knowledge with a view to harvesting a robust Niger economy. Hence our celebration today should transcend adulating Hon. Sayuti Ibrahim Halilu to the host of writers in Niger State.
Fifth, it is rather surprising that the most prominent monarch in Niger State from where the governor hails, Alhaji Dr. Yahaya Abubakar, the Emir of Bida and Etsu Nupe, does not have any words for the governor inside the book except in the blurb at the back cover. A blurb usually contains an excerpt from the body of the work. A comprehensive quote from him should be representative of the eight emirs in the state based in Agaie, Bida, Borgu, Kagara, Kontagora, Lapai, Minna and Suleja. The next edition of the book should reflect his impression of the governor both inside the book and the blurb.
Sixth, given the governor’s impressive track record of public service, he may be advised to be circumspect about too much romance with PBAT and the tendency to name public projects after himself so that his successors may not find the excuse to reverse them.
Seventh, something must be said about the perception of the vibrant Niger State writers. Niger State is a groundswell of vibrant writers with an articulated philosophy who identify themselves as “writers of the Fourth Order” (Sule 9). It is probably the only state in Nigeria with such an ideological mindset for its writers, which is good and a signpost of high and conscious intellectualism. The promoters of the Fourth Order are said to be B. M. Dzukogi, Kamar Hamza and Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmed who have written extensive essays on it. Their combined creative energies have turned Niger into a beehive of creative initiatives. They include the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation (HTCAF), Hafsat Ibrahim Aliyu Schools Festival (HIAFEST), the Nigerian Teen Authorship Scheme (NTAS) and The Blue Resolution Initiative (TBRi) aimed at promoting literature right from the grassroots. In a critique of the Fourth Order, a self-effacing northern Christian or Middle Belt writer observes
“… the chain of northern Nigerian conservatism undergirding their idea and practice of the Fourth Order. It seemed to me that morality and social etiquettes, as deployed in their philosophical expositions were based on Islamic religion and civilization, without paying the slightest attention to the complex colonial history of Islamization. In my view, therefore, the so-called Fourth Order – which bodies forth in their creative writings with powerful symbols and images – was a wilful or intentional self-subjugation to a colonial tradition that, at best, would be counterproductive to the goal of raising social agents. So, I had and would always be suspicious of … philosophy of mentorship insofar as it leans towards morality and social etiquette rooted in a conservatism that is more Arab than African” (Sule 20).
The foregoing is obviously a gratuitous and provocative profiling of a group of writers who have chosen to be married to their feelings and beliefs as the social engineering of their creatives. There is no body of writers or movement in any part of the world which runs away from its ethos couched in its socio-cultural and religious beliefs. Certainly not in the West, the chief colonizers of the world, who via the ‘Scramble for Africa’ in the late 19th century, foisted on Africa Christian missionary and so-called public schools run according to the Christian doctrine in the school curriculum. So what has been embraced from the West are Christian-laundered colonial legacies with their symbols and images, which have upturned almost every aspect of the African culture or tradition. In a sense, therefore, it is revolutionary to go against the Western doctrinal values with all their negatives imbibed in modern schools and creative literature championed by the writer-critic. Besides, it is ahistorical to speak of a “colonial history of Islamization”! What exactly does it mean? Where is the proof? Was there any Islamic or Arab colony in sub-Saharan Africa other than the wave of migrations of Arabs to North Africa in the 7th century? Even so, have those Arab-dominated North African countries been run as colonies of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam? Where is the evidence? The Muslim-dominated North has been influenced by the Islamic ideals much as the non-Muslim areas have been dominated by Christian or customary ideals. But, both the Muslims and Christians have been subjected to Western colonialism. Every art is driven by an ideology, and Niger State is free to determine for its writers what ideology to pursue. The non-Muslim writers in Niger State will be free to chart for themselves the ideal ideology as they deem fit. So it is preposterous to talk about northern Nigeria, being a region “unkind to Western intellectualism, creativity, and critical thinking” (Sule 5). By the way, the West relied on Islamic civilization and scholarship to get out of its dark ages, and launch its Renaissance period. Read world history.
The Niger State corpus of writers have become an important phenomenon in Nigeria, which nobody should ignore but intensify effort to integrate in the scheme of administration in the state. Pax Nigerna will be achievable with the effective support of the writers by evolving a buoyant knowledge and creative economy to augment the green economy, which the farmer governor is so passionate about.
Finally, it has been my great honour to stand here for the second time in 37 years before a Niger State Governor to review a book at its presentation. The first time was in 1988 when I was invited to deliver the book review of Abubakar Gimba’s novel, Innocent Victims, in the presence of Niger State military Governor, Major Lawan Gwadabe, at the newly commissioned Shiroro Hotel, Minna. But, today it is done at the prestigious Shehu Musa ‘Yar Adua Centre, Abuja. Felicitations to Farmer Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago and his ably supportive wife, Hajiya (Mrs) Fatima Larai Mohammed Umaru Bago. Congratulations to the Niger State writers. Kudos to Hon. Sayuti Ibrahim Halilu.
Al-Bishak, PhD, M.O.N., f-ANA, is a Professor of African Literature with specialty in Literary Egyptology, Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, and can be contacted on bashbash3000@gmail.com.
Works Cited
- E.E. Sule. BM Dzukogi As An Archive: Literature, Activism and Mentorship. (Keynote Address). Minna: Polarsphere Books Ltd, 2025 (Print).
- ”Gettysburg Address”. Microsoft Encarta 2009. [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008 (DVD).
- Halilu, Sayuti Ibrahim. Niger State Under A Great Democrat: Farmer Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago. Minna: Polarsphere Books Ltd, 2024 (Print).
