By MUSA KRISHI

October 1 every year is a special day for Nigerians, as  it marks the country’s independence anniversary. It is double celebrations for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Abbas Tajudeen, whose birthday falls on the same day.

While Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, the Speaker was born on October 1, 1965. Nobody could have guessed at his birth that he would become a national figure, the Number Four Citizen in his fatherland, almost six decades later.

Until he threw his hat in the ring to contest for Speaker last year, many Nigerians knew little or nothing about him. Well, that’s Speaker Abbas Tajudeen for you! He had maintained a low profile almost throughout his 12 years in the House since his first arrival in 2011. He is the first and only person to be re-elected for the Reps seat for Zaria Federal Constituency. He has held the mandate in four electoral cycles since his entry into politics.

My first one-on-one encounter with him was in March, 2018 when, as a parliamentary reporter covering the activities of the House for the Daily Trust Newspaper, I came across a bill he had sponsored. It was a draft legislation that sought the conversion of Kaduna Polytechnic—my alma mater and one of Nigeria’s first-generation polytechnics—to a federal university of technology.

I picked interest in the bill. So, I approached him to shed more light on it, and he obliged. That encounter confirmed to me what I had heard about him—calm, calculated, intellectually deep. I saw a man who fit the bill of someone ‘minding their business’. He had sponsored many bills before then, but never made any ‘noise’ about them. I wondered why a man of his intellectual depth with such a discerning mind kept to himself in the legislature, where cacophony was the order of the day among some lawmakers.

Fast-forward to May 2023. I met him during the speakership campaign before his endorsement by the All Progressives Congress, APC, as its preferred candidate for the Number Four Citizen’s seat.

After his emergence on June 13, 2023, he appointed me as his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity. My new role in the Speaker’s Office brought me closer to Speaker Abbas, a prince of the Zazzau Emirate, who holds the traditional title of the Iyan Zazzau.

It soon dawned on me that I actually knew nothing about the Speaker’s intellectual depth. Here is a man who started his career as a primary school teacher between 1981 and 1988 with the Education Department of Zaria Local Government. He was not a fortuitous teacher. He was at the Katsina Teacher’s College from 1978 to 1981 and gained admission to the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, in 1982, and obtained a Diploma in Accounting (1984). He later bagged a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the same ABU in 1988.

His quest for knowledge saw him obtain a Master’s Degree in Business Administration yet again from ABU in 1993. His Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D, is in Business Management from the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, in 2010.  

Not many know that Speaker Abbas served as an Accountant II with the Bursary Department of the Kaduna State Polytechnic (now Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic), Zaria, in 1989, and later became Lecturer II with the Accounting and Finance Department of the same institution. He was the founding Head of Department. He became the youngest lecturer to join the services of the institution at the time.

Two things happened recently, which partly necessitated my choice of the title for this piece. Speaker Abbas was the pioneer head of the department of accounting at the Kaduna State University, KASU, in 2005. The institution is about to hold one of its annual international conferences in November. One of the lecturers contacted me and said they wanted the Speaker to be the guest of honour. They also plan to confer an award on the Speaker. When I told him the Speaker had worked at the institution about two decades ago and even started the accounting department, he marveled. 

The second incident was on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. Some students of KASU’s Department of Political Science visited the National Assembly on an excursion. They decided to visit the Speaker at his office to seek his fatherly advice and present him with an award. We were all taken aback that the students did not know the speaker had worked at the institution.

But those were not the only reasons for my choice of the title. When Speaker Abbas sponsored a record-breaking 74 bills in the 9th Assembly, out of which 21 were signed into law by former president, Muhammadu Buhari, it seemed nobody knew about it until the time for the speakership campaign. Like many Nigerians, I struggled to fathom why he didn’t make a buzz about such unprecedented achievements. Working with him for just a year plus, I now know that he is shy, and doesn’t like attention to himself.

On September 4, 2024, the Speaker had an interaction with the cohorts of the third Legislative Mentorship Initiative, LMI, which the immediate past Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila founded in 2022. A cohort from Ogun State asked the Speaker about his personal values and how they aligned with his constituents. His response held everyone spellbound and confirmed that he is really not one to sing personal praises.

“Well,” he said, “I’m somebody who doesn’t like speaking about himself. I always prefer people should say who you are, rather than you telling people who you are. But we are politicians. Sometimes, we need to go out of the way just to convince the doubting Thomases, who do not know you and may want to know you. The personal values I cherish most are nothing other than truth and transparency. That is what I think, largely, is holding our 10th House today. The House believes I am transparent to a greater extent; I am honest to them; I am open to them. It is the same thing that, within the last 13 and a half years, I have been giving to my constituents.”

I have since discovered that the Speaker is a compassionate, generous, and unassuming personality. Generosity runs in his blood. No wonder, he earned a Hausa sobriquet in Zaria, and the entire Zazzau Emirate: Iyan Zazzau Alheri Ne, which roughly translates to ‘Iyan Zazzau is a blessing.’

As a teacher, he is also very observant. You may think he doesn’t pay attention to what you’re doing, but you’re damn wrong! He is also likeable in every ramification. He is unaccustomed to loquaciousness. During a recent meeting with the Chief of Staff to the Speaker, Prof. Jake Dan-Azumi, he said: “You cannot sit in a room with Speaker Abbas Tajudeen for five minutes and not like him. He is that kind of person.”

Speaker Abbas can tolerate anything, but not dishonesty. He reechoed this during a meeting with his media team in September last year. He said: “Just do your work the best way you can. I have plans for everyone. 

But let me tell you this: I can take anything, but not dishonesty.” He lives by this principle.

You know what? Speaker Abbas Tajudeen is jovial! Yes, you read that from me! It is inherent in him, and it seems it is his way of easing tension occasionally. His simplicity and humility know no bounds.

Above all, the Speaker means well for Nigerians. He is concerned about the welfare and well-being of Nigerians. Daily, he talks about how to better the lives of the people. Honestly, he walks the talk. Since his assumption of office, he has engaged in and promoted many activities geared towards the betterment of the citizens.

For two years running, he has asked his friends and well-wishers not to sponsor congratulatory adverts on his birthday. Rather, he requested that such funds be channeled to charity considering the country’s prevailing situation. That’s reasonable and responsible leadership!

Being a proud teacher, he is a natural mentor who remains a role model to those of us around him and beyond.

Recently, my team had an interview with the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, in which he eulogised the Speaker. I am compelled to share same here. 

He said: “He is a great man who comes with a lovely demeanour. He comes unassuming, but highly loaded, highly intelligent, very humble, very selfless, and very liberal. I pity those who look at his lovely soft nature and think that is a weakness; no, it’s not. He’s a strong, firm, and highly principled man who believes in justice and fairness. You just have to know your limits. Once you cross those limits, the other side of him will be revealed.”

As the Speaker marks his 59th birthday, I pray for more fruitful years and sound health in service to humanity.

•Krishi is the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Speaker.