Reminiscences With Muhammad Ibrahim
Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim (OFR) was an assistant secretary 1 in the office of the premier of northern Nigeria and the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. He was the first secretary to the Kano State Executive Council from 1968 to 1969. He also served as a
Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim (OFR) was an assistant secretary 1 in the office of the premier of northern Nigeria and the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. He was the first secretary to the Kano State Executive Council from 1968 to 1969. He also served as a permanent secretary in the state’s ministries of Home Affairs, Health and Finance and Economic Development, as well as a general manager of the First Bank. He was born in Ringim, now Jigawa State in November 1935.
You rose to the top echelon of the civil service in Kano State; how did the journey begin?
In 1943, I was enrolled into a primary school at Ringim. After four years there I was sent to the Kano Middle School, which is now known as Rumfa College. I passed out of the school on December 31, 1951. Three months after that, I joined the Nigerian Railway Corporation in Zaria, precisely on March 17, 1952. I and two other people from Kano underwent a sixmonth training programme. So we were three in that Class of 26. When we passed out in September 1952, I was posted to Funtua. I was in Funtua from 1952 to 1955 as a train clerk. At some point, I was also a ticket booking clerk. I must confess that that was my most interesting experience because we had railway quarters and my neighbours from the South would caution me not to waste my leisure time.
Whenever I was going out from my house I would find them reading books and they would encourage me to join them instead of going to town for leisure. They told me that there was the need to study. Gradually, that idea sunk into my mind and I realised that I was wasting my time. That was how I started thinking I must pursue further education. We started with correspondence.
In 1955, I was posted to Jos as a train ticket clerk. I was there up to 1958 when I got my first scholarship from the government of northern Nigeria to study Railway Administration in Britain. I was very happy that I got that scholarship along with few other people. In Britain, I was studying Railway Administration (attached to the British Scottish regions or British Railways) and doing my private studies. I finished this programme on December 29, 1959. I was to come back on January 1960, but I had to sit for my General Certificate of Education (GCE: Ordinary Level). I sat for that examination in Glasgow. I was supposed to return home after the examination as all my colleagues had since returned to Nigeria, but I was given an extension.
On February 18, 1960, we left for Lagos by sea through a shipping line known as NB Oriel. It was a 13-day journey from Liverpool. We arrived Lagos on March 2, 1960. That was my first time in Lagos and I came through the sea, not from northern Nigeria. I spent three days in Lagos. On March 3, we left Lagos for Kano. The following day, we went to Ringim. Interestingly, when I got to Ringim, I received a letter which came by sea. When I opened it I saw that I passed all my subjects in that examination. It became such a pleasure and joy for me.
After my short holidays I was posted back to Jos to continue my regular job in the railways. Of course I had also started studying for GCE advance level exams. On January 1961, I took my GCE Advance level exams in Jos and proceeded on a posting the same day to Aba as a station master at Omogho, which was 30 miles from Port Harcourt. It was a very interesting experience for me because the people received me very well.
We had several teacher training colleges around; therefore, I organised sections of debate and things like that in the station. It was from there that I got a scholarship to go for further studies. That was when I left the railways. It took 10 years and six months.
What happened after you left the Nigerian Railway Corporation?
I got a scholarship to study in any Nigerian university. The University of Ibadan and the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria had concluded their admissions by the time, so I was left with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. Because Ife was new, I applied to study there. I paid 5 pounds as a nonrefundable deposit and got admission. My name was listed among the pioneer students of the school.
As I was preparing my papers in August 1982, I got a letter from the scholarship board again, saying there was an offer from Karachi University to the government of northern Nigeria. In spite of my admission in Ife, I went to Karachi in 1962, where I obtained an honours degree in Economics and returned home.
In 1965, two of us were interviewed and employed as assistant secretaries. I was posted to the premier’s office while the other man was posted to the Ministry of Education. The then Sarkin Fulanin Ja’idanawa, Alhaji Umar Babura was happy that there were two university graduates from Kano. It was big news and he was happy, being the only minister from Kano.
Can you share your experience at the railway corporation?
You see, there was much discrimination in the railway. The railway started from Lagos, so about 90 per cent of staff members were from Lagos. There were also the Igbo and only few of us from the North. There was a time the Igbo felt terribly marginalised in the corporation because the Yoruba were in charge of everything.
That situation continued until the system of government in Nigeria changed and Tafawa Balewa, who was heading the
Whenever I was going out from my house I would find them reading books and they would encourage me to join them instead of going to town for leisure. They told me that there was the need to study
Ministry of Transport, became the prime minister. With that change, Raymond Njoku, an Igbo man, was made minister of transport and another Igbo man, Mr. Ikejani was appointed chairman of the corporation. Ikejani also appointed his kinsman, Ernest Ebuna, as the general manager of the corporation.
As I said, we northerners were few, so these things continued like that. At that time, we had three districts at the railways: the northern district, the western district and the eastern district. Under this system, six positions were allocated to each district. But all the six positions for the East were Igbo, the six people for the North would also be Igbo while the six people for the West would also be three Yoruba and three Igbo.
While I was at Omogho, I sent a series of petitions to the government of northern Nigeria, mentioning all these injustices. It was as a result of those letters that the government decided to send us abroad for the training we were denied at the railway corporation. While those who were sent by the corporation spent nine months, we were sponsored to spend 18 months. That was why they returned earlier than us. And they were given one year increment and senior appointments, with cars.
We continued like that, but the Yoruba formed a Railway and Transport Staff Union, led by H.P Demola. The union held a meeting in Jos where they deliberated on how to go on strike, but there was no view from the North.
I was there; so they said they must hear from us. I was just a second class clerk, so I had no significance or whatever. But they said they must hear from me. Though I was small in size, I got up and mentioned all the injustices against the North. They said I was causing confusion, and in the end, everybody dispersed without achieving anything.
One of my schedules of duty at the premier’s office was to listen to complaints; hence all files on complaints came to me. So I used that opportunity to call for files from railways stations. They were brought and I saw how my letters were treated. I took up a particular petition I wrote about injustices in the corporation, with a view to saving our people.
I discussed the issue with many people, including Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Malam Liman Ciroma, who was the permanent secretary; Malam Ali Akilu, the secretary to the premier. They were all shocked; and said I should make a submission, which I did.
I later heard in the news that the prime minster reshuffled his cabinet and appointed Zanna Abubakar as the new minister of transport. When the new minister assumed office the following day, he dismissed Ikejani and appointed Dasuki as chairman of the corporation. That ended the injustice in the corporation.
I also wrote speeches for the Sardauna. I can recall one particular speech I was asked to write. A certain organisation wanted the premier to deliver a goodwill message at an event and I was asked to write the speech. I was fresh in the office, so I wrote the speech and sent to my superior. Few days later, someone with a long cap and white beard came to our office and said he was looking for the assistant secretary 1. When he was led to my office, he introduced himself as Muhammad Abubakar Gumi.
He sat down and brought out the speech I wrote for the Sardauna and asked me to remove a word from it. The speech was sent to him to crosscheck because it had to do with religion. This is to tell you that there was quality of governance at that time. I must say that speech writing is not an easy thing at all. You must address the point and adhere to rules.
For many years, the Nigerian Railway Corporation was the largest source of income for Nigeria. But now, the corporation can best be described as a shadow of its former self, though there have been moves to revive the sector. What happened?
Yes, by the time I left the corporation in August 1962, it was the best revenue earner for the country. I still feel bad about what affects the railway because I am a pensioner of the corporation. You see, so many things killed that sector. Even now, the Nigerian railway is still a very viable sector.
Things started going wrong when the people in government, particularly members of the National Assembly, became road transporters. Such people made sure they didn’t help the railway to grow so that their transport business could survive. That was what killed the rail system in Nigeria. They only voted money for railways to divert the attention of the people.
The civil war also contributed to bringing down the sector. Quite a large number of employees of the corporation from the East ran home and this resulted in a shortage of staff. When the war ended after 30 months, these people came back to their respective places of work, but by then we had recruited new people to fill in their positions.
So there was surplus number of staff in the sector because the government said those people The civil war also contributed to bringing down the sector. Quite a large number of employees of the corporation from the East ran home and this resulted in a shortage of staff should not lose their jobs. As a result of this, we had two managers manning one station. And government was paying salaries to people who were not working. These things brought the railway system in Nigeria to its near death.
Yes, there have been genuine efforts from some governments to revive the sector, but you cannot revive something without knowing the root cause of its problem.
For Nigeria to revive its railway system, there must be track widening. You cannot use speed trains on the current rails we have. Even if you bring experts from China, India or Netherlands, as they did some years ago, you cannot change anything if you do not widen the gauges. We need to start somewhere, and I am glad the government has started doing something. The railway is the cheapest means of transportation.
How can Nigeria achieve an effective rail system?
First of all, the government must decide what it wants. There is the need to study technical issues first. In the 18th century, Britain had different companies that owned different railways. Each company had its own gauge, different from others. But later on, they merged the companies under the auspices of the British Railways, and it worked. So it is for us now to decide what we really want to achieve. Are we thinking of removing the existing railway lines to start the wide ones, or are we thinking of fixing new ones and shifting the existing ones in the middle to the side so that we can get the required width? Are we saying we would leave them as they are now and put the third one on the side? We also need to do the costing and have a blueprint. I learnt that one has been commissioned - from Abuja to Kaduna. I hope it is the wide gauge; if it is the 3feet by 6inches, it would be another mistake because nothing will change.