Reminiscences with Aliyu Atta
attached to families who prepared our food. We got used to one another. There was no discrimination.
And when you came back?
I was posted to Sokoto, then sent back to Kaduna on request by the premier, who had called Kam Salem. I had a course during a visit by a Saudi Arabian Imam of Makkah to Nigeria, Sokoto to be precise. The Sardauna gave a standing order about people filing past the delegation. I noticed that the Native Authority Police and dogarai were flouting his order and I promptly went to bring order. The premier noticed this and told Kam Salem. I eventually became the officer-incharge of training.
Sardauna was trying to recruit women. One of them happened to be Farida Waziri, a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). I trained her. She was a very good constable and inspector. There were several women from all over the North, except Kano and Sokoto. Another woman, whose name I can’t remember, was sent to Bauchi province. She rose to become the director of the Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO).
I was then posted to the Lagos Police College to be a representative of the North there. I took over from Ismaila Gwarzo. We were there when the coup took place.
What was your experience during the coup?
I was in my house in Ikeja GRA, near the barracks, when I started hearing gunshots very close to my house, precisely, Ismaila Gwarzo’s house. We had already been told earlier that northerners would be eliminated.
Were you afraid?
Well, I am a human being. I was watching them and it was like some of them were trying to escape. I entered my car, a Peugeot 403, marked 8 model, with a popular number S70. I drove to the police college and learnt that Gwarzo had been arrested because, according to what he told me later, his car bore a Lagos plate number. But when he heard them speak in Hausa, he shouted, “Ni ma Bahaushe ne!’’ meaning, I am also a Hausa man. They released him later. I stayed in the mess for several days during the coup.
Were you married then?
No, I was single. I stayed in Lagos till I was posted back to Kaduna, where I stayed for 10 years. It was there that I became a commandant. It was while I was there that I got married to Hajiya Sa’ida Shola.
How did it happen?
While I was in Sokoto she was staying with her sister. They also related with my younger sister in school. One day, my mother sent a message that I should come and take my wife. The marriage took place in Kaduna in 1968. That was during the civil war. I left her with our first child and went for a course in Australia. I had attended several courses. Some of the IGs and DIGs were my students at the training school.
I went to Australia by air. We left Lagos on a Monday at 8.0am and went to Rome. An Australian airline, Quantos, arrived on Wednesday. When we arrived we were taken to our room. The following day, it was bright everywhere when we woke up. I woke my colleague, Tahir Jidda, and we prepared and rushed to the classroom. But everywhere was quiet and we came back. It was when we heard snoring from one of the rooms that we knew it was still early. But the sun was already up as if it was midday. We later became acclimatised.
I was posted to Kano as the administrator of local government police because the Federal Government was trying to change the system. Kano was the toughest, such that if it was successfully done, the rest would be easy. Kam Salem tested me and I was successful. From Kano I was appointed as the head of Interpol in Alagbon, Lagos. From Alagbon, I went to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Benin before I came back to the Staff Training College in Jos. I was the deputy commandant to Fidelis Oyakhilome. When he left I became the commandant, which is equal to commissioner. I became a commissioner in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which comprised Bayelsa and Rivers. I came back to Kaduna as commissioner. Kaduna was a place where everyone wanted to be posted to because you had the northern elite there and it was a testing ground.
I went to the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos. It was there that I was promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) when six geo-political zones were created. I went to the South-West, Zone 2, comprising Lagos, Oyo and Ogun as AIG. It was from there that I was appointed the InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP).
How did you receive the news?
I wasn’t expecting it. I had to come to Lagos every weekend, according to my mandate because Lagos was then the capital and the head of state was there. So very early on Monday, I came back to Abeokuta. I was having breakfast when the telephone rang and it was IGP Gambo Jimeta. He asked, ‘Are you in Abeokuta?’ I said, ‘Yes sir,’ and he said I should come back and see him immediately. I asked, ‘Hope nothing sir?’ And he said, ‘Just come back, I want to see you.’ When I went back, Iyabo his secretary said he had left instructions that I should see him as soon as I came. So I went in and saluted him. He congratulated me, saying I was the new IG. I thought it was a joke because I used to visit him in Yola from Bauchi and we cracked jokes. But he said it was true. ‘You can see I am packing, but keep it to yourself, announcement will be made shortly,’ he said. That was it.
How was the experience as IGP?
I thank God that I had gone through all the necessary trainings. I carried all my people along. I gave people responsibilities and told them to ask questions where they didn’t understand. I also told them to come if they needed advice. I enjoyed it.
Was it the period the capital was moved to Abuja?
It was before. Only three of us moved - General Ibrahim Babangida, Augustus Aikhomu and myself. I was here to make sure the command was fully established. I went round, touring everywhere because you had to have people everywhere. I thank God that I have seen Abuja becoming what it is now. It was empty. I created the headquarters.
And then, retirement came?
Yes, I retired in August 1993. Since then I have tried to lay my hands on few things to do. I am now busy reading and writing. I created many things for myself and the police. I established a community bank for the police through the support of the then Minister of Finance, Abubakar Alhaji, whom I met in Sokoto, and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ahmed Abdulkadir. I put my own money (N500,000) for its takeoff. I got some people to develop it and it became the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) Community Bank, which has now grown into a micro finance bank. I also organised the first ever police sports fiesta, tagged Rivers ’92. It was there that Chioma Ajunwa was discovered. Gen. Babangida graced the occasion.
I was also instrumental to the establishment of the Police Cooperative Society. I had attended an Interpol 50th anniversary in Vienna, Austria in 1973, where I learnt how to make it possible. So when I became the IGP I consolidated it. Also, the Police Insurance Scheme came to fruition despite cynicism from some police personnel.
You look younger than your age; how do you keep fit?
Well, before now I was playing lawn tennis and squash, but I don’t do them anymore. I would have loved to play golf, but they don’t establish it everywhere. There is no golf course in Sokoto and Katsina. We only have them in Kano, Kaduna and few other places. But I do small exercise to keep fit.
What is the high point of your life?
I wouldn’t say there are a lot of things that came my way. I have enjoyed myself generally. Carrying your child is exciting. Every moment of my life is an excitement - becoming IGP, marrying, having children. To walk to your dad and say to him, ‘I am now like this’ makes you proud. Added to that is seeing your grandchildren.
What about your lowest point?
Losing the people I love - my mum and dad. And there was this accident I had. One careless driver was driving while I was inside my vehicle and a tipper that was about to turn hit my side. But I thank God. Also, I had wanted to convert some existing police officers’ mess into two to five-star hotels and create space for police activities, but it was not possible despite passing down the vision to some of my subordinates.
What advice do you have for Nigerians on the lessons of life?
Well, criminality doesn’t get you anywhere because if you commit crime, eventually you will be caught. Work hard, be straightforward, don’t cut corners, be very religious, don’t be corrupt, respect your elders and think of how you can serve your country, not what the country can do for you. I have done it and it has helped me.
What’s your favourite food?
Because of my stay in Katsina I developed interest in tuwo and miyan kuka. Also, I prefer soups with efe riro, bitter leaf and egusi.
How many children do you have?
We have six children - four females and two males. The first one is Aísha, then Abdulmalik, next one is Suleiman, who got married about two years ago; then Maryam and Ummu Khadija. The last one is Maryam. And we have two grandchildren.