Why I didn’t go into farming – Hafiz Wali
Continued from page 9 he became happy.
After my return from America to Kano, I was made the chief inspector in Kano and later I was posted to the National Teachers Institute, (NTI), in Kaduna. We did a proposal on distance learning and sent to government. Surprisingly, it was approved. I was called to Lagos and I met the Permanent Secretary, the late Alhaji M.T Usman, who ordered the release of the money for buying the land from the original owners, the farmers in Riga Chikun. I collected the cheque and went to the Military Administrator of Kaduna, the late Group Captain Usman Jibrin, and handed the cheque over to him. He told me that I should keep the money and manage it because I was the director, but I told him I didn’t want to handle any money. The Military Administrator announced it on radio, wrote the then Emir of Zazzau that the farmers should come with the papers and collect their compensation. The governor, representatives of the Emir and the District Head of Riga Chikun, I and farmers assembled. They were verified and sent to the bursary to receive their cash in compensation for the land being used for the NTI. Now, I want a situation in which distance learning should be encouraged so that the literacy level in Nigeria could improve significantly.
How did you get the contractors?
I opened a bid and some Italian indigenous companies won. That was Stabilini. I told them I wanted quality or nothing. I warned them that construction was my field, hence I would detect it if they compromised the quality of work they were given. That is how up till now the building is fit and the environment serene.
I learnt that you were a teacher to some of the brothers of the present Governor of Kano Kwankwaso?
The father of the governor, Alhaji Musa Kwankwaso brought Dahiru and Rabiu, the governor, and said he wanted them to study Western education, with craft, so that they can be independent and self-employed and not just wait for white collar job after graduation. Instantly, I admitted Dahiru and said Musa should be returned the next academic session, as he was just six years old. As you know, the courses in technical schools require some physical strength because it would require the use of machines. It was not meant for young boys. I later employed Dahiru, who has become an expert printer, to head the Printing Department of NTI. He later died while working with NTI and I felt his death as my pupil.
After some years at the NTI, I worked on secondment on the Board of the Commonwealth of Learning and was later employed as a staff. I worked in Canada for over two years before I came back to Nigeria. Canada was very cold, but I coped well, though I was always wearing my traditional Hausa Kaftan (long dress) throughout my stay in Canada. Upon my return to Nigeria, I was made the Special Assistant to the then Minister of Education, Professor Franck Nwabueze. After that I wrote for my formal retirement from the civil service.
How did you retirement? plan for What are you into presently? your
I was born in 1936 and I thought it wise to retire at the age of sixty, as stipulated by law. I established the NTI in 1976, and was to retire in 1992. I was tired of working. I felt that it was high time I retired. I quit in 1992 from NTI. But Professor Jibril Aminu was adamant that I should continue with my work so that the dream of establishing a vibrant distance learning education programme could be realised. How would one feel if one stayed in one place for decades? It is better you have a change of scene? I was succeeded by Mohammed Bunza, who is presently the Sarkin Bunza in Kebbi State. I was later made the first Vice-Chancellor of Bagauda University and now Wudil University in Kano.
What is your advice to your son and now your leader, the new Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II?
I wish him well. I told him that he can summon me any time for me to contribute. But I respect his zeal for education. He is knowledgeable and an expert in banking. I pray for him to be successful.
Do you advise Nigerians to go into technical education now that white collar job is not easy to come by?
When I was a principal, I told my students to strive and acquire handcraft, as they would be sought for always. Look at how engineering students and technicians are being sought after always. From power to construction to computer and lots more, engineers are needed. For instance, without computer now there wouldn’t be any development.
I can say I have bought some farms, but I didn’t go into farming as the managers were not serious. I am now a consultant computer system analyst, making and selling programmes to banks, financial institutions and those that want to design new programmes for a special purpose.