In Praise of Kingibe at 70
For some inexplicable reasons I am more fascinated by the baritone voice of Ambassador Baba GanaKingibe than his personality; he seems to have a voice more reassuring than really making things happen. The very first time he spoke to me, his eloquence and oratory left me more reassured before finally meeting him.
The story of Kingibe is one of resilience, commitment, doggedness and of course, grass to grace. For a man orphaned quite early in life (his mother died when he was four and father died when he was 15) to have attained the pinnacle of his career as a permanent secretary and most importantly lived a privileged life speaks volume of God’s favour in a life, otherwise common. Born on June 25, 1945 in Maiduguri, Borno State, he was named after his father’s best friend, Abubakar, a bricklayer who had a great influence on his life. He acquired the name Baba Gana (literally means little father in Kanuri) because those who respected his namesake, could not call him Abubakar. His father, a one-time cobbler, later became a native authority pay clerk during the colonial
era
he politicking between Borno Youth Movement (BYM) and Northern People’s Congress (NPC) spearheaded by Sir Kashim Ibrahim and Ibrahim Imam ignited the passion for politics and hatred for oppression in young Kingibe.The formation of BYM against the more popular and formidable NPC in the first republic led to skirmishes between the elite and the commoners in Borno. Kingibe’s father and his guardian (Abubakar) were consumed in the bickering between BYM and NPC as they both lost their government jobs for supporting the opposition BYM. The Kanem-Borno Empire had been in persistent resistance to the wholesale domination of the Hausa-Fulani from the earliest century; the rampaging holy-war (Jihad) led by the legendary Uthman Dan Fodio met a huge resistance in Borno Empire. The empire is blessed with great warriors like the legendary Mai Idris Alooma, Mai Ali Dunami, Muhammed al-Amin al-Kanemi, etc. It is note-worthy and historical that this is the very first time since the advent of democracy from the first republic through the present dispensation that the Kanuris (Borno and Yobe States) would be in the same political party (All Progressives Congress, APC) with the Hausa-Fulani, and indeed in the same political party forming the central government.
Kingibe, in many respects is a Nigerian politician, he has combined politics with the ambivalence of a diplomat; a shrewd and calculating politician (like any politician) who always aimed for the highest prize. A politician with national security background, he speaks with confidence and verbal pyrotechnics of the academic. For Kingibe networking is a veritable tool in politics. No wonder he had a vast and massive following at the peak of his political power. He is a master and always on top of his game. A quintessential and cerebral politician with the gift of the garb, his audience is held spell-bound during his campaigns. Tall and with a near-permanent smile that lights up his ebony black face, he cuts a picture of a man at peace with himself and at ease with the world.
Urbane and gentle, Kingibe, son of a cobbler won government scholarship to attend Bishop Stortford College, England for his secondary school education. He later took a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from University of Sussex, England, in 1968, and a postgraduate diploma course at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. He later trained at the British Broadcasting Corporation Television Training School, London and started out as a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1969, but was later appointed Head, Current Affairs Department, Northern Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation. Being an ambitious young man, he left to join the Nigerian Foreign Service as External Affairs Officer. He was Counsellor, Nigeria High Commission, London; Principal Political Secretary, Supreme Military Headquarters, Lagos and later Principal Political Secretary, Executive Office of the President between 1976 and 1981. Kingibe was Nigeria’s Ambassador to Greece with concurrent accreditation to Cyprus, and later, High Commissioner to Pakistan.
A multi-dimensional personality and industrious with ability for multi-tasking, he was Secretary, Constituent Assembly, Abuja, 1988-1989; National Chairman, Social Democratic Party, (SDP), 1989-1991,and Vice-Presidential aspirant in the annulled June 12, 1993 elections. Thereafter, he was at various times Minister of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Power and Steel under the Abacha military regime from1993-1999. He brought to bear his diplomatic savvy and intelligence in a troubleshooting platform as the African Union Special Envoy to Sudan and Special Representative of the chairperson of the African Union Commission and head of the AU mission in Sudan, (AMIS) from 2002-2006. Kingibe was appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in 2007 under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, until he was eased out of office in a vicious power tussle in 2008. As the SGF he brought to bear dexterity, diplomacy and strong acumen during negotiations with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) industrial action in 2007.
He has continued to offer himself for national service, as he served on the Justice Belgore Committee on the review of the Constitution and more recently as a member of the inauguration committee that midwifed the recent handover of government from former President Goodluck Jonathan to President Muhammadu Buhari. I must confess his is a service dedicated to fatherland and promotion of humanity. In almost all his 40 years of public service, Kingibe has never been linked to any allegations of corruption or self-enrichment. He is one of the most decent and incorruptible Nigerians in public life.
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