Opinion
Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu at 65
By Ibrahim Sheme
On this day, April 25, the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, clocked 65 years.
He was the VC of NOUN from 2016 to February 11, 2021. When his tenure ended, he returned to his former duty post at Bayero University, Kano, but then took sabbatical work as Visitor at Kaduna State University (KASU), Kaduna, on March 1, this year.
Born in Kano City on April 25, 1956, Adamu is unarguably one of the leading academic lights in Nigeria. He obtained a professorship each in Science Education and in Media and Cultural Communication, both from Bayero University, in 1997 and 2012 respectively. Indeed, he is one of very few academics in the country to have attained the feat of a double professorship.
Adamu is an international scholar, having taught media and science education courses in many Nigerian universities and around the world, including serving as a European Union Visiting Professor at University of Warsaw, Poland, in 2012, visiting professor, Rutgers University, New Jersey, and visiting professor, University of Florida in 2010. He was also Fulbright African Senior Research Scholar in 1991.
One other remarkable achievement he recorded was the development of ‘hooked’ Hausa language character font sets (ɓ Ɓ ɗ Ɗ ƙ Ƙ), which were not present at the advent of the Internet. The emergence of these fonts, which he created as part of his various extracurricular activities, has helped many authors, publishers, scholars, students and ordinary users in conveying the Hausa language in a way that it should be written.
Two years ago, on a day like this, I penned a birthday tribute to Professor Adamu to help celebrate his 63rd anniversary. In that write-up I did not dwell on his unfolding accomplishments at NOUN in the area of infrastructural development of the university because others had done so already. Instead, I emphasised on the then VC’s human relation, which I have always found unique. And I wrote: “On that score Prof. Abdalla has remained the same person I have known for about two decades – easy-going, humorous and understanding towards all. I think this essence is a great contributory factor to the achievements he is making as a leader and chief executive.
“His approachability is rare. I know chief executives who are ‘feared’ – and consequently loathed – by those working under them because of their stiffness and unbendability. Some, you strictly need an appointment to see them, and their secretaries become lords because they emulate the ‘man inside’. Not Baba Prof (as we used to call him). He runs an open door policy, with a secretary (Esther) just as approachable and nice as he is.
“Once you get into his office, you immediately feel at home. He has a joke for everyone. You will never find him mirthless or sad as if the whole world rests on his shoulders. If it is lunch-time, he offers you his food.
“That sense of humanity, for me, are as important as the infrastructure he is putting on ground at NOUN. That sensibility, plus the infrastructure and the policy transformation, will no doubt count as his best legacies when his tenure ends in February, 2021.”
I daresay many at NOUN would remember him for such virtue. Happily, his successor as VC, Professor Olufemi A. Peters, is another approachable chief executive who doesn’t put on airs. Even though the two men do not necessarily share the same character traits, one can say there are several points of convergence that one can easily point at – but that is a story for another day.
Meanwhile, I’d like to use this opportunity to wish Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu happy birthday and many happy returns.
Sheme is the Director, media and publicity at National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja
Opinion
After two years of promises: What is holding back Kano’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities?
By Hannatu Suleiman Abba
During the review of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) blueprint at Babale Suite—organised by the AMG Foundation—I vividly recall a series of engagements on the party’s commitment to establish a Commission for Persons with Disabilities if elected. At the event, the Director General of Media, Malam Sanusi Bature, who represented the NNPP gubernatorial candidate, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, spoke clearly about this intention.
Following the election victory, expectations among persons with disabilities and their advocates were understandably high. The proposed commission was widely seen as a critical step toward advancing inclusion, protecting rights, and ensuring coordinated support for persons with disabilities across Kano State.
On December 28, 2023, a press release issued by the Director General of Media, Malam Sanusi Bature, announced that the Kano State Government was set to establish the Commission for Persons with Disabilities in 2024. The statement, conveyed through the governor’s deputy, Comrade Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to improving the lives of persons with disabilities.
More than a year later, however, the commission is yet to be established.
In the meantime, the Commissioner for Women, Children and Special Needs, Hajiya Amina Abdullahi (HOD), has continued to carry persons with disabilities along in her ministry’s activities. Through the Director of Special Needs, Dr. Binta Bala, the ministry has promoted inclusivity and engagement. These efforts are commendable and reflect genuine goodwill.
Similarly, Governor Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf has personally participated in several interventions supporting persons with disabilities—an effort I can attest to as a firsthand witness.
Yet, a critical question remains: can these interventions truly replace the role of a fully established Commission for Persons with Disabilities that serves all disability clusters?
The answer, quite clearly, is no.
A commission is not merely symbolic. It provides structure, continuity, accountability and institutional representation—elements that isolated interventions, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot sustainably guarantee. The absence of such a commission has left many persons with disabilities in Kano State facing persistent challenges, particularly in access to healthcare, education, entrepreneurship and broader social development.
The establishment of a Commission for Persons with Disabilities is essential to bridging existing gaps in government interventions and ensuring coordinated, equitable and inclusive support across all disability groups.
If Kano State successfully domesticates and operationalises this law, it would set a powerful precedent for other northern states—some of which are already making efforts, but lack a strong, unified model to emulate.
As an advocate for marginalised groups, I have held several discussions with key stakeholders, including Abdulrazak Ado Zango, on the transformative impact such a commission could have on the lives of persons with disabilities in Kano State. Beyond service delivery, a commission would serve as a formal platform for inclusion in policymaking and decision-making processes that directly affect persons with disabilities.
While the government’s efforts to give persons with disabilities a voice are sincerely appreciated, it must be emphasised that the establishment of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities remains the most effective, sustainable and institutional path toward meaningful change and full inclusion in Kano State.
Two years after the promise, the question still lingers: what is holding Kano back?
Hannatu Suleiman Abba is a humanitarian journalist and Founder of Beyond Inclusion Media. She can be reached via hannatusuleimanabba@gmail.com
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Aliyu Isa Aliyu, Ph.D
During my time as the financial secretary of NNPP in Kano state and other political engagements, I saw clearly how many of the so-called fake Kwankwasiyya loyalists behaved. They always came with sweet promises, showing deep respect for Kwankwaso’s leadership and pretending to be his strongest disciples. They claimed they would defend the party’s ideology even with their lives. But the moment they got what they wanted, whether it was an election victory, recognition, or political favour, they slowly pulled away. Their loyalty was never to the Kwankwasiyya movement, but only to their own ambitions. Personally, I never regarded their loyalty, never praised them, and never wasted my time writing about them.
What surprised me most was Kwankwaso’s ability to take all of this without holding any grudges. Time and again, he welcomed them back whenever they were politically stranded. Instead of shutting them out, he gave them another chance, teaching us that leadership is not about revenge but about building bridges, even with those who once betrayed you. Many of us in the party leadership found it hard to understand this level of patience, but over time, I came to see it as part of what makes him a rare politician in Nigeria.
This same cycle has repeated itself in every election season. Politicians who abandoned kwankwasiyya the most critical times would always return in desperation, and Kwankwaso would open the doors again. For him, the bigger picture has always been the growth of the movement and the empowerment of the masses, not the small politics of exclusion. But from my own experience, I have seen both the strength and weakness of this approach. The strength is Kwankwaso’s unmatched generosity and forgiveness, but the weakness is the opportunism of those who treat leadership as a shortcut to power. In 2024, some of them worked tirelessly with all kinds of deceit just to secure tickets for their boys as local government chairmen, but thankfully Madugu Kwankwaso was firm and did not fall into their trap.
Now the time has come for our leader, Senator Kwankwaso, to reflect on his political generosity and take the right stand. It is better to lose an election with true loyalists than to win with those sabbatical politicians who only come for their selfish gains. Nobody can deny that they contributed to NNPP’s growth in Kano, but the truth is that the sacrifices Kwankwaso made for them are far greater than what they have done for him or the movement. Before their defection to NNPP in 2022, there were committed people already vying for those positions, but they were pleaded to step down and hand over the tickets for free. You cannot build a political movement with people who carry two faces. In politics, you are either here or there; there is no middle ground. Kwankwasiyya is not only about winning elections, it is also about discipline and sacrifice. We won clearly in 2019 before the election was declared inconclusive, and we still won in 2023 despite the odds. If Almighty Allah has destined our victory in 2027, no betrayal can stop it, no matter who leaves Kwankwasiyya.
– Aliyu Isa Aliyu, Ph.D
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