• Octogenarian tells his thrilling life story as orderly to Emir Sanusi’s grandfather
From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
“My life is a long and tall story,” retired Captain Yusuf Abdulmalik’s voice thundered as we sat in front of his old compound, a big tree shading us from the sun.
It was yet another hot afternoon in Kano and the sun was shining with fervent anger, forcing residents to flee their buildings for a sluggish breeze outside.
Abdumalik, who is about the oldest living person inside Brigade Quarters, Kano, is beloved and well respected. This was referenced to by the traffic of salutations that interrupted our interview, none of which he ignored.
At 85, Abdumalik is still fit, looking younger than his age. His memory is sharp and can picture the past with stunning accuracy. He tells his story as if it were happening now:
“I was born to the family of Alhaji Abdulmalik and Hajia Hassana Abdulmalik, on March 27, 1940, in the present Fagge Quarters, in the heart of Kano city. That means I will be 85 years of age on the 27th of March (yesterday.) said Yusuf, who is simply addressed as “Baba” by all and sundry.
“When I think of my life, the good things that have happened to me, everything, I have every reason to be very grateful to Allah for granting me this long and eventful life.
“My father, may his soul rest in peace, had several wives. So, I had many half-brothers and half-sisters, many of whom I no longer know where they are today and what happened to them. Some may have died and their children have all gone in different directions.
“In those days, when we were kids, our home in Fagge Quarters was full of life and our home was exciting and peaceful. There was enough play and enough laughter for all.
“As a young boy, I attended St. Thomas’ Catholic School, Kano. Later, I went to Our Lady of Fatima Secondary School, Kano. Both were renowned Catholic missionary schools.
“And it was not difficult for us to mix up well, irrespective of our religious background as Muslims. In these schools, there was no religious dichotomy, nothing like that. Every child was attended to on the strength of his own character. We were highly encouraged to achieve our best in those days.
“Don’t forget, we had a number of white teachers and they were simply devoted to encouraging us, young northerners, to embrace the Western education.”
Baba, as he is fondly called, recalled that after school hours, his parents ensured that he attended a nearby Koranic school, where he was exposed to Islamic values. That made up for whatever deficit there was for attending a Catholic school at that formative age.
One of the memorable occasions of his life was his recruitment into the highly respected Native Authority Police (NAP), describing the episode as historical hallmark. He was privileged to have had an uncle, Sergeant Ali Mada, who took him to the Wakilin doka, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who later became Emir of Kano in 1963: “My uncle had pleaded with Alhaji Ado Bayero that his ‘son’ would like to join them in the NAP. Bayero subsequently called on Deneji and said, ‘Look at this boy, Yusuf Abdulmalik, he wants to join us. You should take him to join those already undergoing training programme.’
“But, surprisingly, Deneji countered and drew Bayero’s attention to the fact that the training had begun days earlier, fearing that I would not be able to cope, having missed a number of the training programmes.
“But Ado Bayero, for reasons I cannot state, had faith in me and doused the concerns of Deneji, saying, ‘Don’t worry about that. This boy will catch up with them.’
“Soon after, I was admitted into the training programme. Throughout our training, I never forgot my peculiar circumstance. I worked very hard and when the examination came, I took the first position. During the interview, Ado Bayero, impressed by performance, turned to the same Dineji and said, ‘what did I tell you about this boy? I told you that he would do better than most of them.’”
Baba Yusuf has 18 children and 86 grandchildren. He spoke glowingly about the NAP, insisting that both in terms of training, discipline, incorruptibility and effectiveness, it was a step ahead of the current police system in the land.
“The NAP was the best police in Africa because they did not tolerate any form of breach of the rules, they wouldn’t take any nonsense. We were all over the North. We used to go for regular trainings at the Northern Police College, Kaduna.
“As an officer of the NAP, I was Batman (Orderly) to the late grandfather of the present Emir of Kano, Sir Muhammad Sanusi 1. That was a position where you follow the Emir to wherever he was going. The rank is the equivalent of what you call ADC in today’s arrangement. We used to travel to a lot of places.
“The late Emir Sanusi was a very good man and treated me kindly. In those days, there was nothing like corruption and favouritism. They liked somebody who very agile, neat and hardworking. I had these attributes in abundance.
“When I finished as a Batman for Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi1, I was again assigned as the batman to Alhaji Ado Bayero when he became the Emir of Kano. Don’t forget that Ado Bayero was there when I wanted to join the NAP and indeed, conducted my recruitment interview.
“And honestly speaking, I learnt a lot about life working closely with these two distinguished monarchs of Kano and the royal family.
“It was from the NAP that I went into the Nigerian Army. The Army had sent a memo requesting educated officers from the NAP to join them. My secondary school education immediately suggested me to the offer.
“One of those people who quietly encouraged me to join the army was the father of the former Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau. The older Shelarau was a Chief Inspector of the NAP.
“One day, he called me out to a quiet place and told me; ‘look Yusuf, the Army is looking for officers to join them. I will advise you to join them. The Army has a better prospect for you.’
“He did that quietly because as at that time, the Wakili and a lot of the top administrators of the NAP were unhappy with the fact that the Army wanted to take away the best of the officers with the NAP.
“But Chief Inspector Shekarau, who saw the bigger picture, quietly urged me on and wished me all the best. That was how I joined the Nigerian Army. There were about 11 of us from the NAP that left for the Army that year.
“Not long after we joined the Army, the Nigeria civil war broke out. We were promptly posted to different formations to execute the war. The war front was tough. I was moved from the 5th Battalion. We moved to Okene, to Obollo Afor and crossed Onitsha to Asaba during the civil war.
“I was a Sergeant when I got my promotion to a Second Lieutenant. Years after, I retired as a Captain of the Nigerian Army because I was very active.
“During the war years, yes there was that down-feeling that people were being killed and there was hardship everywhere. But don’t forget that we were soldiers and saw these things differently from the way you will see it as civilians.
‘We were focused on the spirit of the war. Gowon told us that keeping Nigeria one was a task that must be done. We saw many things that happened then from the prism that we must keep Nigeria as one united entity.”
One of the sad realities he and his colleagues are facing today as pensioners of the Nigerian Army and ex-service men was the failure of the system to reward them for their sacrifices.
He observed that despite putting their lives at risk of death to ensure the oneness of Nigeria, the Military Pension Board has been mistreating them by under-implementing many of the policies and allowances that were in their favour.
He lamented that many pensioners, some of whom fought to keep Nigeria one, were left to die of poverty by the same system they fought so hard to preserve.