Nigeria’s honourable minister of housing and urban development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, was in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, last Thursday and Friday. The visit was in continuation of his nationwide mission to jump-start the second phase of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed hope estate (housing project). Partly because the Akwa Ibom prototypical site is right in my community, Ekpene Ukim, the Uruan local government area village that is the only gateway to Victor Attah international airport and partly because the minister is who he is, I got the opportunity to conduct a shock interview with him for television (Spectrum on free-to-air), radio (Planet 101.1 FM), online and newspaper (you shall soon read the full transcribed version in this paper). For the foregoing reason(s), this piece is, therefore, not about the nitty-gritty of the interview but an eyewitness account of events and experiences before, during and after it.
Former two-term member of Ikono state constituency in Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Udofia, introduced me to the honourable minister about 3.45pm that Thursday. Instantly, I found the man -as are most northerner Nigerians in public office- quite affable, honourable and humble. He talked freely about how Akwa Ibom was his second home having been here, specifically on national youth service at Government Secondary School, Nto Nsek, in what is today Essien Udim LGA, in September of 1987 when the state and his (Katsina) were created by then military President Ibrahim Babangida. He regaled me with how he joined Akwaibomights and Katsinans in the state in what was for him a double celebration.
He also narrated his elation at returning to the state during his 2017 to 2022 Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria managing director heyday. He spoke glowingly about that era of his; how he woke Nigerians up from mortgage banking slumber, mobilised them to take advantage of the goldmine subsector and indeed added monumental value during the five-year tenure. I remembered him vividly the moment he mentioned FMBN because his professional colleague and friend, Arc. Ezekiel Nya-Etok, my own elder brother, leader and benefactor, used to mention him always. I quickly tucked away, somewhere in my head, the reality that northern Nigeria consciously grooms its people through the rungs and deliberately positions them for national leadership.
Sadly, I cannot say the same of my own people. All they enjoy doing, from tenure to tenure, is Uyo-limited infighting. As I sat looking at the honourable minister, tears welled up in my heart but consolation came in quick succession thanks to inflowing thoughts of what Senate President Godswill Akpabio is doing for own people. Even more consoling is how the former governor of my home state partners the incumbent, Pastor Umo Eno.
One only prays theirs doesn’t go the way of most, if not all, Akwa Ibom (previous) political alliances. Akwa Ibom and Katsina may have been created on the same 23rd, but one has already produced two presidents -we know which, don’t we? The time for the less politically active twin to hit the sky flying is now. Their excellencies, senate president and state governor, having already done an excellent job of obliterating the everpresent and visible political divide in Akwa Ibom must now engage gear and deliberately work to accord our best political brains poll position in Abuja.
Until then, back to Katsina; back to the Katsina-born national political player who was in Akwa Ibom on national assignment. Honourable Minister Ahmed Musa Dangiwa was really great company: relentless honesty, telling simplicity and uncanny warmth. You couldn’t but be awed by both his persona and presence. And, it was effortless; the man was himself; meaning that is the him even God knows.
His minister of state, His Excellency, Engr. (Dr.) Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo, former deputy governor of Kano State, was present throughout. It blessed my heart to see firsthand that not every political-boss-and-deputy-relationship in this country resembles that of cat and mouse. The mutual respect between both men is so palpable you could hug it. The minister of state, the way he carries himself, seems to understand the intricacies of power play -I should come back to this, presently.
Meanwhile, let us go back to Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort. Within just 30 minutes of meeting Honourable Minister Dangiwa, I request to interview him. There’s a nanosecond pause that seems like a minute. Then: “Great idea, Mr BUSH, let’s do it”!
The time is about 4.15, when Rt Hon. Udofia whispers that the honourable minister and his entourage would love to visit the site of the project at 5.30. I tell the minister that we can squeeze in the interview the following morning before he leaves for the event to which he says 9 O’clock is good. I hurry away from Nwaniba, where the hotel is, making my way to around the airport to be on the ground to receive the visiting minister. At the site, word is already out he is on his way and those who had been doing nothing all day are suddenly all over the place busy like a bee.
I like the amusement this gives my lungs. Strolling around a small portion of the vast site, I smile and laugh, and I am glad many of the culprits smile and laugh along sans knowing it is all about them. Strangely, one of the extraneous big men at the site starts whining about why the minister can’t wait until the day of the event. Alas, at 5.33pm to the minute, the minister and his small convoy arrive and the same man is pushing to beat the gathering crowd for a vantage point to welcome the housing and urban development boss.
My people say that the cat can stand upright and prance around only in the absence of the lion. Sssh, this is my village and I am free to communicate like a village boy -apologies, big brother Anietie Usen. This confirms what I have always known, namely that all big men are not equal; that some big men are bigger than others; which is why when some big men are around, most other big men decrease to small boys. No dulling: leadership and learning or teaching go together.
Of course, the minister is at the site, on the eve of the event, to see things for himself. Clearly, he doesn’t want on event day to be told stories that touch the heart. When his vehicle pulls up, and his aide in the front seat jumps out to open the door for him, the man is already making his way into the grounds. A woman tries to beg him to stay back in the car that nothing is ready yet but the man smiles her away.
Accompanied of course by his inevitable minister of state, Arc. Dangiwa spends about 30 minutes at the site. When he makes to leave, his special assistant on media, Mark, and I approach him to firm up time for the interview. I suggest that we could even make it happen that night. Surprisingly, the big man approves 9pm.
My 5-man technical crew arrive the hotel at 7.30 for set-up. Somehow, there are delays over inability to secure a conducive venue for the interview. At 8.30, the minister hears about the issue and instantly directs that his living space be used. I arrive about 20 minutes to interview, and both his minister of state and he are already right there chatting to the guys, spreading their camaraderie across the boundaries of age and tribe.
A minute to 9, a call comes that Gov. Umo Eno is waiting to receive the minister and his team at government house. He apologises and hurries to leave, with all of his people in tow. I chip in that my team and I will wait outside, that he should ask someone to lock his room. “No, Mr BUSH: you all wait in here and please feel free”.
He gets back at 10.40 and straight to the set of the 90-minute session. I open the interview querying why he would in his absence keep people he hardly knows in his private space and in a strange land, but he quipped back that relationships are begun with trust until the other person proves untrustworthy. I shall always remember that. Thereafter, he spoke glowingly and honestly of President Bola Tinubu as well as minister of state Gwarzo, when I asked why the president would have two northerners as minister and minister of state in the same ministry and the first-ever southerner as federal capital territory minister.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR is a great listener who shares ideas and has the political will to do what is best. He is an excellent chooser of quality and a visionary positioner of men; always puts round pegs in round holes, and is not given to political or ethnic considerations. For instance, apart from ministry of housing and urban development, the president appointed in the ministries of agriculture and of health, ministers and ministers of state who are core professionals, and from the north. In the FCT, he needed an aggressive administrator and you can see results.
“In the ministry of works, he brought in an engineer who has a track record of having performed elsewhere. President Tinubu knows what he wants, he knows who can help him achieve it and he always goes for the best. As for my minister of state, as you correctly mentioned, having been deputy governor and being an engineer, he helps me a great deal. We are colleagues, we work together”.
When the interview ends at 12.25am, something quite heartwarming happens. The minister of state indicates intention to gift the almighty PR to the technical crew. He discreetly hands the package to the minister who in turn gives it to me and I pass it on to the guys on the spot. Then, when nobody is looking, the minister brings a package from nowhere and gives me.
Pure class, both men! Fast forward to the D-day. The 10am event kicks off at 10.10 and ends at 11. The small, beautiful event to launch out the Akwa Ibom site of renewed hope estate, (what Nigerians call groundbreaking) saw the governor represented by head of service, Elder Effiong Essien, accompanied by honourable commissioner, housing, Otuekong Raphael Bassey while Ekpene Ukim village head, Eteidung Effiong Asuquo Ekanem, led chiefs and other locals in their numbers.
First to speak is the minister of state, after SA, Media had set the tone. In a country where arrogance and rivalry and suspicion combine to steal the joy of political relationships, the federal ministry of housing and urban development teaches how to live and let live. Deputies are also human beings, let them breathe. Nigerian bosses should stop treating their seconds-in-command like good-for-nothing lepers because tomorrow is coming.
Conversely, Nigerians who find themselves, or accept to serve, as number two must realise that the role is not for everybody. It is meant for only people with an inexhaustible sense of humility, loyalty, and patience. Such people must have no ambition, whatever. They must at all times await their turn.
Finally, the event may have long ended but honourable minister Ahmed Musa Dangiwa’s honesty and simplicity remain in our consciousness as a palatable aftertaste. He may not have known but he taught many young people, who encountered him during his two-day stopover in Akwa Ibom state, how to be minister or big man in Nigeria, different from what they always knew. His is a life lived in God, in love and in service, his is a life worth living. God bless Nigeria!