AZ Gambo: Celebrating a peer @57

By Ali M.Ali

Vice Admiral Awwal Zubair Gambo, the 16thand current Chief of Naval Staff turned a year older recently. He is a peer in whom all of us peers from Gwagwarwa primary school, through transit school at Kawaji and the prestigious Rumfa College all in Kano, are well pleased. Looking at his towering profile as the number one sailor in the land, one wouldn’t have thought that “Rizi”, would take on a career in soldering and attaining the mountain peak as a service chief.

He was reticent and unobtrusive and loved to “mind his business”. I was among the “noisy’’ ones making fun of teachers, poking others. Physically, Awwal was almost diminutive, fair skinned and slightly plump. He cut the image of “Dan gata” (Ajeboh) these attributes didn’t mark him out for soldering. They marked him out for leadership. He used to listen more than he talked. This discreet demeanor and ‘harmless’ appearance helped him navigate dangerous waters, literally and figuratively and berthed his ship at the dockyard of success.

He manifested that leadership trait early from being class monitor in primary school, a feat he replicated in Secondary School. We were always in different arms of same class. For example, he was in form one I while I was in 1D.

By the third year, we moved to Rumfa College. Only the brightest got into that prestigious school. Tough exams were set going into the third year. In modern times, sitting for that kind of tough exams is the equivalent of heading into senior secondary school. The idea was to select young bright minds regardless of social and economic background and blend them into future leaders. It worked because at Rumfa were princes and sons of paupers. Scions of the merchant class and wards of top civil servants. Children of Islamic scholars and jurists all dissolved into unidentifiable powder of scholarship.

You are only recognizing by your brainpower not the power of your surname.

Most of our tutors were Brits, Canadian and Asians with a no nonsense Principal, Ado Gwaram of blessed memory.

Established in 1927,Rumfa College was second only to Barewa College established in 1921.Late General Abacha was a product of Rumfa College.

Again, I was in 3H,Awwal was 3F. In my class were the likes of AVM Ali Bello Gaya. We finally passed out with me in 5D and “Rizi” in 5F.

As teen, Awwal was a shoulder above in the “swag’ department. He was a guy man. His sparkly white school uniform attested to that. He was neat all the time. That was the time he fell in love with the Navy. He had a fascination for white color.

At Rumfa College, his love for the military received a major boost when he joined the schools’ long standing Cadet. He, again, excelled. He was a mix of grit and tenacity. We had a stern unsmiling Cadet “NCO”. He took no prisoners. He had a mirthless pate. Rizi survived him. That prepared him eventually into becoming a member of the 36 regular course of the Defense Academy.

At the time, the dream was to proceed to SBS, ABU Zaria to study medicine. Rumfa was largely a science college. The likes of Professor Abba Sheshe, currently the CMD of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Sammani Ali Muhammad became outstanding in Medicine. Others studied engineering like Awwal Sarki who headed the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

There are others in other sectors. There is Dr Yakubu Kofar Mata, a federal Permanent Secretary and foremost, banker Rabiu Tata. Without prejudice to the others not listed here who have taken the Rumfa college flag to great heig

Only Ali Baba Inuwa of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and myself chose Journalism.

Awwal was commissioned a sub-lieutenant in 1989. That marked his steady rise in the Navy culminating in his appointment as the 16thindigenous Chief of the Naval Staff in January 2021.

As a young officer, he was often “at sea” literally leaving family and friends “onshore”. He therefore, missed most class annual re-unions. But then, he always kept in touch with peers. He holds this dear. Rizi is sentimental. He has the memory of an elephant. He remembers names of teachers from primary school. The kind ones and the mean ones. He doesn’t forget a good turn. He rarely remembers the bad ones like the rough deal from our Cadet master. He is the sort that would swim the sea the save a peer from distress. He would break his back for this.

And the icing on the cake? He never forgot where he came from. All his alma mater can bear testimony.

Gentle as dove but tough as nails, I often wonder how he reconciles his jocular private persona and the stony persona of a military chief. ‘Eze” for AZ Gambo is funny once is comfortable with the company. He is sublimely witty. He has some funny sailors jokes he shares. He is a dotting father and a loving husband. Military husbands are unusual spouses. His tough guy stance melts at the sight of Nana, his wife and three children.

Expectedly, his dawn at the Naval change has changed the narrative. His leadership improved greatly maritime security. He dared to tread where angels falter. Under his watch, vessels stealing Nigeria’s crude in Niger Delta were arrested and destroyed; illegal pipelines dotting that landscape were similarly discovered.

He similarly focus his attention on fleet renewal. Thanks to his tenacity the NNS acquired NNN Kada, a multi purpose warship. She is the biggest frigate in West Africa and one of the biggest on the Continent.

He emphasized training. Today, the Naval elite FORCE, the SBS, (Special Boat Service) is helping change the tide of insurgency and maritime insecurity.

Not done yet, infrastructural development in all facets have been frenetic. It didn’t come as a surprise therefore; our peer is recipient of global accolades.]

In 2022, the Africa Security Watch Initiative nominated him. This was not lost on the federal government back home as he was also given the national honour of Commander of the Order of the federal Republic (CFR).

In our circle, AZ assumes no airs. He remains down to earth. He is buoyed by the belief that Allah gives, Allah takes. And that ultimately to HIM, we shall return and account.

Happy birthday Admiral. Our class chapter is proud of you!

Ali M.Ali is the former Deputy President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors

Tinubu, Kwankwaso and politics of who gets what, when, how?

By Abdu Abdullahi

Both Tinubu and Kwankwaso are building the political blocks to consolidate their future politics. Reinventing Kwankwaso back into the APC will be of immense political value for Tinubu in the next election. This is because of Tinubu’s unsatisfactory performance in Lagos State in the last presidential election.

Eventually, the France political encounter had come and gone, except for the emotional turmoils and political dislocations it has generated. Mixed reactions will, therefore, continue to trail the talk to unravel its mysterious content.

Getting the president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the NNPP presidential candidate Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso engaged in a four hour tete-a-tete in far away France would not have been a raw news for its own sake. If it were an interaction between Tinubu and any other APC stalwart, nobody would have raised an eyebrow. It is therefore not erroneous describing the France meeting as a ‘ political capital’ for the two politicians, for they know where to reap to enhance their political investment. In political terms, they have their want, when and how to achieve it is just a matter of time.

Consequently, there were and still are unfolding occurrences in vehemence to this political amalgamation. Expressed dissatisfaction by some APC members who will never welcome Kwankwaso back to the APC is putting party members in disarray. Already, they have now drawn a battle line to wage a war against this bewildering fraternity if it is not cut off. As a result, Tinubu is seen by some party members as sending a wrong signal ahead of his inauguration.

But Tinubu may not find his way between the devil and the deep blue sea because it is a well orchestrated political plan that will work in favour of each side. Tinubu has political power at the centre while Kwankwaso has an influence on the political power in Kano State. The last presidential election results show the political relevance of Kwankwaso in Kano politics and how it will be harnessed to benefit Tinubu whose unimpressive performance in Lagos leaves much to be desired. In a way, it is partly a projection of the next election. Recall that a philosophy has it that an average politician always thinks of the next election.

Already, Tinubu had defined his incoming government as not unity in form but competence in overall outlook. If, therefore, it is the question of unity, other political actors from all the parties that fielded presidential candidates would have been invited to join the meeting. What then was the real motive behind the closed door discussion? For instance, if Atiku Abubakar had been the winner of the presidential election, would Kwankwaso have extended a similar hand of political cordiality?

Sometimes, circumstances outweigh the dynamics of politics. Thus, the prevailing circumstance has given Kwankwaso the opportunity to hit the nail on its head to confer credence to his emphatic and enigmatic political ambition. In this case, political dynamism has, therefore, been defeated by the forces of opportunism to elavate self esteem.

It has always been suggestive that in contemporary politics, what mostly gingers the political spirit of the elites is power control, distribution and application to make ends meet. This dictum has been occupying the central stage of politics of the political elites. That is why politics is rapidly dwindling towards ideological disorders and the elites use the spoilage to boost their political empire of self-indulgence. And this is why the masses are always the victims of political monopolisation of the elites.

In his work, ‘Politics: who gets what, when, how,’ Harold Laswell updates us with the standard definition of politics and elaborates the negative pattern politics is manoeuvred to yield a badly end result. It has to do profoundly with the prime variables of influence, influencer and the influential and how they corroborate with the consistent overzealousness for power control, governmental impacts not on the people but on the political elites’ interest. The consumption of ideas for the politics of what to get, when and how to get it has been the universal message the political elites have been obsessed with for quite a long time. Their political odysseys have substantially and ultimately attained the status of ego-centrism.

Kwankwaso with an NNPP Kano government at his disposal wants to be a new political friend to Tinubu to kill two birds with a stone. First assault is dislodging Ganduje’s political remnants. The unity of Tinubu and Kwankwaso will be like a political cancer in Ganduje’s heart. While Ganduje accuses Tinubu of abandoning him after making things possible for his political aspirations to scale through, Kwankwaso is now like a new bride in the continuous restructuring and consolidation of Tinubu’s politics.

Second, Kwankwaso’s presidential ambition can only be sustained through going back to the APC. Having calculated his performance in the last presidential election, the NNPP and any other small party will never be the platform for achieving his political dreams. Being a prominent northern politician, it is only in the APC that he will have less challenges. Going back to the PDP means fighting to dismantle the structures of Atiku Abubakar, Sule Lamido, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Bukola Saraki among others

Both Tinubu and Kwankwaso are building the political blocks to consolidate their future politics. Reinventing Kwankwaso back into the APC will be of immense political value for Tinubu in the next election. This is because of Tinubu’s unsatisfactory performance in Lagos State in the last presidential election. To bridge that political gap, he will look for a formidable force as in Kano through Kwankwaso. They may be undertaking the journey of a political lottery but what matters in the end is personal fulfilment, a political chemistry through which they know what to get, when and how to get it.

If Abraham Lincoln emphasises on the people’s government to give popularity to his idea about democracy, then Harold Laswell is spelling out a new version of politics that ensures politics as the practice of the elites to own government and all its apparatuses that may have a direct bearing on their political interests. This protruding conflict of ideas between Lincoln and Laswell about politics and democracy is consistently presented to showcase the prosperity of the political elites and the adversity of the political masses.

Call it political craftsmanship. Tinubu and Kwankwaso have the capacity to exhibit their political ingenuity. They did it in the past. They are now enacting it in collectivity. Their companionship may puzzle many of us, but they know the inner side of their political romance and how it will gather political fortunes for them now and in the future. They are indeed succumbing to the real politics of who gets what, when and how.

Abdu Abdullahi is a Public Affairs Analyst.