Towards the tail end of last year, few Nigerians who felt they had known the subject of discourse like the palm of their hands, took to the pages of most influential dailies to eulogize a man wearing a mysterious cloak on his face as he turned 80.
Unfortunately, tried as they did, none was able to unmask the Daura son, astute administrator, former newspaper Managing Director and ambassador.
It becomes imperative therefore to properly situate the place of Malam Mamman Daura in the Nigeria polity vis-à-vis the vexed issue of non-tribal inclination he had been known for and professed all of his octogenarian years on this planet.
These missing links therefore become the thrust of this essay. Having been offered my first employment by Daura who was at the helm of affairs in the New Nigerian Newspapers Kaduna, fresh from School of Journalism Accra Ghana, in 1974, one can say without any equivocation, that the portrait sold to Nigerians about this great son of the country is full of falsehood, a high pitched exercise in character assassination, propagandizing and maligning.
If he was a tribalist, New Nigerian Newspaper of yore would not be populated by non-Northerners or non-Muslims as some of those accusations had falsely and erroneously recorded.
Going by train from Enugu, was a wonderful delight of a trip. Without any previous contact, one arrived the popular Kakuri Railway Station.
From school in Accra, two newspapers excited me viz: New Nigerian Newspapers Kaduna and Nigeria Observer in Benin City for the special texture of their newsprint.
At the NUJ Press Centre directly opposite the imposing Imam House housing New Nigerian in the green and white colours of the country, was late controversial Sidi Ali Sirajo of Broadcasting Corporation of Northern Nigeria (BCNN), later NUJ National President, who took unusual interest in me.
He encouraged me and said just go in there. The MD is detribalized and would give any young man a chance to excel. With that assurance it was all systems go as then editor Turi Muhammed passed me over to the then Editor-in-Chief Razak Aremu now of blessed memory. The rest is history as my appointment as Senior Journalist as the appellation then was, had the signature of the MD Mamman Daura.
It was at New Nigerian, that I cut my teeth in active journalism practice. A peep at the structure of the newspaper belies all the falsehood. The News Editor was Stephen Bamgbele, Chief Sub Editor Clement Isaiah, father of the present publisher of Leadership Newspaper in Abuja, Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Ndanusa Alao was the ageless ace Sports Editor, Raymond Anyamikeh, the Tiv warrior and chief, there was Talabi Chief Reporter… in every department you had Christians as manning sections – especially printing, lithography, proof reading, personnel, circulation and transport.
He allowed for individual excellence. You could write whatever you wished, criticize the status quo even as Federal Government newspaper that supposedly had northern interest, and not get a single reprimand. He allowed all the departmental heads the latitude to operate without any encumbrance.
He was an introvert of the highest standing. One was likely to brush him aside at the gangway as he alighted from his car. Even if you recognize him and greeted ‘Good morning Sir’, he would hardly respond. The message: just mind your business.
Small wonder the newspaper’s most authoritative Wednesday column ‘Candido: The Man behind the Mask’ was ably and promptly written by Daura. You could hardly edit his editorial comments. His prose and thoughts were always superlative, hitting hard with few words.
It is to his eternal credit that for the first time in newspapering in Nigeria simultaneous printing press was established – with presses in Kaduna and Lagos manned by strong compliment of staff. The present Director-General of National Arts Council of Nigeria, Otunba Segun Runsewe, is a product of New Nigerian Newspapers’ Lagos office where he rose to become Advert Manager.
The newspaper was a haven to work in with salaries and allowances promptly paid. There was a strong bond of amity amongst members of staff. The camaraderie was unparalleled. Great names like Al-Amin Mohammed, David Balami, James Ikuve, Mohammed Goni Fika, Nat Balogun, Fola Ashiru, Maduka Ugwu, Editor Dan Agbese, Professor and radical Mvendaga Jibo, Mohammed Haruna, Clem Baiye, Mohammed Bomoi, Ibrahim Mohammed, Fred Vanger and Innocent Oparadike, who later edited the paper and prolific writer and essayist A.B Ahmed, to mention a few who owe their tutelage to the healthy journalism environment created by Daura.
The intrinsic composition of the man still bewilders. He is as mysterious as his Candido face. He remains a master of the craft in writing flowing prose, so unmistakably in the first eleven of columnists. A sample released when another consummate journalist, minister and former CBN Governor, Malam Adamu Ciroma died, remains a treasure of all times.
Do devour this masterpiece as I take permission to reproduce this from the stable of Mamman Daura literary library as published by some newspapers then. I salute this icon with wishes for eighty years of more salubrious health and service to the nation.
Adamu Ciroma, man of character, by Mamman Daura
“Barely five days after his death, former Minister of Finance, Malam Adamu Ciroma, has been described as a ‘statesman of uncommon gifts and outstanding ability and accomplishments.”
Ciroma’ versatility was legion. A civil servant, journalist banker, administrator, politician who was master of all managerial trades and jack of none.
The late Malam Adamu first came to the fore as a brilliant and industrious officer in the Northern Nigeria Civil Service, which he joined after graduating with an honours degree in the renowned University of Ibadan. He rose rapidly by catching the eyes of his superiors while serving both in Kaduna and the Provinces.
“One incident marked him as a truly independent and fearless official. A private business man dealing in pilgrim affairs appeared to want to keep some funds rightly belonging to the Northern Nigerian government.
The complication was that the man was close to the Premier. Nobody wanted to tackle the problem. Adamu took the matter head on, as it was on his schedule. His minutes to the Premier are preserved in the archives of Arewa House, Kaduna. He wrote:’ Hon. Premier, this money belongs neither to you nor to Alhambra X. It belongs to the people of the North.
“In the interest of good manners usually associated, I have refrained from identifying the man. In any case, he is dead now. Adamu’s Nigerian and expatriate superiors were horrified at his forthrightness. One of them asked: ‘Are you sure you want the Premier to see this? To which Adamu replied ‘Yes’.
To cut the story short, although the great man was slightly annoyed, the money was swiftly returned to government coffers. Thereafter Adamu became a minor celebrity his minutes were the talk of town for several weeks.
“His Civil Service career was not limited to the north. He had a stint in Lagos where he gathered valuable Federal experience before returning to the north and one of his landmark achievements establishing a new newspaper The New Nigerian, set up by the Regional Government just before the bloody military takeover of January 15, 1966.
The mood of the people in the north was that the paper showed be run by Nigerians. The regime’s leadership of the civil service cast around far and wide for a suitable candidate who will spearhead the campaigns to publicise and protect the interest of the north and they picked on Adamu Ciroma.
He was the first and the best editor of the New Nigerian. He wrote powerful, thoughtful but always constructive editorials and articles.
His command of English was uncommonly brilliant. It was during this time, 1966-1967, that a group of enlightened young men sensing that a vacuum was being created because the military leadership was hopelessly inexperienced and they were beginning to be surrounded by opportunists and dubious bona fides.
This group decided to cohere and assist the governments with proposals and advice on running the country. Adamu was usually their spokesman.
Such were the gifts of articulation and communication. It was during these heated debates that Malam Adamu uttered one of his memorable dicta. He said the north must modernise and to modernise, it must westernise. This was a subject for months.
“Unsurprisingly, the New Nigerian developed a love-hate relationship with the military governments with a few instances threatening to reach breaking point. Luckily Malam Adamu survived and handed over to a carefully planned set of successors.
When the military again took over the government, Adamu was detained along with many ministerial and gubernatorial colleagues. He was completely exonerated and released early but the strain of incarceration left indelible injury on his psyche and outlook on life.
When the civilians returned for a second time, then President Olusegun Obasanjo reappointed Adamu again as Minister of Finance.
He brought gusto and competence to his old job but it was during his chancery at Finance Ministry that he suffers a dreadful road accident which nearly cut short his political career and spent months on end in a German hospital .
His recovery was slow and his face hideously disfigured. When he resumed work the difference was clear but he retired later in active politics.
“As a man, Adamu Ciroma was forthright, easy to make friends and had a zest for life. All in all, he was a man of good character. For leisure, he enjoyed his golf and was a fierce competitor.
Historians may recall that the 19th Century English Queen Victoria complained that one of her Prime Ministers Gladstone addressed her like he was addressing a public meeting.
Frequently in conversation with Adamu Ciroma he would address his closest acquaintances like he was addressing public meeting with his index finger pointing severely at one. His tone was usually didactic and stentorian.
A sage once said: “Of all nature’s gifts, the chief masterpiece was the ability to write well. He could speak well and he could listen attentively and patiently. This aristocracy of virtues made him stand out among his colleagues.
In his senior years, he became deeply religious and generous almost to a fault, but he had no time dilettantes and scroungers. Once a couple of men approached him that they want write a book about him so that future generations would remember him.
His brusque reply: I don’t want to be remembered. Fortunately his wish will not be granted. Adamu Ciroma will be remembered for as long as the present generation lasts.”
Excerpts from this tribute of all tributes. Having worked through the ranks in my active journalism practice, as Reporter, Senior Sub Editor, Deputy Production Editor, Night Editor and Editor of a daily newspaper, The Satellite, yours sincerely must confess that the first training by Daura’s New Nigerian prepared me for challenges ahead – even as Bureau Correspondent for the influential East African Daily Nation of Nairobi, Kenya covering the entire West Africa.
*Obinwa Nnaji, former Editor of The Satellite wrote from Enugu
