Abubakar rimi children

Whenever transparency as well as probity in public service is mentioned, one name that stands out clearly among others is Abubakar Muhammad Rimi. Throughout his public life, there was no record anywhere that suggested he once helped himself to the public treasury. For him, public office is sacred and a trust that must not be betrayed, a principle he maintained till death; SUNNY IDACHABA writes.

Alhaji Abubakar Rimi who died on April 4, , was the governor of Kano state in the Second Republic, precisely during the administration of former President Shehu Shagari. 

Rimi was also a man of many parts.

For instance, this handsome ex-governor was one of the foremost politicians to have emerged from the North; he was a notable public speaker, a former presidential aspirant, former minister and a public servant with unblemished records.

No wonder in all his records of service, no scandal of any kind was at any time traced to him.

Rimi was a follower of the political style of the late Aminu Kano, his political god-father under whose tutelage he learnt the adroit disciplinary lifestyle coupled with integrity expected of a public servant.

Tarihin abubakar rimi biography Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi ( – 4 April ) was a Nigerian politician who was the governor of Kano State during the Second Nigerian Republic. He also served as Federal Minister of Communications from to during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.

No wonder, he won his governorship seat on the platform of the People&#;s Redemption Party (PRP) formed by his political father in on a clean slate. 

After the collapse of the Second Republic and subsequent ban on previous political parties, Rimi at various times pitched tents with many political parties like the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), just to seek opportunity of delivering service to the country.

At another time, he joined the Action Congress (AC), but could still not realise it due to the forces against his bid.

His work experience started after his diploma programme in International Affairs at the London Institute of World Affairs; thereafter, he bagged a master’s degree in International Relations and took up an appointment as an instructor at the Clerical Training Centre in Sokoto and later became an administrative secretary at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos in

Very early in life, Rimi took interest in politics and became an independent candidate in the Federal Parliamentary elections for Sumaila Constituency, his birthplace in Later in , he became a member of the Constituent Assembly and represented Gwarzo local government which then comprised Gwarzo and Karaye districts.

This political trajectory eventually led him into joining the PRP and was elected its deputy national secretary.

When the General Election came up, an opportunity opened for him and he became the party&#;s governorship candidate. Subsequently, he won the election thereby fulfilling one of his initial core desires of serving his people at that high level in the state.

Rimi as an intellectual formed an elite executive council in what was termed, &#;All Graduate Cabinet&#;, the first of its kind in northern Nigeria, which was the reason for which he was able to drive an aggressive transformation and development agenda for Kano.

For instance, his stance on education-for-all irrespective of gender though sounded unpopular, yet he drove it with precision to the liberal position of promoting adult literacy and encouraging women to come out of Purdah and embrace western education.

The policy pitched him against some core conservative adherents of northern culture, but in the end, it paid off. For instance, his scholarship programme saw many Kano indigenes embracing education without having to complain of sponsorship.

One of those beneficiaries is Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso, himself a former governor of the state.

No wonder Kwankwanso has been, to date, the only governor the state ever produced that vigorously pursued scholarship programmes for Kano indigenes because he was a beneficiary.

That was not all, Rimi instituted a law that abolished certain aspects of colonial vestiges like &#;Haraj&#; otherwise known as personal tax, &#;Jangali&#; also known as cattle tax so common that time.

His policies, though unpopular, as they were, paved the way for Kano to become an epicentre of commerce and home to many people with liberal minds from other parts of the country and continent.

In the not-too distant past, particularly during the last days of former President Ibrahim Babangida, Rimi accepted the appointment of leading the Nigerian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank (NACB) as its chairman.

Shortly after this, he was appointed by the late General Sani Abacha as minister of communication, a position he occupied before they parted ways due to the high-handedness of that regime.

In the run-up to the current political dispensation in , he featured prominently in the G36 group of eminent Nigerians that eventually formed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

At inception, he was its founding chairman of finance committee, a position he earned based on integrity. After this, Rimi joined the presidential train of seeking the number one position to lead the country at some points, but was unsuccessful.

It was while he was planning a well-deserved retirement from active politics that death came calling in April , following an armed robbery attack on his vehicle while returning to Kano from Bauchi.

Although he escaped unhurt, the psychological trauma this northern political icon suffered thereafter was unprecedented as he did not recover until he died later.

Writing on the demise of this former governor, a public commentator, Khalid Imam, said, “Rimi’s demise struck the general public like a thunder bolt.

Abubakar rimi dead MA, LL.D; politician; b: , ht: Rimi, Sumaila, so: Kano; married; nc: five s, two d; ed: Junior Primary School, Sumaila, ; Senior Primary School, Bimin Kudu.

His sudden exit, without doubt, created a big lacuna in the national political arena because of the radical, but ideological political life he lived for many decades.”

According to Imam, Rimi was a flamboyant political actor whose tongue was sharp like that of a cobra when it comes to saying the truth on any matter. 

“Some of his most glaring traits were his brutal frankness, uncompromising advocacy for change which deservedly earned him the nickname, &#;Limamin Canji&#; (The Priest of Change).”

Rimi, according to the Imam, consciously made sincere attempts to live a life of piety, devotion, and faithfulness to the Muslim creed.

This made him, in spite of his deep seated romance with socialism, to refuse denouncing his faith at a time when it was in vogue among the socialist-Muslims adherents. At several moments, he donated generously to sponsored religious programmes like &#;Darrul Hadith&#; on television. Not only that, while he lived, he built Islamic schools and mosques like the Juma’at mosques and Islamiyya schools in his home town, Sumaila.

At some points, the widow of late Malam Aminu Kano once publicly declared that Rimi was responsible for their upkeep many years after their breadwinner died even as he was also a foster father to many orphans.

Despite his moral standing and integrity, as humans, he, no doubt, erred in many areas, but as Imam said, “As a mortal and fallible being, Rimi’s conscious or unconscious spiritual experimentation with truth, led him to falter here and there, which, as it were, ended up in proving that after all, he was a mere fallible mortal like all of us.

“As someone faithful with public trust, he never compromised by enriching himself from public fund despite the various public offices he held; so he was therefore not careful to address corrupt public office holders as &#;thieves.&#; To corroborate this fact, as at the time he vacated the Government House, he took a loan to erect a personal house in Kano.”

A notable columnist, Mr.

Kayode Komolafe, said of this former Kano governor, “Rimi left a footprint of progressive governance. His administration’s mass literacy programme attracted the acknowledgement of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) by way of award.

Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi ( – 4 April ) was a Nigerian politician who was the governor of Kano State during the Second Nigerian Republic. He also served as Federal Minister of Communications from to during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.

It was more than symbolic when on the day of his inauguration on October 1 , Rimi announced the abolition of Jangali (cattle tax).The tax represented an instrument of oppression and exploitation of the poor peasant farmers and had been a basis of struggle.

“With the declaration, Rimi relieved the peasant cattle farmers of this age-long burden.  His comrade in Kaduna, Abdukadir Balarabe Musa, did so too on that occasion.

Both Rimi and Balarabe were also the first to declare May 1 as public holiday in solidarity with the working class. The federal government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) also took a cue from the PRP states the following year by declaring May 1 national holiday in solidarity with workers.

“Similarly, Rimi and Balarabe were also the first to raise workers’ pay while the federal government followed with enactment of the Minimum Wage Act in ”

According to Dr.

Nafizi Abdullahi Darma, a lecturer at the University of Abuja, “Rimi&#;s innovativeness lied in his being the first to create and subsequently provide a lead for other states and federal government to adopt in the creation of development oriented intervention agencies and programmes. This include Agency for Mass Education, Science and Technical Schools Board, Primary Education Board, Kano State Environmental Protection Board, Rural Electrification Board, Declaration of May 1 as a day to celebrate workers’ contributions to state and national development, the conditional grant scheme of paying secondary school students a stipend of Nk monthly way back in order to attract and retain school attendance, provision of school buses for children and granting overseas scholarship for bright Kano citizens to advance their education and skills, with Engr.

Rabiu Musa Kawankwaso as one of the beneficiaries.”

In concluding, Imam said, “No doubt, sooner or later, history would pass a verdict that the &#;chief priest of change&#;, Abubakar Rimi, who devoted his entire life experimenting with truth, had tried his best within the difficult circumstances he found himself to help in liberating Nigeria and Nigerians.” 

Kano and indeed Nigeria cannot forget in a hurry the man, Abubakar Rimi.