On Monday, December 12, 2011, the LEADERSHIP Newspapers Board of Editors released the names of individuals and organisations that are to receive 2011 LEADERSHIP AWARD. I have gone through all the 17 categories of 2011 LEADERSHIP AWARD recipients and read the reasons adduced by the Board of Editors in settling for each recipient in each category. It is highly commendable that the Board of Editors took their time and did a thorough job before coming out with an excellent decision on each category. I am convinced that those selected are eminently qualified. The LEADERSHIP Newspapers has followed its own bent no matter what people may say and above all, they raised their pen to defend what is right.
I feel highly vindicated and elated that the LEADERSHIP Board of Editors lead the way in giving honour to whom honour is due in 2011 by awarding General T. Y. Danjuma (rtd) GCON, Abonta of Wukari, the LEADERSHIP Person of the Year 2011, just some couple of days after the LEADERSHIP Newspaper carried my write-up on Monday, December 5th, 2011 and on the PEOPLES DAILY of Friday, December 9, 2011, titled “T.Y. Danjuma: The Statesman and Outstanding Philanthropist at 74.
I am writing this to highly commend the LEADERSHIP Board of Editors for selecting His Excellency, Rt. Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR as the LEADERSHIP Politician of the year 2011. The LEADERSHIP Board of Editors clearly stated that the reasons of electing him as the Politician of the Year 2011 was that “Aminu Waziri Tambuwal broke ranks with his party the PDP. He defeated it, becoming a principal officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the process, went back to the PDP, apologised to its mandarins; he was forgiven and he fitted seamlessly into the top echelon. Today as speaker, he has the full backing of both the PDP and opposition in the house. It takes only a skilled and infinitely gifted politician to achieve this”.
It is an undisputable fact, that Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR is no doubt the best person that deserved the award of the Politician of the Year 2011. If not Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, then who does the cap fit to be the 2011 Politician of the Year in Nigeria? For a person to have contested an election against the wish of his party, the PDP and succeeded in becoming what the party didn’t? want him to become and later returned to the party and reconciled with his party. This astonishing feat has, no doubt, proved that Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is a politician worthy of recognition anywhere in the world.
Two important facts emerged out of the emergence of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR as Speaker. firstly, it proved to the PDP and all other political parties that “no army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come”. Secondly, for his party, the PDP, to have accepted him wholeheartedly has proved to all Nigerians that the PDP leaders are sensitive about the reality of Aminu’s emergence as Speaker, that manifested to them unexpectedly. They immediately became fully aware of what Williams James stated, that, “acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune”.
Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR is the story of a person whom Allah has transformed into the Nigerian golden person. He exhibited relentlessness, struggle, commitment, dedication, loyalty, respect for elders, respect for his seniors, respect for his mates, respect for his colleagues, respect for those who respected themselves, responsibility and such special sterling qualities like intelligence, brilliance and smartness. In the year 2011, he became the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the most populated black nation in the world. In 2011 he was honoured with the Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR) and now a recipient of LEADERSHIP Politician of the Year, 2011.
He was born great on the 10th of January, 1966 into the royal and humble family of Wazirin Tambuwal. He had a beginning that was centred around strict discipline, high moral and he had a very eventful childhood that was characterised by sharp intelligence, academic brilliance and an unquestionable character. That is why he always believed that, “The greatest ornament of an illustrious life is modesty and humility”. It is a fact well known to everybody that is close to him that he is modest and humble.
Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR, agreed in totality with Emerson that “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”. But, as an avowed Muslim, he also believed that power belongs to God. That is the reason why in every situation he was involved in the issue of tussle for power, he will always refer people to the Holy Qur’an Chapter 3 verse 26 and 27 which clearly Says “O Allah Lord of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whomsoever You please and You take away sovereignty from whomsoever You please. You exalt whomsoever You please and You abase whomsoever You please. In Your hands is all good. You surely have power to do all things. You make the night pass into the day and make the day pass into the night.
And You Bring forth the living from the death and bring forth the dead from the living. And You give to whomsoever You please without measure”.
For the mere fact that he accepted those great words of Try Edward that “High aims forms high characters and great objects bring out great minds” Aminu developed high aim and his character emboldened and became bold and courageous to stand for the election of the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives of Nigeria, despite all odds and won the election has proved that his election by LEADERSHIP Newspapers as the LEADERSHIP Politician of the Year 2011 was timely and well deserved.
When the history of the House of Representatives of Nigeria is written, one day, the names of the courageous 252 Members that voted him as Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives of Nigeria despite threat and intimidation will no doubt be written in gold for standing on their own to chose a leader that they can work with, a leader that will protect their interest and that of Nigerians. Since his election as the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was performing his functions excellently to the admiration of his colleagues and Nigerians. Speaker Aminu believed with Francois De La Rochefoucalt that “True eloquence consist in saying all that is proper and nothing more”. In all his utterances and speeches so far, he always said what is proper and nothing more.
One great leadership quality that is common with Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is that he cherished and valued his friends, relations, colleagues and all those that did a favour to him no matter how little it is. He is a very magnanimous, humane person, a distinguished politician and a distinguished servant of Allah.
It is today a well known fact in Nigeria that one allegation against the victorious Governor Wamakko by his opponents was that he contributed to the emergence of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who represents Kebbi / Tambuwal Constituency in Sokoto State as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. His emergence was against the zoning principle of PDP as the party had already allocated the seat to the south-west.
The ebullient and charismatic Aminu Waziri is convinced with what Herbert Prochnous said, that “There is time when we must firmly choose the course we will follow or drift of events will make the decision”, Aminu choose to attend the PDP primaries in Sokoto on Saturday, 17th December, 2011 to support Governor Wamakko even if the heaven will fall, talkless the heaven will not fall, because he stands on a course that he believed was right. We that have followed the political happenings in Sokoto, knew that as long as that election will be free and fair, even if it is going to take place in the Eagle Square or even in the Bermuda Triangle, Governor Alu Wamakko will defeat the combined forces of Yusuf Suleiman and Gada, protest or no protest with a hurricane slide. That Sokoto primaries is now history and it will go down into Nigeria’s political history as the miracle of Sokoto.
With this unprecedented victory of Wamakko, we urge Governor Wamakko to be magnanimous in victory and invite and unite with the party primaries experimentalists. And to the president of Nigeria, he should be magnanimous to recall back his Minister of Sports, who leaved certainty to uncertainty, because the Sokoto project has failed woefully.
The decision of LEADERSHIP to award 2011 politician of the year award to His Excellency, Rt. Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR and 16 other eminently qualified individuals and organisations is timely, highly welcomed and well deserved. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal epitomises God’s natural gift to man. He was wonderful in anything he did. So great were his performance so far as the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives of Nigeria.
Finally, I will be fair enough to remark, that here is a brilliant, humble, modest and young Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Here goes a Speaker with exceptionally wonderful qualities. Here is a Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Here is the recipient of 2011 LEADERSHIP Politician of the year and indeed a person who will soon cover Nigeria like an umbrella.
Abubakar Shehu contributed this piece from Birnin – Kebbi
