I want to congratulate Professor Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad on her promotion to the exalted rank of Professor by the Governing Council of Bayero University, Kano.
Prof. Suwaiba is a pioneer. After 20 years in academia, she became the first female professor from Babura, Jigawa State. She progressed from Graduate Assistant to Professor, holding leadership roles like Head of the Science and Technical Education department and Director of the Gender Studies unit.
Her expertise extends beyond the university. She served as the Provost of Jigawa State College of Education. Currently, she holds the esteemed position of Minister of State for Education, Federal Republic of Nigeria, leveraging her vast experience to shape the country’s education landscape.
Prof. Suwaiba, the current Nigerian Minister of State for Education, is an exemplary academic and a shining star in the field of science education. Her unwavering dedication, unrelenting passion, and uncompromising commitment to excellence have left an indelible mark on the lives of countless students, colleagues, and the academic community at large.
As a renowned scholar, Professor’s contributions to her field of Science Education have been groundbreaking, insightful, and profoundly impactful. Her research has not only advanced our understanding of critical issues in the education sector but has also informed policies, practices, and innovation.
Prof. Suwaiba, a gifted teacher and mentor, inspires generations of students to pursue excellence and cultivate a love for learning. Her rare ability to connect with, listen to, and guide students nurtures their growth and earns her deep admiration and gratitude from all who learn from her.
Throughout her illustrious career at Bayero University, Kano, and outside, Professor Suwaiba has demonstrated remarkable leadership. She collaborates with colleagues, institutions, and communities to advance the cause of education, promote social justice, and foster a culture of inclusivity, equity, and excellence.
As we celebrate Prof. Suwaiba’s achievements at this incredible milestone, we honour her remarkable accomplishments,character, values, and unwavering commitment to making a positive difference in education. She is a true treasure, a beacon of hope, and an inspiration.
Adamu Isah Babura wrote from Bayero University, Kano, via adamubabura@gmail.com.
Prof. Mustapha Nasir Malam, a senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Bayero University, Kano, spoke about the importance of leadership and reputation management, especially during challenging periods.
He explained this during a quarterly professional development lecture organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Kano State Chapter.
He explained how quality leadership plays a significant role in shaping an organisation and society. He noted that “good leadership enables a leader to build a good reputation and earns the respect of his subordinates”.
Malam described the qualities of a leader as self-confident, innovative, and having any other attributes that may give the leader an added advantage.
He further asserts that reputation management is crucial and takes a long time to build, citing some countries that excel in it. He also used the #EndBadGovernance, the SAMOA deal agreement, and the recent controversy between the Nigerian junta and Nigeria to highlight how these incidents negatively affected Nigeria’s reputation.
Dr Sule Y. Sule, a program discussant and lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Bayero University, has explained how improper reputation management strategies have affected the Nigerian government’s reputation and will take a long time to fix.
He called on the government to strengthen its communication capabilities by employing strategic communication strategies to maintain the country’s reputation and image.
Various lecturers from the Department of Mass Communication, the national spokesperson of the Nigeria Customs Service, public relations practitioners, the publisher of PR Nigeria, students, and media personalities attended.
From a young age, I have been deeply fascinated by politics and dreamed of actively participating in it one day. Growing up in Kano State, I listened to political programs on local FM stations and national media, which nurtured my passion and understanding of the political landscape. This enthusiasm carried over into my academic journey at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), where I discovered opportunities to channel my political ambitions.
Upon gaining admission to BUK, even before lectures commenced, I visited the Students’ Union Government (SUG) Secretariat with a friend in his second year. At that time, the SUG President, fondly known as Third Man, led a vibrant administration. Observing the activities at the Secretariat left a lasting impression on me. I resolved that, despite the challenges ahead, I would one day participate in student politics.
However, during my first and second years, the school management suspended SUG elections and replaced the union with a caretaker committee (CTC). To stay involved, I joined my local government students’ association and other student unions, which allowed me to gain valuable experience and insights.
In 2023, during my third year, the school management reinstated SUG elections, and I seized the opportunity to run for the position of SUG Departmental Senator. Around the same time, my department, the Mass Communication Students Association (MACOSA), was preparing for elections. Since the position of Departmental Senator was part of the SUG elections, MACOSA executives decided to conduct a primary election to streamline the process. The winner of the primary would automatically secure an SUG election form.
I was one of three candidates vying for the position, determined to represent my department in the Students’ Representative Assembly (SRA). Financial challenges posed significant hurdles, but I remained optimistic. My campaign strategy focused on building genuine relationships with students across all levels. From my first year, I had shared resources like past question papers, handouts, and PDFs with my name attached, ensuring I was remembered. Additionally, I provided timely updates about school affairs and assisted newcomers in settling into university life. These efforts resonated with students and garnered their support.
The campaign period was intense. While my opponents distributed campaign materials such as hand fans and handouts, which I couldn’t afford, I relied on the unwavering support of my friends and team members. A close friend, Sa’ad Abubakar, even purchased my election form. My campaign team, including Hajara Abdullahi, Benjamin Jacobson, Umar Farouq, Junaidu Shehu, Abubakar Sadeeq Yahaya, Raheela Usman Buhamas, Sani Labaran and Abdulrauf Abdulrazak Rugu Rugu, worked tirelessly to mobilise voters.
The night before the election, we conducted a face-to-face campaign, visiting hostels such as Sa’adu Zungur (Blocks A, B, and C), Yar’Adua Block, El-Kanemi, Dantata, Dangote, and Ramat. We engaged students directly, explaining our vision and soliciting their support. Influential friends like Al-amin Musa Muhammad, Musa Rabiu and the current MACOSA President, Abbas Ynbs, played pivotal roles in reaching key student areas with contribution of Fateemah Dabo, Anas Abbas, Alhassan Alhassan Gidan Kara, Khadijah MakkahSanda, Anwar Usman, Abdullahi Mohammed Abubakar, Uzair Adam Imam, Sadi Sada, Yusuf Aminu Yusuf and Adamu Muhammad Dan Hajiya.
The election results were a testament to the power of grassroots engagement and genuine relationships. I emerged victorious, securing the automatic ticket to represent my department in the 24th SRA. I initiated projects that strengthened our department’s presence in the university’s political landscape during my tenure.
Encouraged by this success, I later contested for the position of Faculty Senator and won unopposed, representing the Faculty of Communication in the 25th SRA. This journey was made possible through the unwavering support of friends like Abubakar Ibrahim Shehu, the President of the Department of Information and Media Studies, and the contributions of Distinguished Senator Abdullahi Yunusa Alkah of Law and distinguished Senator Ahmad Mijinyawa of Computing.
Reflecting on my journey, I attribute my success in student politics to a genuine commitment to helping others and fostering meaningful relationships by prioritising the needs of my peers, sharing knowledge, and maintaining mutual respect.
This experience has fulfilled my dream of participating in politics and equipped me with valuable lessons in leadership, collaboration, and perseverance—qualities I intend to carry forward into broader political endeavours.
Bilal Muhammad Bello (BMB) is a Senator Representing the Faculty of Communication 25th Student Representative Assembly SRA-SUG-BUK.
Kano-born historian Dr Abdullahi Hamisu Shehu has been awarded the 2023 African Studies Review/Cambridge University Press Award for Best Africa-Based Doctoral Dissertation at the 67th ASA Annual Meeting held in Chicago, United States of America, from December 12 to 14, 2024.
The recognition celebrates Dr Shehu’s groundbreaking research, titled “Procession, Pilgrimage, and Protest: A Historical Study of the Qadiriyya-Nasiriyya and Islamic Movement in Nigeria Public Religiosity in Northern Nigeria, 1952-2021.”
Dr Shehu, a faculty member at the Department of History, Bayero University, Kano, earned his PhD from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. His dissertation examines the dynamic interplay between public religiosity and identity formation in northern Nigeria, focusing on two key movements: the Qadiriyya-Nasiriyya, a reformed Sufi order, and the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), a Shia revivalist group.
His research explores the historical, social, and religious aspects of public demonstrations, such as the Maukibi (Sufi processions) and the Muzahara and Tattaki (Shia protests and symbolic journeys). According to Dr Shehu, these practices represent a unique contest for public space and visibility between competing religious identities in the post-colonial northern Nigerian landscape.
An accomplished scholar, Dr. Shehu is also a Fellow of the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (Social Science Research Council, New York) and a Lisa Maskell Fellow (Gerda Henkel Foundation, Germany). Over his career, he has participated in numerous academic conferences and workshops worldwide.
His work sheds new light on the role of public space in shaping religious identity and offers fresh perspectives on the sociopolitical complexities of northern Nigeria. Dr. Shehu’s achievement highlights his academic excellence and underscores the growing impact of African scholarship on global discourse.
In one month, our mentor, leader, teacher, and father, Professor Salisu Shehu, the Vice Chancellor of Al-Istiqamah University Sumaila, Kano, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, received two distinguished honorary awards in recognition of his years of exemplary leadership, meritorious services, and contributions to the development of Islamic education.
The National Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies (NATAIS) conferred one of these awards on Professor Salisu Shehu in a grand ceremony on November 16, 2024, at the Federal College of Education, Yola. The event was part of the Association’s 41st Annual International Conference.
The note of the Association’s highest Merit Award, inscribed on the crest presented to our beloved mentor, reads, “For your Exemplary Leadership and Contributions Towards the Islamic Propagation and Development in Kano State and Nigeria at Large.”
Coincidentally, the Bauchi State Qur’anic Recitation Competition in Jama’are presented the second award to the professor on the same day. Like its peer, this award recognises and celebrates the role played by our mentor in the dissemination of Islamic knowledge, societal enlightenment, and mentoring of the upcoming generation.
Interestingly, however, this second award is both a reward of excellence and a turbaning ceremony of Professor Salisu Shehu as Khadimul Qur’an (Custodian of the Qur’an), the highest title that connotes the peak one attains in promoting the knowledge of Islamic Scripture. The note of the award reads, “Islamic Knowledge Award presented to Prof. Salisu Shehu, V.C, Al-Istiqamah University, Sumaila, Kano State, for his tireless efforts in spreading Islamic knowledge, guiding our community, and inspiring a new generation of Muslims to embrace their faith.Congratulations Khadimul Qur’an”.
For hundreds of mentees and millions of Muslim followers of Professor Salisu Shehu, these esteemed awards clearly testify to the commitment and devotion for which the Professor has been known over the decades. This reputation is justified by his successes in various positions, including his position and duties at Bayero University Kano, where he taught before becoming the founding Vice Chancellor of Al-Istiqamah University Sumaila.
Professor Salisu Shehu displayed an inimitable commitment to modifying the establishment of the Centre of Continuing Education establishment at Bayero University. The centre grew from strength to strength, eventually transforming into the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) and finally to the School of Continuing Education (SCE).
Professor Salisu Shehu was appointed as the first head of this centre, which started from scratch. He led a tenacious staff team, some of whom were younger colleagues he mentored or guided, to develop and upgrade this academic centre into a formidable educational unit of Bayero University. The place has already transformed from a diploma-awarding body to a degree-awarding school within one of Nigeria’s leading and most prestigious learning institutions.
Professor Salisu Shehu is a man in whom one can have confidence and a guarantee of success in any project or mission he undertakes or participates in. His years as the National Coordinator of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) can, without much ado, testify to and validate this claim. Space will not allow us to marshal the achievements this Institute recorded when Professor Salisu Shehu headed it.
The same can be said of various other capacities and ranks in which he served and holds, such as being the first North-west Coordinator of JAMB organised for the visually impaired as the chairman of the Bauchi State Qur’anic Recitation Competition Committee (2007-2011); his role as the Executive Secretary of the Islamic Forum of Nigeria; Deputy Secretary-General, Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and a host of other duties including imamship and delivery of sermons and Islamic lessons.
Besides all these, our distinguished scholar is also an effective mediator; all Nigerians can proudly vouch for his accomplishments. Northern Nigerian Muslims still remember the Professor’s role in facilitating the remarkable debate between some scholars and Abduljabbar Kabara, who shook the religious polity in Kano with his utterances that were considered highly aberrational.
Nigerian citizens and their counterparts of the Niger Republic, as well as their posterities, will remain forever indebted to Professor Shehu and his colleagues among religious leaders who intervened and brought about an understanding that averted war between two neighbours.
As our mentor was conferred these honours by both NATAIS and the Bauchi State Qur’anic Recitation Competition Committee, we pray that he will continue to receive more recognition and blessings in his life. More importantly, however, we pray that these recognitions are precursors to Divine recognition and honour by Allah on the Day of Judgement in the Hereafter.
Isma’il writes from the Advancing Education and Research Centre (AERC) in Rabat and can be reached at ismailiiit18@gmail.com.
The strike initiated by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of university non-teaching staff unions has shown little effect on Bayero University, Kano (BUK), where daily activities continue as usual, and essential facilities remain accessible.
The Daily Reality observed that locations expected to be affected by the strike, such as the university’s main library and hospital, were fully operational.
Students were actively studying in the library, while the hospital staff continued to provide medical care.
The university main library with students preparing to get access
University staff activities were also observed at the Student Affairs Office, suggesting minimal disruption from the strike.
The JAC, which includes the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), had issued a circular on Sunday instructing members to begin an indefinite strike.
The circular, signed by NASU’s General Secretary Mr. Peters Adeyemi and SSANU’s President Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim, cited four months of unpaid salaries as the reason for the action.
The announcement raised concerns that the strike could significantly affect university operations, with some anticipating solidarity actions from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Students at the Attahiru Jega Twin Theatre writing their exams.
However, campus activities continue, and some students have even been able to sit for exams as scheduled.
Malam Nura Garba, SSANU’s Secretary, explained that the strike impacts only NASU and SSANU members, affecting administrative, hospital, and library operations. Nevertheless, these services remain accessible.
NASU Chairman Abdullahi Nasiru clarified that the delay in shutting down facilities stemmed from a late directive issued on Sunday.
“We are holding a meeting today, and the facilities currently open will soon be shut down,” he said.
The University’s Health Service Department
Nasiru emphasized that while the strike is intended to be “total, comprehensive, and indefinite,” the union needed official clearance from the national headquarters before proceeding.
Students who spoke with our reporter confirmed they encountered no issues accessing the hospital and library facilities, despite the ongoing strike.
Nigeria’s public relations sector is on the cusp of a revolution driven by artificial intelligence (AI) integration. This technological advancement transforms how PR professionals work, interact with audiences, and craft compelling narratives.
Artificial intelligence enhances creativity, streamlines processes, and provides data-driven insights, revolutionising the PR landscape. Renowned experts Professor Abdallah Uba Adamu and Mr. Yusha’u Shuaibu emphasise AI’s potential to automate routine tasks, facilitate strategic decision-making, and foster personalised stakeholder communication.
Professor Adamu, a distinguished scholar at Bayero University’s Department of Information and Media Studies, notes that AI has transformative potential. He adds, “AI can automate routine tasks, facilitate strategic decision-making, and foster personalised stakeholder communication.” However, he cautions that AI’s impact on PR is still uncertain due to limited empirical evidence.
Integrating AI in public relations offers numerous benefits, including enhanced creativity and strategic thinking, improved stakeholder engagement and crisis management, targeted messaging and personalised storytelling, and increased productivity through automation.
Despite AI’s potential, challenges persist, including technical issues, infrastructure constraints, a lack of skilled manpower and training, high costs and budget constraints, potential biases, and ethical concerns.
Professor Adamu cautions, “AI can perpetuate biases if not critically evaluated. PR practitioners must develop expertise to recognise and mitigate these biases.” To maximise AI’s benefits, PR professionals should invest in AI training and capacity building, develop critical thinking to evaluate AI outputs, and balance AI-driven efficiency with human touch.
Mr. Issa Ali Musa, a leading media and IT expert, notes, “AI tools have increased productivity by automating tasks like media monitoring, sentiment analysis, and stakeholder segmentation.” However, he emphasises the need for human judgment and creativity.
Looking ahead, experts agree that AI will enhance PR practice in Nigeria. By embracing AI, Nigeria’s PR sector can improve efficiency, precision, and creativity, ultimately leading to better communication strategies.
PR professionals must build the capacity for expertise and criticality to recognise AI biases. As Nigeria’s PR sector evolves, embracing AI will be vital to staying ahead of the curve. By adapting to AI-driven changes, PR professionals can unlock new opportunities, enhance their skills, and drive business success.
Zainab Haruna Shittu wrote from Bayero University, Kano, via harunazainabshittu7567@gmail.com.
We thank Allah for a life well spent. Indeed, from Allah we come, and to him we shall return. Professor Musa Abdu Auyo’s death is undoubtedly one of the few transitions that shocked Bayero University Kano and the entire academic circle within and outside Nigeria.
The Comrade, as we fondly called him, was an unrepentant freedom fighter and social justice crusader. His uncommon spirit of tolerance and forgiveness earned him popularity among different classes of people. In fact, he is a man of the people, and the turnout of people from all walks of life who paid their last respects during his internment testified to that.
My first close encounter with him was when he and a few other individuals helped me secure admission into Bayero University. That was about three decades ago, 1993 – 1994, to be precise. From then on, the relationship knew no boundary and continued to wax stronger until his death.
I always recall with joy how he facilitated the securing of admission for ten qualified candidates in different departments and faculties whose credentials were forwarded to him by my humble self.
His simplicity and sense of accommodation enabled him to act or respond with dispatch to any request I put before him, particularly on student admission or counselling issues.
He once said, “As a lecturer, I don’t have much financially to give, but when it comes to securing admission or imparting knowledge to people, I must do my best”.
Comrade was always ready and willing to help you irrespective of your tribe, religion, class, or age. He believed that society must change positively through education and the creation of public awareness.
His exemplary, simple lifestyle contributed immensely to our conduct.
He taught us the spirit of accountability, answerability, patriotism, and sympathy in the common person.
The late academic guru was bereaved by two wives and nine blessed and educated children. One of them is completing her PhD, and others have or are doing their master’s degree and undergraduate programs in different fields of human endeavour. May God Almighty protect and guide them, ameen.
Professor Musa Auyo graduated in library and information sciences from the prestigious Bayero University Kano, received a master’s degree in the same field from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and received a PhD from BUK. He has also been a professor from the same institution lately.
He was the Head of the Department of Library and Information Sciences, Dean of the faculty of education, Bayero University librarian, one-time pioneer librarian at Federal University Kafin Hausa, and, very recently, chairman of the Board College of Education, Gumel, Jigawa State.
Despite all these academic responsibilities, the late professor still found time to belong to associations within and outside the university walls.
I remember as a student, whenever a symposium was organised, and comrade Auyo and the likes of Prof. Ibrahim Bello-Kano (IBK), late Auwalu Umar, and Auwalu Kawu of sociology were to make a presentation, the theatre always appeared too small to accommodate the mammoth crowd of students anxious to hear words of wisdom from the effervescent cum erudite scholar.
His belief in public education and enlightenment led him to champion the establishment of the Auyo Youth Association (AYA), Hadejia Youth Organization, and Literacy Club Society of Bayero University (LICSOBUK) in which I worked closely with him to champion the cause but was short-lived immediately after we graduated.
He was a great pillar, a beacon who nurtured and groomed students and intellectuals within and outside the campus. Some of his students today are professors doing well in their chosen professions. They include professors Abbas Mai Dabino and Baffa Abubakar, to mention a few.
I recall with pride how the late Professor Auyo, as a crusader of social justice and other sound-minded intellectuals in the Senate, saved many students from rustication for merely embarking on a lack of electricity and water protest in the new campus, where the Vice Chancellor insisted that the students must be punished.
However, these noblemen, including the late professor, stood their ground to ensure no student fell prey to victimisation.
In conclusion, filling the vacuum created by your demise will be very difficult. Your contribution to education, community development, social justice, mentoring, and nurturing within the university perimeter and across society will remain indelible in our memory.
We pray to almighty God to grant you the highest level of Jannah, peace, and everlasting Rahma in your grave until we meet and part no more. Alhamdulillahi!
Those with a deep knowledge of my biography will always remember me in the Faculty of Education’s Department of Education, which I joined in July 1980 at the relatively young age of 24. With a professorship in 1997, I felt I had enough of Education: I was talking loud and saying nothing. So, I shifted my research focus to media and cultural communication.
I never thought the shift would lead to another professorship in 2012, giving an academically glamorous status of being ‘dambu mai hawa biyu’ (up till now, I don’t know exactly what this epithet means!), or double professor – in Science Education and Media and Cultural Communication. Three people were responsible for this, one from Edo State and another two from Zaria. How did it all start?
In 1992, I had just returned from a Fulbright African Senior Research Scholar residency at the University of California, Berkely, when I was visited in my office by the late Prof. Mike Egbon (from Benin), then the Head of the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University Kano. It was our first meeting, and it instantly created a deep bond of friendship between us. He wants me to work with a student of his in supervising a PhD project on the Mass Communication curriculum in Nigerian universities. I was happy to oblige, especially when I learnt that the student is another highly respected colleague, now Prof. Umar Faruk Jibril, the Dean of Communication at BUK.
Thus began my first footsteps in Mass Communication. Before long, I was drafted to teach Advanced Research Methods for PhD students (while still in the Department of Education). This put me in contact with virtually all the current staff of the Faculty of Communication. I felt so happy and so comfortable with them, as well as their tutors in other areas of the Department. One tutor stood out. He was Mal. Gausu Ahmad (from Zaria, if you are keeping track!).
My relationship with Mal. Gausu was incredible and often amusing. For some reason, we were both mesmerised by each other. I had followed his column in New Nigeria years earlier. I was fascinated by his incredible take on Bayero University in his essay “Looking Beyond the Badala”, a critique of the lack of synthesis between Bayero University and its host community. That article drew my attention to Mal. Gausu and I became an avid follower. So, when Mike drafted me into supervision duties in Mass Comm, I met Gausu Ahmad for the first time.
I saw a neoclassical Hausa gentleman in Malam Gausu. His cheerful mien reminds one of an older Uncle or a grandfather but with contemporary perspectives—for instance, Mal. Gausu is the only person I know who has commissioned a traditional barber (wanzami) to come to his office and cut his hair in molo style. No barbing salons for him! We became instantly drawn to each other.
In 2003, I was the Chairman of the defunct Center for Hausa Cultural Studies Kano, a think tank on interfaces between media and society. We organised an international conference on Hausa films—the first of its kind in the country. Virtually all the staff of Mass Communication, including Mal. Gausu, was wholly involved in the conference. Mal. Gausu was the HOD of Mass Communication then. It was at the conference that he consolidated his relationship with me.
I was then also asked to teach a course on Online Communication in the Department, introducing new ideas that departed from the straight-up Mass Communication scholarship of the Department in print and broadcast media. By then, I had well-established online communities on the defunct Yahoo! Groups (since 2001), which became the first gathering places for future social media citizens. So, I was excited to be asked to teach Online Communication – even more excited were junior colleagues who wanted to be part of the course.
This went on for a while, with me being an adjunct member of the Mass Communication Department, a position I relish far more than my education position at the university. In 2004, my break-out media year, I was a visiting professor at the University of Cologne, Germany. The paper was “Enter the Dragon: Shari’a, Popular Culture and Film Censorship in Northern Nigeria.” When I returned, Mal. Gausu expressed dismay that I presented a paper about events in Kano at a foreign university. He insisted that the paper must be represented in the Department of Mass Communication, which I did later in the year – thus opening up new vistas of media anthropology. To cement this position, I invited Brian Larkin to come to the Department and present his book “Signal and Noise” about media anthropology in July 2008. It is the first public presentation of this ground-breaking book.
Unknown to me, Mal. Gausu has submitted my name to the Registrar of the University, then Mal. Sani Aminu (Zaria!) for appointment as Part-Time Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication. This was instantly approved, and I was only aware of it when I got the letter in November 2005. From then on, I became part of the Mass Communication ecosystem. Not only did I have more classes, but I also had more students. The number of postgraduate students I supervised in a few years in Mass Comm was far more than the number of students in all the 25 years I had been in Education.
Under his leadership of the department, a wonderful atmosphere of camaraderie and brotherhood was fostered. His elegant, calm demeanour does not brook any disagreement with any policy because policies and decisions in the Department were collectively arrived at and implemented together.
His biggest trait, however, was his humility. He was indeed a knowledge seeker. He was never shy or hesitant in asking questions about what he did not know. Our offices were always close together, and in the evenings after Asr prayer, when the building was quieter, we spent moments exchanging ideas and concepts. He became a sort of student to me. He would ALWAYS insist on carrying my rucksack to my car. ALWAYS. He fiercely resists anyone attempting to take the rucksack from him, insisting it is his duty and honour. On the other hand, I always felt uncomfortable with an older person taking my rucksack to the car! But he always insisted.
From January to March 2012, I was a European Union visiting professor at the University of Warsaw. When I returned in April, informed my Vice-Chancellor, and submitted my report, the next thing I knew was that I was caught up in the whirlwind of being appointed as professor of Media and Cultural Communication and already a professor of Science Education since 1997. I was surprised as I thought it was not done. However, the vice chancellor who did it, Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, was another bold and innovative person. And from Zaria! After all the due process, I was eventually announced as a Media and Cultural Communication professor in January 2013, effective October 2012.
The icing on the cake was the clause that I was to move from the Department of Education to the Department of Mass Communication. After 32 years in Education and having served as HOD for nine years, I was delighted to leave. Thanks to Mal. Gausu Ahmad, I felt more comfortable, personally, emotionally and intellectually, in Mass Communication. I felt blessed. Imagine doing research in an area I am deeply interested in and making contributions to knowledge. Currently, in 2024, as a staff member of the Department of Information and Media Studies, I am under the administrative leadership of Prof. Nura Ibrahim. Do I need to say it? Ok. From Zaria!
The biggest lessons I learned from Malam Gausu were humility and patience. He faced many challenges during his time in Mass Comm, but he stoically endured them and eventually triumphed.
Mal. Gausu retired at the age of 70 on 12 September 2024. He retired as a professor, but his humility and salute to scholarship will always root him in the superior ‘Malam’ category. Anyone can be a professor, but it takes a special kind of person to be appreciated and applauded as a Malam. Mal. Gausu Ahmad is genuinely a first-class Malam, embodying all the qualities of such a position.
I congratulate him on his successful and honourable retirement from the University. He was one of the few academicians who brought real-life print journalism to academia and brought out the true application of the theory of Political Economy. His doctoral thesis, “The Rise and Fall of the New Nigerian Newspaper”, in 2014, followed by publication by ABU Press in 2016 under the same title, is an excellent slice of northern Nigerian media history, as only possible from an insider. If you really want to know print media history in northern Nigeria, get the book.
I pray to Allah (SWT) to continue to endow him with humility, kindness, gentleness, health and prosperity as he charts the next course of his life.
Oh, and my prayers and gratitude to Zage-zagi for being ‘iyanyen gidana’ in scholarship (but not iyayen gidan Kanawa)!
