Hon. Kawu Sumaila

By Uzair Adam 

Senator Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila, representing Kano South in the National Assembly, disclosed that his monthly take-home package amounts to over ₦21 million. 

This revelation came just 24 hours after the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) stated that each of the 109 senators in the Nigerian Senate receives a monthly salary and allowances totalling ₦1.06 million.

The RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, had clarified that senators’ official earnings include a basic salary of ₦168,866.70, along with various allowances such as ₦126,650.00 for motor vehicle fueling and maintenance, ₦42,216.66 for personal assistant, and other minor allowances, bringing the total to ₦1,063,860.00 per month.

However, in an interview with BBC Hausa, Senator Kawu revealed a stark difference in the figures, explaining that while his monthly salary is indeed around ₦1 million, additional administrative fees and allowances he receives as a senator bring his total monthly earnings to ₦21 million. 

According to Kawu, this amount covers various office running costs, including domestic travel and newspaper purchases.

The controversy surrounding the earnings of Nigerian federal lawmakers has been reignited, especially after former President Olusegun Obasanjo criticized the practice of lawmakers setting their salaries and allowances, labelling it as immoral. 

Similarly, a former senator from Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, had previously disclosed that senators receive a monthly running cost of ₦13.5 million in addition to their salaries. 

The debate continues as Nigerians scrutinize the actual earnings of their representatives in the National Assembly.

By Mukhtar Sani Yusuf 

I heard Senator-elect Honourable Kawu Sumaila describing himself and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as Sabo Bakin Zuwo and Aminu Kano of our time in an interview he granted to local radio stations in Kano a few days after he was declared the winner of the just concluded election on Kano South Senatorial district under the platform of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP). Perhaps, Kawu Sumaila’s analogy has to do with the relationship that existed between Malam Aminu Kano and Aliyu Sabo Bakin Zuwo, the relationship between a leader and his disciple and those who fought and championed the course of emancipation of the poor people and the downtrodden. Kwankwaso and Kawu are now under the same umbrella, as a political leader and his loyalist following the same path of fighting for the common man’s rights.

Although Malam Aminu Kano and Alhaji Sabo Bakin Zuwo are household names in the political history of Nigeria and Kano state in particular, Kawu Sumaila’s recent statement aroused my attention as passionate of political history to take a deep dive into the political history of the two ace politicians of the blessed memory. And in this piece of writing, I laid my emphasis on where Bakin Zuwo and Kawu Sumaila shared some similarities and differences.

According to Wikipedia, “Sabo Bakin Zuwo had no background in formal education, he missed the opportunity to get formal education at an early age but was said to enrol himself at the age of sixteen at Shahuci primary school adult literacy class in 1950-1954, Igbo community school Sabon Gari and a course on local government administration in ABU Zaria. He also attended Malam Aminu Kano political school in Sudawa, Kano. An outspoken politician, Zuwo was said to have used radio more effectively than any other politician in Northern Nigeria. He was elected to the Senate in 1979 and sponsored more bills than any other senator at the time.”

Unlike Bakin Zuwo, Kawu Sumaila acquired formal education at an early age. He attended Sumaila  Gabas Primary School, Sumaila, and Government Secondary Sumaila, where he earned his First School Leaving Certificate and Secondary School Leaving Certificate in the years 1976 & 1988, respectively. He proceeded to Bayero University Kano and acquired a Diploma and an Advanced Diploma in Educational Management before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 and spent 12 years representing Sumaila/Takai Federal constituency. Like Bakin Zuwo, Kawu utilises radio oftentimes to enlighten the local populace. An outspoken lawmaker, Kawu sponsored many important bills that reshaped the status of Nigerians during his days in the House of REPs.

In the 1983 gubernatorial election in Kano, Bakin Zuwo contested the election under the platform of PRP and defeated former governor Alhaji Abubakar Rimi. Even though he had the shortest reign as a governor of Kano state from October to December of 1983, he is remembered for his act of closing down the popular palace cinema in Kano, which was considered the haven of immorality at the time after listening to the yearnings of people. 

Like Bakin Zuwo, Kawu also contested the seat of Kano state governor in 2015 after he finished three tenures in the House of Representatives. He later withdrew the contest on the day of the APC primary election to support the candidacy of the current governor of Kano state, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. He was appointed SSA to the president on National Assembly matters shortly after president Buhari emerged as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015.

In what appears similar to the act of Alhaji Sabo Bakin Zuwo in 2016, there was a public outcry in Kano on the federal government’s proposed film village to be cited in the state after listening to the peoples’ call who vehemently rejected the project, Kawu singlehandedly took the bull by the horns to approach the president on the matter. This single act led the federal government to rescind its position about the project.

One thing I learned about Alhaji Sabo Bakin Zuwo and Senator-elect Kawu Sumaila, which they shared in common, is vociferousness in voicing out their stance, especially when fighting for the interest of their people.

Hon. Kawu Sumaila is now elected Senator who will represent the people of Kano South in the Red Chamber, and before he was elected, he reached the pinnacle of formal education as he bagged PhD in political science.

Mukhtar Sani Yusuf wrote from Kano and can be reached via mukhtarsaniyusuf678@gmail.com.

By Umar Ahmad Rufai

As we all know, politicians in Kano have been claiming they are followers of the late Malam Aminu Kano to achieve their political interests. We all know and remember him as a leader of the masses, a reformist, educationist and revolutionist. Mallam had built the most substantial legacies. When he was minister, he joined protests against the federal government in Nigeria.

Honourable Kawu Sumaila is Malam’s ghost. As a strong opposition leader after resigning from his position as senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters,  Kawu defeated the incumbent senator that spent sixteen years in the seat last week.

He is ready to represent the good people of southern Kano. He contrasted and won the election three times. He represented Takai/Sumaila for 12 years in the Green Chamber.

Kawu’s action is louder than his voice. He knows the problems of his senatorial district. That’s why he aspired for the seat in 2019 and lost in a questionable primary election. He is ready to speak about his senatorial district, Kano state and northern Nigeria.

Kawu supports the less privileged within and outside his constituency. He founded Al-Istiqama University, the first private university in southern Kano.

Umar Ahmad Rufai wrote from Kano via umarahmadrufaijr@gmail.com. He is a student at Aminu Kano College of Education in Kano.

By Khadija Muhammad 

A young man from Jigawa state has embarked on backward trekking from Gwaram in Jigawa State to Sumaila town in Kano state, to celebrate the election victory of Honorable Kawu Sumaila. 

The young man whom Kawu Sumaila met on the road explained that he was doing this backward trekking because almost every style of trekking has already been done, so he decided to do his own.  

Even though Sumaila asked him to go back home since they met on the road, the young man insisted that he would not go back, because he had sworn to do it. 

On arriving, the senator gave him a token, and he promised him a slot to go on Hajj to Makkah, because of this manly effort that he took upon himself to travel a long in a backward manner to congratulate the senator.  

By Aisar Fagge

On 3rd November, 2021, a delegation from the Al-Azhar University, Egypt visited Al-Istiqama University Sumaila (AUSU) for partnership, staff training and establishing a centre for Arabic sign language that no any Nigerian university has. Explaining to the Daily Reality about this development, The VC of Al-Istiqama University, Prof. Salisu Shehu said:

“You know universities in the world thrive on partnership and collaborations. You need to come to abreast with international best practices in university education. And it is only through collaboration and partnership you get that. You need to mutually interdependent on one another. And it is on this basis we get some form of partnership with Al-Azhar University. As it were, Al-Azhar University is over one thousand years old. It is our big mother.”

“We are moving towards a memorandum of understanding with Al-Azhar University, and they are going to help us in a number of ways: one of which, for example, is that we want them to give us training, to train some of our staff on Arabic sign language.”

There is a problem with Muslim deaf people when it comes to Arabic language and reciting Qur’an especially in their prayers. Lamenting about this lingering issue, the VC affirmed that:

“Muslim deaf people in Nigeria don’t read Arabic, they don’t read the Qur’an, they pray in English. Because what is taught in our school is only English sign language. So even when you write Hausa to them they don’t understand, let alone the Arabic language.”

“So we need to get Arabic sign language and, we want to make Al-Istiqama University, insha Allah, a center for the production of deaf people that are literate in Arabic sign language so that they will be able to read Arabic and Qur’an. Not the usual English they are taught.”

“So we have requested Al-Azhar University to support us in terms of training so that can establish a center for Arabic sign language in order to promote braille literacy,” he concluded.

By Aisar Fagge

In its second segment of the students’ orientation lecture series held between 6th and 7th November 2021, the Vice-Chancellor of Al-Istiqama University Sumaila (AUSU), Prof. Salisu Shehu, stated that AUSU is the cheapest private institution where students can memorize the Holy Qur’an before their graduation.

Speaking about the name of the university, Prof. Salisu Shehu said: “Well, the message sent to parents and guardians from the name of the university is that, this is the university that stands for uprightness in all sense of the word; uprightness in character, behaviour and learning. What we aspire to achieve is that effective teaching and learning take place in our university.

We want to be sure that whoever comes to Al-Istiqama would be seriously groomed with the sound knowledge that is possibly only obtainable in our institution. Not only that, through our counselling and mentorship, serious students can memorize the Holy Qur’an before their graduation.”

From the name “Al-Istiqama”, some people think that the institution is all about Islamic studies and Arabic courses. Reacting to this, the VC has clarified that:

“Yes! This is a faith-based university, and that’s why it’s given the name “Al-Istiqama”. But that does not mean that learning is only going to be restricted to the religious sciences. All disciplines are going to be offered in this university. And, for now, we have about 15 different degree programmes. Islamic Studies is just one of the 15. In addition, there are social sciences, basic sciences and medical sciences. And we are going to open additional faculties as we keep moving, in sha Allah.”

There are complaints about students of private universities that they do not respect their teachers because they are proud of the huge money their parents spend on their school fees, and that has affected the quality of their learning process.

In his reaction to the above, Prof. Shehu explained that Al-Istiqama was different. He added:

“Al-Istiqama, being a faith-based institution, will not tolerate indiscipline, pomposity and any immoral character. We will not tolerate that situation where students are extorted. Although we need to get funds and resources that will sustain the university, parents and students should not be that source.

Our school fees are very, very affordable. Almost the lowest you can find around because it is not a profit-making venture. The proprietor did not intend to make a profit out of it. Rather, he intended to render service to humanity. So that kind of notion and that kind of mentality would not have a place here.”