By James Ojo
When Aminu Waziri was born 56 years ago in a down town in the southern part of Sokoto Caliphate, no comet was seen, neither was his future foretold by the mullahs. It only brought joy to the modest family in Tambuwal town.
His formative years quickly revealed that Aminu hads a destiny to fulfill in the larger political space. The circumstances and place of his birth and the social status of his progenitors could not hold his growing into full stature hostage.
Brought up in a strict Islamic home, it was in no distant time that what was wrapped in the womb of history was unfolded, starting from when he was a toddler.
At a very tender age, Aminu became the rallying point for his peers, because nothing was too precious for him to share among his friends and he would not allowed any of them to be bullied.
Having displayed leadership qualities in his formative years, the pursuit of western education helped to broaden his scope and service to humanity, which helped him when Aminu started to have contact with people of other tribes, cultures and creeds.
Aminu Tambuwal, the executive governor of Sokoto State, who is 56 years today, has remained the issue since he went into partisan politics.
From his modest family with strong Islamic doctrines, Aminu was enrolled in Tambuwal primary school after Quranic lessons, he proceeded to the Government Teacher’s College, Dogon-Daji, where he obtained the Teacher’s Grade II Certificate.
He was employed as a trained teacher and traversed the length and breadth of the state, moulding younger ones for the future in western education, until he decided to enroll at the Usman Dan Fodio University to read Law.
Young Aminu graduated with LL.B (Hons.) and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, for the mandatory one-year studies and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1992.
Further incursion into the life history of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives: it was in his university days, between 1987 and 1991, that he clearly displayed his passion to make life worth living for others.
His roommates in Hall C of the Usman Dan Fodio University nicknamed him ‘Aminu Tuwo,’ as a result of his dexterity in preparing tuwo for his mates. It was also confirmed that he always shared his monthly bursary of N1,000 with his friends who were not entitled to it.
Upon returning to Sokoto from the Law school, Tambuwal began his legal career as a private legal practitioner and, in 1996, he was elected public relations officer of the Nigerian Bar Association, Sokoto branch.
A year later, he rose to the position of the branch secretary and a member of the constitution review committee of the NBA in 1997-1998.
It was in recognition of his experience, mobility, penchant for success and outstanding performance that he was variously elected assistant national financial secretary, first assistant national secretary and also served as secretary, human rights committee of the NBA, from 1988 to 2002.
The climax of his professional career as a lawyer was his appointment into the highest decision making body of the Nigerian legal profession- The Body of Benchers.
A bridge-builder, Aminu’s forays into Nigerian politics exposed his rare talents and high national vision, powered by a passion to break new grounds and chart a fresh and convincing path to national advancement.
Over time, his style of leadership and humility greatly endeared him to millions of Nigerians.
At the advent of the current democratic dispensation, Tambuwal joined the All Peoples Party (APP), and to reward his various contributions to nurse the party, he was elected the state organising secretary.
It is interesting to note that Tambuwal had a short stint in the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), where he was elected Sokoto State legal adviser in 2002 .
In recognition of his continued determination and zeal to render public service, he was appointed by Senator Abdallah Wali, the former Senate Leader, as his personal assistant on legislative matters.
With the resolve by Kebbe /Tambuwal Federal Constituency to elect people with unblemished record of meritorious service to positions of responsibility, and coming from a background of a good teacher and lawyer to render public service, he was elected into the House of Representatives in 2003.
With the dynamics of a developing democracy, he was elected Minority Leader by the Minority Caucus, and was re-elected in 2007 as a PDP member and became the Deputy Chief Whip.
By the time he returned to the House for the third time in 2011, he had established himself as great party man with the ability to make fair and inclusive decisions, thereby winning the confidence of his colleagues who entrusted him to lead as the Speaker of the Seventh Republic.
This accomplished leader in public service, public policy formulation and implementation is emotionally intelligent, mature and balanced. The Speaker’s seat afforded him the platform to showcase his cognate experience in political issues and incidence resolution.
He was given the mandate to govern Sokoto State as an elected governor. His performance enabled him to outwit the array of blockage erected by opponents to win a second term in office.
Gov. Tambuwal was largely instrumental to resolve the recent leadership crisis, which almost crippled his party, the PDP.
Happy birthday to the Mutawallen Sokoto, one of the foremost bridge-builders, a great party man with national outlook. He has the ability to make difficult, fair, unambiguous and inclusive decisions, which have helped to leave a legacy of service and imprint of patriotism in the service of humanity.
Those expecting that a unique day like this would be a jamboree would be disappointed because Tambuwal, a deeply religious, hardworking, emotionally stable, intelligent, humble and humane executive governor, the Son of the Day, would be at his desk doing the work of service to God and humanity.
•Ojo, a journalist, writes from Abuja