TO state that all is not well with Nigeria today is an understatement. Nigeria is bleeding and is beset with a myriad of problems that, in fairness to the President Muhammadu Buhari’s (PMB) government, have been simmering – though exacerbated by their actions or inactions, as the case may be. The country is currently bereft of positive national role models, and I feel compelled to start calling out our true heroes for recognition and celebration.
This is the first of a dozen articles to call out and celebrate those who have contributed immensely to the development of this country but who have been so conveniently overlooked for National Honours and Awards. We need to celebrate them to imprint into our national consciousness, correct values that hopefully can lift our nation out of the moral morass that we are in and to show that hard work pays.
In a country where true heroes are difficult to come by and celebrate, when we see a rare one, we should celebrate him. Heroes touch our hearts, fill us with admiration, inspire us and make us reconsider our view of the world around us.
FOR decades, Alhaji Bawa Garba (ABG) has been at the forefront of Nigerian communications advancement, scoring many enviable firsts in his pursuit of excellence and technological innovation for Nigeria and Nigerians. To those who have been privileged to know him in person, Alhaji Bawa Garba fits the bill as a true national hero who should be celebrated! As captured in a famous quote by the legendary Maya Angelou, “How important it is for us to recognise and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”.
It gladdens my heart that this national icon, a man I genuinely admire and respect, is still irrepressibly going strong at almost 80. He will be turning 80 in a couple of months’ time. For one to appreciate this phenomenal business mogul simply called ABG, he was just in his twenties when he trained hundreds of Northern Nigerians in secretarial services during the Nigerian civil war, thereby filling a huge gap and keeping a lot of businesses afloat during the war effort (Government ministries, Newspaper houses etc.). He supplied Government establishments and companies with Duplicating machines, typewriters, etc. All of these were between 1967 and 1970.
A visionary and innovative business leader, in his quest to break new ground and create value, he personally organised the 1st International trade fair in Nigeria in 1979 – the Kaduna International Trade Fair. Through his efforts, he succeeded in opening up the Nigerian market to the international community and created opportunities for Nigerians to expand their businesses. The multiplier effects of the Trade Fair (which had since come to stay) were the benefit Nigerian consumers had, through access to an increased range of better-value goods and services and the creation of jobs and prosperity.
Among the many firsts recorded by ABG was the establishment of the first literary and entrepreneurial school called Arewa Advancement Classes in Kaduna in 1967. Not satisfied with importing just finished goods into the country, he was concerned with adding value and creating employment for the Nigerian youth. He partnered with Blaupunkt (BOSCH) to start the assembly of car radios, television and video cassette recorders, thereby employing thousands of Nigerians.
To the uninitiated, Alhaji Bawa Garba started the use of Satellite television in Sub Sahara Africa for home use. In his usual way of creating employment opportunities for thousands of Nigerians through value creation, he established foundries in Kaduna and Lagos, where Satellite dishes were locally produced in 1987. He also started Cable satellite transmission in Nigeria, thereby being the first private Broadcasting company in Sub Sahara Africa – predating the creation of the regulators, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). To his credit, International television stations like CNN, CSPAN, BBC World Service, Sky TV, Discovery Channel and a few others were first brought to Nigeria by Alhaji Bawa Garba. It is therefore no exaggeration to assert that any history of the enrichment of television channels and content that Nigerians enjoy today without the mention of ABG will not only be incomplete, but misleading, as they can be credited to him.
The story of Alhaji Bawa Garba’s rich and impactful life is an inspiration – there to excite and ignite hope in the new generation of Nigerians, especially the northern part of Nigeria where there is a pervasive feeling of hopelessness among the teeming uneducated youth. A self-made man who, through a dint of hard work, determination and vision of a better Nigeria, overcame many challenges to build ABG. Not satisfied with the business aspect of things only, he sought to enrich the social and community life of his people by establishing a football club – ABG Babes, which he funded for many years and which brought joy, sporting exposure, employment and recreational opportunities to thousands of Nigerians across the country. The club, with a large fan base rose to national league division 2 before its disbandment in 2006.
A serial entrepreneur, it is not surprising that he is also the first to venture into Urban Mass Transportation in Nigeria, partnering with the innovative and dynamic El-Rufai-led FCT government to start city-based mass transportation with 150 high-capacity buses in 2006. A couple of years later, he also introduced electronic ticketing system on the buses, again pioneering Nigeria’s cashless transportation system.
It is therefore rather preposterous and scandalous that a man who has made such an enormous contribution to the development of our country has been overlooked for National Honours whilst such are bestowed on a select new generation of self-serving politicians subsisting as parasitic and exploitative burdens upon the rest of hard-working Nigerian masses. To see that many people who have not contributed anything to our national development and of questionable characters are being decorated with National Honours is an assault on our collective psyches.
Despite his enormous success and his many firsts, he remains refreshingly approachable and continues to maintain his affable nature. A detribalised Nigerian, supremely charming and urbane, Alhaji Bawa Garba is very much at home in the company of the high and mighty and the so-called masses. In almost four decades of my close association with his family, he never treated anyone of any station with anything other than respect and kindness. As his sons’ friend, he took me under his wings, and my Yoruba or Christian faith was never an issue in all our dealings and encounters. Ever so willing to assist, and he offered to use his seemingly most precious enormous goodwill on my personal issue at one stage.
ABG is not in any hurry to stop impacting lives – even as he approaches the very ripe old age of 80. He is a philanthropist with a very large heart. I believe I speak for hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and other well-meaning Nigerians when I say that it is time the Nigerian government honoured Alhaji Bawa Garba with a national award. It is time he and a host of other ordinary citizens who have made an impact on their communities and the nation as a whole, be celebrated and showcased as genuine role models to young Nigerians.
NB: For Part 2 of this series, I will be focusing on another worthy Nigerian who has been recognised and celebrated by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom with the award of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) but who has also been overlooked by his home country, despite his selfless service to Nigeria.
- Olukiran writes from London, UK and can be reached via [email protected] )
