Another time was when I was travelling to Jos and a crisis erupted. I am very worried about that because my children are coming up. Tafawa Balewa's Son Set To Drag PDP To Court 6 years ago read comments by Legit.ng Dr Abdul Jelil, the son of Nigeria’s First Republic Prime Minister, the late Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa has vowed to drag the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to court for being denied the Presidential form . My father didn’t sleep; he had very little sleep because he always had a late night with his circle of advisers, ministers and the others as they tried to get Nigeria working. You know they were trained by the British. He said we should follow him because he saw my wife with a hijab. All these troubles, including religious and tribal conflicts are part of that. Did any of his children join the Nigerian military? What do you think about the counter-coup of the same year? Conversely however, if his official birthday of April 17, 1967 is indeed real, Abubakar […] It was on the following day that we learnt about some of the things that happened. The disturbances in Nigeria today can be linked to what happened at that time. What do you think about the state of the nation as Nigeria celebrates its 60th independence anniversary? You said earlier that your father wasn’t corrupt, what do you think about corruption among public office holders now? A local government area chairman will not live in his area. google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5689805440782123"; I just had to let them continue. In Bauchi, for instance, if a crisis breaks out in one remote local government area, you will find out that he won’t be there and his secretary will also not be there. Changing the heads of the security agencies is not a remedy for what’s going on. Kindly Share This Story: By Charles Agwam. The Chief of Army Staff, police boss, and others were easterners. I saw her trying to perform her ablutions in preparation for prayers but the other kids started crying and I went out. So, it metamorphosed. Usman Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is the 60-year-old son of Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. So I learnt. That’s a different thing entirely; to me, a coup is a coup. Visit www.atbu.edu.ng. How happy and hopeful was your father when we got independence? People were doing tribal politics, but at least they had their national representatives and they always came together when things were coming to a head. I think he would go crazy because the stage we are in cannot be explained, seriously. Have you forgiven the people who killed your dad? What happened to her? Didn’t the family insist that he must be buried where he wanted to be buried? How was life after the death of your dad? Through the papers, I later learnt that he was warned by the British High Commissioner. So, today, that is what is happening now; people are blowing his trumpet. The question is about leadership. google_ad_height = 250; Terror group worse than Boko Haram may emerge, says Sultan. Copyright PUNCH. Early life and career. There are bad roads everywhere. He was elated. We didn’t know a crisis had started, so we were nearly killed because we went to the wrong camp. May those who are not working along that line see reasons to do that because we are heading somewhere! They would pay you allowances and pocket money. Abubakar Balewa was born late in 1912 in Bauchi, the son of a district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. You should tell me because whatever I say will bring back the memory as I am involved and my father was killed. The problems started after the January 1966 coup because people felt it was a tribal thing and politicians went to the locals and tried to influence them, so Nigeria started declining. If you are going to Abuja through Jos, you’ll almost faint if you get to a pothole. He said we shouldn’t go farther because it was a Christian axis. I was in Bauchi when my father died. ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA YAKE CIKA SHEKARA 55 DA RASUWA. A school teacher, politician. No, I can show you some videos where people from the core North have come out publicly to abuse him (President Buhari). If you look at the terrorism in Borno State, it started as a small thing, but look at what has happened within a few years. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa had Four wives – Jummai, Umma, Zainab and Laraba. Someone told me there was a time he entered the Prime Minister’s ((Tafawa Balewa’s) office and saw a minister on his knees crying because of some bribes that he had taken somewhere. He retired from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency in 2018 and is currently a farmer and businessman. It was during the interview that they saw his name – Tafawa Balewa, and I don’t know what problem they had with it because they denied him. I learnt that even the then Prime Minister of England told him to come and stay with him in his ship but he didn’t. But some argue that the security under the Federal Government has not fared well. @sofson, we do not only help you get into the right Institution, we provided insightful tips to help you ace your time in school. I left Nigeria in 1982 for the United States of America. He was his father’s only child. But I wasn’t there when he was killed. You can’t give me an AK-47 with two magazines and say I should face an anti-aircraft gun. Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, KBE(1) (December 1912 â January 15, 1966) was a Nigerian politician, and the only prime minister of an independent Nigeria. Did it stop the deterioration? Abubakar was born in December 1912 in the village of Tafawa Balewa, in modern day Bauchi state. We were just coming together then and that there was trade that was going on between the North and the South; the various tribes of Nigeria. They wanted him to leave the place. “He is neither the nephew, neither the son, neither the grandson of my father,†the fourth son of the late Sir Abubakar said. This is because the regions have been split into states. The university was established in 1980 as the Federal University of Technology, Bauchi. All of them will leave this world. Tafawa Balewa didn’t get his wish to be buried at home –Yakubu, son of ex-Prime Minister. So, how could the country move again? But people don’t learn. READ ALSO: Terror group worse than Boko Haram may emerge, says Sultan. But like I told you, I wasn’t in Lagos then. Abubakar Balewa was born late in 1912 in Bauchi, the son of a district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. What are the striking changes between Nigeria of today and the country during your father’s time? google_ad_height = 250; Few multi-billionaires control Nigeria’s resources, unlike in 1960s –Yakasai. Where is Chukwuemeka Ojukwu now? Balewa’s father Yakubu Dan Zala was of Gere ethnicity, and … A school teacher, politician. From there, they started looking for Major Okafor. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, KBE (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician, and the first prime minister of an independent Nigeria. google_ad_slot = "5984819487"; If you tell me now, what will I do with the information? Just listen to what has been going on. The name of his birthplace was appended to Abubakar’s name (Abubakar Tafawa Balewa). He was a “cool figure” who preoccupied himself with integration of Nigeria’s over 250 ethnic groups as before and during his tenure. The army was strictly under the federation. If you look around you, you will find somebody who had nothing when they went into politics; soon, they have accumulated wealth that didn’t come from their salary or allowances. /* Punch_Sidebar_Articlepages300x250 */ Do you remember crying when you heard about his death? You have to follow up because if you are making progress, at least, the people are supposed to see changes. Abu Bakr (Arabic: أبو بكر ‎) was a sahabi, one of the companions of Muhammad and the first Caliph of Islam.He was also Muhammad's father-in-law through Aisha.His real name was Abdullah or Abul-Kaaba and Abu Bakr was his kunya.. That okada man was a Christian. The Tafawa Balewa family disowned Jhalil in 2008, claiming he wasn't a son. The younger Tafawa Balewa stated this while commenting on the state of the nation. If your father was to witness the situation in Nigeria now, what do you think would be his reaction? Whenever I remember him, I just prayer for him. Ga Jawabin Mai Girma Firaministan Nageriya Na Farko, Alhaji Sir. DAGA Bashir Abdullahi El-bash. “He is not one of us,†Saddik Abubakar Tafawa Balewa told the BBC, after the operation to rescue Jhalil. Abubakar Balewa was the son of a district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. I know some of those houses that are still here till today in Bauchi. What are your thoughts on that? Before, the Nigerian Army used to run away. You go through some channels. Gone are those days. In the First Republic, the army was in disarray because some people took sides and this has continued. They were classmates and very close friends. For some people, what they mean by restructuring is that all the powers of the Federal Government should be taken away to allow the states to have their own security, which is not possible, because the Federal Government has to be responsible for security. They will be somewhere in Bauchi or even far away from Bauchi. It … \ n Abubakar Tafawa is celebrating 55 years of death. Since I got there and they had already started the process of burial, there was nothing else I could do. Then later, I learnt the Prime Minister had been taken somewhere. A school teacher, politician. They would save from their allowances. Will I kill him? They could even provide for your feeding. Everybody in Nigeria during the First Republic or even up to the 1980s would tell you that people were happy. Kindly Share This Story. Apparently a young officer of the Nigerian Army at the time Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the Nigerian Prime Minister from 1957 – 1966, it goes without saying that President Muhammadu Buhari must know of Balewa, even if he didn’t know him. I did not even cry. May his soul rest in peace. Once it happened, I couldn’t bring him back to life, so it is only appropriate for me to pray for him. I don’t know if it is true that the last time they bought weapons for the army was during the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. I was the first person to break the news of my father’s death to my mother who was also here in Bauchi. I think it (corruption) was there but not as serious as some people assumed it was. If you talk about my father, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ozumba Mbadiwe and other politicians, where are they now? Even in the Second Republic, people were at least decent. For more details on ATBU – Abubaka Tafawa Balewa University’s Cut off mark, Available Courses and Departments. Join Now. This can be attested by those who knew her. We remained in our house here in Bauchi. Now, the scenario is that some people are exploiting these grievances and providing people with weapons to cause trouble. If you asked him, he would say it was because if they, the founding fathers, could not hold Nigeria together, then what would happen after them? How Tafawa Balewa’s widow was abandoned after husband’s death. The security under the Federal Government has not fared very well because the head of a security agency will just take the entire money and put it in his pocket, simple. Even Chief Ladoke Akintola (Premier of the Western Region) went to Kaduna to meet the late Premier of the Northern Region (Sir Ahmadu Bello), telling him that they should leave the country but he said he would not go anywhere. There was a sports festival in Bauchi when there was a crisis. We thank God; I can’t say the government has done enough or not. They copied what they were doing to get everybody involved but earlier on, everything was going on smoothly. It didn’t. What do you think were the dreams of your father and other founding fathers like him? As for restructuring the economy, I am for that; they will be giving the government at the centre royalties. People had employment. She was a devoted Christian and took her faith seriously. He wanted to know if everything was okay there. The first Prime Minister was from Bauchi State. Since you were not in Lagos, how did you hear about your father’s death? Do you see it as a consolation that those who killed your dad didn’t taste the victory? That’s how deep the rot has gone. It cannot work. google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5689805440782123"; The … There was the Northern Elements Progressive Union that metamorphosed into the People’s Redemption Party. I didn’t sleep at home that night because there was no way we could get home. Jhalil Tafawa Balewa, son of Nigeria's first Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa has been kidnapped by suspected kidnappers. My mother said I should tell them to bring his body to where he wanted to be buried. Do you think the government has done enough to honour the name of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and his family? Abubakar Tafawa Ɓalewa, Wanda Ya Gabatar A Karon Farko A Matsayin Firaminista A Shekarar (1957). The coup plotters claimed some government officials were corrupt, do you think your father also believed that there was corruption in government at the time? I don’t think it was necessary. Tafawa Balewa was a vocal […] When the crisis started because of tribal politics, my father broke down and cried. From Bashir Abdullahi El-bash Here is the speech of the first prime minister of Nigeria, Alhaji Sir. He told me that they didn’t know exactly what happened but that the Prime Minister had been killed. That was what caused it. But it happens in the North. Copyright PUNCH. The news first broke after they took the Prime Minister. You cannot blame the institution for what happened; it was just a few people that were responsible for what happened. Morenike set up a trading company called Monicotora in 1975 and flourished in business while raising her children. The coup eventually failed but those who had been killed, like your father, Bello and Akintola, had been killed, what do you make of that? Some of them started crying, so I went back for the funeral prayer. Menu. If you look at the banditry in the North-West, it just mushroomed overnight. People are talking about him and all the good things that he did while he was alive. The bad roads did not start with this administration; they started long before it and haven’t been addressed. When they were to take him, his wife was in the room. Last week I requested that a family member of the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa should reach out to me to set the records straight on their patriarch’s ethnic identity. Dr. Tafawa Balewa, 60, says he is the son of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria's first prime minister, who was killed in the country's 1966 coup. It was at the last minute that Shehu Shagari started bringing these things and Shagari was a minister in Sir Tafawa Balewa’s administration. It taught me to be what I am now, to be hard, strong and dedicated. There is respect for elders but it has gone down; some of them can even hit you on the chest. Apparently a young officer of the Nigerian Army at the time Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the Nigerian Prime Minister from 1957 – 1966, it goes without saying that President Muhammadu Buhari must know of Balewa, even if he didn’t know him. There are people that do that but because of the decorum in the North; the old system is such that you don’t come out and criticise. I felt abnormal, but what would I do? What do you think of your father’s legacy in the light of the current state of the country? google_ad_width = 300; During my father’s time, all the heads of defence establishments were from the East. They left a beautiful legacy but they didn’t complete the work they started. They would keep the money; they wouldn’t do the work. We will be thankful if more (honour) comes. The government has tried its best but if you’ve studied Nigeria very well, you’ll know that there have been forces pulling the country apart and trying to tear it since Nigeria got its independence. Will I bring him back if I have memories of him? There’s no society where there will be herdsmen and farmers and there won’t be problems. Balewa, a U.S trained Surgeon and the National Chairman of Goodluck Na Kowa, a support group urging President Goodluck Jonathan to run for the 2011 Presidential election was kidnapped in his home at the Utako District of Abuja. He was a “cool figure” who preoccupied himself with integration of Nigeria’s over 250 ethnic groups as before and during his tenure. Dan Zala, who was the son of a district head in the year ( 1957.... Say the government at the centre royalties is celebrating 55 years of death the anniversary... 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