Giant strides made by man usually attract pomp and pageantry. While some roll out the milestone amidst glass clinging, others play the breakthrough low, but all in praises and in anticipation of a better future. In this momentous instance, the success story always overshadows the nauseating hurdles and barricades accompanying such feats.
Saturday, November 11, 2023, will long be memorable for Senator Aminu lya Abbas (Iya Adamawa/Madawaki Shelleng) and other celebrants as Adamawa Community Association, ACA, Abuja organised a civic reception to honour illustrious sons and daughters of Adamawa state.
That cool evening witnessed an unprecedented gathering of crème de la crème sons and daughters of Adamawa at the magnificent theatre of Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development under the chairmanship of Alhaji Dr Dahiru Bobbo OFR (Dan Madamin Adamawa).
The ACA is an organisation comprising indigenes of Adamawa state resident in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and environs. It was established in 1999 with the objective of uniting the indigenes, fostering understanding and mutual care for each other and enabling them to contribute to the socio-economic and political development of Adamawa state.
Senator Aminu Iya Abbas, representing Adamawa central at the red chamber of the National Assembly, is a member of the family of the highly respected Alhaji Iya Abbas (an educationist of national repute) of Uba town, Uba district in Hong local government area of Adamawa state. Young Aminu attended Central Primary School and Government Secondary School both in Uba and completed in 1984 and 1989, respectively. He proceeded to Federal Polytechnic Mubi for a National Diploma in Accounting from 1991-1993. Thereafter, he gained admission into the prestigious Bayero University, Kano where he obtained BSc in Accounting in 2000 and a master’s degree in Treasury Management in 2008.
After the mandatory National Youth Service at the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLG, he worked in both private and public sectors. He was an assistant manager at Sigma Securities Ltd and an accountant and investigator at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC; he was a foundation team staff and member of officers course 1 of the commission.
He was also an accountant at Africa Petroleum Nigeria, and forensic manager at KPMG, where he left to join politics in 2011. He is a chartered accountant and leading member of a team that established the forensic unit of the KPMG in 2008. He also worked at Nasiru Muhammad and Co. as a forensic partner from 2016 – 2019.
In his success story, few people erroneously tend to view it as if he employed underhand tactics to achieve them and in the process underestimate his Midas touch. The fact remains that he attained his present height through dint of hard work and unparalleled exhibition of discipline. He is a man of many parts, blessed with the ingenuity to break boundaries and discover new frontiers.
He was a member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly (Uba/Gaya) from 2011-2015. He served in various capacities of leadership in the house including deputy minority leader, minority leader, deputy chief whip and chief whip. Iya Abbas also chaired the house committee on public service and electoral matters, labour and productivity and was vice chairman of committee on finance as well as member of several other committees of the house.
After trying a different hand between 2015-2019, the people of his constituency craved for his return to the house and therefore elected him back to the State House of Assembly and subsequently he got elected as speaker to lead the 7th assembly from 2019-2023.
Going by the records of his achievements in the State House Assembly, both as member and speaker, the people of Adamawa central unanimously voted him to the 10th Senate of the National Assembly. In recognition of his hard work, dedication and quality legislations, the senate leadership approved his appointment to chair one of the frontline committees of the red chamber – committee on science, technology and innovations – and membership of 15 other senate committees.
The former speaker of Adamawa State House of Assembly is truly a representative of the people going by the amount of work he was able to do for the overall benefit of his constituents. So far, he has proved to be one of the few federal lawmakers that people can feel the impact of their representation. No matter what anyone would say, the amount of dividends of democracy that this senator was able to bring to the door steps of the people he is representing is unmatched.
Senator Aminu Iya Abbas quick start at the upper legislative chamber with vital legislative engagements clearly shows great sense of responsibility, exceptional courage, sincerity of purpose and diligent service to his senatorial district, Adamawa state and Nigeria in general. This distinguishes him as a worthy icon of rare breed who had been etched permanently in the annals of creative and legendary representations. There is no doubt that his legacies shall remain an eternal source of inspiration for many generations to come as more accolades are coming his way from Adamawa communities and externally from vanguards of democracy and legislative excellence.
Danyaro, special assistant on media and public affairs to Senator Aminu Iya Abbas, writes via [email protected]
