Teaching is a noble profession and there are noble things written for teachers in the scriptures. They bath everyone in the pool of their knowledge. Today, my pen wants to exemplify a thorough academic scholar par excellence, Dr. Muhammad Sani Rabiu.
I always want to write a tribute to my father and role model, Dr. Muhammad Sani Rabiu, for his resounding achievements and attendant glory. I may take this liberty to bypass protocol and indulge in the enigma of the legend, the colossus, the visionary, the man I have come to understand and respect from the beginning of the dawn of my tertiary institution experience from diploma to degree programmes as his student.
I have crossed paths with many lecturers, some were really impactful but I have had the most profound life changing intellectually challenging experiences of being a student of Muhammad Sani Rabiu.
Muhammad Sani Rabiu is a very principled lecturer and cannot be predicted. Sternly, he stands by his words, he’s not materialistic, he doesn’t accumulate for himself alone, rather he distributes freely to everyone. His ideology concerning education and life in general has so much reflected in the lives of many students from various fields who have been privileged to encounter him and they in turn, love him greatly. Only a bad and lazy student can dislike such a hardworking father.
According to what some students have written about him; Emmanuel Osoweshi Sunday writes, “He’s my favourite lecturer, a mentor and father. He likes serious students and those that are serious about their lives, he detests seeing lazy students. “He’s God-fearing and principled. He’s generous. He’s very intelligent, not a fan for material things, very fair in judgement and above all a good Muslim”.
Abdulkadir Okpede Usman also wrote an article saying, “What could one do to succeed academically without having a bridge builder as you? I am blessed to have you in my life as a mentor, this comes with many loving thoughts and affection. “Your fatherly intellectual roles keep instilling rational perseverance in the minds of fresh ladies and gentlemen.Your influence does not only necessitate demanding and consequential moral involvement, but also opens our minds to have the sense of positive rational choices, practice and attainable. “Being a mentor whose mentorship travels around the world with commendable images, you have been breeding dynamic future leaders to pioneer social change by your benevolent orange of knowledge and experiences in the field of communication and journalistic professionalism which in turn erode convincing public reactions and reductionism”.
Dr. Rabiu is an academic par excellence who tutored many academically, morally and more about life challenges. He taught me how to navigate the murky waters of life with patience, educated me on how to be the best in everything I do. He Demonstrated a level of leadership that ignited a revolution in me and my colleagues to having multiple opportunities to excel beyond others.
When you encounter the personality of Muhammad Sani Rabiu, you’ll realise you are in the presence of an extraordinary Nigerian, a sophisticated human being, charismatic character, a very intelligent man, a natural leader.
He’s the only lecturer whom I know that all the students call him ‘the man that knows all in the field of Mass Communication’. Others call him ‘the father of Mass Communication and the Guru of Communication’.
Muhammad Sani Rabiu was a pioneer student of Mass Communication at the University of Maiduguri, where he graduated in 1987, winner of prizes and awards, he was nominated in 1989 by the university for the African Graduate Fellowship Award of the American University in Cairo, Egypt, where he earned the Masters of Arts degree and he obtained his doctorate degree at the Benue State University, Makurdi.
Muhammad Sani Rabiu has held appointments in newspapers and magazines as a reporter such as, New Nigerian Newspapers in Kaduna, Newsday in Abuja and Trend magazine in Maiduguri.
After gathering rich and varied experiences in both arms of the print media, he progressed from the professional field to academia. He started teaching at the University of Maiduguri, and later moved to Nasarawa State University, Keffi till date and also pilot the affairs of the the department of Mass Communication as acting head of the department.
Muhammad Sani Rabiu has published numerous Mass Communication books. They include: Merchant of Discontent, Critical Issues in Advertising, The World of News, Career Prospects in Journalism and Mass Communication, Journalistic Skills for Professional Excellence and the recent one, Essentials for Newspaper Reporting and Feature Writing. Muhammad Sani Rabiu is married and he’s blessed with one child.
Jibril Mohammed Nabil,A graduate of the Department of Mass Communication, Nasarawa State University, Keffi. 08161529400
