They were at their best when they rocked public offices, but many years after, it is not certain where they are presently and what they are doing; ELEOJO IDACHABA wonders in this piece.
Salisu Buhari
Salisu Buhari, a former lawmaker from Kano state was also the first speaker in the House of Representatives when Nigeria fully returned to democratic rule in 1999. His emergence as speaker was like a thunderbolt as it caught almost everyone unawares judging from the fact that he was not the preferred choice at that time; however, because of the soft spot former President Olusegun Obasanjo had for him, his emergence threw up no storm unlike what happened in the Senate.
Before his election into the house, Buhari at the age of 36 was an itinerant businessman in Kano, but politics shot him to prominence. Shortly after he was sworn in as speaker, the defunct News Magazine uncovered forgery against him in what was known then as Toronto saga. In that discovery, it was found out that he entered the chamber with forged certificates about his age and the higher institution he allegedly attended. The magazine said contrary to the claim of Buhari that he was born in 1963, he was actually born in 1970 thereby violating Section 65 (1) of the 1999 Constitution which disqualifies anyone below the age of 30 to view for membership of the lower house.
Apart from that, his claim to have obtained a Degree certificate from a university in Toronto was false. Because of this, he was branded in the media with the insignia of ‘The face of a liar’. In the process, he was forced to resign his position as speaker and by that he lost the immunity attached to the office. Unable to continue as lawmaker, he voluntarily resigned. Subsequently, he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to two years in prison, but with an option of a fine which he paid and was pardoned by Obasanjo. From then, he went into hiding until 2013 when former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him as a member, governing council of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. However, he could not command any influence in that appointment before their tenure expired.
Just before he left the House, while tendering his apology letter, he said, “I apologise to you, I apologise to the nation, I apologise to my family and friends for all the distress I had caused them. I was misled in error by zeal to serve the nation. I hope the nation would forgive and give me the opportunity to serve again.” This ex-speaker has since 2013 been ‘absent’ from public square.
Sienne Allwell Brown
She used to rock on the network news of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) in the 80s and early 90s as one of the finest newscasters of her time. Madam Sienne is also a trained lawyer and television presenter. Long after her sojourn in the NTA, she pitched tents with the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) as the general manager, external communications in the year 2000. At a point in her life, she got married to Rasaq Lawal which changed her identity on the NTA. The marriage, however failed. She later got married to Nim Tariah, but also failed for inexplicable reasons.
One remarkable thing about this woman, now in her late 60s, is that she is fashion-personified in every sense of the word. Reputed for not repeating attires twice because of the arrays of different fabrics she wears every time she appears on the screen, she was an inspiration to many fashion houses. Like Ruth Benamaisia Opia, she also made her debut on radio at the then Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Ikoyi, Lagos before being seconded to TV.
Writing about her, a national daily stated, “She took time off for her ‘A’ Levels in 1979 at Kilburn Polytechnic, London followed by a degree in Law from the Middlesex University, London in 1984. She returned to the Nigerian Law School and was called to the bar in 1985. She is a Justice of Peace and a titled citizen of Grand Bonny Kingdom.”
At a time, she was also the general manager of Rivers state Television during the tenure of Lt. Col. Dauda Komo as military governor of the state. She grew up in Aba, Abia state, but originally hails from Rivers state. In 2012, following the retirement of then NTA director general, Magatawa, she was tipped to be the replacement before it was changed.
A well-known face up to the mid 90’s, she spent over two decades as a broadcaster before she left. It’s not clear where she is presently.
Chu Sonny Okongwu
Not many people would remember Dr Sonny Chu Okongwu who was the minister of national planning between 1985 and 1986 and later as minister of finance between 1986 and 1990, during the Ibrahim Babangida administration. A trained economist, he was instrumental to the development of the structural adjustment programme embarked upon by that administration.
Now in his 80s, people know him only as a former minister, but long before he came to prominence in the cabinet, he was into journalism and broadcasting. While reflecting on his 79th birthday a few years back, he said, “That is a wonderful reflection for me. Yes, I was a journalist but, before then, I was in broadcasting. I had my own programmes, Jaz Club, and then I moved into journalism. It was there I learnt about team work, doing the work on the desk and in the case room. You don’t have case room these days. But in those days, we had manual type operators, case rooms, printers and the lead thing being melted on the slugs and then put on to cast, and then you went down to the case room or box room to copy it upstairs to proof. You could read backwards, proof read and correct. They were wonderfully skilled people.
“One night, the stone sub-editor passed away and the post became vacant. The general stone sub then asked me to take the job. The salary was 20 pounds a month. So, I took the job and went into the case room for the production of the paper. It was a wonderful experience. The stone sub gave final approval for the paper, that means there should be no mistakes, no spelling or grammatical errors.”
Reflecting also on the state of the economy, he said, “Well, things are very dire. Certainly, things have been down, but it is still going down and down. Employment, infrastructure, transportation, education system, education infrastructure, health infrastructure are all in complete disarray. The society itself is in very bad shape to say the least, extremely disorderly. It is hyper-praetorian disorderliness. That is, everything is entirely disorganised.”
This former minister is almost on his way into the club of octogenarians and it is also not clear where he could be at the moment.
