A bridge builder administratively or politically is a person who does not discriminate on creed, tribe, background or religion. He is a person who de-emphasizes confl icts, contradictions or controversies. He relates with almost everyone. A bridge builder accepts things as they come. He is not overwhelmed by intimidation, harassment or sabotage from any angle. At home in his village or town he is a rallying point. In the city where he resides, his house is open to favor seekers. In his offi ce, the doors are always open.
\Th at is the story of Alhaji Tijanni Kwaji Kumbi, member one, Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). He has been a politician since 1998 from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) In Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, where he hails from and precisely Maiwandu, Zali, Dirgime, Murvwa, Moda, Wurogayandi, Mbororo, Kirchinga where his tentacles spread to, he is a spectacle due to his generosity. Even in Michika town proper, Kumbi is a phenomenon for outgoing attitude, characteristics and humility. Once, he summons people to discuss siting of a project or rehabilitation of a primary school, renovation of a clinic or reconstruction of VIP latrines for a block of classroom, the community gather in numbers. He does not hide from the people. His promises are always fulfi lled and he keeps to his pledges.
He has resourcefully, innovatively engaged the Executive Chairman of the Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board, Alhaji Muhammed Hassan Toungo, to place and engage some of the unemployed youths as teachers or as clerical offi cers. One of his virtues is patience. He can endure and persevere when things are not going stable. Th at is why he mobilized and galvanized the populace in the past for diff erent parties, to vote in APC. Th ey never took notice of him, except the laundry that was given him during former Governor Boni Haruna’s tenure and run through Murtala Nyako’s there was nothing tangible until now when Governor Muhammadu Umar Jibrilla Bindow appointed a Permanent Member 1 to the Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board. Th e APC in Adamawa state must take notice of those who can draw people as 2019 draws closer.
As a bridge builder, everyone is welcome, whether young, old, a woman, a male, a Muslim, a Christian, a southern, a northerner, all classes of people and their ramifi cations, I do not understand whether because he is well-travelled and connected. Tijanni Kwaji Kumbi may be accessible, humble and simple, but he is a shrewd politician. No deception. What matters to him is for our kids, children, wards and off -springs to have good education. Th at is why they have embarked on tours with the management inspecting, evaluating and monitoringprogress reports in the primary schools across the state. Th e amiable, aff able, amenable, permanent member one is part and parcel of the current transformation taking place in the primary education of the state. Emmanuel Y. Kwache, No.1 Abaji Street, Sabon Hanya, Vunoklang, Girei Local Government, Adamawa State
