1.1K
By Edwin Uhara
Birthday means different things to different people in different places.
To some, it is the celebration of anniversary. To another, it is the
beginning of a new life while to others it is a year of possibilities as
endless as the sky and the opportunity to meet the challenges in
everything we do.
Within the context of overcoming the challenges in everything we do, this
article is going to look at the exploits of a man who has never failed in
every assignment ever handed down to him by the Nigerian people and
government. The person is no other person but the Honourable Minister of
Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau PhD, CFR
and “Baraden Kano” as he turns 65 years on March 14.
General AB Dambazau need no introduction because his quintessential
personality and stellar performances in every national assignment ever
given to him by Nigerian authority have distinguished him from his
contemporaries.
This is a man who began his career in a low profile but through hardwork,
discipline and abiding faith in God rose to the pinnacle of his career and
retired as Chief of Army Staff before his appointment as Minister of
Interior and member of the International Advisory Board of Africa Peace
Fellow (APF) by the College of Health and Human Services of the California
State University, Sacramento, USA.
The APF is an initiative of the California State University’s Centre for
African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR), with major training
initiatives on conflict resolution.
Born on March 14, 1954, General AB Dambazau began his military career at
the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) after completing his secondary
education at the famous Barewa College, Zaria in 1974. At NDA, he was
member of the 17 Regular Combatant Course and was later commissioned,
Second Lieutenant in to the Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army in June
1977.
In 1979, General Dambazau attended the United States Army Military Police
School in Fort McClellan, Alabama. Haven observed that versatility is the
key to overcoming the challenges posed by the realities of the 21th
Century, in 1980, General Dambazau went to Kent State University in Ohio
United States where he graduated with Bachelor of Science Degree (Bsc) in
Criminal Justice. After completing his Master of Arts (MA) in
International Relations as well as Master of Education (MEd) in Higher
Educational Administration, between 1986 and 1989 General Dambazau was at
the University of Keele in the United Kingdom to acquire his Doctor of
Philosophy Degree (PhD) in Criminology.
Haven served as Aid De Camp (ADC) to a former Chief of Army Staff in 1979
and commanded the Military Police Units as well as Special Investigator at
the Special Investigation Bureau of NACMP from 1984 to 1985, General
Dambazau was appointed Registrar (Academic Branch) of the Nigerian
Defence Academy (NDA) from 1993 to 1999. Thereafter, he served as Chief
Instructor, Support Weapon Wing of the Infantry Centre and School from
1999 to 2001.
Later, he served as Directing Staff and Director, Higher Military
Organization and Operations at the National War College now known as the
National Defence College from 2004 to 2006.
Subsequently, he was made Principal Staff Officer at Army Headquarters as
well as Chief of Army Standards and Evaluation before he was appointed
General Officer Commanding 2nd Division Ibadan from 2007 to 2008.
After distinguishing himself in several task handed down to him by the
Federal Government, in August 2008, General Dambazau was appointed Chief
of Army Staff; a position he held until his retirement in September 2010.
As a PhD holder, Dr. AB Dambazau was once a part-time Lecturer (Gratis) at
the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria where he taught his students
Criminology at the Faculty of Law.
Outside the military, Dr. Dambazau is also an erudite scholar and author
of five widely read books as well as several academic articles in notable
journals.
Before joining President Muhammadu Buhari’s Government in 2015, General
Dambazau was the Chairman, Board of University Advancement Centre,
University of Ibadan as well as Board of Trustees Chairman and founder,
Foundation for Victims of Child Abuse (VCAF) which is dedicated to the
victims of child abuse in Nigeria.
In recognition of his numerous services to the nation, the Federal
Government honoured him with the National Honour of Commander of the Order
of the Federal Republic (CFR) as well as the National Productivity Order
of Merit Award among others.
General Dambazau is also the Ochiagha 1 of Egbelu Umuekwune in Ngor Okpala
Local Government Area of Imo State; a chieftaincy title earlier given to
him in recognition of his excellent services to the fatherland.
Dr. AB Dambazau is also a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Peace, Democracy
and Development, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Also, he is a Fellow
and Associate of the Weather Head Centre for International Affairs,
Harvard University, all in the United States of America.
As Visiting Professor, General Dambazau delivered several lectures
including the famous one he delivered at the Department of International
Affairs and Strategic Studies, Igbinedion University.
As Minister of Interior with the mandate to merge the old Ministry of
Interior with the disbanded Ministry of Police Affairs, General Dambazau’s
ingenuity was brought to bear as he pioneered the task towards
responsibility, accountability, good governance, transparency and respect
for the rule of law which Nigerians are not only seeing it but are also
feeling it; especially during and after the 2019 general elections.
His capacity building initiatives, retooling and re-equipping of the
Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Prisons Service, Nigerian Immigration
Service, Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence
Corps are equal to none since record keeping officially began in Nigeria.
Accordingly, Dambazau’s mark of achievements at the Ministry of Interior
cannot be wiped out in centuries to come as his patriotic works at the
ministry touches every aspect of our national lives.
For Instance, Dambazau stopped the payment of fines paid by Nigerians
holding dual citizenship at the nation’s international airports. The
intention behind the move is to make movement of Nigerians with dual
citizenship easy and convenient for them to enter the country at any time
unhindered.
According to the Minister: ”On no account should any Nigerian traveller
holding dual citizenship be made to pay fines for the so-called
overstay.”
Under this new policy, citizens with dual nationality would only present
travelling documents of both countries to the immigration officials upon
arrival and departure at the airport regardless of whatever document they
are using for the travel.
In similar vein, General Dambazau spearheaded the establishment of the
first ever operational border patrol base to effectively police the
country’s vast and expansive borders that were hitherto porous and
unmanned. This is the most cost effective way of policing our borders
since there are no adequate funds to erect walls across the country’s
5,000 kilometre borders that are extensive and porous.
The initiative is in addition to the launching of the National Control
Centre for online monitoring of our borders among other things. No doubt,
the move has made it possible for immigration officials to monitor our
expansive borders in addition to the patrol teams.
According to Dambazau, the responsibility of securing the territorial
borders of a vast country like Nigeria is quite enormous and overwhelming.
This is why establishing border patrol base is a timely means of
supporting border patrol structures by intensifying surveillance along the
nation’s routes and enforcing our immigration laws.
The giant move by the Minister has boosted the fight against human
trafficking, smuggling, proliferation of small arms and light weapons as
well as ending other forms of cross-border crimes in the country and
across the continent.
The patrol base is however equipped with modern communication facilities
for easy and secure intelligence gathering and sharing.
In similar vein, the revenue generating capacity of the Nigerian
Immigration Service has grown from paltry sums to about N38 billion in
2017 alone. The money was generated from passport revenue, address
verification fees, non refundable administration fees, e-passport fees
among others.
Another success of the Minister is the establishment of E-Citibiz
Automation Call Centre for the ease of doing business in the country. The
e-citibiz call centre was established to ensure that the Citizenship and
Business Department of the Ministry is electronically configured and
automated to ease the delivery of services to Nigerians.
According to Dambazau, the automation call centre would reduce unnecessary
contact with people as it hastens service delivery in good times.
His words: ”This is one of the moments I have been waiting for since
three years. What this means is that, there would no longer be direct
contact with applicants from outside. So, I would not want to see anybody
coming to inquire about anything because we have all the necessary
platforms for the services needed.”
Dambazau also ensured the extension of the validity period of the Nigerian
Passport from five years to 10 years with improved security features and
quality on the passport booklet. With this development, Nigerians would no
longer have to return home every five years for passport renewal or
line-up at the Nigerian Embassies abroad for similar purposes.
Again, Nigerians no longer have to come to Abuja to process their passport
needs as the whole thing has been decentralized.
Just recently, the Federal Executive Council approved N7.1 billion for the
building of a communication centre for the Nigeria Immigration Service.
According to Dambazau, the centre will help harness the data of NIS which
is currently domiciled with various service providers in the country.
“The Centre when operational, will help bring together all the data used
by the Nigeria Immigration Service under one roof.
“At the proposed centre to be sighted within the headquarters of the
Service, the data will be brought together so that the NIS can be able to
interface with other institutions that have to do with internal security
matters and border management.”
As part of his drive towards good governance, General Dambazau signed the
new Immigration Regulations Policy which has been gazetted and
subsequently put to work in the country.
The objective of the Regulation is to drive effective implementation of
the Immigration Act of 2015 which replaced the Immigration Act of 1963.
It is also aimed at consolidating on the existing immigration regulations
to provide a “one-stop” reference on immigration rules in Nigeria. With
these new regulations, Nigeria have taken a bold step forward in dealing
with modern immigration challenges as well as improving the ease of doing
business in the country.
General Dambazau also introduced some reforms to the country’s visa
issuance processes. Under the new visa regime, genuine foreign investors
who want to do business in Nigeria can now get visa on arrival. The same
thing is applicable to tourists who want to explore the country for
leisure purposes.
While the Nigerian Prison Service is not overlooked, General Dambazau
spearheaded the construction of six new ultra-modern prisons in the six
geo-political zones of the country. This move is due to the fact that
prisons in the country are out of fashion and therefore cannot meet the
demands of the moment.
According to the Minister, the prisons are in line with the United
Nations Minimum Standard for Prisons which was obtained in collaboration
with states governments.
Hence, the reformed NPS will boost the welfare of inmates by providing
them with humane environment and facilities as the Nigerian Prisons no
longer serve as warehouse for inmates but a correctional institution!
The education programme General Dambazau introduced at the service have
started yielding results as some students in Jos recently graduated with
relevant certifications while 465 inmates are currently undergoing various
degree programmes in tertiary institutions with 23 undergoing
post-graduate courses while one is currently doing a PhD outside the
country.’’
Because of the many far reaching reforms introduced by the Minister,
Nigeria Prisons Service last year won the 2018 United Nations Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization Confucius Award for Literacy and
Skills Acquisition for inmates in faraway Paris, France.
Dambazau also repositioned the Federal Fire Service to meet the challenges
of the 21st century. It should be noted that the last time equipments were
procured for the service was in 1996, while the penultimate one was in
1985.
Accordingly, the sum of N3.9 billion was recently approved by the Federal
Executive Council for the procurement of 22 firefighting vehicles for the
Service.
According to Dambazau, “In 2016, we procured 21 firefighting vehicles. In
2017, the procurement was for 22 firefighting trucks and in 2018, it is a
repeat procurement of what we did last year.
Similarly, the Minister ensured the full implementation of the fire
building code to guarantee safety and minimize the rate of destruction
each time there was fire outbreak in the country. For Instance, every
building is now expected to have water sprinkler, fire extinguisher among
others.
Birthday means different things to different people in different places.
To some, it is the celebration of anniversary. To another, it is the
beginning of a new life while to others it is a year of possibilities as
endless as the sky and the opportunity to meet the challenges in
everything we do.
Within the context of overcoming the challenges in everything we do, this
article is going to look at the exploits of a man who has never failed in
every assignment ever handed down to him by the Nigerian people and
government. The person is no other person but the Honourable Minister of
Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau PhD, CFR
and “Baraden Kano” as he turns 65 years on March 14.
General AB Dambazau need no introduction because his quintessential
personality and stellar performances in every national assignment ever
given to him by Nigerian authority have distinguished him from his
contemporaries.
This is a man who began his career in a low profile but through hardwork,
discipline and abiding faith in God rose to the pinnacle of his career and
retired as Chief of Army Staff before his appointment as Minister of
Interior and member of the International Advisory Board of Africa Peace
Fellow (APF) by the College of Health and Human Services of the California
State University, Sacramento, USA.
The APF is an initiative of the California State University’s Centre for
African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR), with major training
initiatives on conflict resolution.
Born on March 14, 1954, General AB Dambazau began his military career at
the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) after completing his secondary
education at the famous Barewa College, Zaria in 1974. At NDA, he was
member of the 17 Regular Combatant Course and was later commissioned,
Second Lieutenant in to the Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army in June
1977.
In 1979, General Dambazau attended the United States Army Military Police
School in Fort McClellan, Alabama. Haven observed that versatility is the
key to overcoming the challenges posed by the realities of the 21th
Century, in 1980, General Dambazau went to Kent State University in Ohio
United States where he graduated with Bachelor of Science Degree (Bsc) in
Criminal Justice. After completing his Master of Arts (MA) in
International Relations as well as Master of Education (MEd) in Higher
Educational Administration, between 1986 and 1989 General Dambazau was at
the University of Keele in the United Kingdom to acquire his Doctor of
Philosophy Degree (PhD) in Criminology.
Haven served as Aid De Camp (ADC) to a former Chief of Army Staff in 1979
and commanded the Military Police Units as well as Special Investigator at
the Special Investigation Bureau of NACMP from 1984 to 1985, General
Dambazau was appointed Registrar (Academic Branch) of the Nigerian
Defence Academy (NDA) from 1993 to 1999. Thereafter, he served as Chief
Instructor, Support Weapon Wing of the Infantry Centre and School from
1999 to 2001.
Later, he served as Directing Staff and Director, Higher Military
Organization and Operations at the National War College now known as the
National Defence College from 2004 to 2006.
Subsequently, he was made Principal Staff Officer at Army Headquarters as
well as Chief of Army Standards and Evaluation before he was appointed
General Officer Commanding 2nd Division Ibadan from 2007 to 2008.
After distinguishing himself in several task handed down to him by the
Federal Government, in August 2008, General Dambazau was appointed Chief
of Army Staff; a position he held until his retirement in September 2010.
As a PhD holder, Dr. AB Dambazau was once a part-time Lecturer (Gratis) at
the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria where he taught his students
Criminology at the Faculty of Law.
Outside the military, Dr. Dambazau is also an erudite scholar and author
of five widely read books as well as several academic articles in notable
journals.
Before joining President Muhammadu Buhari’s Government in 2015, General
Dambazau was the Chairman, Board of University Advancement Centre,
University of Ibadan as well as Board of Trustees Chairman and founder,
Foundation for Victims of Child Abuse (VCAF) which is dedicated to the
victims of child abuse in Nigeria.
In recognition of his numerous services to the nation, the Federal
Government honoured him with the National Honour of Commander of the Order
of the Federal Republic (CFR) as well as the National Productivity Order
of Merit Award among others.
General Dambazau is also the Ochiagha 1 of Egbelu Umuekwune in Ngor Okpala
Local Government Area of Imo State; a chieftaincy title earlier given to
him in recognition of his excellent services to the fatherland.
Dr. AB Dambazau is also a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Peace, Democracy
and Development, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Also, he is a Fellow
and Associate of the Weather Head Centre for International Affairs,
Harvard University, all in the United States of America.
As Visiting Professor, General Dambazau delivered several lectures
including the famous one he delivered at the Department of International
Affairs and Strategic Studies, Igbinedion University.
As Minister of Interior with the mandate to merge the old Ministry of
Interior with the disbanded Ministry of Police Affairs, General Dambazau’s
ingenuity was brought to bear as he pioneered the task towards
responsibility, accountability, good governance, transparency and respect
for the rule of law which Nigerians are not only seeing it but are also
feeling it; especially during and after the 2019 general elections.
His capacity building initiatives, retooling and re-equipping of the
Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Prisons Service, Nigerian Immigration
Service, Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence
Corps are equal to none since record keeping officially began in Nigeria.
Accordingly, Dambazau’s mark of achievements at the Ministry of Interior
cannot be wiped out in centuries to come as his patriotic works at the
ministry touches every aspect of our national lives.
For Instance, Dambazau stopped the payment of fines paid by Nigerians
holding dual citizenship at the nation’s international airports. The
intention behind the move is to make movement of Nigerians with dual
citizenship easy and convenient for them to enter the country at any time
unhindered.
According to the Minister: ”On no account should any Nigerian traveller
holding dual citizenship be made to pay fines for the so-called
overstay.”
Under this new policy, citizens with dual nationality would only present
travelling documents of both countries to the immigration officials upon
arrival and departure at the airport regardless of whatever document they
are using for the travel.
In similar vein, General Dambazau spearheaded the establishment of the
first ever operational border patrol base to effectively police the
country’s vast and expansive borders that were hitherto porous and
unmanned. This is the most cost effective way of policing our borders
since there are no adequate funds to erect walls across the country’s
5,000 kilometre borders that are extensive and porous.
The initiative is in addition to the launching of the National Control
Centre for online monitoring of our borders among other things. No doubt,
the move has made it possible for immigration officials to monitor our
expansive borders in addition to the patrol teams.
According to Dambazau, the responsibility of securing the territorial
borders of a vast country like Nigeria is quite enormous and overwhelming.
This is why establishing border patrol base is a timely means of
supporting border patrol structures by intensifying surveillance along the
nation’s routes and enforcing our immigration laws.
The giant move by the Minister has boosted the fight against human
trafficking, smuggling, proliferation of small arms and light weapons as
well as ending other forms of cross-border crimes in the country and
across the continent.
The patrol base is however equipped with modern communication facilities
for easy and secure intelligence gathering and sharing.
In similar vein, the revenue generating capacity of the Nigerian
Immigration Service has grown from paltry sums to about N38 billion in
2017 alone. The money was generated from passport revenue, address
verification fees, non refundable administration fees, e-passport fees
among others.
Another success of the Minister is the establishment of E-Citibiz
Automation Call Centre for the ease of doing business in the country. The
e-citibiz call centre was established to ensure that the Citizenship and
Business Department of the Ministry is electronically configured and
automated to ease the delivery of services to Nigerians.
According to Dambazau, the automation call centre would reduce unnecessary
contact with people as it hastens service delivery in good times.
His words: ”This is one of the moments I have been waiting for since
three years. What this means is that, there would no longer be direct
contact with applicants from outside. So, I would not want to see anybody
coming to inquire about anything because we have all the necessary
platforms for the services needed.”
Dambazau also ensured the extension of the validity period of the Nigerian
Passport from five years to 10 years with improved security features and
quality on the passport booklet. With this development, Nigerians would no
longer have to return home every five years for passport renewal or
line-up at the Nigerian Embassies abroad for similar purposes.
Again, Nigerians no longer have to come to Abuja to process their passport
needs as the whole thing has been decentralized.
Just recently, the Federal Executive Council approved N7.1 billion for the
building of a communication centre for the Nigeria Immigration Service.
According to Dambazau, the centre will help harness the data of NIS which
is currently domiciled with various service providers in the country.
“The Centre when operational, will help bring together all the data used
by the Nigeria Immigration Service under one roof.
“At the proposed centre to be sighted within the headquarters of the
Service, the data will be brought together so that the NIS can be able to
interface with other institutions that have to do with internal security
matters and border management.”
As part of his drive towards good governance, General Dambazau signed the
new Immigration Regulations Policy which has been gazetted and
subsequently put to work in the country.
The objective of the Regulation is to drive effective implementation of
the Immigration Act of 2015 which replaced the Immigration Act of 1963.
It is also aimed at consolidating on the existing immigration regulations
to provide a “one-stop” reference on immigration rules in Nigeria. With
these new regulations, Nigeria have taken a bold step forward in dealing
with modern immigration challenges as well as improving the ease of doing
business in the country.
General Dambazau also introduced some reforms to the country’s visa
issuance processes. Under the new visa regime, genuine foreign investors
who want to do business in Nigeria can now get visa on arrival. The same
thing is applicable to tourists who want to explore the country for
leisure purposes.
While the Nigerian Prison Service is not overlooked, General Dambazau
spearheaded the construction of six new ultra-modern prisons in the six
geo-political zones of the country. This move is due to the fact that
prisons in the country are out of fashion and therefore cannot meet the
demands of the moment.
According to the Minister, the prisons are in line with the United
Nations Minimum Standard for Prisons which was obtained in collaboration
with states governments.
Hence, the reformed NPS will boost the welfare of inmates by providing
them with humane environment and facilities as the Nigerian Prisons no
longer serve as warehouse for inmates but a correctional institution!
The education programme General Dambazau introduced at the service have
started yielding results as some students in Jos recently graduated with
relevant certifications while 465 inmates are currently undergoing various
degree programmes in tertiary institutions with 23 undergoing
post-graduate courses while one is currently doing a PhD outside the
country.’’
Because of the many far reaching reforms introduced by the Minister,
Nigeria Prisons Service last year won the 2018 United Nations Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization Confucius Award for Literacy and
Skills Acquisition for inmates in faraway Paris, France.
Dambazau also repositioned the Federal Fire Service to meet the challenges
of the 21st century. It should be noted that the last time equipments were
procured for the service was in 1996, while the penultimate one was in
1985.
Accordingly, the sum of N3.9 billion was recently approved by the Federal
Executive Council for the procurement of 22 firefighting vehicles for the
Service.
According to Dambazau, “In 2016, we procured 21 firefighting vehicles. In
2017, the procurement was for 22 firefighting trucks and in 2018, it is a
repeat procurement of what we did last year.
Similarly, the Minister ensured the full implementation of the fire
building code to guarantee safety and minimize the rate of destruction
each time there was fire outbreak in the country. For Instance, every
building is now expected to have water sprinkler, fire extinguisher among
others.
Besides the fact that General Dambazau empowered staff of the Federal Fire
Service, he also replaced the broken down and obsolete equipments at the
service with new ones as he also upgraded and renovated old facilities of
the service like the Staff Quarters, Fire Service Academy and Libraries to
modern standards.
Others include, the building of new hostel facilities, tarring of roads as
well as the payment of insurance cover for all staff of the service.
It is also on record that under General Dambazau, the National Fire
Academy got affiliated to the Nigerian Defence Academy for the training of
staff and award of Degrees, Postgraduate Degrees and Masters in disaster
management.
Similarly, in line with the constitutional mandate of the Nigerian
Security and Civil Defence Corps which includes, mounting surveillance on
the nation’s infrastructures, sites and projects for the government,
General Dambazau subsequently directed the establishment of Agro-Rangers
from the Corps. Agro-ranger is a 3,000 capacity NSCDC personnel unit
established by the government to protect farmers and their farm land from
armed banditry and kidnapping in the country.
As it is today, the NSCDC is now properly placed to assist in the
maintenance of peace and order as well as the protection of critical
infrastructures among others in Nigeria.
Therefore, I am joining the Minister’s well-wishers to wish him a very
warmed and memorable birthday anniversary as he turn 65 on March 14.
Happy Birthday to the people’s General!
Comrade Edwin Uhara writes from Abuja