I struggle to raise N50,000 to fix my car – Former Kano deputy gov.
Story from Saleh Inuwa, Kano
Professor Ahmed Abdullahi, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former deputy governor of Kano State, has opened up about his financial challenges. Despite his accomplishments, he is currently facing difficulty in raising N40,000 to N50,000 to fix his car’s power steering oil.
During an interview with Daily Trust, Professor Abdullahi shared his life experiences from childhood to the present day. He expressed dissatisfaction with the excessive allowances received by government officials who served decades ago, labeling it as ‘haram’ (forbidden).
“You know some of my colleagues from other states, they were getting millions from the government because they were former deputy governors. When somebody talked to me, I said no, I think that money is haram, I don’t like it.” So even if they say they are going to give me I will not accept. I couldn’t leave my position as deputy governor and 40 years later somebody came to say he would give me something,” he said.
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Asked if he always travels, the professor of Mechanical Engineering, who was a rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, said : “I do, but I have no means. Even now, my car needs N40,000 N50,000 to change the power steering oil. I am trying to see how I could raise the money. If you cannot raise even N50,000, how can you finance yourself for travelling? But I am happy, very happy.”
Speaking on his take on the present administration in the country, Abdullahi who was Kano deputy governor in 1983 after serving as commissioner, said though the removal of petrol subsidy was a welcome development, the refusal to put in place measures to cushion the effect has become a source of concern.
“Okay it may be a fresh start but actually and unfortunately the start is not good. What I did not tell you was that I was one of the founding members of APC. I registered in 2014 when APC was established and I registered last year during the new registration.
“But it looks like there are some problems associated with the current government that will be very difficult to resolve. In the first place, it was good for them to remove the subsidy but I think they should have prepared for the cushioning effect before they removed it outright.
“You can give the new president the benefit of doubt; hoping that he will still be able to correct the mistakes that have been made. But the main problem of the current political dispensation is the legislature, both the states and the federal. In the states they are all in the pockets of the governors, but the federal legislators are the ones holding the executive hostage.”
On his present engagement, he said :” I only take part in NUC assignments. Now when I was in primary school, my father had a large portion of land which he inherited but because I went abroad for study, the traditional rulers at that time claimed that it was only small portion of his land that was his, the rest were loaned to him. And therefore before I came back, they had already distributed or sold most of the land, only the small piece of was left and because of that I lost interest in farming.
“No, I left Bayero University in 2018, three years after I became a professor. Now from that time on I had been going on NUC assignments to various universities and I enjoy it very much. I am very comfortable.”
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