By – Tanimu Yakubu
Today, I celebrate my dear brother and friend, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, on his 45th birthday.
I have known Rt. Hon. Abubakar closely enough to look beyond the offices he has held and the titles that accompany them. I know his energy, his warmth, his remarkable capacity for friendship and his readiness to engage.
I have also seen at close quarters the seriousness he brings to public responsibility. At 45, he has already travelled a considerable distance in public life, yet I believe much of his story still lies ahead.
His work in the National Assembly has been unusual in one important respect. He has had the opportunity to deal with Nigeria’s development challenge from two complementary positions.
As Chairman of the House Committee on Works in the 9th National Assembly, his attention was necessarily on the physical things that hold a country together and enable its economy to function: roads, bridges and the major corridors connecting our cities, communities, farms, factories and markets. It was demanding work at a time when the backlog of federal infrastructure requiring attention was formidable.
Today, as Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations in the 10th National Assembly, his remit is much wider. He is involved in the difficult choices through which limited public resources are distributed among the many competing needs of a country of more than 200 million people.
I have worked sufficiently close to the budget process to know that what the public eventually sees as an Appropriation Act conceals months of difficult work. There are competing needs, legitimate regional expectations, unfinished projects, new priorities, fiscal constraints and the inevitable contest for resources.
Reconciling these while retaining sight of the larger national interest requires patience, judgement and stamina. I have seen these qualities in Rt. Hon. Abubakar.
I have also watched with satisfaction the considerable expansion of infrastructure investment across the country during the period in which he has occupied these two important positions.
From his earlier responsibilities in Works to his present role in Appropriations, he has been well placed to understand that infrastructure is not simply a budget heading. It determines whether a farmer can reach a market, whether a manufacturer can move goods competitively, whether communities remain isolated and whether private investment can flourish.
The same applies beyond roads and bridges. Nigeria’s needs in power, rail, water, irrigation, health, education, agriculture and security are immense. The task is not merely to spend more, but to direct scarce resources towards projects capable of changing the productive capacity and everyday circumstances of the country.
One quality I particularly appreciate in Rt. Hon. Abubakar is that his national responsibilities have not severed his connection with home. Bichi remains very much a part of him. So does Kano.
His interest in education, opportunities for young people and the development of his constituency speaks to that attachment.
But at 45, I would rather look forward than dwell excessively on what has already been done.
Forty-five is young, particularly for a man who has accumulated this depth of legislative experience. Chairing Works and subsequently Appropriations provides an education in government that few people receive.
One teaches you how the country is physically connected; the other teaches you what it costs, what government can afford, and how difficult choices are made when resources cannot satisfy every demand.
My hope is that Rt. Hon. Abubakar will carry those lessons with him wherever the future takes him.
My dear Rt. Hon. Abubakar, public office will come and go. What will matter eventually is whether, when the accounting is done, the opportunities entrusted to you were used well. I know that you understand this.
You have already been given uncommon opportunities to serve at a relatively young age. I pray that they prepare you for still greater responsibilities in the years ahead — in Kano State and in the service of Nigeria.
And as those responsibilities grow, remain the Rt. Hon. Abubakar your friends know. Keep your doors open. Keep listening. Treasure old friendships. Welcome disagreement.
Keep around you people who can tell you what you may not always wish to hear. Never allow the courtesies surrounding public office to obscure the realities outside it.
There will always be another position to seek and another political contest ahead. The more enduring ambition is to leave something useful behind.
At 45, you have time on your side, experience behind you and, by the grace of Allah, a considerable journey ahead.
I congratulate you warmly, my brother, and pray that Almighty Allah grants you long life in good health, protects your family, enlarges your wisdom and keeps you steadfast in all that is good.
May the years ahead bring greater opportunities to serve Bichi, Kano and Nigeria, and may you have the judgement and courage to use them well.
Happy 45th birthday, Rt. Hon. Abubakar.
TY
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