IN-DEPTH: Niger residents fault renaming of Abubakar Imam Int’l Airport

On March 11, 2024, the Niger State governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, announced the renaming of the Minna International Airport from Abubakar Imam Kagara International Airport to Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport.

 The official announcement was during the commissioning of the remodelled domestic terminal of the airport and launching of the Agricultural Mechanisation Equipment which was performed by the president and some state governors.

 The renaming has been greeted with a lot of disapproval from citizens including those from Rafi LGA of the state, the home local government of the late Abubakar Imam Kagara.

 Daily Trust recalls that the airport was in June 2023 named after the late Abubakar Imam, believed to be one of the illustrious sons of the state. Imam’s contributions to the development of northern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole transversed the lengths and breath of literary, political, public and teaching environment.

 The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in a memo titled “Naming of federal airports in favour of some prominent Nigerians,” by the Federal Ministry of Aviation dated June 1, 2023 named 15 airports after illustrious sons in the affected states.

 The renaming was in consonance with the directive of the former President  Muhammadu Buhari, towards the end of his administration.

 The 15 airports approved for renaming included Akure Airport which was named after Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu.

 Others were: Benin Airport – Oba Akenzua II, Dutse Airport – Muhammad Nuhu Sanusi, Ebonyi Airport – Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo, Gombe Airport – Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, and  Ibadan Airport – Samuel Ladoke Akintola.

 Also renamed were: Ilorin Airport – Gen. Tunde Idiagbon, Kaduna Airport – Hassan Usman Katsina, Maiduguri Airport – Gen. Mumammadu Buhari, Makurdi Airport – Joseph Sarwuan Tarka, Minna Airport – Mallam Abubakar Imam, Nassarawa Airport – Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio, Osubi Airport – Alfred Diete Spiff, Port Harcourt Airport – Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo, Yola Airport – Lamido Aliyu Mustapha.

 Abubakar Sadiq Musa Uregi, a resident of Kagara, Rafi LGA, said Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago had reversed a national and international recognition given to Abubakar Imam to a local recognition, adding that naming a polytechnic after him belittles his enormous contributions to Nigeria’s development.

 “The people of Rafi LGA and Kagara to be precise are not happy about this change of name because the naming of the airport was not even done by the current administration. The naming was done by the last administration in recognition of what our son had done for the nation and this has given us a sense of belonging and an international recognition for that matter, not just an international recognition. But now, the governor due to political reasons felt what the last administration did was not good enough. 

 “Though in his defence through the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, he said he wanted to do it appropriately since his contributions are in the education sector but to me, it was just a cover-up. 

 “We have an international airport and a teaching hospital in Kano, named after Aminu Kano. He wasn’t an airman. Looking at these references, the governor had no reason to change the name. With the naming of Niger State Polytechnic Zungeru, after Abubakar Imam Kagara, what we had before was an international recognition but what we have now is just a state recognition; not even a national recognition. The governor belittled what Dr Abubakar Imam had done for the nation. With what he had done for the nation, he deserves more than even just naming an airport after him in Minna; something needs to be named after him in Abuja, the nation’s capital, that everyone can see,” he said.

 According to Ismaila Ebbo, a resident of Minna, Niger State, Abubakar Imam, like the late Aminu Kano who had Aminu Kano International Airport and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital among several monuments named after him, was a figure that should be treated with respect. 

 He said like Abubakar Imam, Aminu Kano was also a teacher, a poet and politician but an airport and a teaching hospital were named after him, not minding his specialty, adding that naming Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, after the late Imam demeaned him as a national figure.

 “Even the naming of Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru after Abubakar Imam was an afterthought. The federal government that did it for God’s sake knew what they were doing; they recognised the worth of Abubakar Imam, that was why they named the airport after him. He named Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru after Abubakar Imam after the backlash from members of the public. He wouldn’t have done it.

 “So, renaming Abubakar Imam International Airport Minna to Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport is unthoughtful, sycophantic, and irrelevant. Why the desperation and undue expediency to score political points? Genuine and sustainable political achievements predicate meticulous process. And not all these carts before the horse shenanigans,” he said.

 Also speaking, Mohammed Alfa Mohammed of the Congress of Accountability Ambassadors, a Minna-based Civil Society Organisation, said renaming the airport after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu demeaned the character of late Abubakar Imam and his contributions to the national development.

 “We share our dismay over the renaming of Minna International Airport from Abubakar Imam Kagara International Airport to Ahmed Bola Tinubu International Airport. Though from mere looking at it, even the common man on the street could understand that the renaming was purely political. 

 “Looking at the personality of Dr Abubakar Imam Kagara, he was found worthy and the federal government having considered his worthiness named the airport after him. We expected that the current governor would maintain that. Naming this airport after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very wrong and demeaning of the personality of Abubakar Imam. This is a man who had contributed significantly to the development of Nigeria and he was a bona fide citizen of Niger State, born in Kagara. 

 “And very unfortunately, the governor had nothing to put forward as his defence rather than saying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had made contributions. For goodness’ sake, what contribution? When you are speaking to intellectuals, you should speak with genuine reasons or provide facts that speak for themselves. It’s purely political and preparation for 2027. 

 “He had told us that he would remodel the Trade Fair Complex and name it after the president. That’s okay because he’s coming up with a project. But you renovated an airport already named after Abubakar Imam Kagara and suddenly you changed it. Of what contribution was it named after Tinubu. And naming a polytechnic after the late Abubakar Imam is demeaning. What’s he insinuating? That he had put the peg in the right hole? Does he mean that Abubakar Imam is not capable of having an airport named after him? These are some of the questions he needs to answer. He is just trying to build his political ambition. Renaming is not in the interest of Niger State citizens. Why is he naming things after Tinubu here and there? We have many citizens of Niger State, the likes of the late Sheikh Ahmed Lemu and his wife, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who have not been recognized,” he said.

 Born in 1911, Abubakar Imam was an indigenous writer, a journalist and politician from Kagara, Niger State. Imam was reportedly the first editor of Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo, the pioneer Hausa-language Newspaper in northern Nigeria.

 According to Encyclopedia.com, “In 1939, Imam was appointed editor of a government-sponsored journal, Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo (Truth is Worth More than a Penny); the first Hausa newspaper that proved very popular, partly because of its vivid writing style, so different from the highly formal and traditional Hausa prose.

 “In 1943, during a visit to England as a member of a West African press delegation, Imam asked British authorities for more reading materials to educate the Hausa people and as an outlet for public opinion in northern Nigeria. This led to the formation of the Gaskia Corporation in 1945. Imam became head of its book section in 1951, thus becoming the first northern Nigerian to be given a senior service post, a status previously reserved for white officials.

 “A talented and versatile writer, Imam was fluent in Hausa, Arabic, and English. His fame as a Moslem preacher and teacher brought about his election to the House of Representatives under the 1951 Nigerian Constitution. A prominent Hausa poet, Sa’adu Zungur, once called him the “political pilot of northern Nigeria.” Imam gave up political activity in 1954 and devoted himself to improving the civil service and promoting literature in northern Nigeria.

 “After pioneering in prose fiction, Imam was one of the first Hausa authors to produce formal stage drama. His non-fiction publications include works on Islam and on Muslim history, a life of the prophet Mohammed, and accounts of his 1943 journey to the United Kingdom and of his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1953.

 “From 1959 to 1966, Iman was a member of the Public Service Commission of the northern region of Nigeria. Thereafter, the country was plunged into a devastating civil war when the eastern region seceded and called itself the Republic of Biafra. Iman held public service posts over the next several years of military rule, including public service commissioner of the north central state.

 “By the time Nigeria returned to a peaceful civilian government in 1979, Imam was in ill health. He died at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1981. Two years later, Nigeria once again was plunged into a long series of military coups that successfully ended democratic rule.

 At the pre-event media briefing on Friday, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Governance and Reforms, Dr Isah Adamu, defended the governor’s renaming decision, saying it was because of contributions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the development of Niger State.

 The governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, after the commissioning of the airport announced the naming of the state polytechnic, Zungeru, after Abubakar Imam Kagara.

 The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor in a statement said the governor announced the naming of Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, after Abubakar Imam Kagara in an interview on TVC News at 10 o’clock where he discussed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to commission projects.

 He said the naming of the institution after the great literary icon was simply to “put a square peg in a square hole.”

 Bologi said the governor recounted the significant contributions of the famous Hausa author to not only the state but the country at large, particularly northern Nigeria, pointing out that naming academic institutions after the literary icon was the best.

 Speaking on why he renamed the airport after Bola Ahmed Tinubu, less than a year after it was named the Abubakar Imam Kagara International Airport along with other airports in the country, Bologi cited Bago as saying it was in appreciation of the president, for granting approval to the state to establish the first special Airport Agro-Processing Free Zone in Nigeria and his immense contributions to nation-building.

 The CPS also cited the governor as saying the state government under his leadership has been enjoying tremendous support from the Tinubu-led government, adding that, “The president is an astute politician and great leader that should be celebrated.”

 He said his boss disclosed that renaming of the airport was done after consultations with relevant stakeholders including the State Executive Council members and got the approval of the president.