This week, we continue the series on why the House of Chiefs should be considered by the National Assembly.
In conclusion of their report, Section 37 states that (a) “The Governor may consult the State Council of Chiefs as a body in the exercise of his powers in relation to the maintenance of public order, customary and cultural affairs, intercommunal relations, chieftaincy matters and such other matters as may be referred to it by the Governor. The composition, powers and procedure shall be prescribed by the State Assembly.”
Let’s look at the profiles of the members of the subcommittee.
Alhaji Abdulganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq (A.G.F) (November 13, 1927 – July 25, 2020) was the first Commissioner of Finance for Kwara State after the state was formed in 1967 under Yakubu Gowon’s military administration. He was also the first lawyer from the northern part of Nigeria. He was President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2000 to 2003 and Vice-President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 1983 to 2000. Abdulganiyu was born in Onitsha on November 13, 1927, to Munirat and Abdul Razaq.
Both his parents were indigenous to Ilorin, Kwara State, from Onokatapo and Yerinsa quarters (presently Adewole ward, Ilorin-West), respectively. He studied at the United African School in Ilorin from 1935 to 1936. In 1938, he started at CMS Central School, Onitsha and left in 1943 at the end of his primary education. He started his secondary education at the Kalahari National College, Buguma, in 1944 and was there until 1945 when he left to attend African College, Onitsha. He was at African College until 1947. He was a foundation student at University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) in 1948.
Abdulganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq was called to the bar on February 8, 1955, at the Inner Temple, London. After his return to Nigeria, he was made a special member of the Northern House of Assembly from 1960 to 1962 following the country’s independence. Following that, he was the Nigerian ambassador to the Republic of Ivory Coast from 1962 to 1964.
He was a member of the Federal Parliament from 1964 to 1966 as the Federal Cabinet Minister of State for Transport. He then became the Kwara State Commissioner of Finance, Health and Social Welfare from 1967 to 1972. Abdulganiyu was a member of the Capital Issues Commission from 1973 to 1978 and had also been a member of the International Commission of Jurists since 1959. He was the chairman of the Nigerian Council of Human Rights.
Alhaji Abdulganiyu was appointed SAN in 1985 and is also the father of the present governor of Kwara State, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Alhaji Lateef Olufemi Okunnu was born on February 19, 1933. He was educated at King’s College, Lagos, and the University College, London. He was a civil servant in 1953; technical assistant, teacher, King’s College, Lagos, 1953–1956; publicity secretary, Committee of African Organisations, London, 1958–1960; editor, Nigeria Bar Journal, 1964–1968; member, Executive Committee, Nigeria Bar Association, 1964–1968; and Minister for Works and Housing. He is a lawyer and politician.
Alhaji Sule Gaya was a former parliamentarian and Minister of Works in the First Republic, and an accomplished educationist and politician. Alhaji Gaya was born in 1925 in Gaya, Kano. He was elected member of the Northern Regional Parliament in 1956 and became parliamentary secretary in 1957. He was later appointed councilor in charge of education at Kano Native Authority. He held the traditional title of Sarkin Fadan Kano. He died in 2018 at the age of 93.
Alhaji Shehu Malami (1937–2022) had his education at Sokoto Modern School, Kano Secondary School, Katsina Provincial Secondary School, Bida Provincial Secondary School, North Devon Technical College, Barnstaple, England, and Southend-on-Sea Municipal College, England, and was called to the Bar, Middle Temple, London. He was a broadcaster with the British Broadcasting Corporation, 1959–1963; Private Secretary to the Sultan of Sokoto, 1972–1974; Director, Barclays Bank of Nigeria Ltd, 1974–1980; director, Japan Petroleum Company, 1974–1977; director, Gusau Oil Mill Ltd, 1974–1978; and Chairman, Consolidated Industries Ltd, Sokoto, 1976–1980.
Alhaji Malami was appointed Chairman, Union Bank of Nigeria, in 1981; former member, Northern People’s Congress, UK Branch; member, Sokoto Local Authority Council, 1972–1974; member, Governing Council, University of Nigeria, Nsukka since 1974; member, Sokoto University Advisory Council; Chairman, Nigeria Television Authority; and member, Constituent Assembly, 1977–1978. He was later appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa.
Dr. Koleade Adeniji Abayomi (S.A.N) (August 20, 1940 – April 2, 2020) had his education at C.M.S. Grammar School and King’s College, both in Lagos.
He studied law at the University of Durham and graduated with an LL.B Hons. Thereafter, he proceeded to the Nigerian Law School for the vocational practical training course in October 1965. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1966.
He was awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship in October 1966 for postgraduate studies in law at Clare College, Cambridge.
To be continued
•Eric Teniola, a former director at the Presidency wrote from Lagos
The post House of chiefs should be the next (4), by Eric Teniola appeared first on Vanguard News.