Sufyan Lawal Kabo (Sefjamil)
sefjamil3@gmail.com
If the Kano State Ministry of Information could weep, perhaps its walls would have told the story of a painful goodbye when Amb Hon. Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya PhD left its corridors. Not because the office had lost its vibrant occupant, but because it had lost a man who brought renewed life, energy and visibility to an institution that had struggled for years to command the attention its responsibilities deserved.
Some ministries need more than a commissioner. They need a builder, a patient mind, a creative spirit and, above all, someone who understands that public institutions are made up of people, not just offices, files and official titles. The Ministry of Information needed precisely this kind of attention. Waiya arrived with an understanding that an institution cannot perform beyond the commitment of the people entrusted with its responsibilities.
What differenciated his approach was not simply the activities he initiated, but the spirit with which he approached the assignment. He brought a sense of urgency to work that had for too long appeared to lack sufficient momentum. He understood that the Ministry of Information is not a platform for displaying political connections, flaunting personal affluence or settling private scores. It is certainly not an office for those who mistake public authority for personal privilege. The ministry is the voice of government, the bridge between leadership and the people, and an important instrument for building public understanding. It demands humility, creativity, patience, patriotism and, above all, a genuine commitment to the people it exists to serve.
There was something particularly striking about Waiya’s relationship with people. He kept his doors open to stakeholders of all categories, made himself accessible and treated people with patience and understanding. Coming from a civil society background, he understood the importance of listening, welcoming ideas and bringing people together. Engaging people, he believes as part of the job itself. His ability to manage different interests with patience and tact may explain why there were hardly public complaints about his leadership. He approached the ministry as a responsibility to improve, not merely an office to occupy.
Perhaps this explains why his departure raises a question beyond the usual politics of appointments and redeployments: can the spirit he brought to the ministry be sustained? We can only hope so. But as the Hausa saying goes, “Da mai kama ake Æ™ota”
(You cannot get blood out of stone). A successor may inherit the office, its staff and its files, but sustaining an institution requires more than occupying a position. It requires dignity, good character, patience and the ability to relate with people. Without these qualities, the light Waiya brought to the ministry could gradually fade.
Now, Waiya has moved to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, where a different generation and a different set of expectations await him. Kano is a state whose young people are deeply involved in education, commerce, technology, entertainment, sports and public affairs. They need a ministry that sees them not as a statistic or a convenient audience for official speeches, but as partners in the future of the state. The call of INA MATASA! must therefore become a call for opportunity, participation and purposeful engagement.
The early attention surrounding his new assignment suggests that expectations are already high. But the real measure will not be the number of people who visit his office or the excitement that accompanies his arrival. It will be the opportunities created, the institutions strengthened and the lives positively affected.
Kano may have changed Waiya's office, but it has not changed the central question of his public service: what can be made better, and whose lives can be touched?
As for the Ministry of Information, its greatest tribute to his time in office would be to keep alive the spirit of renewal he brought to it. For a ministry that had once struggled to find its voice, the challenge now is not simply to remember the man who gave it renewed visibility, but to ensure that the voice does not grow silent again.
