After four years as Registrar of Nigerian Army University Biu (NAUB), a period that brought him two military promotions, Maj. Gen Sani Sumaila Ibrahim transfered the baton to Brigadier General Yahaya Hardo Abdulhamid on Wednesday, first day of February 2023. This transition is significant not just because it marked the end of the pioneer Military officers contingent to be posted to NAUB as he joins Generals IM Obot and S Ibrahim in the exit list, but because his course mate is taking over from him as he took over from another of their course mates in S Ibrahim, erstwhile DG NYSC.
Gen SS Ibrahim first came to NAUB as a Colonel to head the new university’s Directorate of Academic Planning having held the same post at the Nigerian Defense Academy in Kaduna. He came cradling a deep knowledge of the workings of Academic Planning and the requisite inputs that will load the University’s courses with competitive content and put the nascent institution on firm footing. It therefore felt quite natural that he’ll takeover as Registrar when the pioneer Registrar was moved on to the NYSC.
That transition always made sense in several fronts, chief of which was, as earlier stated, the fact that Gen. SS Ibrahim was a course mate of the pioneer Registrar, but most importantly, because having worked with the latter, he understood the battles that culminated into the establishment of NAUB, and therefore, knows what’s required to keep the Institution on track. For those of us who have been in the trenches for the battle that birthed NAUB long before the feast was made public, his appointment was welcoming in light of the fact that it solved two existential problems:
First, we have worked with him, therefore, knew of his capacity to deliver on the role; and, secondly, his appointment allays the fear of the unknown that would have accompanied the appointment of someone not connected with the raw emotions of working to make the toddling University walk and even run.
As expected, he fitted perfectly, continuing with the drive, aspirations, vision and mission of NAUB as envisaged by its founding fathers. Spanning 4 years, it is almost looking as though he may be the longest serving Registrar of the Institution for a long time to come. Did he do it all? Certainly not! Couldn’t have. There’s no questioning the fact that he gave as much as he possibly could.
Whereas the erstwhile Registrar could be said to have done his best in repurposing the largely inexperienced Registry staff he oversaw, the one thing lacking was continuous capacity building in several areas.The life force of a new university is built gradually and there’s no gainsaying the instrumentality of a quality workforce in this regards.
Notwithstanding the above, his time may also go down as the most troubling and it is a testimony to his deep tradecraft that he was able to navigate this period with as much as grace as can be expected. As impacts go, no history of NAUB will be written without him covering a decent number of pages.
For all I have said of the erstwhile Registrar, his successor, Brig Gen YH Abdulhamid may well trump them. Besides the outward camaraderie between YH Abdulhamid and SS Ibrahim that tells you of a connection way beyond work relationship, a fact they have both testified to, the greatest promise of continuity lies in the fact they are course mates – a very strong connection in the military officer cadre. Beyond the usual hand over talk of asking staffers to transfer cooperations to the new man, the words of SS Ibrahim demanding co-operation for the new man tells you he genuinely wants him to succeed.
YH Abdulhamid’s first official words to a gathering of the University’s support staff deserves to be framed for future reference. Beyond all the rhetorics of a new man taking over from his friend who has done his best to communicate the character of his successor, he left nothing to doubt when he admonished staffers to stay on task for the good of the Institution.
In addition to promising an open door policy, he made it clear that he’s very particular about information handling. Information should be on a need-to-know basis he declared. Always subject your statements to the ‘what, where, when – and I dare say ‘why’ check before putting them out. I am not a betting person, but if I were, I will put my money on the belief that the man has done his due diligence about conducts around the University before coming. That’s what to expect anyway. And for a small place, this simple but honest admonition will go a long way in streamlining approaches towards attaining collective institution wide goals, while also encouraging the attainment of individual goals and aspirations.
This collective and mutual success can best be served through the deliberate design of a robust training schedule, especially for undersserved Registry staff. This should ordinarily be simple for a Nigerian Army (NA) General considering the NA is unarguably the one institution that considers the continuous training of its operatives a top priority. Thankfully, there’s a funding template in other Nigerian Universities to draw from.
In closing, it must be said that there’s no gainsaying the importance of retooling Registry staff even if for the fairness of it. This much can never be overemphasized. And although the primary schedule of the Registrar covers many broad areas, the overall success of the new Registrar could depend solely on motivation leading a the soaring morale amongst his lieutenants at various stations of the Registry. If SS Ibrahim’s time was that of sharpening rough edges for service, then YH Abdulhamid’s must be of consolidation in professionalism and capacity building!
Ismaila Yahaya Kana, a Senior Assistant Registrar and member of several communication and Management bodies writes from Biu.
