The story I am about to tell is to reaffirm the belief that whatever is not yours will never come your way, no matter what, and whatever is yours will, eventually, find you in spite of everything.
When Colonel Samuel Bature Chamah assumed duty as Katsina State Military Administrator, he needed to appoint a number of staff to work for him, including a Director Press. It so happened that he had an acquaintance who was a Katsina State indigene, based in Kaduna with whom he was very close. So, he asked the man what he wanted from him in Katsina, his hometown. The man decided to forward the name of his son-in-law for possible appointment. But before forwarding the name, he asked his son-in-law if he wanted any appointment in Katsina State Government. The son-in-law, who was then a customs officer, said he wasn't interested, but forwarded the name of his elder brother, who was then an employee of Katsina State Government. And that elder brother happened to be yours truly.
So, I was told to take my CV to my brother's father-in-law in Kaduna, which I did. I told him the position I wanted was Director Press. My brother's father-in-law collected my CV and promised to get back to me. He later got back to me through my brother, telling him that Colonel Chamah had promised him that position, after collecting my CV. So, I sat back and kept my fingers crossed, waiting for an announcement that never came...
What happened that stopped the announcement from being made were a chain of events that could be said to be destiny: it was never destined for me to hold that position.
When Colonel Chamah finally decided to appoint a Director Press, he probably misplaced my CV, so, he must have asked one of his aides to summon someone from Bakori who worked in one of the state owned media organizations. Now, it so happened that there were two of us from Bakori at the TV section and two others, also from Bakori, at the Radio section. My guess is whoever was sent reasoned that it must be the senior of the four of us, who happened to be the Manager News and Current Affairs at the Radio section, Shehu Ibrahim Bakori.
With Shehu Ibrahim Bakori, former GM, Katsina State Radio
So, Shehu Ibrahim Bakori was summoned to go and see Colonel Samuel Bature Chamah at Katsina Government House. The Military Administrator, himself, interviewed Shehu for the position of the Director Press. He became satisfied and promptly promised Shehu the position. All along, Colonel Chamah must have believed that it was me, whose CV was given to him by my brother's father-in-law.
Now because everyone around at government house knew that Shehu was interviewed for that position, the news instantly went viral in Katsina State, that Shehu had been chosen to be the Director Press. The news spread like wild fire. People even began to congratulate Shehu. All this while, I never linked Shehu's story with mine - it never crossed my mind to do that. It only surprised me and made me think that Shehu was, probably, interviewed so that Colonel Chamah could choose between us. The fact that I wasn't summoned for an interview didn't bother me because a firm promise had been made to my brother's father-in-law.
So, while I was waiting to hear my name announced as the chosen one, Shehu, on the other hand, was also waiting to hear his name announced as promised by Chamah. After several days of waiting, the announcement was finally made: but to our chagrin, neither Shehu nor I was announced as the Director Press! The person that emerged as the Director Press was Adamu Salisu Ladan...
With Adamu Ladan, Permanent Commissioner, Katsina State Independent Electoral Commission
Adamu Salisu Ladan, at the time, was the Katsina State correspondent of the Triumph Newspaper, a Kano based newspaper, although he, himself, was an indigene of Katsina State. He was also, at the time, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Katsina State Council, while I was the secretary.
Till today, I never found out why Shehu and I were dropped and how Adamu Ladan was nominated for the appointment. But as for me, the most plausible reason I can think of is the confusion I pointed out above. Shehu, too, admitted to me that he had always wondered how Colonel Chamah decided on him. It was one of the puzzles he had been unable to solve until I told him this story more than twenty years later, which made him realize that it could have happened that way. He reasoned that the only person he could think of who could have recommended him to the Military Administrator at the time was the then Managing Director, MD, KTRTV, Alhaji Kabir Yusuf Ƴar'Adua, and even he had asked Shehu who recommended him to Chamah, so, it couldn't have been him.
After all these, what's become clear is the fact that Shehu and I lost the position because we were never meant to be in the first place. But with the benefit of hindsight, the chain of events that led to selecting Adamu Ladan over us are interesting lessons to see the hand of God working to determine his will...
It's interesting to know that while Shehu Ibrahim Bakori retired as the General Manager, Katsina State Radio, Adamu Ladan is, today, a Permanent Commissioner, Katsina State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).
Tags
Articles