New Telegraph

How modest Niger school produced IBB, Abdulsalami,others

Class 24 of Government College, Bida, Niger State, will earn a spot in the Guinness World Records (The Guinness Book of Records) for its outstanding achievements in Nigeria’s political and traditional leadership, as well as in judiciary, military and diplomacy. The 24 students, who gained admission to the college in 1957 and graduated in 1962, have redefined Nigerian history through their contributions in different areas of life.

A breakdown of the figures shows that two of the former students later became military Heads of State, four each were governors, ambassadors and emirs; three were justices while two became ministers. Among them are Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Gado Nasko, Sani Sami, Mohammed Magoro, Mamman Vatsa and Garba Duba, as well as Col. Sani Bello. Justices Idris Legbo Kutigi, Abdullahi Mustapha and Jibrin Ndajiwo Jibrin Ndajiwo were also among the students. Babangida was military President between 1985 and 1993, while Abubakar was Head of State from 1998 to 1999.

The four governors among them were Nasko (Sokoto), Duba (Bauchi and Sokoto), Sami (Bauchi) and Bello (Kano). Sami is the present Emir of Zuru in Kebbi State. Magoro and Vasta were appointed ministers, but the latter was executed by the Babangida regime after being implicated in a coup plot. Kutigi was Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). Ambassadors James Isado Kola, Buba Ahmed, Yunuda Paiko and Abdulraham Gara were also among the students. Arguably, no school in Nigeria or anywhere in the world has achieved a similar feat. Government College, Bida, formerly known as Provincial Secondary School, was established in 1912.

The college also produced many eminent Nigerians both in academia and politics. Mohammed Haruna, also an alumnus of the college, at its centenary celebration in 2013, said though the college could not be rated academically, it had produced some brilliant students such as Mallam Yunusa Paiko, whose record of six distinctions in West African School Certificate examination in 1959 remains unbroken. Haruna said, “Modest as the school’s academic record is, it has produced more than its fair share of the country’s most pre-eminent citizens.

“It holds the record as the only secondary school to have produced two military leaders – Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, both of them Class of ‘62. “The same class has also produced the single highest number of senior military officers. “These officers, with the exception of Colonel Sani Bello, who was retired as military governor of Kano State, left the military as Major Generals.

“They are Muhammadu Magoro, now a Senator, Muhammed Gado Nasko, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sani Sami, current Emir of Zuru in Kebbi State, and the late Mamman Vatsa; he was one-time FCT Minister. Another exceptional classmate of theirs is Garba Duba, who retired as Lieutenant General.”

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