In this interview with ARMSTRONG BAKAM, he speaks on Nigeria at 60, issues of insecurity and unity, among others. Abubakar Balewa was born late in 1912 in Bauchi, the son of a district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. If you look around you, you will find somebody who had nothing when they went into politics; soon, they have accumulated wealth that didn’t come from their salary or allowances. The army was strictly under the federation. People tried to come together but, after that, the politics became something else: ‘If I don’t get it, let everybody lose it.’ That was how Nigeria got to this state. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1922 and was killed on January 15, 1966. google_ad_height = 250; Terror group worse than Boko Haram may emerge, says Sultan. God made it so and made them (victims of January 1966 coup) sacrifice their lives for this country, so it is a big history and I am proud of that. It didn’t. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in the village of Tafawa Balewa in the modern Bauchi area of northeastern Nigeria. Jhalil Tafawa Balewa, the man who claimed to be the son of Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa, has been exposed as not only a name dropper but also from Yoruba. Someone told me there was a time he entered the Prime Minister’s ((Tafawa Balewa’s) office and saw a minister on his knees crying because of some bribes that he had taken somewhere. That was what the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi Decree was about, to try to unify the country. Gone are those days. 2015: Tafawa Balewa’s son to drag PDP to court over presidential forms.. - Welcome to Talktalkcity Blog. If you tell me now, what will I do with the information? Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in late 1912 in Tafawa Balewa, North East State, (Bauchi) Nigeria. They had hopes because they had developmental plans and were implementing them religiously but, along the way, things just stopped moving. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1922 and was killed on January 15, 1966. I won’t say they didn’t succeed because they brought Nigeria into a very unpromising situation and up till now, the effects are still there – issues Christians, Muslims, North, East, South, and so on, have against one another are the foundation of our problems today as a nation. All these troubles, including religious and tribal conflicts are part of that. He was elated. He was his father’s only child. I heard the siren when they came to our area but they didn’t even enter the house; they passed our place and went to Ajiya’s house. Since you were not in Lagos, how did you hear about your father’s death? Apparently a young officer of the Nigerian Army at the time Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the Nigerian Prime Minister from 1957 – 1966, it goes without saying that President Muhammadu Buhari must know of Balewa, even if he didn’t know him. Kindly Share This Story: By Charles Agwam. I will never forget that because I was very scared; I could see places in flames and hear gunshots. I can’t do that because my father didn’t bring me up that way. I got there and told them what happened. So what happened afterwards? Copyright PUNCH. You live in the North. I am very worried about that because my children are coming up. I told you that these things started little by little and, to my little understanding and in my own opinion, suddenly, politicians came in. The Tafawa Balewa family disowned Jhalil in 2008, claiming he wasn't a son. Two of his wives, including my mother were here in Bauchi while the other two were with him in Lagos. He said there was a time when some people were putting pressure on the Prime Minister (Tafawa Balewa) to blow his own trumpet and say all the good things that he had done, but what he said was that “if you have confidence in your work, someday, somehow, somebody will blow it for you”. USMAN Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the son of Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa has kicked against the restructuring of Nigeria security stating that the Federal Government has to be responsible for security. Some of them are even from Katsina. You could travel from here (Bauchi) to Lagos at night; you wouldn’t be afraid of anything. google_ad_height = 250; Few multi-billionaires control Nigeria’s resources, unlike in 1960s –Yakasai. The Chief of Army Staff, police boss, and others were easterners. The son of the late Prime Minister’s oldest surviving daughter, Alhaji Ahmad Yakubu Wanka (who holds the traditional title of Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tutan Bauchi), graciously contacted me a day after my column was published. Morenike set up a trading company called Monicotora in 1975 and flourished in business while raising her children. That okada man was a Christian. /* Punch_Sidebar_Articlepages300x250 */ READ ALSO: Terror group worse than Boko Haram may emerge, says Sultan. Then I turned back and left; I can’t remember exactly what happened again, but I remember taking someone’s bicycle and riding fast to our house. Before, the Nigerian Army used to run away. They could even provide for your feeding. You go through some channels. I left Nigeria in 1982 for the United States of America. In July 1974 she gave birth to another son, Abubakar, Olusegun Tafawa-Balewa for the Late Ambassador Balarabe Tafawa-Balewa. Through the papers, I later learnt that he was warned by the British High Commissioner. The university is named after the first Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. But when we came out of the same umbrella, the masses continued with their trade and the politicians came in looking for votes, so they tried to divide the people but it wasn’t as bad as it is now. The problems started after the January 1966 coup because people felt it was a tribal thing and politicians went to the locals and tried to influence them, so Nigeria started declining. These roads have been deteriorating for some time and nobody has done anything about it. They wanted him to leave the place. What are your thoughts on that? It’s the 54th anniversary of the coup this year, what do you think about the coup? Tafawa Balewa's Son Set To Drag PDP To Court 6 years ago read comments by Legit.ng Dr Abdul Jelil, the son of Nigeria’s First Republic Prime Minister, the late Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa has vowed to drag the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to court for being denied the Presidential form . The name of his birthplace was appended to Abubakar’s name (Abubakar Tafawa Balewa). Many Nigerians, particularly southerners, believe northerners contribute to the problem of this country because they hardly criticise the government when one of them is the leader. Usman Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is the 60-year-old son of Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. If you look at the terrorism in Borno State, it started as a small thing, but look at what has happened within a few years. In the days of your father, we had federalism with each region managing their affairs and some people have been calling for restructuring to return the structure of the country to that, what is your view? There were no states but now there are tribal sentiments. Somebody showed me a meal ticket for Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; it was a whole meal with a whole chicken in it for Sundays or so. If you look at herdsmen and farmers’ crises, it used to be with bows and arrows and machetes. Abubakar Balewa was the son of a district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. Even when they were just three, North, East and West, there were agitations and Mid-West was created. People had employment. google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5689805440782123"; Originally a trained teacher, he became a vocal leader for Northern interests as one of the few educated Nigerians of […] @sofson, we do not only help you get into the right Institution, we provided insightful tips to help you ace your time in school. I think they are doing their best, but the insecurity situation is getting out of hand and you know when people are dying; they complain that things are really bad. It … Dr. Tafawa Balewa, 60, says he is the son of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first prime minister, who was killed in the country’s 1966 coup. Sometime in 1970, I visited him and he told me a story. If one party is aggrieved and it is not addressed, they will seek revenge; that’s how things got worse. My mother told me that my father had shown her where he wanted to be buried in the house and she asked me to inform them (at Ajiya’s house) when I went back there, if it would be possible. It is just that we are overambitious by trying to get to where we don’t deserve to be yet because speed doesn’t bring progress. Now, the scenario is that some people are exploiting these grievances and providing people with weapons to cause trouble. You should tell me because whatever I say will bring back the memory as I am involved and my father was killed. Then later, I learnt the Prime Minister had been taken somewhere. A school teacher, politician. How would you describe the insecurity in the country – killings in Southern Kaduna, insurgency in the North-East, kidnappings across the country, banditry in the North Central and North-West, etc? You can’t give me an AK-47 with two magazines and say I should face an anti-aircraft gun. It was at the last minute that Shehu Shagari started bringing these things and Shagari was a minister in Sir Tafawa Balewa’s administration. They can wipe out a whole village in minutes, before it is controlled. We remained in our house here in Bauchi. I was the first person to break the news of my father’s death to my mother who was also here in Bauchi. \ n Abubakar Tafawa is celebrating 55 years of death. Have you forgiven the people who killed your dad? I didn’t sleep at home that night because there was no way we could get home. How your father died is still not known, do you know the soldier who actually killed him? The news first broke after they took the Prime Minister. I think that was what led to the counter-coup. So, it metamorphosed. There are people that do that but because of the decorum in the North; the old system is such that you don’t come out and criticise. But some argue that the security under the Federal Government has not fared well. They were classmates and very close friends. They left a beautiful legacy but they didn’t complete the work they started. Everybody in Nigeria during the First Republic or even up to the 1980s would tell you that people were happy. How can you contain a crisis that way? “He is not one of us,†Saddik Abubakar Tafawa Balewa told the BBC, after the operation to rescue Jhalil. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa : biography 1912 – January 15, 1966 Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, KBE (December 1912 – January 15, 1966) was a Nigerian politician, and the only prime minister of an independent Nigeria. When some of these politicians have resolved their issues, you would never see them again and they would have caused trouble for people. He said we shouldn’t go farther because it was a Christian axis. Abu Bakr (Arabic: أبو بكر ‎) was a sahabi, one of the companions of Muhammad and the first Caliph of Islam.He was also Muhammad's father-in-law through Aisha.His real name was Abdullah or Abul-Kaaba and Abu Bakr was his kunya.. That was what caused it. How Tafawa Balewa’s widow was abandoned after husband’s death. We are not mature enough for every region to control its own security. The counter-coup didn’t happen because my father died, it happened because Nigeria was trying to be what it used to be during the time the late Prime Minister was in power – that is, one country. Didn’t the family insist that he must be buried where he wanted to be buried? It was regional then. ... Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa… May those who are not working along that line see reasons to do that because we are heading somewhere! I don’t know if it is true that the last time they bought weapons for the army was during the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1922 and was killed on January 15, 1966. Once it happened, I couldn’t bring him back to life, so it is only appropriate for me to pray for him. To me, a key political ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, was abducted from his home Friday. Who were getting paid via the post office then, but what would I do when I the. Will not live in his area Republic or even up to the.. 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