November 13, 2016 marks another milestone in the life of the patriarch of the Abdul-Razaq family of Ilorin, Kwara State of Nigeria, Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu Folorunsho Abdul-Razaq (SAN, OFR), the Mutawali of Ilorin and Tafidan Zazzau (Zaria) as he turns 89 years of age. In a country where life expectancy is just a little above 50, moving from the departure lounge of one’s octogenarian years, towards the arrival lounge of the nonagenarian years, is certainly an occasion that calls for celebration and immense appreciation to God. While wishing him longer life and good health in this evening times of his, it is significant to underscore the virtues of this frontline nationalist and politician, an avowed patriot and a leading Nigerian statesman, who has not only been a product of history, but a maker of history, in several respects.
Born on Sunday, November 13, 1927 in Onitsha, the present Anambra State, his incredibly rich life story reflects the tapestry of modern Nigerian history. Here is a man of Ilorin (in North Central Nigeria) parentage; who was born in Onitsha in the South-eastern part of the country; and had part of his secondary education in Buguma in today’s South-south geo-political zone. He began his university education in Ibadan, and, lived and worked in Lagos, both locations in the South-west; and was to later have his base as a lawyer of repute in the Kaduna-Zaria axis in the north-west; while his legal practices and political excursion took him to Maiduguri in the north-east, where he was appointed national legal adviser of the Northern People’s Congress.
William Shakespeare, the great English poet and pre-eminent dramatist, once remarked: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them”. Today, there are many Nigerian leaders who have emerged on the politico-economic terrain and who have left their imprints in the annals of history. One of such is AGF Abdul-Razaq, who is clearly a man of many parts, each of which he has acted creditably. With his humble but historic emergence as the very first actor from Northern Nigeria in his legal professional enclave in the mid-1950s, AGF retains his place in history as the pioneer of this noble profession not only in Ilorin or his home state of Kwara, but in the entire Northern Nigeria, where at a time, he remained a single star in the legal professional firmament.
By the same token, he is head and shoulders above many of his contemporaries in community service and national development in several areas of human endeavor. In an active life of service spanning over six decades, he has succeeded in carving a niche for himself not only in the legal profession, but also in politics and in the business world. These include the following, at one point or another: Nigeria’s Ambassador to Cote D’Ivoire; Member of Parliament, Northern Regional House of Assembly; Minister in Nigeria’s First Republic in charge of railway, laying the enduring foundation that kept the rail system alive even after decades of neglect; Honourable Commissioner in his home state of Kwara; Chairman of the Body of Benchers; School proprietor and administrator; Member, Constitution Drafting Committee; President, Nigeria Stock Exchange; director and chairman of many private companies, among others. It is common knowledge that it requires ability, integrity, determination, endurance, organization and foresight not only to play each of these parts creditably and worthily, but also to succeed, legitimately, within the Nigerian environment. That Abdul-Razaq has made success in such a myriad of human endeavours therefore must be evidence that he possesses these qualities in due measure.
Abdul-Razaq, who is one of the founding fathers of the Nigerian nation-state, has consistently remained a central figure in Nigeria’s political life and in the country’s legal firmament. Besides, he has served the larger society in various capacities, of which he holds many firsts. Part of his uniqueness lies in his being the very first lawyer in the whole Northern Nigeria; the first and only national legal adviser of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) on the eve of Nigeria’s independence and all through the country’s First Republic; the First Mutawali of Ilorin; proprietor of the first private secondary school, called Ilorin College, Ilorin, (now Government High School, Ilorin) in Kwara State; first Commissioner for Finance in Kwara State; first Northerner to be offered and gazetted for a substantive appointment as High Court Judge in 1969 (although he politely turned down the appointment), among many others.
AGF Abdul-Razaq has been quiet exemplary in community service and national development. He has, through changing scenes, succeeded in defining for himself a public career that is characterised by a determination to serve his micro community – Ilorin; his home state – Kwara; his nation – Nigeria; and indeed all humanity. In all these multi-faceted roles he has been privileged to play, he has acquired a reputation as a man of courage, conviction and style. One particular thing that has stood him out throughout his over sixty years of active career and public service is his consistent demonstration of the public spirit, a trait that is lamentably fast fading in this society of ours. The average Nigerian today, either because of, or in spite of, the harsh socio-economic climate within which we operate, as well as the general poverty mentality, has developed an insatiable appetite for the ‘bread-and-butter’ aspect of life, with many in high and low places getting increasingly locked in a theatre of self, primitive accumulation of wealth and extreme individualism.
Abdul-Razaq is a politician of the politics-without-bitterness school, and a democrat to the core. Whatever the shortcomings of Nigerian politicians, AGF, as he is popularly referred to, has never for once wavered in his avowed belief that the country’s future should always rest on a vibrant democratic footing. This partly explains why he was so actively involved in the drafting of the Nigerian Constitution that eventually returned the country to a presidential-style democracy after thirteen years of military rule (1966-1979) in the country’s political evolution. In the words of Eric Teniola, a veteran journalist: Of all the sub-committees of the constitution drafting committee of 1975, none was more important than the subcommittee of the executive and the legislature. The subcommittee was saddled with the working out the modalities for the operation of the Presidential system of Government, which was a new novelty at that time considering the fact that we have never operated the Presidential system of Government before. The subcommittee was headed by Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu Folorunsho Razaq….
The success of AGF Abdul-Razaq who rose from humble beginnings to fame by dint of hard work, determination, positive ambition and belief in the efficacy of prayers clearly shows his doggedness in the midst of teeming challenges. He nursed success, and placed his trust on God to guide his destiny to success. That he scaled through the initial challenges of securing secondary school admission; his attainment of university degrees and his eventual emergence as the first lawyer of Northern Nigeria extraction, remains a shining beacon to what can be achieved if one applies oneself to determined intellectual pursuit for the benefit of society. To the Ilorin people, in particular, hitherto maligned and treated with derision by their more educated neighbours on the eve of Nigeria’s independence and in the immediate post-colonial years, AGF Abdul-Razaq’s abilities, achievements and legacies have stood unparalleled during those formative years of national development, helping to promote the confidence and pride of his people. Blazing the trail, he remains a yardstick against which many following his footsteps have been measured, and his name continually conjures success in Ilorin, Northern Nigeria and beyond. Ilorin has since continued to hold its own politically and socially; and more significantly, in the legal profession, it has aptly earned the appellation “City of Lawyers”.
To round off, it is significant to remark that although AGF Abdul-Razaq is not without his own fair share of human limitations, disappointing moments and challenges of life, one of his strengths is his calm dignity and unflappability even in the face of challenges that would make many in similar circumstances crumble. With his style of politics and human relations that are transparently devoid of savagery, avarice and betrayal, contemporary and future political actors and professionals have much to imbibe and emulate in Abdul-Razaq. No doubt, this man of history, with an incredibly rich life story that is sufficiently well-immersed in modern Nigerian history deserves to be celebrated. It is, therefore, hoped that with the reintroduction of history into the curriculum of our schools and colleges, the younger generation of Nigerians, through a study of our national history, will find a few things in the lives of our heroes and legends, past and present, to fire their imagination in the challenging but exciting struggle to build a new Nigeria of our dream. They can learn a lot from their courage and glorious acts, attributes they can imitate, and as well learn from their successes, while avoiding their mistakes. This is a lesson, which partly, the study of great men of AGF Abdul-Razaq’s stature could teach.
Finally, at this occasion of his 89th birthday anniversary, a most enduring birthday gift that AGF Abdul-Razaq truly deserves is for all Nigerians – young and old, leaders and the led, to promote virtues that exalt a nation and unite the multicultural, multilingual and multi-religious peoples of Nigeria. Once again, happy birthday to the Great AGF Abdul-Razaq, an iconic lawyer, maker of history, and a living legend of our time. . Ajayi is a Professor of History, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
