By Prof Hassan A. Saliu
Two personalities have made impact in my life, especially in my initial choice of belonging to the field of International Relations. One was my teacher, while the other through his book on International Relations. The first is Professor Hassan Bawa Gusau. He was the one who introduced me to the field of International Relations in the 1980s at the Bayero University, Kano. Fresh from obtaining his doctoral degree in Political Science from the University of Boston in the United States, he appeared in our class to take his own segment of the introductory class. He was given the aspect of International Relations to handle under the general course of Introduction to Political Science.
Prof. Gusau started-off the course by asking the question: What is International Relations? From what he said in teaching that aspect of the course, I began to develop more interest in the sub-set of Political Science. Other lecturers such as then Dr. Attahiru Jega who handled introduction to Political Economy; the late Dr. (Prof) Usman Jalingo introduced us to: What is politics?; Mallam Ibrahim Muazzam was assigned the responsibility of introducing my class to Political Theory; Prof. B. Y. Barongo handled another introductory aspect which I cannot immediately remember; and the late Dr. Mark Igboeli had the honour of introducing us to Public Administration, appeared one after the other in our class. At that time, the department adopted the method of group teaching for the beginners at 100 level, which is now being referred to as 200 level class.
The second person that inspired me greatly at that formative stage of becoming an International Relations’ scholar is Prof. Tunde Adeniran through his book titled: Introduction to International Relations that was first published in 1983. I got used to the book to the extent that I was conversant with virtually all the chapters. The volume was literally my best companion that I made maximum use of throughout my undergraduate days and even after.
Back to Prof. Gusau who has just retired from the Bayero University, Kano. He subsequently taught my set other main courses such as Introduction to International Relations at 200 level and Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation in the final year. In the course of teaching the courses, I became more known to him because I was one of the leading students in his class. His mode of teaching was to come to the class with his notes from which he dictated to us. More often, he would pause at regular intervals to explain and at times, he would draw something on the board, especially during his class on Public Policy Analysis. He is an effective communicator who is fond of speaking the queen’s English or what some others may consider as polished English. These factors attracted students to his class and made him a popular public speaker on campus and elsewhere.
In our 400-level class, he was assigned an assistant who handled tutorials for his courses. As a student, I was inclined to categorise him to be from the sub-set of International Relations but over time, I have been seeing him making more contributions from the angle of Comparative Politics. This may be in line with the saying that an old fruit tastes tastier and can have a variety of flavours as time passes by. He nevertheless carries a definite academic label that our friends such as Prof. Sam Egwu and his ideological soul-mate, Prof. Victor Adetula, would call a liberal scholar, which means that Prof. Bawa is a non-Marxist scholar.
Prof. Gusau was very punctual in class and consummate in discharging his teaching responsibilities. He was relating well with the students and has humanity flowing in him. This, he demonstrated when I went back to the department in 1991 for my doctoral programme. He was always asking about the progress of my work and ready to help while on the programme. Somewhere along the lines when I ran into the normal turbulence of a PhD programme, he showed some concern. However, aware of the politics of the department, I was always circumspect in discussing my programme with other lecturers. An opportunity, however, offered itself after my successful defence when I was still hanging around the department for my corrected thesis to be certified.
This led Prof. Gusau to one day ask me the question: Hassan, what are you still doing around after your defence that was adjudged to be a good work? At that point, I had to tell him that I was waiting for my corrected thesis to be returned to me. From his countenance, he felt unimpressed about the development and wished he could do something about it. There were three of my lecturers who felt that way on the matter and had wanted to intervene. I quickly said to them that I was prepared to wait until I was finally released.
The reason being that I was in Kano to obtain my doctoral degree in peace, not to cause any quarrels in the department. My unlettered mother who was responsible for my education would be devastated, if she got to know that I was the cause of a rift in the department. As someone who was passionate about my education, she could easily get upset about any little negative happenings around my education. I therefore concealed my unhappiness even though I was pained with the turn of events. Part of the pain I was carrying was my frequent going to Kano from my Kaduna base that I had to fund from my less than One Thousand Naira monthly salary that I was being paid at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
Everyone was happy when I later got over the delay. I therefore left the Bayero University, Kano in peace without any controversies. In point of fact, I was extra careful during the period of my doctoral programme because of the environment. For instance, as soon as the date was fixed for my viva, I went to the PG School to enquire about my level of indebtedness to the school and I paid it off. I was later told by the Secretary of the school that someone later came from the department to find out if I was indebted to the University ostensibly to stop my defence from holding on that ground.
After my second graduation from the University, I still continue to observe events around the department from afar. I later learned that Prof. Hassan Gusau was made the Dean of Students’ Affairs, followed by political appointment in his native Zamfara State.
This tribute would be incomplete if I do not mention the Makurdi event of 2011. In that year, we were invited by a Consultant to the National Assembly to conduct an induction course for members of the National Assembly. I still do not know how the two of us, together with the late Prof. Alex Gboyega, found ourselves in the group that handled federalism for the lawmakers. The arrangement was that members of the group would elect a Chairman among themselves. My name was mentioned even though I was/ still not a scholar of federalism. I had no qualms in rejecting the offer and urged members to look in the direction of either Profs. Gboyega or Gusau for the chairmanship position. I gave three reasons for my position.
One was the fact that there were my seniors in the group. Two, Prof. Gusau was my teacher at the undergraduate level. So, it was not proper for me to go in as the chair when we were not on accreditation where someone I had assessed both for Readership and full chair was later appointed to chair my panel on one occasion despite our records being with the concerned agency. Three, federalism was/still not my primary academic area. I thought someone from the area of Comparative Politics would be ideal for that position. Prof. Gusau, in turn, said that Prof. Gboyega was his senior. He therefore stepped down for him.
The import of the reference made to the instance is that our junior colleagues who are too much in a hurry should appreciate the fact that in academia and, more so in Political Science, we do have our traditions which they should learn to respect.
Our teacher is also a man of principles. Once he has taken a position on any matter, he hardly gives it up easily without a convincing reason. This is what some people may consider as being rigid. Ordinarily, he will stick to his guns irrespective of the positions taken by others until he sees reasons why he should change his initial position. In my view, this should be a virtue, not a vice. As far as the level of comradeship in the department is concerned, he was a team player even, while still maintaining his principles. Judging by the number of persons who have passed through him, one can say that he has trained and mentored a sizeable number of students who are doing well in their chosen careers. This author is surely one of them.
Congratulations to you, Sir, for bracing all the odds and retiring peacefully after forty-six years of meritorious service to our nation through the platform of the Bayero University, Kano. My wish for you, our teacher with an uncommon love for English language, is that you have a blissful post-retirement life.
Once more, congratulations to you, Sir.
Prof Saliu is President, NPSA
