My father was a governor, but I’m dying of poverty – Barkin Zuwo’s son
From DESMOND MGBOH, Kano
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ordinarily, life is supposed to be a bed of roses for this man. It could still be. But his chances are slimmer by the day and for now the young man, who was most probable born with a silver spoon in his month is facing the hard reality that sometimes, life plays its own kind of games: tricks that leave everybody with so many queries and little answers.

Barkin





This is a man whose father was once a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and once a governor of one of the richest states in the country- That was some 17 years ago- but who is today so financially broke that he depends on hand outs for his next point of survival.

He told the Daily Sun his pathetic story: “My name is Tijjani Sabo Barkin Zuwo and as you already know, I am one of the 18 children of a one time governor of Kano State and former Senator of Nigeria, Late Alhaji Sabo Barkin Zuwo, who was the governor under the ticket of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in 1983, after the tenure of Alhaji Abubakar Rimi.

Stressing his speech, he went forward: “I completed my secondary education at the Rumfa College Kano, then I proceeded for a crash program- they call it the Manpower project- that was during the Murtala Mohammed’s regime. In the course of this project, I went to the United States under the United States Agency International Development. There I studied Printing Technology in California ”.

Despite this training and the quality of his secondary school background-a school that has graduated so many successful Kano men of the present age, his seems a different fate, the death of his father being the sliding point from riches to poverty. According to him, “Since the death of my father, I would say that things have been very difficult for all of us, his children and all of our family members. In fact, we are going through what I may call broken bridges. Most of his friends in his lifetime, most of the friends and associates that worked with my father in his lifetime , only very few of them care about us today, most of them has deserted us. I didn’t say all of them, but most do neglect us in the painful struggle to get along.”

He ventured futher: “My father’s friend- when he was in government- have not been able to help us, maybe because-I don’t know- maybe because the family itself is not united. Something like that, there is no love and all the rest of them.”

He believes that they could pull through the present ill tidings, if only the family could be united and present their request in bulk to their family friends, noting that part of the reasons they have not been able to attract the kind of response their plight deserves is because often, they go as individuals to seek for help from people who should help them .

He regretted that, “right now going by his age, I have past the age to start applying for a fresh job. Most of my age mates are permanent secretaries, top government functionaries and all these things you know and for me to start to say I want a job, it is going to be difficult for me now. That is why I decided to open my own project.”

According to Tijjani Sabo Barkin Zuwo, the family of the former Kano State governor is made of four wives and eighteen children, adding of the four women, two of them are now late while the two others are remarried.

Asked if his father did not leave a wealth of properties and assets that could be converted to help start off a good business plan for some of them, who may want to restart their lives in the family. He replied to the contrary, noting that the late former governor left only one house as at the time of his death and nothing more. The house he told the Daily Sun is located in the Hotoro area and it is called Corner Sabo. “That is the only house he left for us and we have shared the house, every one of us has got his own share. He didn’t live any money, he left nothing. We are only in the hands of God.

“I can state that almost all of us need assistance in one way or the other. This is because most of us are not working with the federal or state governments. Only one of us is working with the state government, one of us is also working with a bank, another one-my brother was working with a bank- but when the bank was closed down, he was relieved of the job. So you would agree with me that most of us may need assistance for the state government.

He said he feels very rather bad knowing that he is a son of a former governor, adding that each time he is around the circles of government, he feels a nostagia remembering the privileges he once had, but which are no more.

An ironic bang of poverty shadows his every utterance as he spoke, his stride also bespoke of abandonment through the years. Walking down the lane of the streets of the ancient city alongside the Daily Sun, tall and slim his presence flouts with the winds. The only thing left of the lost years was his dreams. His new cherished dreams.

He told the Daily Sun that his present dream is to get to open a printing shop in the state, pointing out that he would however need the assistant of the Kano State government to realize this dream as he simply has no money to even approach the first phase of the project.

He also showed the Daily Sun a copy of the letter of assistance he has written to the Deputy Governor of Kano State, Engineer Tijjani Abdullahi Gwarzo to come to his aid adding that he has already submitted the letter to the office of the deputy governor.

He also appealed to the Kano State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau to come to the aid of the entire members of his family, adding that he would make the best use of any form of assistance that comes his way this time around. And most importantly he is opmistic that help is not far away from coming his way.


http://odili.net/news/source/2009/apr/2/500.html

Will this story ever repeat itself among the children of modern day governors in Nigeria?. I guess not.

this is a fool who believes he is entitled to a good life not because he has worked for it but because his father was a former governor? Nigeria has become a collosal disgrace. . .

He told the Daily Sun his pathetic story: “My name is Tijjani Sabo Barkin Zuwo and as you already know, I am one of the 18 children of a one time governor of Kano State and former Senator of Nigeria, Late Alhaji Sabo Barkin Zuwo, who was the governor under the ticket of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in 1983, after the tenure of Alhaji Abubakar Rimi.

Perhaps that would explain your poverty . . . 4 wives, 18 children . . . what was your father's means of livelihood besides being a governor? So all 23 of you plus other hangers-on were just going to live off government funds?

Stressing his speech, he went forward: “I completed my secondary education at the Rumfa College Kano, then I proceeded for a crash program- they call it the Manpower project- that was during the Murtala Mohammed’s regime. In the course of this project, I went to the United States under the United States Agency International Development. There I studied Printing Technology in California ”.

So you are essentially a secondary school cert holder with a possible certificate in manual labor and you expect to get a good job in a nation where MSc holders are begging for food? come of it my friend . . . it is attitudes of lazy idiots like you that Nigeria has to suffer.

Despite this training and the quality of his secondary school background-a school that has graduated so many successful Kano men of the present age, his seems a different fate

Uhm exactly what "training"? An SSCE certificate?
Yeah his secondary school has graduated "so many successful" coup plotters and treasury looters so what?

He said he feels very rather bad knowing that he is a son of a former governor, adding that each time he is around the circles of government, he feels a nostagia remembering the privileges he once had, but which are no more.

You sir are a disgrace . . . you simply want to reap where you have not sown. You dont succeed simply by being born a governor's son . . . you succeed through hard work. Go get a job and stop hanging around looters. The government wealth is not your property.

“I can state that almost all of us need assistance in one way or the other. This is because most of us are not working with the federal or state governments. Only one of us is working with the state government, one of us is also working with a bank, another one-my brother was working with a bank- but when the bank was closed down, he was relieved of the job. So you would agree with me that most of us may need assistance for the state government.

This is why the north will remain a drag on the entire nation . . . so government jobs are your only means of survival? Why must everyone work with state of federal governments? Did your father not own even one private enterprise that he could pass on to any of you wool heads?

He regretted that, “right now going by his age, I have past the age to start applying for a fresh job. Most of my age mates are permanent secretaries, top government functionaries and all these things you know and for me to start to say I want a job, it is going to be difficult for me now. That is why I decided to open my own project.”

Yeah all leeches living off looting the treasury . . . none of them has a private enterprise of his own?

I am sure this guy is wishing  that his father was a present day Governor.  He go don hammer.

[b]So you are essentially a secondary school cert holder [/b]with a possible certificate in manual labor and you expect to get a good job in a nation where MSc holders are begging for food? come of it my friend . . . it is attitudes of lazy idiots like you that Nigeria has to suffer.

In the region of the blind, one eyed man is the king. This guy is from the North for God's sake.

Why was the Daily Sun interviewing this man?  This is nothing but a silent way of passing across a dangerous message to those whose relatives are in government today: ''Steal what you can steal, because tomorrow you may end-up as Zuwo's son.'' Shameful, I must say.

See thats the problem, having 18 children. Even a governor then, could not reason any better. Very pathetic.

davidylan:

this is a fool who believes he is entitled to a good life not because he has worked for it but because his father was a former governor? Nigeria has become a collosal disgrace. . .

Perhaps that would explain your poverty . . . 4 wives, 18 children . . . what was your father's means of livelihood besides being a governor? So all 23 of you plus other hangers-on were just going to live off government funds?

dude,sometimes i wonder at the way we nigerians reason at times,irrespective of the fact that he worked for it or not, his father being a former senator and governor who served this country honestly and consientiously for many years deserves much more than his children and wives are getting now.
why are you pouring vitriol on the man,would you rather hail ibori and ibb's progenitors instead?


in case you r not getting it,the point here is that the man was honest enough not to steal the state blind and to accept ghana must go s and the result is his children living in abject poverty,that should be the issue any  objective individual will and should be concerned about and not how many wives or children he left behind, sucessive governors after him who stole the state blind and sucessive senators dont need to go on newspapers asking for help because they have stolen enough to last them,their multiple wives and children,so whats yur point

What a pathetic soul! How old is he, like 40? What the heck is this?? Lol

See thats the problem, having 18 children. Even a governor then, could not reason any better. Very pathetic.

But Odili,Igbinedion and Ibori can afford to feed and train a constituency even in Harvard.

iReport:

But Odili,Igbinedion and Ibori can afford to feed and train a constituency even in Harvard.

What kind of logic are you tabling down? So does that validate having children like as if you are passing out a stool?

in case you r not getting it,the point here is that the man was honest enough not to steal the state blind and to accept ghana must go s and the result is his children living in abject poverty,that should be the issue any  objective individual will and should be concerned about and not how many wives or children he left behind, sucessive governors after him who stole the state blind and sucessive senators dont need to go on newspapers asking for help because they have stolen enough to last them,their multiple wives and children,so whats yur point

The guy was a governor in 1983. How many of them knew then that you can loot the whole treasury and get away with it?. It was Umaru Dikko that stole $3m for the first time in 1986 and everybody was like, how did he manage to do that. IBB was the first govt official that made politicians comfortable with looting the state treasury. How much did Obasanjo have after he ruled Nigeria as a military head of state?. I bet you shagari is broke too. Buhari only made money while heading PTF. Imagine a former head of state heading PTF under Abacha, that should  tell you how broke he was.

What kind of logic are you tabling down? So does that validate having children like as if you are passing out a stool?

No, just letting you know that having 18 children is no problem for modern day governors. Even a permanent sec in Nigeria can afford it now.

iReport:

No, just letting you know that having 18 children is no problem for modern day governors. Even a permanent sec in Nigeria can afford it now.

Nigeria is warped-up seriously.

iReport:

How much did Obasanjo have after he ruled Nigeria as a military head of state?

There you go again with that thief. Tell me, how did Operation Feed Nigeria (OFN) in the late 70's become Obasanjo Farms Nigeria (OFN)?

Go and dust your history textbook.

interesting

dude,sometimes i wonder at the way we nigerians reason at times,irrespective of the fact that he worked for it or not, his father being a former senator and governor who served this country honestly and consientiously for many years deserves much more than his children and wives are getting now.
why are you pouring vitriol on the man,would you rather hail ibori and ibb's progenitors instead?


in case you r not getting it,the point here is that the man was honest enough not to steal the state blind and to accept ghana must go s and the result is his children living in abject poverty,that should be the issue any  objective individual will and should be concerned about and not how many wives or children he left behind, sucessive governors after him who stole the state blind and sucessive senators dont need to go on newspapers asking for help because they have stolen enough to last them,their multiple wives and children,so whats yur point

Are you justifying his whining?
Maybe you are one that should be asked his point.

iReport:

The guy was a governor in 1983. How many of them knew then that you can loot the whole treasury and get away with it?. It was Umaru Dikko that stole $3m for the first time in 1986 and everybody was like, how did he manage to do that. IBB was the first govt official that made politicians comfortable with looting the state treasury. How much did Obasanjo have after he ruled Nigeria as a military head of state?. I bet you shagari is broke too. Buhari only made money while heading PTF. Imagine a former head of state heading PTF under Abacha, that should  tell you how broke he was.

i beg your pardon,obj stole massively,apart from the operation feed the nation which he used to apportion farmlands to himself,that was before umaru dikko,awolowo stole hence the reason he was a multi millionaire with choice properties in ikoyi e.t.c and shares in coca cola bottling company,including others hence the reason why how many wives and children the man had isnt an issue at all,as that was his personal choice/life even the managing director of a private company deserves a generous pension and a proper property including other benefits talk less of a whole state,

Serious WHINING from a 40 something year old !!! lol . Who cares who his father was, and how many children the man had? I seriously hope this man does not have kids of his own!!!

asha 80:










Are you justifying his whining?
Maybe you are one that should be asked his point.

the point you should ponder on is irrespective of how many wives and children,was the former governor's children and wives treated fairly?
if your answer is that they were,and that he shouldnt be ""whinning"then i guess your assertion will justify and vindicate the likes of ibb,ibori atiku and co because they dont want to end up in the same situation right?

the point you should ponder on is irrespective of how many wives and children,was the former governor's children and wives treated fairly?
if your answer is that they were,and that he shouldnt be ""whinning"then i guess your assertion will justify and vindicate the likes of ibb,ibori atiku and co because they dont want to end up in the same situation right?

What do you mean by treated fairly?By who?

I repeat you are not making sense.So those of us whose parents where not in power we should have been poorer that church rats?Stop excusing his poverty.

asha 80:

What do you mean by treated fairly?By who?

I repeat you are not making sense.So those of us whose parents where not in power we should have been poorer that church rats?Stop excusing his poverty.

I understand where Lucabrasi is coming from. Mainly because he's from a polygamous family, he expects the governor to have shared the wealth.

Asked if his father did not leave a wealth of properties and assets that could be converted to help start off a good business plan for some of them, who may want to restart their lives in the family. He replied to the contrary, noting that the late former governor left only one house as at the time of his death and nothing more. The house he told the Daily Sun is located in the Hotoro area and it is called Corner Sabo. “That is the only house he left for us and we have shared the house, every one of us has got his own share. He didn’t live any money, he left nothing. We are only in the hands of God.

How did 18 kids share a house? roflmao!!!

How did 18 kids share a house? roflmao!!!

40 kids share a house in Naija. When last did you visit Naija?. It also depends on the size of the house. IBB's house can contain 40 children comfortably.

[b]i beg your pardon,obj stole massively,apart from the operation feed the nation which he used to apportion farmlands to himself,that was before umaru dikko,awolowo stole hence the reason he was a multi millionaire with choice properties in ikoyi e.t.[/b]c and shares in coca cola bottling company,including others hence the reason why how many wives and children the man had isnt an issue at all,as that was his personal choice/life even the managing director of a private company deserves a generous pension and a proper property including other benefits talk less of a whole state,

How much did Awolowo and OBJ stole compared to what is happening now that is if they stole at all?. Because Obasanjo has a crappy farm in Ota?. How much is that farm worth. Gwarzo was reported to be so rich that he can afford to buy the nation of Ghana and Togo for himself as a private property. You can't compare that with the peanut change that dropped for obasanjo in the 70's.

FUNMI! your love for OBJ knows no bounds. that na why i gbadun you. i just hope oBJ doesnt decide to start up a religious organization. cos na to dey empty ur bank account for the organization remain.

Asked if his father did not leave a wealth of properties and assets that could be converted to help start off a good business plan for some of them, who may want to restart their lives in the family. He replied to the contrary, noting that the late former governor left only one house as at the time of his death and nothing more. The house he told the Daily Sun is located in the Hotoro area and it is called Corner Sabo. “That is the only house he left for us and we have shared the house, every one of us has got his own share. He didn’t live any money, he left nothing. We are only in the hands of God.

this is simply what happens when you wait to inherit property and not GET YOURS.

Imagine 18 kids sharing just one house!! lol . ROFLmao!!! I still can't wrap my mind around that one. Worse, from the guys description of where it is, I doubt it was a huge one. lol

Show me an Hausa man, and I'll show you 10 things he thinks Nigeria owes him. If he's related to anybody in power, governors, spit-catchers to the emirs, mallams; then I 'll show you even more things you and me owe him as a nation.
We owe it to them, to transport them to Saudi Arabia every year. We owe them and their familes(yet unborn) the duty to provide and sustain them throughout their public and private lives. If Tijjani is the only child out of the 18 complaining, it means we failed in our duty about 5% of the time, and we sincerely apologize. We'll do better next time.
@Davidlyn
Foonish boy, you don't realize how much you owe Alhaji Barkin Zuwo!

No question that we owe Barkin Zuwo, his 4 official wives, his unofficial wives, and his 18 children.

How about the children of other governors? Jim Nwobod, Sam Mbakwe, Mike Ajasin, Ambrose Alli. Sam Isong, etc?

18 kids can share the house now. BLOCK BY BLOCK, CONCRETE PILLAR BY CONCRETE PILLAR, WITH RULER AND CHALK IN HAND TO MARK THE DIFFERENT ZONES IN THE HOUSE

18 kids can share the house now. BLOCK BY BLOCK, CONCRETE PILLAR BY CONCRETE PILLAR, WITH RULER AND CHALK IN HAND TO MARK THE DIFFERENT ZONES IN THE HOUSE

I wonder if that is how they did it!! roflmao!!

Imagine 18 kids sharing just one house!! lol . ROFLmao!!! I still can't wrap my mind around that one. Worse, from the guys description of where it is, I doubt it was a huge one. lol

All these polygamists breeding a generation of almajiris, how do you think they live with their wives and children?. In a palatial mansion?

FUNMI! your love for OBJ knows no bounds. that na why i gbadun you. i just hope oBJ doesnt decide to start up a religious organization. cos na to dey empty ur bank account for the organization remain.

Yes I will. I love him I love him and it's disheartening when people come here and lie over his head.

LAZY BONES!!

COME CARRY NOW. NONSENCE!!!!!!!!!!        

no food for lazy man. Who the Bleep studies printing technology on a scholarship abroad? (tough course huh). maybe Fedex Kinko or a business center can give him a job.