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Hameed Ali: Hesitant to change

By Leo Sobechi
26 March 2017   |   4:40 am
As at 1996 through 1998 when Colonel Hameed Ali was the Military Administration of Kaduna State under the dreaded Sani Abacha regime, retired General Muhammadu Buhari was the chairman of Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PTF).

Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd)

As at 1996 through 1998 when Colonel Hameed Ali was the Military Administration of Kaduna State under the dreaded Sani Abacha regime, retired General Muhammadu Buhari was the chairman of Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PTF). But despite the fact that he hails originally from Bauchi State, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali, is among frontline military officers that made Kaduna their permanent abode.

Those who are conversant with that North West State, knows that Kaduna is much like an extended military barracks. The state houses Nigeria’s major paraphernalia of its defence, including the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), Nigeria Air Force and the obtrusive Defense Industries Corporation. Of course, the headquarters of 1 Division of the Nigeria Army is also in Kaduna.

As MILAD, Ali made headlines when he sacked about 30, 000 civil servants that were engaged in industrial action, while about 18 local government council chairmen were detained on his orders.

On August 27, 2015, the retired military colonel was birthed into the federal cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari’s democratic administration. And quite like Buhari, Ali has always been favoured by public goodwill. Because, just as Buhari is known for his integrity, Ali is reputed for his no-nonsense disposition.

It is not known whether it was on account of his blunt and devil may care attitude that the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) appointed him as its secretary. Hameed Ali’s voice was only heard each time there was a need to uphold the northern agenda, be it in politics, economy or religion.

Ali has always been supporting Buhari in his quest to return to political leadership of the country. But three months after Buhari was sworn into office and Ali was appointed as a replacement for Abdullahi Dikko, as the Comptroller General of Customs (CGS) in the Nigeria Customs Services, he lost his voice.

Sources disclosed that Ali expressed his reservations about becoming the CGS, but had to accept the job when the President explained that he wanted somebody he can trust to clean up the customs.

From the foregoing, it becomes a little puzzling to deduce whether Hameed Ali was doing President Buhari a favour by accepting the appointment of Comptroller-General of Customs or that the President was doing the Nigeria customs a favour by appointing his fellow resident as CGS.

Recent events in the Senate have thrown up the confused relationship between Ali’s acceptance of the post of CGS and the propriety of his appointment by the President. Could it be that as former military officers, both appointer and appointee believe that Customs and Excise was an extension of Kaduna, where espirit de corps is a common parlance?

As a no-nonsense retired colonel, Ali must have woken up to the realisation that the job of CGS is entirely dependent on the closet discussions and agreements between him and Baba Buhari. That may be why, having located the superiority of military fatigue to the Customs khaki, Ali chose to distance his lean body from the infernal cotton material that has the insignia of corruption and jibiti.

And so, without realising it, Ali became an entertainer, which his birth chart has pre-ordained through his zodiac sign of Capricorn being born on January 15, 1955. But, choosing not to be entertained, the Senate must have been charged at the sight of red furniture in the chambers like Bulls, if nothing else, to tame the sea-goat.

Insisting that the custom khaki Ali must wear, the Senate must have also decided to curb the excesses of some members of the federal cabinet who believe that, as extension of their principal they are the best things that have happened to Nigeria.

If the government’s secretary could get away with his own fumbling excesses, the Senate must have thought, not so for this aloof looking, cocky former colonel in the Nigeria Army. In the ensuing contest of wills, the Senate thought better of the docility of its members and decided to rouse from their slumber with the conviction that in a democracy, the law rules!

By chasing away Ali out of the legislative chamber, the Senators succeeded in handing out a symbolic reminder to the former MILAD that humility is a virtue available to the wise. Ali must have rued his decision to appear before the senior lawmakers despite objectionable nuances to his attempt to grace the chambers in his civilian clothes.

And to remember that the issue for which the unwilling Ali of customs was being summoned to the Senate had to do with the social wellbeing of common Nigerians regarding a burdensome policy of extra levy on motor vehicles, the CGS ought to have reflected that despite that he was appointed by one man, his responsibility was to millions of Nigerians, most of who voted for a change in their socio-economic circumstances.

Good a thing the Senate spoke in plain language to rebuff the retired colonel’s bluff. George Sekibo provided the opener through his motion, but the lawmakers helped with the oral washout: Deputy President of Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, observed: “Coming was just one part of our invitation, another part is that you wear (the) uniform; why are you not in uniform?”

Taking a license that is usually in short supply in his original constituency, where orders are obeyed, Ali tried to take shelter in the latest letter inviting him to the plenary, stressing that no law binds him to wearing uniform while doing his job.

His kinsman from Bauchi, Senator Aliu Wakil chided the CGS thus: “I regret this grandstanding.” And guiding him to the stipulations of the law, the presiding officer reminded Ali how section 2 of the Customs law insists that all officers, the CGS included, must wear the uniform and more importantly, that “as number one officer, you should lead by example.”

Colonel Hameed Ali must have caused President Buhari some pain by his conduct at the Senate chambers. As a former military officer, at least the CGS knows that discipline is key. Unless the President did not take note, his CGS cast his administration in bad light by giving the impression to Nigerians that they are above the law or revels in exclusivity defined by privilege.

Ali may have been emboldened by the decision of Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, who pleaded lack of jurisdiction earlier this year, when he struck out a suit challenging the appointment of the CGS on the grounds that it violated sections 5, 147, 148, 151 and 171 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo, who instituted the action had joined President Buhari and Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun as defendants, while arguing that the appointment of Ali was not supported by any iota of law.

In the suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/813/2015, Okonkwo asked the court to interpret sections 5, 147, 148, 151 an 171 of the 1999 Constitution and the Custom and Excise Management Act Cap 45 Volume 4 and the scheme of service for customs service as they affect the appointment of Comptroller General for the NCS.

However, in the spat with the Senate, Ali must have waxed triumphal for the technical dislocation suffered by the suit challenging his appointment. But apart from succeeding in shaming his appointer, Hameed Ali must have earned the title, His Headiness, the CGS of Nigeria Customs Service.

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