Tanko Almakura, Governor of Nasarawa State, says he is the only Nigerian governor who “cannot hear when things are being said” — only exception being when his hearing aid is on.
Al-Makura said this on Wednesday in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, during a birthday colloquium organised on his behalf by the members of his cabinet.
He said there was never anything special about him, adding that he had to hawk madidi (a local delicacy) in order to make ends meet.
“There is nothing special about Tanko Al-makura; if anything, Tanko Al-Makura is an odd person, because right from the circumstances of my birth, I have always come in an unusual way throughout my life,” he said.
“In the line of birth, apart from my big brother who is the Sarkin Kwandare, who is the first man, all others that came after him, about 10 of them, were women, and by accident of circumstance Tanko was born.
“Not only that, when I went to primary school and children were spending seven years, I spent 10 years, this is unusual.
“At the age of 12 when my friends had gone to secondary schools, I just found myself in Teachers College and in a class of 35, I was the youngest.
“The advanced teachers college I went to, was in a south eastern state. That was shortly after the Nigerian Civil War when nobody wanted to dare to go to the east; this is something odd about me.
“When it come to the party, I wanted to fly my flag in PDP but I was chased out. I went and found solace in the then Congress For Progressive Change (CPC); that was the only party that came on board in Nigeria and I was the only CPC candidate to be a governor of a state in Nigeria. I was the first and the last, because there was no CPC again; this is something odd.
“If you look at the governors in Nigeria, it is only Tanko Al-Makura that cannot hear when things are being said, unless he wears his hearing aid. So to me, I see this as a message from God and I accept it as the wish of God for me to be this odd, right from birth.”
Al-Makura noted that he was not in the habit of throwing a lavish birthday party. However, he thanked the organizers of the colloquium for the honour.
He urged physically challenged persons in the society not to be discourage, and also promised to continue to do all in his ability to make life easier for them.
Al-Makurwa was born on November 15, 1953.