Abubakar Dalhatu Zurmi: A True Picture of a Patriot
By Abba Hikima
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This is Abubakar Dalhatu Zurmi, Ph.D., the current but soon-to-retire Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service in charge of Kano and Jigawa Area Command.
He goes to the office by 8am and closes at 8pm.
He does not use official vehicles after office hours.
He would comfortably drive his decade-old Peugeot to Abuja and back, alone.
If you go to the state headquarters of the NCS today, chances are higher that you will find him seated openly in the premises under a shade, attending to people. When I asked why he chose to sit more frequently outside than in the office, he said: “Hikima, as a Comptroller of NCS, I am supposedly a big man. If I sit more in the office, all the people trouping here will find the bureaucracies more cumbersome. Also, as a newly posted leader, I will be losing out on many of the activities going on outside.”
He may not be liked by corner-cutters and money launderers, but believe me, his intervention was what stopped the outrageous extortionist regime of NCS officers.
I recall one day I visited his office immediately after somebody had offered him a bribe of millions, which he rejected outright, and the man was still inside the office being rebuked by the Comptroller when I entered. He asked me to lend my voice.
Before his posting to Kano/Jigawa, many transporters had their companies shut down because of outrageous extortion by Customs along Alaba and from the southern states to the northern axis. Every truck carrying goods spent not less than ₦500,000 before it could reach Kano. Each illegal checkpoint took at least ₦50,000, and there were more than ten of such points. Traders and transporters were bleeding, and many businesses collapsed. When this man came, he intervened, admitted wrongs where necessary, and directed that only legal goods must move. But when they do, transporters must not be extorted. Today, lawful goods move, and genuine businessmen are smiling again. One of them told me he makes over ₦20 million a month.
A lawyer friend who deals with NCS a lot told me, “there is a new sheriff in town.” He responds to mails within 24 hours.
His work ethics is unlike any one we know. One of his management team members told me his fiancée is about to disown him as he no longer has time for long phone calls. He is so engaged that he no longer has time for long calls in the day and is always too exhausted to speak with her during the night.
On revenue, he has blocked leakages so well that what was previously collected in one whole year is now realized in just one quarter. This is a blessing to government as well as to the people.
He is a huge inspiration. He started Customs work from the very background as a watchman. He joined with only O-Levels, worked through all the ranks, improved himself until he bagged a Ph.D. Today, he is a Ph.D. Comptroller, a respected officer whose life reflects dedication, discipline, and self-improvement.
So many people I know have spoken so well of him. Dr. Zurmi, I can vouch, is a good man. You can all testify that he is the first uniformed man I have spoken this way about because, I have seen, heard and touched.
Zurmi may be retiring soon, but he is certainly not tired. He is a leader the kind of which Nigeria and Nigerians need.
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