@50, a state does not merely count years; it audits conscience. It pauses to ask itself who laboured when applause was scarce, who chose institution over impulse, and who understood that power, when stripped of service, is nothing more than noise. It is within this reflective hush of Bauchi State’s Golden Jubilee that the recognition of Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y. Suleiman, Speaker of the 9th and 10th Bauchi State House of Assembly, acquires its deepest meaning.
When Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed conferred on him the Distinguished Service Award, the moment was not an act of ceremonial generosity; it was a public acknowledgement of a man whose political life has been defined less by spectacle and more by stewardship. In his characteristically modest response“This award is not just for me…” the Speaker reaffirmed a governing philosophy that has become his signature: leadership as shared burden, not solitary glory.
Over the past five decades, Bauchi State has journeyed from its early post-creation infancy marked by rudimentary infrastructure, nascent institutions, and fledgling social services to a more complex, dynamic polity striving toward modern governance, economic diversification, and social inclusion. Roads have expanded, schools and healthcare facilities have multiplied, and local communities have increasingly found their voices in participatory governance. Yet, progress has never been linear; it has been a mosaic of resilience, innovation, and the occasional compromise between ambition and reality.
In a political culture often allergic to continuity, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y. Suleiman. Following his re-election and inauguration on 20th June 2023, he emerged as a singular figure in the legislative history of Bauchi State, becoming the only individual to have presided over multiple Assemblies since the state’s creation. Beyond this unprecedented milestone, he further distinguished himself as the only Speaker from Bauchi State—and indeed the entire North-East geopolitical zone to be elected Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria. His tenure at the Conference was transformative, marked by enduring landmarks and legacies that fundamentally reshaped the institution, strengthened inter-parliamentary collaboration, and altered the fortune of the Conference for the better.
Under his stewardship, the Bauchi State House of Assembly evolved into what legislatures are meant to be: a forum where contestation sharpens ideas, not egos; where procedure disciplines power; and where lawmaking remains tethered to lived realities.
Perhaps no single legislative intervention captures the Speaker’s ethos more vividly than the Sanitary Pad Banks Bill, a law that forced governance to look directly at what society often prefers to look away from. Menstrual poverty is not an abstract policy concept; it is the quiet reason many girls miss school, fall behind, or drop out entirely. By presiding over a bill that mandated the provision of free sanitary pads in schools and public institutions, Rt. Hon. Suleiman affirmed a simple but radical idea: that dignity is a legitimate subject of law.
The bill did not emerge from legislative isolation. It followed public hearings, consultations with health authorities, NGOs, civil society groups, and community stakeholders:a reminder that good laws are not imposed; they are persuaded into being. When the bill passed, it signaled that the Bauchi Assembly under his leadership understood governance not merely as regulation, but as empathy codified.
Statistics rarely inspire poetry, yet they tell a story here worth retelling. During the 9th Assembly, the House passed over 100 bills, moved more than 130 motions, and addressed dozens of matters of urgent public importance. But the real achievement was not numerical; it was directional. Laws addressing education, public safety, environmental protection, health systems, and institutional reform formed a coherent policy arc-one that mirrored the developmental aspirations of a growing state.
As Speaker, Abubakar Y. Suleiman perfected the art of legislative cooperation without subservience. Budgets were scrutinized, debated, and passed with efficiency not because dissent was silenced, but because dialogue was structured. This is the unglamorous labour of democracy, often unnoticed, yet indispensable.
If the Assembly chamber was his formal theatre of service, the community has been his constant classroom. Through direct intervention and through platforms such as the Nabalago Foundation, managed by Hajiya Abi Hafsat Abubakar Suleiman, the Speaker’s impact extended into classrooms, clinics, mosques, churches, and market squares.
From educational support for indigent students, to youth skills acquisition, healthcare interventions, Ramadan feeding programmes, and inter-faith solidarity, his approach to representation has been deliberately human-scaled. These are not token gestures; they are responses to specific vulnerabilities in specific communities. In a time when politics often treats citizens as data points, such grounded engagement is quietly revolutionary.
That Rt. Hon. Suleiman also serves in national legislative leadership roles including within the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures(Chairman Of The Speaker’s Conference),speaks to his intellectual and procedural authority beyond Bauchi. Yet, unlike many who discover Abuja and forget home, his political compass has remained stubbornly local. Bauchi is not a stepping stone in his narrative; it is the text itself.
Bauchi @50 is still a work in progress like all living societies. Its challenges remain real, its hopes unfinished. But moments like this award ceremony offer reassurance that the state has been, and continues to be, served by leaders who understand that governance is not performance art; it is patient craftsmanship.
In honouring Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y. Suleiman, Bauchi State did more than celebrate an individual. It celebrated a model of leadership anchored in humility, legislative seriousness, moral clarity, and communal responsibility. His journey reminds us that history does not only remember those who ruled loudly, but those who served well.
As he rightly noted, “The journey continues. ”And for Bauchi State now fifty, reflective, and forward-looking that continuation, under leaders of his disposition, remains a credible hope now, come 2027 and beyond.
Zakariyya Aliyu Gwaram can be reached via @zaka12@yahoo.com