Tanko Yakasai @ 100: These crop of leaders should learn from 1st Republic politicians
SKAiF NewsNG SNN
By Dapo Akinrefon
On Friday, December 6, 2025, Vanguard called to wish elder statesman, Alhaji Salihu Abubakar Tanko Yakasai, a happy 100th birthday. Interestingly, he responded by saying “How are you Chief Dapo”.
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It was supposed to be a courtesy call but Vanguard ended up asking him to speak. When probed, Alhaji Yakasai said: “Dapo, I am very tired, I have had a busy day but if you can make it brief, you can go ahead.”
In the course of the interview, Yakasai revealed to Vanguard that despite losing four children, he has 100 children and grandchildren in all.
Born December 5, 1925, Yakasai is an elder statesman, a self-described Marxist-Leninist and a founding member of the Northern Elements Progressive Union, NEPU.
He was a prominent figure in Nigeria’s radical political circles in the 1950s and 1960s.
He later held various public offices, including State Commissioner in Kano under Military Governor Audu Bako, and Special Assistant on National Assembly Liaison to President Shehu Shagari during the Second Republic.
He is a founding member of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF.
In this brief encounter, the elder statesman speaks on attaining 100 years, the secret of longevity and good health, and how the present crop of leaders can learn from the First Republic politicians.
Asked to speak on how he feels having attained the age of 100, Yakasai said: “I feel grateful to Almighty God for making it possible.”
Asides reaching the age of 100, the elder statesman was grateful to God for good health.
He said: “In addition to many years that I have been blessed with, I don’t have any health challenges. I am very well.
Also, God has blessed me with children and grandchildren. “My children and grandchildren are about 100 though I lost 4 of them but the rest are alive and healthy.”
Speaking on the secret of longevity and good health, he attributes it to God.
Hear him: “The answer is Almighty God. I can’t pinpoint a single thing that is responsible for my attaining this age. At 100 years, I don’t have any challenges to my health.
“I have children and grandchildren who are all healthy. I am grateful to God.”
The elder statesman, who disclosed that he spends most of his time in his bedroom, said most of his age mates are no more.
He said: “As I speak with you, I am in my bedroom, I don’t go anywhere and most of my age mates are no more. I don’t receive visitors that much.”
Regrets in life
When Vanguard sought to know if he had any regrets in life, he said: “No I don’t”, but was quick to appreciate God for what he has achieved in life.
“I am grateful to God. God has done a lot for me. My parents had three of us, two females and myself but I am the youngest. God blessed me with many children and grandchildren, for that, I thank God.”
Assessing the situation in the country at 100, Vanguard sought to know if he was happy with the current trend, Yakasai responded by saying that “Well, you can’t make everybody happy.”
Speaking further, he said: “Some aspects of our lives are good but there are aspects of our lives that I am not happy about and I hope they will be corrected.”
He, however, tasked the present crop of leaders in the country to take a cue from First Republic politicians, noting that some politicians joined politics to enrich themselves.
He said: “I want the present crop of leaders to borrow from us and our leaders in the First Republic by playing politics of policies and programmes.
“Presently, a lot of politicians are in politics just to make money. Few of them present manifestos or objectives of building the country and its people. I hope politicians in Nigeria will change their attitude for the better and come up with good programmes especially in development, healthcare, industrialisation so that people will get more jobs to do, so that we can develop our country.
“If they are committed, we can achieve these goals so that our people will commit themselves to building the country for generations yet unborn.”
In addition, he said: “In life, what I see people do around the world is that they look at their situation and then, sit down to work out programmes to overcome the challenges that are bedeviling them. This is what I want the leadership of the country to do.
“We should do away with politics of self enrichment.
In our days, when we were playing politics, we were playing politics of programmes. We looked at the problems that were challenging the development of the country and we worked out programmes on how best to tackle those problems and achieve better results for the country.
“I hope our politicians will do that and focus attention, not in terms of building themselves, but building the country. They should draw up programmes for the development of the country, make everybody happy so that we can develop our country. I believe we can do it.
So, let us look at other nations and see how they managed.
We have no alternative but to work hard and develop our country.”
Speaking on the Nigeria of his dreams, the Centenarian said he is optimistic that the country would overcome it’s challenges.
“I want Nigeria to overcome it’s challenges and compete with developing nations.
The only way we can do that is by having programmes. We should borrow a leaf from other nations which I will advice.
“I think the leaders should sit and look at the challenges bedeviling the country and come up with programmes and policies that address those challenges”, Yakasai said.
Buttressing his point, he said: “If you have gone through my political activities, you will see that I devoted most of my time fighting for the unity of the country and for democracy, in which everybody would have the right, both old and young, to pick the leaders of his choice. I fought for good governance in the country. And this is what I want.”
Alleged Christian genocide
Adding his voice to the alleged Christian genocide, Yakasai said there was nothing like that, noting that Christians and Muslims have lived in peace over the years.
He accused foreign media of trying to stoke religious crisis in Nigeria.
He said: “I don’t agree there is Christian genocide. Some Christians close to the United States of America took advantage of their closeness to Donald Trump.
Christians and Muslims have been living in peace with one another, we are brothers and sisters. Few individuals went to America to talk to Trump. Christians and Muslims are not living in separation.
Majority of the people in the West, East and South are Christians but in the north and the Middle Belt, there are substantial number of Muslims. My parents were from the Middle Belt. For ages, long before the British came, we lived together in peace.
Those who converted to Christianity were what we called pagans. The Muslims did not convert to Christianity and that is why Christianity is much stronger in the Middle Belt region. Interestingly, my parents were from the Middle Belt.
In every home, we have Christians and Muslims living together in peace.”
Picking holes in Donald Trump’s assertion of an alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, Yakasai described Trump as an opportunist who wanted to be a leader by all means.
“You know, Trump is not like Barack Obama.
Pouring his mind on the burning issue of insecurity in the North, he said: “Well, insecurity is a national issue”, insisting that it is more pronounced in the north.
“It is all over the country”, he said.
On steps needed to be taken by the Federal Government in ensuring that there is peace in the country, he advocated for the establishment of zonal police to tackle insecurity.
“There was a move at one time that there should the establishment of a zonal police. This problem is not limited to one side of the country, it is a national problem. There was a move at one time that there should be six police establishments. I think the issue should be revisited because it is a good idea because the numbers of the police force is not enough to cover the whole country. There will be a zonal set up and people will know their area and locality. They will be in a better position to handle the problems more effectively”, he said.
Giving reasons for rejecting state police, he argued that it could be manipulated by politicians and individuals.
“State police”, he said is “subject to manipulation by individuals and political interests. At one time, there was a move for a zonal police. If anybody was in favour of a zonal police, I would support it.”
Perceived suspicion between north, south
The elder statesman, who delved into the perceived suspicion between the South and the North, disagreed with the assertion saying “No. There is no suspicion between the North and South.”
Expressing his views, he said: “Personally, I believe that in Nigeria’s politics today, as has been the practice, President Tinubu will seek a second term and is most likely to win because he has the resources to back his ambition. We are practicing democracy and as such, democratic norms and conventions as well as our constitution, should be our guiding principle. 2027 is still about two years away.”
Airing his views on where the leaders or the followers were to be blamed for Nigeria’s woes, he said: “Any country has its problems. You cannot single out an individual or a group of people to make peace. The creation of God, built in America, Russia, China, all of them have problems. Wherever you have people, human beings, you have problems. And it is the human beings who will seek the help of God to overcome their problems.”
Commenting on the death of two elder statesmen, Edwin Clark, and Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who recently passed on and what he would miss about them, Yakasai described them as his personal friends.
He said: “I issued a statement in respect of their death. I have written. The country is in mourning as a result of their death. And I pray for their repose. They have been my friends for many years especially Edwin Clark,; Clark was a commissioner at the same time, I was a commissioner and when former Military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd) elevated him to becoming a Federal Commissioner for Information, I was also made a Federal Commissioner. Clark stayed for the entire period of the Gowon administration. We completed it at the same time when the Gowon administration ended.
“They were personal friends, all of them. We have known each other for more than 50 years. Anytime, anybody knows somebody who is a new friend to him for 50 years, he will feel bitter, he will be unhappy. I am not happy, but we are bound to die one day, all of us.
“Before us, billions of people died, and billions of people will continue to die.”
God created people, animals, anything that has life to live, and they play a vital role, and to take his life whenever he so wishes. So, it is a great loss to the nation, but each one of them was approaching 100 years. They have done their best. They enjoy their liberty in their country.”
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