Unveiling Isiaka Alada: NPC's New Federal Commissioner

 Unveiling Isiaka Alada: NPC's New Federal Commissioner 

By Abubakar Imam

Last week, the entire people of Ilorin Emirate were thrown into joyous mood with the well-deserved nomination of one of their golden sons and a member of the community's intelligentsia, Dr. Isiaka Alada Yahaya, as a Federal Commissioner in the National Population Commission (NPC) by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.

The entire people of the southernmost Emirate were not happy simply because the nomination has increased the rank of indigenes of Ilorin Emirate in the top echelon of the federal public service but they were happy, also because the nominee is undoubtedly a round peg in the right hole. Dr. Alada is someone whose antecedents have given them assurances that he would give them excellent representation on the sensitive position. 

Dr Yahaya has all it would take to discharge his responsibilities to the fullest. He is thoroughly educated. He is extremely experienced. He is also a man of outstanding integrity and a very smart professional.

The technocrat is patriot who has committed himself to the services of the people of Ilorin Emirate and humanity at large . inspite of the fact that he hails from one of the most popular Ilorin families, some of our people still placed several calls to yours sincerely asking that the new NPC Federal Commissioner should be properly introduced to them and the rest of the nation.

Before I do that, I must quickly put on record, the fact  that the last time Ilorin Emirate had this kind of opportunity was in the second republic when a retired administrator of Ilorin origin was given the same position. He was Alhaji Salihu Alabi Nagode (1924-1983). Alhaji Nagode unfortunately died as a Federal Commissioner in the NPC during the Chairmanship of Alhaji AbdulRahman Okene, OBE, OFR (1916-1999), who headed the NPC from 1981 to 1983. Nevertheless, the impacts of Alhaji Nagode, who was incidentally married to an aunt of Dr Yahaya, are still being felt more than four decades after his passing at the age of 59. The enduringly beautiful fruit of the marriage between the late Alhaji Nagode and Hajiya Osenatu Alada is a retired Business Manager of the Rigasa Business Unit of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Kaduna, Hajiya Hadiza Ayodele Nagode-Adeyi. The retired power technocrat is a widow of the late Barrister Abdulrahman Adeyi. Alhaji Adeyi practised law at Garin Shehu, Sokoto, for many years before his death.

Dr Isiaka Alada Yahaya, a distinguished son of Ilorin and thoroughbred technocrat, retired from the services of the National Population Commission (NPC) as its Director of Public Affairs in 2023. This was following his attainment of the age of 60 and after 33 years of meritorious and unblemished services to his fatherland.

Dr Yahaya hails from the popular Alada family of Pakata area, Ilorin. His father is Alhaji Yahaya Alada (b. 1930) while his mother, Alhaja Bodunrin Yahaya Alada (d. 2018), hailed from Ile Omolabi in the Ita Ogunbo Quarters of Ilorin. Dr Yahaya's maternal home was greatly popularised by many of its members but particularly through the activities of one of its unforgettable sons, Alhaji Sule Maito (d.1964), who was the founder and leader of the popular but defunct "Ilorin Talaka Parapo" and an "enfant terrible" of the pre-independence Ilorin politics. 

His paternal side, the famous Alada family, does not only have the record of producing the highest number of holders of doctorate degrees from the Pakata segment of Ilorin, it has also produced some of those whose contributions earned the family a respectable place in the history of Ilorin Emirate. These include Alhaji Ambali Alada (d. 2010), who embraced fame as a successful Maiduguri-Based Businessman; Alhaji Yahaya Alada, who was a successful Business man and the Chairman of Iddo Food Market, Lagos and, also, Alhaji AbdulRasheed Salman Alada (b. 1938), who was not just the first University graduate of Ilorin Emirate origin that joined the administrative cadre of the Kwara State civil service but was also the first indigene of Ilorin Emirate who attained the pinnacle of the service following his appointment as the Secretary to the Kwara State Government in 1979 at the age of 41.

On the last personality mentioned, who is also one of the few patriots who were privileged to serve as National Secretary and National President of Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), Dr Yahaya confided in me that he is his guardian angel in every sense of the term. Through him, Dr Yahaya secured admission into ABU, Zaria, at a time when gaining access to university education was a big economic and class struggle across the nation and particularly among indigenes of Ilorin Emirate. It was also the insistence of Alhaji Salman that also encouraged Dr Yahaya to enroll for his Master's degree at the University of Ibadan immediately after completing his mandatory youth service in 1987. Through the influence of his bossom friend, Alhaji Shehu Musa, the former Chairman of NPC and second republic Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Alhaji Salman also got Dr Yahaya employed as a staff of National Population Commission in 1991. 

Other prominent members of the great Alada family include a former Dean, Postgraduate School, University of Ibadan, Prof. AbdulRasak Alada (b. 1959) and his beautiful daughter, Miss Fatimat Bukola Alada (b. 1997), who made Ilorin Emirate proud with her emergence as the best graduating student of the University of Ibadan and the Nigerian Law School in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Dr Yahaya is evidently well educated. He completed his secondary education at Government Secondary School, Malete, where he obtained his West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1981 in the course of which he was a contemporary of my cousin, Alhaji Saadu Adebayo Shuaib; and the United States of America-Based Alhaji Saheed Ola Sayodun. He swiftly proceeded to the then Kwara State College of Technology (now Kwara State Polytechnic), Ilorin, where he did his Higher School Certificate (HSC) between 1981 and 1983.

He, thereafter, headed for the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in International Studies in 1986. His contemporaries at ABU, Zaria, included DCG Sadat Hassan (rtd), late Mallam Moshood Ilofa, Alhaji Lukman Alasela and the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Nasarawa State, Alhaji Shehu Abdulwahab.Two other contemporaries of Dr Yahaya at ABU, Zaria, are the President of The Third Estate, Ilorin Emirate, Alhaji Ahmed Ladan Gobir; and a former Member of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Plc (NNPCL), Dr Ibraheem Olayiwola Mohamed Ghali Alaaya, among several others.

Not satisfied with his civil service position and in order to quench his thirst for academic excellence, Dr Yahaya returned back to University of Ibadan for a doctorate degree in the same discipline, which he successfully completed in 2002.

As a patriot, Dr Yahaya started his exciting working career at home and at the proverbial grassroot. He started with the editing of the rested "Ilorin Watch", a community newspaper published by Yunidel Communications from January, 1988 to December, 1990. The rested weekly tabloid, established by Mallam Yunoos AbdulRahman, which he edited, gave this author the privilege of publishing my first article in 1991. The piece centred on the need to eradicate night parties in Ilorin.

In January, 1991, Dr Yahaya, joined the services of the National Population Commission (NPC) as a Public Affairs Officer 1. It was about the time Nigeria was preparing for the 1991 census. His great pillar of support in his career at the NPC was Alhaji Ahmad Hameed, a former General Manager of The Herald Group of Newspapers who later became the President of the IEDPU. He worked directly under Alhaji Ahmad as Director of Public Affairs from 1991 to 2004 when he retired from service. Apart from tapping from Alhaji Ahmad’s vast experience in writing and communication, his position and reputation also earned him special favour within the set up of the Commission. The former IEDPU President was always there to clear the road for Dr Yahaya and his protection saved him from many troubles. 

Dr Yahaya is a skillful pen pusher who is versatile in writing official speeches and reports. In the course of his career at the Commission, he drafted hundreds of speeches and his dexterity in handling this strategic assignment made him the favourite staff of generations of NPC Chairmen starting with the second republic Secretary to the Federal Government, Alhaji Shehu Musa, CFR, (Makama Nupe)–1988 to 1992, Lt Colonel Chris Ugokwe (rtd) – 1992 - 2000, Chief Samuila Danko Makama (Ubandoman Pyem)- 2001-2011, Eze Odimegwu -2013 - 2014, Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN) –2015 - 2019 and  Hon Nasir Isa Kwara, 2020-2025.

As a hardworking technocrat, Dr Yahaya worked earnestly and tirelessly. He steadily rose through the ranks in the NPC. He was its Chief Public Affairs voice during the 2006 national census exercise. He became the Ag. Director, Public Affairs of the Commission in January, 2017. 

In January 2021, Dr Yahaya was promoted to the enviable rank of Director, Public Affairs of the Commission. He effectively held the strategic position until his retirement last year. He was the official Spokesman of the NPC during which he featured on innumerable radio and television programmes as he also granted uncountable newspaper interviews across the nation on census-related matters.

Aside from his regular services to the NPC, Dr Yahaya was between April, 1995 and February, 1997 a Senior Political Correspondent with Post Express Newspaper. He played a very critical role in the newspaper during the aborted transition programme of the administration of the late General Sani Abacha.

Dr Yahaya was also a Part-time Lecturer at the Abuja Study Centre of the National Open University of Nigeria. He did this between 2009 and 2016 as many graduates of the institution from several parts of the country passed through him at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

On secondment, Dr Yahaya also worked with some international organisations in the course of his public service career. He served the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) between November, 2010 and December, 2012. He served on the UNDP's Nigeria Democracy Governance for Development Project as National Media Expert and is one of those who worked tirelessly towards ensuring the survival of Nigeria's democracy.

In addition, Dr Yahaya also served as an Assistant Political Analyst with the European Union Election Observer Mission (EUEOM) between January and April, 2015. He was also a Senior Electoral Administration Expert in the European for Electoral Support (ECES) under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EUSDGN).

Dr Yahaya is an outstanding author in his own right. He is a co-author of "Breaking the Myth: Shehu Musa and the 1991 Census". The work, which is a biography of Alhaji Shehu Musa, was launched by former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in 1998. The Ph. D. thesis Dr Yahaya submitted to the University of Ibadan titled "Census Politicization and Depoliticization: A Case Study of the 1991 Population Census" focuses on exploring the intersection between politics and population census using the 1991 census as a case study. The seminal thesis he also submitted to the University's Department of Political Science in 2002 was the first of its kind in the hitherto relatively unknown field of Political Demography in Nigeria.

Despite his urbane and reserved nature coupled with his high level of erudition and professional accomplishments, Dr Yahaya remains so humble that he has time for the growth and development of his ancestral community. He was the founder of Muslim Welfare League (MWL), a socioreligious group, which dedicates itself to the promotion of responsible and healthy parenthood within the context of Islamic principles. The MWL, through the support of the government of the United States of America, established a community library at the Pakata Multipurpose Hall in the Ita-Uma axis of Ilorin in the late 1990s.  

This easygoing personality is also a member of "Pakata Patriots", Ilorin, which I serve as Chief Scribe. He is equally a founding member of the Advancement Front of Alanamu Central (ADFAC). 

Aside from the above, Dr Yahaya is a member of the influential Third Estate Group, Ilorin Emirate. Till date, he remains the longest serving Secretary of the Group, which is peopled by highly distinguished professionals of Ilorin Emirate origin. He held the position from 2010 to 2018.

This international public servant belongs to several professional bodies. These include the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), among others.

Dr Yahaya, who earned the respect and loyalty of his subordinates as demonstrated in the testimonies of these individuals who hail from various parts of Nigeria, has a very strong network of friends particularly across the Ilorin Emirate. These include the Director-General of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), Alhaji Ahmed Bolaji Nagode; the Director, University Advancement, University of Abuja, Dr Yusuf Bolakale Lawal,fsi; the immediate past President,Third Estate Group, Ilorin Emirate, Alhaji Toyin Hassan; an Abuja-Based business mogul, Alhaji Lukman Atanda and a retired top-notch technocrat in theFederal Character Commission, Alhaji Abdulbaqi Jimoh. 

His friends around Pakata are also many. They include Alhaji Moshood Ibrahim Ubandawaki, Dr Shehu Usman Aladire, Mallam Shehu Ahmad Aliyu, Mallam AbdulRasak Aliyu (Aranta), Alhaji Suleiman Abdulsalam, Mallam Ismail Babamale, Dr Ibrahim Ghali Alaaya and Alhaji Yunoos Mutalib Alada. His friends from Pakata also include Alhaji Adesina Badir Shuaib, who retired as General Manager, Legal Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the pioneer Director of Finance and Accounts, Court of Appeal, Nigeria, Alhaji Hanafi Oladimeji Bello, to mention a few.

This outstanding technocrat is happily married to Hajiya Titilayo Yahaya (Nee Lawal) from Olajide Compound in Okekere Quarters of Ilorin. His spouse is currently the Principal of Government Model Girls School, Lugbe, Abuja. Dr Yahaya is also blessed with four well-groomed and promising children made up of three boys and a girl. 

Dr Yahaya is a man of honour who guided the alluring image of Ilorin Emirate jealously everywhere he served between 1991 and 2023. He deserves to be honoured and respected not just for what he has achieved but also because of the great future before him.

As Dr Yahaya appears before the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria very soon to be screened for the position of Federal Commissioner in the National Population Commission (NPC), I join his relations, friends, colleagues and the generality of the people of Ilorin Emirate in wishing the best in his determination to serve the nation again.

Imam is the immediate past National Secretary, Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union.