Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim (born January 23, 1961) is a Nigerian politician and businessman. He was the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), a Nigerian political party.
The PDM, which initially started out as a movement formed in the wake of Nigerians' agitation for democratic governance, was denied registration as an official political party by the Abacha regime. In the wake of Nigeria's return to democracy in 1999, the movement became a major building block of what would become Nigeria's ruling party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP). After years of running the country's affairs and a seeming disconnect between what had been envisioned and what had, in fact, been achieved by the PDP, some members of the PDM decided to leave the PDP and register the movement as a party, so that it could abide by the ideals which guided its formation. The PDM was, thus, registered as a political party in 2013, with Bashir as its first National Chairman.
Mentored by the late Aminu Kano, Bashir has had a public service career spanning several decades, serving in various capacities including that of Special Adviser to both President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar at varying stages of their tenures, and on several committees including the Justice Niki Tobi Committee on the 1999 Constitution, among others.
He is a fellow of the Nigerian Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Institute. He is also a Member of Institute of Directors, Nigeria.
Early life and family background Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim was born on January 23, 1961, to Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim and Hajjiya Khadija Usman. Both parents came from Islamic clerical families. His maternal uncle, Sheikh Tijjani Usman, with whom Bashir was quite close as a child, was one of the best known scholars in West Africa until his death in a road accident in 1970. Initially the third of six children, Bashir became the first son of the family after he lost his elder brothers to a measles epidemic which hit the city of Kano in the early 1960s. By the time his father died in July 1982, he was one of the fourteen children his father left behind.
Bashir was brought up in a typical African Muslim home in a polygamous family with his mother being the first of four wives. His father, Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim, was an itinerant businessman who travelled through Africa, dealing in ivory and precious metals and ran a transport business in former Zaire, now Democratic Republic of the Congo. Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim was also a polyglot, learning to speak several African languages during his many extended business trips, and one of the African foreigners and businessmen deported from the Congo in 1972 during the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko.Vance, Kinshasa to Secretary of State, Washington D.C., 6 April 1972; RG 59, Political & Defence, Box 2842, Department of State, NARAII
Despite his long periods of absence, often spending several months away from their Kano home, Bashir's father, himself being the eldest male in the extended family, ensured that his children had a sheltered upbringing under the watchful eyes of several uncles. Bashir's father was a strict disciplinarian who was especially concerned about the company that his children kept, and due to his father's strict nature, Bashir had few friends growing up.
Bashir looked up to Mallam Aminu Kano of NEPU and PRP fame, and due to his closeness to one of Aminu Kano's nephews who was his classmate. He visited the Aminu Kano home often, interacting with his mentor and role model and gaining insight into the politics of the day. Aminu Kano was revered for his role in challenging the structure of power in Northern Nigeria as well as traditional norms and traditions and for promoting the education of women and girls in a bid to establish a progressive society for all.M. G. Smith; Government in Kano, 1350-1950, Westview Press, 1997. p 492-493.
Education Bashir was introduced to schooling and education at the earliest stage of his life; in accordance with the prevalent Northern Muslim tradition, he began attending an Islamiyyah (Islamic school) at the age of 3. Three years later, at the age of six, he was enrolled in Mayanka (now Jakara) Primary School, Kano, while also attending three different Islamiyyah schools – one in the morning before conventional school hours, the other in the evening after he returned from primary school, and yet another after night prayers. His first ever Islamiyya school was founded by the late Mallam Aminu Kano with whom Bashir shared immediate neighbourhood.
After primary school, Bashir was admitted to School for Arabic Studies in 1973 where he obtained the Teachers Grade II Certificate in 1977 and quickly obtained a General Certificate of Education from the School of Preliminary Studies, Kano in 1978. He was an Interim Joint Matriculation Board, IJMBHistory of IJMB student at the same School of Preliminary Studies from 1979 to 1981 where he was Secretary-General and President of the Students Union. In 1981, he took a course in Journalism at Graduate School, USDA in Washington DC and New York Institute of Technology, after which he sat for the Interim Joint Matriculation Board Exam in 1982. His was a student at the prestigious Bayero University, Kano, graduating in 1986 with a Second Class Upper degree in History and Political Science.
In 1991, he took a course in Economic Reporting at the United States Information Service in Lagos. In 2004, he obtained a Master's Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and is also an alumnus of Wits Business School, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Institute of Public Private Partnerships, Washington DC.
Early influences The city of Kano is known for its progressive politics, cosmopolitan nature and business. This holds true in Bashir's case, as not only did he become involved in politics at a rather young age, but also began his foray into business and profit-making at an even younger age. As a child Bashir never lost an opportunity to make an income, buying and selling goods from and to other youngsters.
The older Bashir grew, the more he learnt at the feet of his mentor, Mallam Aminu Kano, that leadership was about vision, courage and sacrifice and that for society to make progress leaders must envision a better future for their people and take them there regardless of the obstacles. Like many young people in Kano back then, politics gradually became an integral part of Bashir's life and it was, therefore, only natural for him to gravitate towards formal political engagement and seek to become part of the process. In 1978, at the age of 17, his foray into politics officially began when he became a member of the (now defunct) Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). His preference for UPN, the late Obafemi Awolowo’s party, was due to the founder's touted socialist ideology. He, however, left for the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in 1979 after Aminu Kano left the National Movement and joined others to found his own party.
In 1979, in reaction to Aminu Kano's disqualification from the presidential race by General Obasanjo's military regime on the grounds of non payment of tax,Bienen, H. (1985). Political Conflict and Economic Change in Nigeria. Routledge. Bashir and a childhood friend, Awwalu Anwar, organised a youth protest to challenge the disqualification. The protest, however, mutated into a citywide riot which lasted for several days. Later he was to become a Students Union activist and the first Deputy Senate President of National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS.
In 1986, Bashir was detained at the interrogation centre run by NSO, Nigeria's secret police, on Awolowo Road in Lagos due to his political activism. He was later transferred to Shagamu prison in Ogun State between August and December 1986, where he spent most of his time in a hospital bed after he fell sick due to poor conditions and ill treatment. He was detained under Decree 2 by the military dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida for leading a nationwide one-million-signature campaign to force the military to release his former boss, Governor Abubakar Rimi of Kano State, and other political prisoners, who were jailed by military tribunals, some of whom were serving long prison terms of three hundred years. Twenty-five other leaders of the signature campaign were detained along with him, including three former members of the House of Representatives and the former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido.
Family life Bashir married his first wife in 1986, a few months before graduation, after meeting her a year earlier in the university. She succumbed to cancer after several years of treatment. His second marriage lasted four years. He has been happily married to his current wife since 1999. Bashir has seven children - two male, five female.
Public service and professional career Bashir first took up formal employment in 1978, when he was employed as a senior information assistant at the Kano State Ministry of Information. In 1981, he joined the Kano State Television Corporation where he trained as news producer. In 1982, he was appointed Personal Assistant to the governor at the Research Unit of Kano State Government House. He served in this position for a year and returned to pursue further education after his boss, governor Abubakar Rimi lost his re-election. After graduation from university in 1986 he spent his national service year as Teaching Assistant on Public Policy and Foreign Policy where he handled final year students at the Department of Political Science in his alma mater, Bayero University, Kano.
Upon completion of the mandatory one year national youth service, Bashir took up employment at the College of Arts and Science as a lecturer in Government. He held that job from 1987 to 1990, after which he became the Features Editor and subsequently Editor of The Nation on Sunday (now rested) in 1991.
In January 1992, he was appointed the Director-General of the Jigawa State Government House and served in this capacity until early 1994. As Director-General, he was the Chief of Staff to the State Governor and the administrative head of the Government House. His stance on corruption, advice, and impact on government policy in the young state earned him the governor's approval and a few uncomplimentary nicknames.
By the time Bashir left Jigawa State Government House, the new state had become something of a model for other states created at the same time in 1991. Although the new military administrator had asked him to stay, Bashir politely declined and returned to Abuja where he established his own practice as public policy consultant at New Paradigm Consulting. One of his earliest projects was his preparation of the concept note for the First Lady's Family Support Programme and articulation of its education component. Later, he consulted for such highly regarded private and public entities such as Afri-Projects Consortium, Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund and Bureau of Public Enterprises, Nigeria's privatization agency under the management of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai where he was commissioned to advise on organization-wide remodeling and restructuring, rescaling of human resources and a new compensation structure for the new and energetic workforce.