By Philip Agbese
There are people you meet in public life and quickly realise that their influence goes beyond the office they occupy. There are also those whose value becomes clearer the longer you work alongside them. Honourable Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi belongs to the latter category. He is my colleague in the House of Representatives, but in many respects, he is a bigger colleague whose experience, intellectual capacity, generosity of spirit and approach to parliamentary responsibilities have earned him the admiration of many of us.
As Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Bichi occupies one of the most demanding positions in the National Assembly. The committee sits at the heart of the federal budgeting process, and its work has implications for every constituency in the country. This is why his responsibilities cannot be measured simply by the number of meetings he attends or documents he reviews. The decisions and processes handled by the committee ultimately touch the 360 federal constituencies, making the chairman's role both demanding and consequential.
Those of us who work with him see the intensity with which he approaches that responsibility. Day and night, Bichi is often engaged with issues relating to the welfare of members, constituency priorities and the broader demands of legislative representation.
He has developed a reputation for being available when matters require attention, and for understanding that constituency projects are not merely figures in a budget document but interventions that eventually translate into roads, schools, healthcare facilities, empowerment programmes and other tangible benefits for communities.
What particularly stands out about Bichi, however, is his remarkable memory and grasp of details. He sometimes appears to think like a computer. You can meet him unexpectedly and mention a constituency, and he may immediately tell you its name, the projects associated with it and, in many instances, where those projects are located. In a legislative environment where information is power and details matter, that ability is no small feat. It reflects a mind that is constantly processing, retaining and connecting information.
His intellectual journey also provides some context for this quality. Born on October 2, 1981, in Bichi, Kano State, he attended Hagagawa Primary School and Government Junior Secondary School in Bichi before proceeding to Dawakin Tofa Science College. He later obtained a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and a master's degree in Energy Management from the New York Institute of Technology. The combination of local roots and international exposure has shaped a legislator who understands both the realities of his community and the wider demands of public service.
Bichi's legislative journey has also been one of increasing responsibility. First elected to the House in 2019 to represent Bichi Federal Constituency, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Works during the 9th Assembly before taking on the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee in the 10th Assembly.
His tenure as Works Committee chairman placed him at the centre of legislative oversight of major infrastructure projects across the country. The projects under the committee's purview included the Lagos–Badagry Road, Abuja–Kano Road, Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano Road, Kano Light Rail Project and Eko Bridge. The breadth of that assignment demonstrates the scale of responsibility he previously handled before moving into the even more demanding terrain of appropriations.
But the story of Abubakar Bichi cannot be told only from the National Assembly chamber. His connection to Bichi is deeply personal. Raised in the constituency he represents, he has continued to combine national legislative responsibilities with attention to local needs. Interlocking pavement works in Bichi Town and educational support materials for pupils and students are among the constituency interventions he has delivered. His sponsored legislative initiatives have also included bills for the establishment of a University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Bichi and the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation.
For me, though, the most interesting part of Bichi is not the titles, the committee chairmanships or even the impressive ability to recall constituency details. It is his heart. Public life can make people guarded, distant and excessively conscious of status. Bichi has managed, despite the weight of his responsibilities, to maintain a certain human connection with colleagues. He listens, he engages and he makes room for people. That quality matters because leadership in Parliament is ultimately about people, and not just papers, numbers, motions and memoranda.
October 2, provides another reason to celebrate this colleague and friend as he marks his birthday. It is an opportunity to appreciate not only the public officer but also the man behind the office; a man blessed with a sharp mind and, perhaps more importantly, a generous heart. At 45, Bichi can look back on a journey of parliamentary service that has taken him from the representation of one federal constituency to positions of national legislative responsibility.
My simplest description of Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi is therefore, the most accurate: Good head, good heart! The good head is evident in his command of facts, figures and details; the good heart is evident in the way he relates with people and responds to their concerns.
As a colleague, I consider it a privilege to have shared the legislative space with him. On this birthday, I wish him many more years of wisdom, strength, good health and fulfilment. May the years ahead give him even greater opportunities to deploy his abilities in the service of his constituents, his colleagues and Nigeria.
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