A Tribute to Arc Dangiwa on his 63rd Birthday.

By Adamu Aminu. 

The day I first set my eyes on the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, was in November 2024, when we attended the 13th event of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, held in Gombe. 

We went there as part of the entourage of my Principal, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata. 

That day, I started getting acquainted with his official personality as a Minister of the honourable Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, where he delivered a keynote address during the 4-day event, branded with the theme: "Housing the Future; Affordable Housing For Economic Growth, Climate Resilience and Urban Development."

What I really observed in Minister Dangiwa during the event was a man going about his duties with administrative confidence in his actions and movements. 

His facial demeanour wore a half-smile and partly seriousness, with telepathic flashes of understanding conveyed through subtle cues and movements. 

During the presentation of the report and deliberations, I first understood that the Hon. Minister Dangiwa's cherry-picking responses, observations, and recommendations were really intriguing to me. 

He speaks with expertise, professionally, volubly, and with convincing fluidity – that's expected from any man of his calibre while communicating with his listening audience.

During the February 2025 Sector Retreat in Lagos, my expectations of the Hon. Minister, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, were exceeded as he presented his keynote address at the Lagos event with the theme: "Actualising the Renewed Hope Agenda For Housing and Urban Development: Examining Strategies, Identifying Opportunities to Boost Scale and Impact." 

I was impressed by how his professional and naturally-driven confidence prompted a surreal imagination in me to be in his shoes in my future endeavours.

Likewise, in November last year, a Conference of Directors of Lands event was held in Kano, and also at the recent 14th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, held in Ilorin, Kwara State, I became a keen observer and a distant learner of Minister Ahmed Musa Dangiwa's mode of voluble presentation, seeking to emulate and internalise his naturally-driven mode of public speaking. 

As a result, I have become verbally accustomed to the word "deliverables," which the Hon. Dangiwa often uses when commenting on actualising the Housing Scheme's of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda.

As a wise saying goes, "God's actions are embedded with concealed rationale." I later realised that the appointment of my Principal, the Minister of State, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, leading to my appointment as his Special Assistant on Media, was a divine rationality for me to be in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, to meet fresh faces that would give me a new lease of life, in terms of intellectual-driven purposes, and to make acquaintance with new faces.

Unarguably, Minister Ahmed Musa Dangiwa is known as a man of principles, but despite that, he exhibits the trait of simplicity, according everyone he meets human respect. 

That's why I feel elated whenever I greet him; he always responds to me smilingly and says, "Adamu S.A., barka da aiki." 

This is synonymous with a proverb which says, "The company of good people is like walking through a garden of roses; you may not notice it at first, but you'll always come out smelling sweet."

Sir, in a nutshell, I pray and hope that God Almighty gives you, and the Minister of State, Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, the strength and capability to deliver on your promises on this assignment, bound for generational impact under the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda. 

I once again wish you a happy birthday, Sir, wishing you more fruitful years ahead and positive deliverables in an upward trajectory in your future endeavours.