Like any other Fulani boy, Adamu Dauda Garba started his early life of cattle rearing in his village, Tep. He started leading herds of his father when he was just six years old.
Adamu, toldour reporters that when he was 9 years, his father enrolled him into a primary school at Nbamnga, some few kilometres away from his village.
Unlike other Fulani, for the pastoralists in the Mambilla plateau in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, education is a must.
The Fulani in the Mambilla plateau combined cattle rearing and going to school as a serious business.
The young Adamu would join other children in the village and trek to school in faraway Nbamnga to attend classes every morning, and back at home after school hours, he would lead the cows till late evening.
He told our reporters that after school hours, he would lead the herds for pasturing and that had been a daily duty as required by the tradition among the Fulani.
Born on October 10, 1985, Adamu said after completion of his primary school in 1998, he proceeded to Government Day Secondary School, Gembu, the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area, in 1999, and completed his secondary education in 2005.
“Even after my secondary school, l was leading the herds of cattle of my father and l enjoyed doing that because it is culture and at the same a venture that sustains the family economically,” he said.
After his secondary school and his success at WAEC examination, according to him, he gained admission into Taraba State College of Education, Jalingo, and obtained National Certificate of Education (NCE) in 2009.
“After my studies at college of education, l was told that Federal University, Wukari, was recruiting security guards and l decided to apply and luckily l was employed as a security guard in the university,” he said.
He said he was employed as security guard in 2012 and worked for four years as a guard in the university before gaining admission to read sociology in the same university.
Adamu further stated that the former Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Abubakar Musa Kundiri, introduced a system which encouraged non-graduates working in the institution who had required entry qualification for degree to apply.
He was inspired by the encouragement given to them by the former vice chancellor and applied for B.sc sociology and got admission in 2016 and graduated in 2019 with good results.
Adamu told Daily Trust that he was employed as graduate assistant in the university soon after his graduation and he is working hard to obtain more academic qualifications.
“My ambition is to become a professor and by the grace God, l will realise my dream,” he said.
On how he is feeling by attaining this height considering his background in cattle rearing, and now a university lecturer, Adamu said, “Nothing is impossible with the help of the Almighty Allah.”
He said education is a must for the Fulani of Mambilla plateau and everyone is working hard to see their children and wards acquire high level of western education as well as Islamic education.
“We have professors, lawyers, medical doctors, engineers and other professionals all among the Fulani of Mambilla plateau,” he said.
He said when he was a security guard, he was never ashamed of being a guard but inside him, there was an ambition he wanted to achieve.
“I remain grateful to all those that encouraged me to work and become what lam today and will never forget the encouragement of the former vice chancellor and the university for my first appointment as security guard and for allowing me to enroll for a degree course while l was working,” he said.
He said working as a graduate assistant now, he is putting in his best to justify the confidence and encouragement given to him by the institution.
Adamu also said he has now got sponsorship from the university to go to Malaysia and read for a Master’s Degree in sociology.
According to him, the opportunity given to him was very rare for being one of the very few security guards to move to lecturing.
“I think we are only two from security unit to get that opportunity; the first one was a Master’s degree holder who was employed as security guard and is now lecturing and in my own case, I joined the service with NCE and later obtained a sociology degree,” he said.
“Moving with cattle from one place to another is now old fashioned due to so many reasons, so l advise the Fulani to embrace Western Education because with education, you can do livestock business better and safer,” he said.
He said he has his herds of cattle in his village and maintaining them in Simi ranch.