I ran away from school, became a ‘tout’, Jigawa lawmaker opens up on why he isn’t a graduate

Member representing Kazaure/Roni/Gwiwa/Yankwashi Federal Constituency of Jigawa State, Hon. Mohammed Gudaji Kazaure said, he a abandoned school to become an Airport tout because of anger of maltreatment in school.

In a chat with journalists in Abuja last week, the lawmaker who is in his second term of office in the lower legislative Chamber of the National Assembly’ revealed that after he ran away from pursuing a University Diploma, he went to the Airport in Kano, became a tout that later brought him fortunes in life.

He explained: After my secondary school, I enrolled for a Diploma Course in one of the University, but a lecturer who didn’t know what I was passing through has always been disturbing me.

“This time he came around and said I don’t know anything, but that he was helping me and I said you are not helping me for anything. I talked to him in this manner, because I have made up my mind to abandon school. After the encounter, I left to become a tout at the Aminu Kano International Airport.

“I then became a tout and began to hustle at the Aminu Kano International Airport and I later began to learn forwarding and clearing, and how to examine manifest of cargoes. Gradually I became an agent and started getting my own customers.

“From Kano, my customers increased and I relocated to Lagos which I did well and I was declared best clearing agent of the year because I was the only single agent that paid duty as it is. I paid duties from my account directly to the coffers of the Federal government. Even at that, there was a time the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested me because they discovered that I cleared 600 containers at the Tincan Island.

“They said there was a petition against me alledging that I was cheating government and while I was being whisked away, I carried an envelope containing photocopies of drafts of payments I made unknowingly to the EFCC operatives who later took me to the former Director of Operations Ibrahim Lamorde.

“On getting to Lamorde’s office, I brought out drafts of N300 million, N600 million, N150 million and so. I asked Lamorde to investigate in the whole of Lagos which forwarding and clearing agent pays faithfully as I do? Some agents pay N200 million and pocket N200 million out of N400 million they were expected to pay and that’s what happens in Lagos.

“I was committed to payment because of my integrity and future as I don’t know tomorrow and before you know it, EFCC operatives went to Citibank with the drafts to confirm payments, came back and asked me to go after they couldn’t hold anything against me.

“When they arrested me from a hotel in Apapa Lagos, you will think it’s ‘Evans the billionaire kidnapper’. I tell you Evans arrest wasn’t as dramatic as mine, because they came with seven Hilux vans and three coaster bus fully loaded with mobile police. They surrounded my hotel in Apapa with 50 to 60 armed men very early in the morning.

“They knocked on the door of my hotel room and I asked who are you? Are you angels because if it’s angel, I know I am going to heaven that day and they said, they’re EFCC and insisted I should open my door which I did and that was how they picked me up.”