An Ode To A Soldier Of Faith As He Joins The Octogenarian Club -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed
He is a life member of the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), a life member Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship (FGBMF) International and a foundation member of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He is also a fellow of several professional bodies. He has many academic and societal recognition including traditional titles.
Published 2 months ago on December 24, 2022By Opinion Nigeria
As an activists and political enthusiast, I find it interesting to study the lives of great men with a view to motivating and inculcating their lofty ideals and virtues on the youths who are apparently disoriented by the crave for material acquisition.
And one thing I discovered about the life of great men is not just about their successful habits but about the fact that they live a life of principles. Sound ethical principles are the compass that directs their lives and so is the life of Prof. Senator Andrawus Pilasar Sawa who turns eighty years on the 24th day of December, 2022. His life has been exemplary in many dimensions being a man of many parts - a soldier, a scholar, a politician, a business man and religious enthusiast. He is role model to many. He believes that the fruitful life is that lived to touch the lives of others positively. Again, he believes that success is not measured in material acquisition or transitory honors but in making positive contribution for the advancement of humanity.
Although, the information about this great son of Adamawa is in the public domain yet I think it will be appropriate to say a little about his glorious career and accomplishments. He was born in Garkida in 1942. He attended Church of Brethren Mission Primary School and Government Secondary School Yola where he graduated in 1962 before his enlistment into the Nigerian Army in 1962 where he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in 1965. While in the Army, he attended many in-service training. He attended military training in Sandhurst, UK and served in different capacities and command positions, participated in the war to keep the country united between 1967 and 1970 and voluntarily retired at the rank of a colonel in 1976 partly in protest and partly to pursue a higher calling. He was said to be dissatisfied with politicization of the army. By his training, he believed that military incursion into politics is an aberration.
Prof. Andrawus Sawa
After his retirement from the Nigerian Army, he ventured into the murky waters of partisan politics and thereafter during the Second Republic, he was elected a senator representing Gongola central on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1983. Prof. Senator, Col. Andrawus Sawa (Retd) also contested for the office of the president of the country on the platform of the United Nigerian Peoples’ Congress (UNPC) during the botched General Sani Abacha convoluted transition period.
Again, he contested for the presidential primaries twice in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform in 2007 and in 2011. He was a foundation member of the party and has made enormous contribution for the restoration of democratic rule in Nigeria.
Adrawus Pilasar Sawa is a man of many parts whose career and vocation traversed many fields of human endeavors: soldiering, politics, business, academics, religious services and philanthropy and humanitarian services. He is a rare breed. Soldiering was his childhood fantasy, pasturing was his calling and vocation, politics was a call to service and a desire to fight for justice and his foray into academics was an adventure and desire to seek higher knowledge to be able to creditably discharge his obligations.
He is restlessly workaholic and those who have had the privilege of working with him can attest to his virtues of hard work, perseverance, relentless quest for excellence, honesty and integrity.
Prof. Sawa is a humanist who has established many platforms including an Non-Governmental Oorganization (NGO) to touch and empower people like the widows, orphans, the less-privileged and the vulnerable groups. To him, service to humanity is the essence of life and success in life is about the number of people that glorify God on account of you. Prof. Sawa exemplifies the virtues of patience, courage and selflessness that public and aspiring public office holders should imbibe. Indeed, Sawa is a statesman, a nationalist and a detribalized Nigeria who has friends and associates across every nook and cranny of the nation.
Although he is deeply religious but not fanatical; he believes in religious freedom and freedom of expression. Indeed, our youths and politicians of today will have a lot to learn from the sterling qualities of Senator Prof. Col. Andrawus Pilasar Sawa (Retd), especially now that our youth have misplaced values and wrong role models. From him, our youths will learn the virtues of courage, patience, hard work, self-discipline, faith and living a principle-centered life. And our politician will learn the ideals of politics without bitterness and politics with sound political philosophy.
Prof. Andrawus Sawa
He is a life member of the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), a life member Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship (FGBMF) International and a foundation member of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He is also a fellow of several professional bodies. He has many academic and societal recognition including traditional titles. He has a doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Christian Counseling Psychology from the Mission Evangel University USA in 2006 and has many publications in academic journals to his credit and has authored and co-authored many books. He also has the traditional tile of Masani of Adamawa and the Ezi-Enyi 1 Of Mbaise. On the 11th October, 2022, he received the national honors of the title of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR).
As you mark your natal day today, I join thousands of your admirers in Garkida, Yola, Abuja and across the nation to say congratulations to a patriot and a statesman. We are proud of your life accomplishments, your life of courage, faith and hope. We are inspired by your good deeds, your love for humanity, your values and virtues, your forthrightness and sense of responsibility and patriotism. Congratulations!