By
Sagiru Ado Abubakar

The Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has
today hosted Prof. Umar A. Pate as Guest Speaker of the month of
August, 2018 for its youths mentorship program titled ‘Inspiring
Leadership Reflection Interactive Series (ILERIS)’. ILERIS is monthly
interactive engagement where people with robust experience in life
have been invited to interact with the staffs, interns, civil society
advocates and associates of the organization so that they can be
inspired. With this objective, last month the program featured Prof.
Binta Tijjani Jibril, the Director International Institute of Islamic
Banking and Finance (IIIBF), Bayero University, Kano. In his opening
remarks, the Chief Host and Executive Director of the organization,
Engr. Y.Z Ya’u said “For this particular event we normally allow the
guest to speak as long as he likes, we are doing this to change the
narrative, to change people thinking in order to understand that all
successful people are ordinary people, they are ordinary people who
have struggle to achieve what they wish to become.” “We will like the
guest speaker to tell us how it is started, what the challenges are,
how he responded to the challenges and what he wants to pass to the
young people to impact their lives”. He then urged the participants to
listen attentively and learn from the guest speaker. “Every time we
meet here we need that people should acquire something new”, YZ
emphasized.
In his part, the guest speaker, Prof. Umar A. Pate, began his
interaction by giving an example with the life style of Prof. Jibril
Aminu as his role model. He then asked Dr. Rukayya Yusuf Aliyu who
came along with the Professor to the event to share his citation with
the audience. In her part, Dr. Rukayya said that, Prof. Umar Pate is
the immediate past and founding Dean of the faculty of communication,
Bayero University, Kano. Before relocating to BUK as a Professor in
the Department of Mass Communication, he served as a Professor in the
Department of Mass Communication at the University of Maiduguri where
he rose through the ranks beginning as a Graduate Assistant in 1988 to
become an Associate Professor in 2002 and full Professor in 2007. He
headed the Mass Communication Department in that University for a
total of seven years. Pate holds a PhD, Master of Philosophy and
Bachelor of Arts degrees in Mass Communication obtained in 1997, 1990
and 1987. He attended LEA Primary School, Nassarawo Jereng in Adamawa
Division from 1971-1976, Government Collage Maiduguri from 1976-1981.
In the collage, he emerged as the student with the best GCE O’Level
result in the Arts class in 1981. He proceeded to the collage of
Preliminary Studies, Yola from 1982-1984 and passed the IJMB A’ level
examinations to qualified for direct entry admission into the BA Mass
Communication in University of Maiduguri. In 1987, he graduated as one
of the top students in the class with a second class upper degree. He
was competitively selected as the University Valedictorian of the year
in 1987/88
Speaking about his background, Pate said that his father was an Area
Court Judge, and an Islamic Scholar. They have two medical Professors
in the house and he was lucky to become a Professor at the age of 36.
Prof. also said that presently he holds the title of Kaigama of
Adamawa emirates, the title which in the possession of their house
since the period of Jihad. The title implies the Chief of Defence and
one among the king makers.
At the end of the lecture, Prof insisted that for anyone to achieve
his dreams must be hardworking, contented, tolerance, reciprocal and spend within his limit.