Too Much Celebration: Abba Bichi's Birthday Ads Raise Eyebrows

…I give this advice with respect, not bad intentions. Celebrate, sure. Show love to your friends and supporters. Accept goodwill. But there should be a limit. In politics and public relations, sometimes the best publicity is knowing when to stop.

Fatih Lawal-Garu, a corps member at the PRNigeria Centre in Abuja, first pointed this out to me. His question was simple: “Sir, who is this Abba Bichi that has over 100 pages of full-colour adverts celebrating his 45th birthday in the newspapers?”

He showed me some of the newspapers in the office. I quickly grabbed the Daily Trust edition from Friday, 2 October.

From page two to the back, the newspaper was filled with birthday messages. Page after page had congratulatory notes for one man: Abubakar Kabir Abubakar, also known as Abba Bichi. Politicians, businesspeople, community leaders, and youth groups all wanted to celebrate him with glowing words.

Haba!

I was shocked not just by the huge scale of the celebration, but also because I had not heard much about him before all these tributes.

Interestingly, my first encounter with Bichi was through his town, not him. While driving from Kano to Katsina to see my godfather, Alhaji Abu Gidado, I noticed many good projects in Bichi: a great school, a sports arena, solar-powered streetlights, good roads, and better medical facilities.

I thought these were government projects. My friends corrected me. They told me that one person, Abba Bichi, was behind many of these efforts. At that time, I could not connect the name to the man.

The birthday edition helped me understand better. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar was born on 2 October, 1981, in the Hagagawa area of Bichi, Kano State, to a former state legislator and commissioner. After his early education in Kano, he studied at the New York Institute of Technology, where he got degrees in Interdisciplinary Studies and Energy Management.

Today, Abba Bichi represents Bichi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives under the All Progressives Congress (APC). He was first elected in 2019 and chaired the House Committee on Works. Now, he chairs the powerful Committee on Appropriations.

I don’t know who paid for all those ads. So it would be wrong to say that Abba Bichi paid for them himself. They could have been sponsored by friends, political allies, contractors, community groups, businesses, and admirers wanting to show love or loyalty. But that is where the public relations lesson starts.

At the constituency level, his record seems impressive. He has supported educational projects, set up computer labs, built sports facilities, sponsored students, and worked on housing projects. These are not the actions of a legislator just taking a salary.

Even Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who is in a different political party, has praised some of his work.

So, let me be clear: he is not without achievements. My concern is different. It is about judgment, moderation, and how people see him. Being charitable and being accountable can go hand in hand. Public service should not lack humility.

The large number of full-colour birthday ads in one edition of a national newspaper raises questions, not about legality, but about how appropriate it is. Ads in national newspapers cost a lot. When you see that many pages, the total cost is significant.

I can’t say who paid for each ad. So it would be unfair to claim that Abba Bichi personally funded them. They might have been sponsored by various supporters who wanted to show their admiration. But that is where the public relations lesson begins.

Nigeria is going through a tough economic time. Families are struggling with high food prices, school fees, transport costs, rent, and medical bills. In this situation, political communication must connect with the feelings of the people.

What might seem harmless in better times can easily upset people when they are facing hard times. This is even more sensitive since Abba Bichi chairs the House Committee on Appropriations, which deals with important public resource matters.

When celebrations go overboard, they can overshadow the achievements they are meant to show off. His constituency work should spark discussions about those projects, not fill pages with birthday ads. Good performance should be loud enough to be heard without being drowned out by congratulatory messages.

No one says public funds went into the birthday ads. That is not my argument. I am talking about how things look. A public figure in such an important role must know that how people perceive things can spread faster than any explanation.

His fans may have meant the ads as signs of affection. But after so many pages, it starts to look excessive. Could someone not have said: “Thank you, but this is too much”?

Imagine if some of that money spent on ads had gone into scholarships for poor students, medical aid for struggling families, boreholes, skills training, or other community projects for his 45th birthday. The publicity might have been even better, and surely more lasting.

This is a lesson many politicians forget: image is not just what you create; it is also what you allow around yourself. In public relations, too much exposure can be as harmful as being invisible.

When celebrations go overboard, they can overshadow achievements. His constituency work should start conversations about those projects, not fill newspapers with birthday ads. Therefore, good performance should speak loudly enough without being drowned out by congratulatory notes.

At 45, Abba Bichi is still quite young, especially for a politician with such influence in the National Assembly. If his constituency record is as solid as his supporters say, he should let his work speak for him.

So, I give this advice with respect, not malice. Celebrate, of course. Appreciate your friends and supporters. Accept goodwill. But there should be a limit. In politics and public relations, the best publicity sometimes comes from knowing when to stop.