Vice-President Sambo’s Look-alike Worries About Striking Semblance

A striking resemblance between a Bauchi-based secondary school principal, Malam Isa Garba, to Vice-President Namadi Sambo, has become a source of undue attention drawn to the former.

Garba, Principal of Government Day Secondary School, Kafin Madaki, in Ganjuwa Local Government area of Bauchi State, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Sunday that he was finding it difficult to convince people that he was not related to the number two citizen of the country.

“The first time it occurred to me that I was the vice-president’s look-alike was in 2008 when Sambo was the Governor of Kaduna State.

“I had gone to collect my result at ABU Zaria when a senior lecturer, after looking at me closely for some minutes, enquired if I was related to Sambo and I answered in the negative. He could not just believe me because, in his words, `the semblance is too striking’. ”

“Any time I attend public functions, eyes would be on me and those who could not resist, approach to enquire and I always tell them I had no relationship with Mr. Vice-President.

“Even my students do not believe that there is no link between the two of us,’’ Garba, aged 52 years and father of six, narrated.

The principal said that although he felt highly honoured to be Mr. Vice-President’s look-alike, he was least prepared for the type of attention the semblance was attracting to him.