resident Muhammadu Buhari said in Kaduna yesterday that the events of January 15, 1966, which led to the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello and other prominent Nigerians, caused other tragedies that befell the nation.
Ex-leaders like Yakubu Gowon, Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Goodluck Jonathan, Ernest Shonekan, former Vice Presidents Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo, who were billed to speak at the 50th commemoration of the death of Bello, were absent.
Represented by Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, President Buhari, however, said Bello’s tragic death did not obscure the quality of his leadership.
He said Ahmadu Bello worked hard on the challenges of his time, adding: “At this critical juncture in our country’s history, we must grapple with the task of our era. It is our duty to unite our country, pulling together the talents of the diverse people of this land to move this country to a height that it can attain.
“From independence to date, the world has spoken of Nigeria’s potentials. It is time to make these potentials real. To transform the potentials into accomplishment, we must reverse the legacy of poverty. We must make the investment that can enable our country use its population as an engine of growth and prosperity, rather than a source of quarrel.”
According to him, “Sir Ahmadu Bello was a colossus. He took on and performed the immense task of governance, leading the Northern Region. He was clear about the challenges confronting the region he led, and he tried to address them, while trying to unite the diverse people of the area.
“The number of institutions he established, including the university that bears his name, testified to his success. The incurring appeal of the name and legacies of Sir Ahmadu Bello is his utmost victory, even in death.
“The tragic circumstances of his death did not obscure the quality of service that the Sardauna provided. His was not the empty gravitas of bearing, but a deeply felt consciousness of duty, which he responsibly undertook.
“The events of January 15, 1966 were a monumental tragedy. They set in motion, other tragedies that severely bucketed our country. The assassination of our revered Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Chief Okotie Eboh, Brig.-Gen. Maimalari and other political and military leaders pushed Nigeria to a new dangerous place, which culminated into a civil war. I lived through these events as a young officer.
“My generation can testify that this is an important value and that it is better to talk through our differences than come to blow with short cuffs, the opportunism and the narrow-minded magnification and mobilisation of every imaginable difference for political gain, ruining the promise and optimism of the early post-independence fears. These are the sort of behaviours we should deplore and reject.
“We have to build skills, simplify access to capital, provide security and strengthen law enforcement. Anything less amounts to paying lip service to the examples set by Sir Ahmadu Bello of blessed memory.
“Amid the generally dismal state in which Nigeria was handed over to us, things are worst in certain places than others. In a country beseech by poverty, insecurity, poor infrastructure, high unemployment, declining education and threatening healthcare indices, it is plain to the casual observer that all these challenges are worst in many of the 19 northern states.
“The condition of our country demands that across the board, we summon the best effort at leadership. What Nigerians did in the 2015 general election was to initiate the process of reclaiming this country. So, the people of this country have given us a marching order to clear the rot and make this country better and to fulfil the legitimate aspiration of the people.
“Let us embrace our responsibilities to serve our people diligently. Unite our country and do our utmost to secure it and inspire our people to the field of creativity and development. That was what Sir Ahmadu Bello did all his life.
“This is what he will expect all of his inheritors, the northern governors to do. Ahmadu Bello led his region with competence, integrity and fairness. He contributed to the overall development of Nigeria through his leadership by example. He did as he said and did not say one thing and did another.
“Ahmadu Bello represented the essence of truly transformational leadership. I urge all of us with public leadership responsibilities to learn the lessons from the event today. And what are these lessons? When you lead with honesty and integrity in the service of humanity, the society never forgets you.”
Also speaking, former Niger State Governor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Babangida Aliyu, said unlike present leaders, who amassed wealth, stocking billions in their accounts, the late Sardauna had no money in his account when he died.
The ex-governor under whose leadership as chairman of the Northern State Governors Forum, the foundation was launched, said: “If people behave like the Sardauna in leadership, we will not be talking about corruption and fighting corruption today.”
Aliyu said: “There is nobody that loved northern Nigeria like Sir Ahmadu Bello. By right, after the election, Sir Ahmadu Bello would have been Prime Minister, but because of the love for his people and for the North, he opted to be Premier and agreed that his deputy will be Prime Minister.
“Many people will be wondering why we always talk about him. We talk about people who have done wonderfully well for their people, sacrificed their time and served selflessly. He did so for our benefit.
“He introduced free education which many of us not only benefited from, but we were paid allowances to stay in school. Not only was the school free, we were paid to stay in school and that is one legacy that we must maintain. He was one leader that if he offended you, he would come to your house and apologise to you.
“He went round to understand the problems of his people, solving them. So, there was the need for us to launch a foundation to remember this wonderful person. Generosity is inherent in leadership. This is why some of us who have read our books properly, and have read our Quran and Bible correctly, will appreciate that leaders must be tolerant and Sardauna was one.
“His honest knew no bound. Many of us are aware that when he died, unlike many that we hear that in their accounts, you find several billions of naira, which you can’t even believe, but in Sarduana’s case, he left a house in Sokoto, but his bank account was in red.
“Many people don’t know their history or their background. Many people don’t know that the problems of today were caused by today’s leaders because they do not have the understanding that the problem might have been lingering because people have not done anything about it.
“We need to let people understand, appreciate and correct the mistakes. If people behave like the Sardauna in leadership, we will not be talking about corruption and fighting corruption today.”
The guest speaker, Alhaji Maitama Sule, said Nigeria would have been a great nation if leaders adopted the principles of the late Ahmadu Bello and offered selfless service and justice to all manner of people.
He said: “Today, we are remembering history. The purpose of history is to know the past, to adjust the present and plan for future. Yes, Sardauna of Sokoto lived for his people and died for his people. Sardauna was a good leader, a leader that led his people with the philosophy of a Fulani herdsman.
“Sardauna like a Fulani herdsman is always in the front of his cattle with his stick over his shoulders, leading the cattle. He is never behind them, driving them, he is always in the front, leading them. If he stops, all of them will stop and if jumps into the river, all of them will follow him.
“Why do the cattle do that? It is because the cattle have realised that the herdsman will sacrifice his life, his pleasure for them. That was the kind of Sardauna’s leadership. The philosophy of the herdsman was the philosophy of Sardauna.
“Nigeria of today will have no problem solving all of its problems, political, economic, social and otherwise if the country adopts Sardauna’s philosophy. Sardauna’s philosophy is the answer to all the problems facing Nigeria- political, social, economic and religious.
“Sardauna therefore treated everyone the same, socially, politically and even religiously. Sardauna used to tell his ministers, ‘you can’t run and rob your buttocks at the same time. Anyone of you that wants to run business should resign and go into business, and I will help him. But you can’t be a minister and a business man at the same time’.
“Sardauna once said, ‘I don’t want to be remembered as having accumulated wealth during my time, I want to be remembered as having served my people’. No wonder, when he died, his account was in red. Sardauna died penniless, with no houses for rent, no transport companies, no share in any company.”
