I woke up in the early hours of Saturday, July 9, to randomly check my e-mails only to run into a post by some people on social media that Nigeria’s first Minister of Mines,Power,Petroleum and Energy, elder statesman and Borno’s ‘father of orphans’ Dr. Shettima Ali Monguno has passed on. I was skeptical at first, because as a journalist I do not take anything I read on Facebook seriously. My first port of call was the Facebook page of Alhaji Musa Liman,my former lecturer at the University of Maiduguri and a close confidant of the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Ibn Garbai. I was pretty sure if the story was true, Liman will post it on his page. Few minutes later, the reality of what has happened dawned on me as my former lecturer had posted the sad news five hours earlier.
Shettima Ali Monguno passed on at a time Borno was in dire need of leadership and words of wisdom, six years after Boko Haram took the state 40 years backwards. He was seen as a father figure that no living Borno politician or bureaucrat who will look at him in the face. I was sad,but quickly consoled myself. At 90, Baba as most Borno journalists call him has come, seen and conquered. He lived a fulfilled life. It will be a thing of joy for many of us in this generation if we can live up to that age as the life expectancy in Nigeria is between 56 and 60 years. Or what else can one ask for a man who gave his life to serving humanity? He believed God created each one of us to add value to the lives of people around us. Rather than shed tears, we should pray for him and borrow a leaf from his modest lifestyle that saw him giving back to the society all that he has worked for. I once asked him why he would sell his only house in Abuja to build a female hostel for the University of Maiduguri. He told me the story how he grew up in the house of a District Head and how the colonialist had asked the traditional ruler to enroll one of his sons in school then, but thinking it was an attempt to convert Kanuri children to Christianity, he sent Monguno instead. Monguno added that his father never left anything for him and he went to school free of charge. Hence he has no plans to leave any inheritance for his children, but good education. To him, leaving properties for children was not the best as one is not sure what the children will do with it.
Monguno is gone and there can never be a Borno man like him that will command respect across religious, political and social divide in a conservative society like Borno.I was taken aback when I heard Bulama Mali Gubio, spokesman for Borno Elders Forum and one of Borno’s illustrious and cosmopolitan sons weeping in the course of an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa service shortly after Baba was buried. Baba died peacefully in his home,was never moved from one hospital in London to another in the United States as is the case with most Nigerian elites. To me, this is gratifying even though it is a big loss for Nigeria. Monguno has gotten to his bus stop in the journey of life and each of one of us will one day leave this world. The big question for Borno Elders and other Nigerians is, what do we want to be remembered for when we die? Do we want to be associated with several properties at home and abroad, that at some point the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) will be chasing us that we start hiding under the bed to evade arrest and our children become the laughing stock of the society? Or want to live within our legitimate means and add value to the lives of our neighbours?
An average Kanuri man can be proud and ethnocentric, but Monguno was an epitome of humility, honesty and perseverance. I recall a story he shared with me in 2007 when I took a reporter from a newsmagazine from Lagos to interview him. It was about the case of a teacher at Federal Government Girls College, Monguno who was relieved of his job like others because the school no longer wanted casual staff due to dwindling resources. The teacher in conjunction with other colleagues felt used and dumped by the school and so petitioned the Public Complaints Commission in Maiduguri.They also intimated Monguno about their petition and he decided to help follow up their case with a phone call. Monguno called several times to speak with the head of the Public Complaints Commission who was not on seat, but a rude male secretary told Baba “Who is this Monguno of a man that has been calling our office? If you are serious about your case, can’t you just come to our office so that we see your face’ Baba said he did not lose his temper, but thanked him and promised to go there in person. According to him, as he alighted from his white Mercedes Benz at the premises of the Public Complaints Commission, everyone rushed to greet him in the usual Kanuri fashion. The young man quickly recognized him from his voice and like a drenched chicken rushed forward to apologize to him, claiming he thought he was some young man playing pranks on the phone. Monguno said he merely smiled, because the young man was probably the age of his grandson and was pretty sure he did not know who he was, went into the office to state his case and never mentioned the case of the rude secretary. I doubt if there is anyone within the Borno Elders Forum today who would tolerate such an insult without getting the person fired? Such was the character of Monguno, very forgiving and never wants to hurt anyone.
He never saw ethnic or religious affiliation which accounts for why his house adjacent to the Borno Government House was a mecca of sorts. Probably, though I stand to be corrected, Professor Emeritus, Umaru Shehu is likely to come close to this feat. But, unlike Monguno, he is on the quiet side and not too involved in communal activities. Monguno earned his reputation as the most respected Borno man in the 21st century through sheer hard work and a believer in merit. He was different from some Borno Elders who use their position and influence for political patronage or to recycle their children when quitting the stage. This is a development partly responsible for the Boko Haram insurgency. Some families in the state for over 40 years have continued to dominate the political, economic and social life of Borno at state and national levels, not because they are intellectually savvy, but what the Kanuris call ‘’Ndu ba’an3m wo? Who is your father?
At the height of the Boko Haram insurgency especially 2013 to February 2015 when life in Borno was short and brutish, some of the elders whose activities over the years were partly responsible for the Boko Haram revolt lost their voice like drenched chickens. Instead of making their voices heard, they ran away to their houses in Kaduna and Abuja abandoning the people to their fate. Despite all the risks including his kidnap for a few days by Boko Haram in May 2013,Monguno did not leave Maiduguri, but stood by his people till he breathed his last. He was always talking about their plight and calling for help.
Indeed, the big elephant has fallen. He has handed the baton to the living. Like the popular saying ‘each generation, must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission,fulfill it or betray it’. He has fulfilled his mission in life. The challenge has been thrown to us the living and the hope of a better tomorrow.
- Lawal, a Public Commentator writes from Boston,United States.
