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BY IGNATIUS OLISEMEKA

Without ever knowing or meeting me, Buhari gave me a chance. As I now write, I have never met him one-on-one. We have never spoken to each other. It is an extraordinary experience of an unusual man.

I was sitting on my desk in the Min­istry of External Affairs, 40 Marina Lagos in 1984, when I received a let­ter appointing me Ambassador to the United States of America. My place of origin did not matter. Incidentally, I am from Ibusa, a famous town now in Delta State, then in Bendel State. My religion did not matter either. I had no worthwhile contacts with Dodan Barracks. All I knew, and had always known, was to work hard and to express my views as candidly and as courageously as I could, regardless of the consequences; provided I was convinced they were right. It was never easy or smooth-sailing. Of course, that had its bitter consequences; but at the end, now at 83, looking back, it worked out just right.

Of all the Nigerian leaders, with the possible exception of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Buhari has been the one that has most approximated my dream of what a Nigerian leader should be. Without any attempt at self-advertisement, but simply as a matter of fact, I knew and had worked and interacted with most, if not all of our leaders. I worked with Sir James Robertson, the last colonial Governor-General of Nigeria, after graduating from the University Col­lege, Ibadan in 1957. I served as Clerk to the Privy Council and as Assistant Secretary (Administrative Officer) in charge of Security. I worked up to my immediate boss, Mr C. O. Lawson, the then respected Secretary to the Cabinet in the Governor-General’s office. As part of my schedule of duties as officer in charge of security, I had the privi­lege and honour of being a member of a 3-man-panel, two of them British, which interviewed and recruited the first batch of Nigerian military officers into the Nigerian army in 1958. This batch included Olusegun Obasanjo.

In 1958, I transferred to the Ministry of External Affairs, making a career in the Diplomatic Service which lasted forty-two (42) years, from where I even­tually rose as Foreign Minister, having served as Ambassador in Nine (9) coun­tries, a few with concurrent accredi­tation, including Kenya under Jomo Kenyatta, Botswana under Sir Seretse Khama, Lesotho under King Moshoe­shoe I, Spain, The Holy See under three Popes, (John Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II), the United States of America, Canada and, lastly, in Israel for six (6) years, a mission I established and rose to be Doyen of the Diplomat­ic Corps. In between, I was Chief of Protocol of the Federation to Zik and Balewa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Directing Staff in the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, for two years (1988/1989).

I am now a retired pensioner, careful­ly minding my own business and tend­ing my personal affairs. I do not belong to any political party and have never belonged to any. In the best tradition of the colonial public service of my days, I have remained strictly anonymous and aloof; occasionally, making my views and opinion privately known to the ap­propriate authorities of the day on any issue I feel strongly about. I seek no of­fice and no financial or material favours. All I am doing is to put on public record my private opinion, views and experi­ence, which may not be available and known to many Nigerians.

Major General Muhammadu Bu­hari not only gave me the opportunity to serve Nigeria as Ambassador in the United States, he did even more than that. He entrusted to me the care and welfare of his family; still without our knowing or meeting each other. He sent his wife and two children to me in Washington D.C. for medical treatment. He took his chance and dealt with me strictly on a professional basis. His fam­ily were with me in Washington D.C. when the General was overthrown in a coup d’état. We did the best we could and sent them back home safely under the trying and traumatic circumstances they found themselves- still, never a word from this unusual person. In 1988 after I returned as Ambassador from Washington D.C., I was assigned as a punitive measure as Directing Staff to the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, for two years.The subject of our research in that year led the syndicate I headed to visit Buhari’s State of origin. With the approval of government, members of the Syndicate visited Buhari who was then under house arrest in his home town, Daura. This most extra-ordinary man received us with warmth and cour­tesy. We found him living in a modest, sparsely furnished three or four bed-room bungalow which was his house. He still did not know who I was; nor did I disclose my identity to him. It was unbelievable, even in those days, that a former General in the Nigerian Army and a former Head of State could live in such a modest, Spartan abode. What further struck me was a complete lack of bitterness; unless the Fulani in him concealed and dissembled it!

What do all these tell me about this man, Buhari? Others may have a differ­ent opinion of him. I absolutely concede to them the right to hold their views. As far as I am personally concerned, four short phrases summarise my overall impression and opinion of Buhari. An incorruptible man. A patriotic Nigerian devoid of any trace of ethnicism and parochialism. A deeply religious man. Above all, a stern disciplinarian.We so often talk glibly of the giant strides Asian Tigers have taken to leap from the state of underdevelopment to de­veloped nations. We refer tirelessly to the achievements of men like Lee Kuan Yew. I have, personally, met Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore. I did so in the com­pany of General Yakubu Gowon when he returned from exile from the United Kingdom. Little do we know or appre­ciate the agonizing hardship, pains and sufferings all Singaporeans, Chinese, Malays, Indians and other ethnic na­tionalities, had to endure for Singapore to attain its present height as a respect­ed nation. Gold must be smelted in hot burning furnaces before unleashing its shine and purity. Lee Kuan Yew was a benevolent democratic autocrat. He subjected his people to a good dose of rigorous healthy discipline. No country makes that type of progress Singapore made without an unwavering sense of disciplined direction. Moreover, Lee Kuan Yew was an inspirational leader of his people. He governed by example.

It is not just the question of the num­ber of kilometres of roads you build that elevates a nation. It is not a matter of the megawatts of power you generate or the number of buildings you erect for the populace. Not even the refineries you build or the volume of agricultural prod­ucts produced and exported. These are important. Any leader surrounded by brilliant experts, excellent technocrats and loyal advisers can achieve those basic and essential needs. Leadership calls for much greater attributes than the performance of those feats. A leader must have a strong, solid, moral and dis­ciplined background, the inspirational ability to galvanize his people to higher, lofty and common purpose. These are not ordinary attributes available to ev­ery man. They are uncommon gifts and talents dispensed and bestowed only to a few. This makes the difference between one man and the other; one woman and the other. It is not often we have a Ghandi or a Mandela; an Ataturk, or a Winston Churchill, a Charles de Gaulle, or a Konrad Adenauer, who became one of the most respected Chancellors of Federal Republic of Germany at the ripe age of 81, a Margaret Thatcher, or even our own often quoted Obama. Nearer home, with all their imperfections, con­sidering that a prophet is without hon­our in his own country, we must reckon with Azikiwe, the Sardauna, Awolowo, Aminu Kano and J.S. Tarka, the real and genuine ‘founding fathers’ of our nation.

To be continued tomorrow

This man Buhari, there is something about him that the poqwerful ones are afraid of

Selfish man!