Maitama Sule, former Minister of Petroleum, former Minister of Mines and Power, died in Cairo on Sunday, aged 88.

Although he spent extensive time in Nigerian politics, for instance being Mines Minister for seven years, he will arguably be most remembered for his post-political life.

Sule is popularly referred to as “elder statesman”, but he is also an accomplished orator.

Below are 11 of some of his most memorable quotes; in some there are lessons, in others just humour and wit.

Enjoy.

ON LAGOS
Lagos was my second home. In fact, I used to be more at home in Lagos than in Kano… I liked Lagos because people in Lagos liked me. I was the Onikoyi of Ikoyi (a chieftaincy title in Lagos Island) and the Bada of Lagos, as I was the Ada Ida Akei Igburutu of Calabar.


ON HUMILITY
If you are humble in life, it will not be difficult for you to mix. Coming from Kano [to Lagos], it was not difficult for me to settle down in any community.

ON DIVERSITY
Nigerians all over like me and I have no reason not to like Nigeria and Nigerians. I must like them. I am not a Kano man alone; I am Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Kanuri, Fulani, Ibibio, Tiv. I am all. I respect everybody.

ON MATHEMATICS, TO HIS TEACHER
Excuse me, sir, this trigonometry is a little bit of nonsense. What is a little bit of x and a little bit of y? ‘X’ is ‘x’ and ‘y’ is ‘y’.

ON HIS INTEREST IN POLITICS
The Sardauna called me and reminded me he told me to be his private secretary but I refused. He added that they selected me to go to London to study Law but I said I didn’t like it. He asked me, “What do you want to do, for God’s sake.” I replied, “What you are doing, sir.”

ON AWOLOWO
…you know Chief Awolowo was a proud man. He did what he wanted to do against my advice and he told me that there was a time the North rebuffed him. I told him to avoid certain things but he did not. He was a principled man, he would not lie. He would speak out his mind.

ON ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH
You can’t eat your cake and have it. The present-day leadership wants money. You can’t have money and honour at the same time. Our former leaders didn’t want money, they wanted to serve the country, and that is why they were respected.

ON NIGERIA’S NEEDS
I keep saying what we need in Nigeria is leadership, not rulership.

ON YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE
You must seek the experience of the old, because the best organization is the combination of the old and young.

ON LIFE
…because we are masters of our fate, we should be captains of our souls.


ON CULTURE
Our cultural values have been turn over board. Today we have abandoned our culture, and culture is the identity of people. People often mistake culture as mere dancing and singing. It is much more than that. Culture is the custom and costumes, the characters and characteristics, the manners and mannerisms, the philosophy and the ideologies of the people. Culture is the totality of the people’s experience.
https://icirnigeria.org/the-trigonometry-youre-teaching-us-is-nonsense-and-10-other-memorable-maitama-sule-quotes/

Great Man

RIP