Brigadier General Musa Usman died on Tuesday 19th September 1991. He was the first military governor of the defunct North Eastern State which comprised the present day six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe, less than old Wukari division which was then part of Benue Plateau State. He died at the age of 50- 16 years after he had been forced out of office. About six months after he left office, the North Eastern State was split into three states of Bauchi, Borno and Gombe, the coup de tat that took place in July 1975 toppled more than a regime. It brought to an end the vision of that glorious future, which a decade of dedication by a diarchic coalition of relatively young military officers, a team of civil commissioners comprising of distinguished retired civil servants and highly regarded politicians of the First Republic, and equally dedicated sitting civil servants had come to promise.But for Brigadier Usman and some of the other dedicated military officers of that era, the coup quite unjustifiably, blemished their reputations. The aftermath of the coup and the apparent, not real, popular acclaim that accompanied it, and in particular, the assets investigation inquiry that followed it, raised the dust that covered and smeared them all, and ensured that Usmans great foresight and manifold achievements to this day remained not fully appreciated. This was because, with the coup, there developed a tendency among Nigerians to generalise about the corruption or indolence of all those who served in that regime.For those who knew Brigadier Usman well, and at close quarters, they were sure he could not have fitted into that unfortunate stereotype, even if the allegations were to be true, whilst in fact they were not. Even among his fellow officers, he always stood out as transparent and a gentleman. He had foresight as well as the ability to see the matter at hand through to its roots, analyse its possible ramifications and implications, and plan ahead and see it to its conclusion. As a military governor, he was an excellent strategist for whom the future was already here, staring him in the face; and he was always t his post, devising strategies to confront it, busy turning potential problems into viable solutionsI first met Usman in 1961 in the company of his friend, Brigadier Abba Kyari, whom I had known eight years earlier. That was six years before I had had the privilege and honour to work closely with him, in the Interim Common Service Agency (ICSA), and later on I came closer to him as a Commissioner in his Executive Council.The agency was established by the Federal Government to take over uncompleted actions of the defunct Northern Nigeria Government and also to supervise the operations of certain common services owned jointly by the six Northern States which for one reason or another must continue to exist. The six military governors were members of the agency and the chairmanship totaled among them from the beginning of a meeting to the beginning of the next meeting. The agency had an initial life span of two years with a provision for annual extensions when necessary. The provision was invoked until the agency was prematurely abolished by General Murtala Mohammed in 1975In spite of the division of the North into six autonomous states, they were able keep the North united through the membership of the agency. They subordinated the interests of their individual states to the higher common interests of the north. In consequence, meetings of ICSA took priority over all other activities of the Governors, except, of course, the meetings of the Supreme Military Council. Throughout the seven years of the existence of ICSA, none of the Military Governors missed any of its meetings, which were held regularly a minimum of once every two months. Each of them participated positively in the decision making process of the agency, but more importantly, they met their individual obligations to the agency as the Common Service as and when due.Each Governor stoutly defended the interest of his state of assignment. Musa Usman and Abba Kyari, both of them from North East, would argue passionately and sometime angrily defending the interest of their respective state of assignment. Similarly, Audu Bako, from North West and Usman, from North East, would engage in angry exchanges, with Audo Bako standing stoutly for Kano, and Usman Faruk for North West.In fact, many instances can be cited when the decision of the agency were based on the initiatives of Brigadier Usmans foresight and a lot of good and practicable ideas. It was his idea that led to the establishment of the School of Basics Studies (SBS) at ABU, Zaria. At one of the meetings of the agency, by way of a solution, he suggested the setting up of such a school as the most effective way to bridge the educational gap, particularly at the tertiary level, between the north and the south. And it goes without saying that the SBS, Zaria did help to bridge this gap, and within a short time raised the standard of tertiary education in the north. It would have achieved greater success over time, but for the fact that the southern universities decided also to create similar schools which had the effect of defeating the objective of establishing the school and also refused to admit into their university, student from the SBS, ZariaIt was also Musa Usman who initiated a project which has ultimately transformed into the present day Arewa House complex. During the meeting of the agency in august 1969, Musa Usman proposed the establishment of a committee to write the history of Northern Nigeria to complement the work of a similar committee set up by the Federal Government to write the history of the Nigeria civil war. The ICSA Committee known as History of Northern Nigeria Committee was Chaired by Alhaji Ali Akilu with Alhaji Yusufu Gobir, Alhaji Liman Ciroma and Mr. Sunday Awoniyi as members. Alhaji Gidago Idris and I were joint secretaries. The Committee subsequently sought and engaged the services of Professor Abdullahi Smith, on secondment from ABU. It was after the dissolution of ICSA that the project was handed over ABU and renamed Centre for Documentation and ResearchAbout the same time, as he initiated the establishment of the School of Basic Studies, at ICSA level, Usman also took similar decision in his State to stem the tide of failure in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations. He directed the commissioner for education to look into the desirability of getting together all the states HSC classes into a single institution. The commissioners and his officials recommended the setting up of an entirely new institution solely for this purpose, separating the HSC classes from the normal secondary schools and to have lecture rooms instead of classrooms. The Governor not only promptly approved, but also provided the necessary support and adequate resources for the take off of the institution. He personally pursued the established of the school with interest and vigour until its opening as the North East College of Arts and Science, NECAS, in 1973. It was the first and to the end remained the best of all the colleges of arts and science established in the country. Subsequently, it became the University of MaiduguriAbout the same time also, a suggestion along the same lines by the late Alhaji Ali Akilu led to the opening of diploma courses at ABU in banking, insurance and accountancy. Akilu, the first and only indigenous Secretary to the Government of Northern Region, and head of its public service, had in his capacity as chairman of the Bank of the North, come to realise that there were very few northerners in the middle level cadre in insurance, finance and banking sector of economy. As secretary of ICSA, it was to me Akilu turned to, suggesting that ICSA should take the initiative so that some appropriate training programmes be put in place at ABU to remedy the situation. I briefed Brigadier Usman as the then Chairman of ICSA, who immediately directed that necessary proposals should be submitted to ICSA for consideration at its next meeting. This led to the establishment of the universitys famed diploma programmes in accountancy, banking and insurance.Since meeting him in 1961, I only saw him from a distance; and it was not until 1972 that the steps towards closer official contact would take place. In May of that year, Alhaji Gaji Galtimari, who was then Under Secretary Political, Governors Office, Maiduguri, came to tell me that the Governor expressed a desire to have me as a member of the States Executive Council as part of his plan to appoint four relatively younger persons into his cabinet. He requested me to consider the matter and let him know my position as soon as possible.Actually, I didnt need time to consider anything for I knew my position very well- I didnt want to be a commissioner. I was happy being a civil servant; and it had never crossed my mind, as I had no intention ever to leave the civil service temporarily. So, I did not react one way or the other, hoping that the issue would die a natural death. Alhaji Gaji returned to me in September and reminded me that his excellency was still waiting for a reply as he was set to announce the appointment of new commissioners very soon, it was then that I decided to consult the two persons closest to me, who were immediately available: the late Alhaji Liman Ciroma and his nephew, Malam Adamu Ciroma. Both of them advised me to accept the offer, it was not a matter of choice, rather, I should regard it as instruction from the Governor and my acceptance as a duty. Besides, he added, it would be the first time that someone from our small enclave would serve as a member of the Executive Council. And so, more than four months after the invitation was made to me, I accepted the offer and I was made commissioner for financeThe appointment brought me close to Musa Usman and from this position, I was able to observed a great mind at work-full of ideas and always focused. He many and wide-ranging achievements, which today stand as proud monuments to his vision, would, in comparison, dwarf those recorded by any of the latter-day Governors. And almost all the great things he did were dictated by his two overriding considerations-his concern for the plight of people living in the state and particularly, rural areas, and his belief in the necessity and efficacy of education and good health as the ultimate panacea for most of the problems of the society. Therefore, throughout his tenure as a governor, Usmans attention was almost exclusively focused on developing rural areas and the establishment of properly run schools- primary and secondary schools, as well as institutions of higher learningHe announced the appointment of the new commissioners who are: Dr Suleiman Kumo, Umaru Muhammed Buba and Umaru Jerengol and I; and he also reshuffled his cabinet as follows: Alhaji Ibrahim Biu (Education), Alhaji Yakubu Lame (Local Government), Alhaji Muhammadu Mahdi (Natural Resources), Alhaji Muhammadu Buba Ardo (Attorney General), Alhaji Dauda Belel (Health), Alhaji Muhammadu Gujubawau (Cooperative and Community Dvelopment), Alhaji Muhammdu Mai (Agriculture), Mr Edmond Mamiso (Establishment and Training), Alhaji Yarima Balla(Land and Survey), Mr Dominic Mapeo (Works and Housing), Mr Azi Nyako (Home Affairs), Alhaji Adamu Fika (Finance), Dr Suleiman Kumo (Economic Planning and Political Affairs), Alhaji Umaru Muhammad Baba (Trade and Industry) and Malam Umaru Jerengol (Information and Social Welfare). And Musa Usman retained all his commissioners throughout the eight years of his governorship. He never relieved any public officer of his appointment, whether he was career or non-careerIn all he did for the people, he made sure he went for the best. That was why when the North East College Arts and Science, NECAS , which he founded, became the University of Maiduguri, it was without doubt, the best of all the second generation universities in terms of structures put in place, equipment and facilities made available for students. I understand that NECAS students who went on to some of the first generation universities were disappointed at the student drop in the standard of their hostels and the quality of recreation facilities. In addition to setting up NECAS, Musa Usman concentrated on giving sustained and generous support to higher and technical education through the provision of generous scholarship to students of North Eastern origin in local and overseas universities and other institutions of higher learningHe paid equal attention to education at the lower levels. During his tenure, he constructed almost 2,000 classrooms, equally divided between existing schools and a large number of new secondary schools that he built. In general, all schools were well looked after; and in all of them, strict discipline was maintained. His attention was not limited to grammar type secondary schoolsHe also set up schools of agriculture, colleges of animal husbandry and institutions for farm mechanism. He extended generous support to research in agricultural productivity, livestock production and other areas of animal science. In all, he established a total of 13 farm centres and opened up tens of thousands of acres of virgin land for large scale agricultural development. Alongside, he gave attention to the development of sheep and goats and beef production. He set up Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) for the supply of farm inputs and the improvement of infrastructural facilities for agriculture. He launched the drive for small dam and borehole-based irrigation schemes. In the process, he sank hundreds of boreholes and supplied small pumps and agricultural tools to rural farmersIn the area of health care delivery, he established or expanded Maiduguri, Yola, Bauchi and Gombe General Hospitals; the Maiduguri specialist hospital and the Maiduguri nursing home. The other specialist hospital he established in Maiduguri went on to become the teaching hospital of the new university, one of the best in the country, later to become the nations centre of excellence for kidney diseases. In all these institutions and other hospitals and dispensaries throughout the North East, people received very good medical care, and he ensured that drugs were never out of stock. All these were provided free of charge, just as education was free at all levelsIn his bid to open up the rural state, he constructed a number of major roads, lining them with high population centres. He provided all the major towns with potable water supply schemes, complete with storage facilities, reticulation and back-up. All these schemes functioned up to his last days in office and continued even after he had left. This is a feat that has not been equalled even by the water of our biggest citiesWith their most pressing needs-food security, water supply, healthcare delivery and the provision of education- taken care of, people became generally contended; and economic activities opened up areas and became robust; and, consequently, their standard of living became relatively higher. But while Usmans focus was, no doubt, centred on the rural areas and in particular based on agricultural development, his vision and strategy were unmistakenly holistic; and they incorporated the states urban areas as wellHe initiated the most ambitious and sustained effort to industraliase Nigerias North Eastern Zone. He first of all began by creating an investor friendly environment, complete with designated industrial estates in all the major urban centres. He then spearheaded the establishment of Savaanah Sugar factory in Numan, Ashaka Cement Company (now Ashakacem) near Gombe. These two industrial undertakings- one in building related and the other in agro allied food sector-seemed to have defined the new urban focus for him; because all subsequent attempts at industrialisation were in either one or the other sectorIn the agro-alled food sector, he established or planned to establish industries for rice milling, wheat-flour making, tomato puree, tea and coffee making, tannery and shoe-making, animal feeds and fish processing plants and a fruit canning company. In the building-related sector, he set up or planned to set up a burnt bricks industry, plywood and veneer sheets manufacturing and base sawmill industries. He also planned to set up textile mill and soap and detergent industry. And in order to foster indigenous entrepreneurship, he established a small-scale industries credit schemeBy the time of the coup detat that brought an end to Gowons regime and Usmans government, the feasibility of establishing a variety of industries undertakings had been finalised- and the reports written. The areas covered included industries for the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC),insulated wire and cable-making, glassware manufacture, paper-making mills, wire and nail plants, wheat-flour milling, dairy farming, starch manufacturing, farm implements production, ceramic-making, automobile spare parts manufacture, a variety of textile manufacture and a polythene bags manufacturing plant. It was as if no area had been left untouched.-As his strategy indicated, Usman was committed to North East with a passion. He and his colleagues, the pioneer military Governors of the then six states of the north were dedicated model administrators who completely identified with their states of posting which, in the case of at last three of them, did not coincide with their states of originPolice Commissioner Audu Bako, who was from Sokoto Province in the North West Zone, was Governor of Kano State. Assistant Commissioner of Police Usman Faruk from Bauchi Province in the North Eastern State was the Governor of North Western State. Brigadier Abba Kyari, also from Borno Province, in the North East was Governor in the North Central state. Brigadier Usman was from Borno Province but emotionally, he was equally attached to Igala in Kabba from where his mother hailedEach of the Governors gave his best. It did not matter to them where they originated from; it only mattered to them where they were posted to. For them, that was where home was. Without exemption, they were all always passionate in the defence of their turfs; and it never crossed their minds to prefer their states of origin over or even equate with their states of deployment. Their identification with their states of primary assignment was totalOnce, the Interim Common Services Agency, ICSA asked North Eastern State for nomination to fill the vacant office of Executive Secretary of the Livestock and Meat Authority. The officers of the North Eastern State submitted its nomination, but this was done without clearance or the knowledge of Governor Usman, and, even after it was submitted, he was not informed. He only found out about it when he received additional papers on the eve of the meeting. He was livid with rage and didnt hide his displeasure. But when time for debate came, he defended the nomination and fought for the candidate as if the choice was his own- and the candidate eventually got the jobThat was how Musa Usman presided over the affairs of the North Eastern State, the largest state in the country, which has now been broken into six states, each of which is as large as any state in the other parts of the country. The state then was as diverse as the Northern Nigeria from which it was carved out. After the initial teething problem relating to the citing of the state capital, Musa was able to keep the state together and peaceful because development projects were evenly spread between and among different areas and also between urban and rural areas. He succeeded because of several reasons- his maturity, his habit of consultation and his general attitude to work, and support of a self-effecting wife.Despite his relative youth- he was barely in his early 30s, Musa Usman demonstrated unparalled maturity. He reflected deeply on issues before taking a decision. He saw his posting as the core of his daily life. Though unwilling to jump to conclusions, quite willing to sleep on complex issues- Musa Usman was not the one to fail to take a tough decision within a day or two upon presentation of all facts which he always insisted on. His maturity came with a listening ear; he would always seek and take advice from his commissioners and the public service. Though he was always pleasant, and rather easy going on the surface, Musa Usman would not suffer fools gladly; but even when angary with them, he would always put them down in a manner that was civilIt was not in his nature to be idle. When not working on files, or discussing industrialisation or rural water supply, you would find Musa Usman reading books on administration, Daedalus, Time Magazine, African Report or Africa Confidential. He was always seeking to learn from past actions and events so that he could himself intelligently to matters of policy. That was why he would always read the back pages of files and understand the background to an issue. On one occasion, he was amazed when he read a submission to the Premier initiated by Sunday Awoniyi in which he ended with a one sentence paragraph in the form of a query: you will approve' he could not understand why an official should instruct the Premier to approve. So he telephoned one of the officers who had worked with the Premier for an explanation. The simple explanation, of course, was that this was official practice in virtually all the Commonwealth countries, which emanated from the Indian Civil Service, through to Whitehall and passed over to the Nigerian Public ServiceThat was how Brigadier Usman operated. He came, he saw, he conquered and delivered the dividend of good governance during a very difficult moment in the states and nations history. Born at Enugu on the 3rd February 1940. I did not have the privilege of being acquainted with Musa in his early years. However, at my request major General HBM Haruna (Walin Garkida) a class associate of him obliged and supplied brief statement on the life of Musa Usman during his secondary days and his military training I am deeply honoured to be asked to say a few wordsabout my friend, Pioneering Boys Company mate, (NigerianMilitary School, as it was later named). In 1954, thirty (30)of us 14 year old children of retired veterans, who had servedin the British Army during World War 1 and World War 2 wererecruited and trained to serve as vanguard and eventually tobe commissioned and eventually rise to the leadership of theNigerian Army at Independence. We were recruited by the thenLt. Colonel Wellington- W U Bassey, WA1-1 who was reportedto be the first Nigerian to be commissioned in the then BritishWest African Frontier Force (WAFF), the fore-runner of theNigerian Regiment, which eventually meta posed into NigerianArmy.Musa Usman was disciplined, diligent, organised and orderlyin his comportment and approach to whatever he had to do.He emerged in 1958 as the Regiment Sergeant Major RSMof the Boys Company. He was very much admired and likedas a friendly person who promoted team spirit more so as asportsman, that he was a very good player in both footballand hockey. He was an excellent dribbler which on mostoccasions resulted in goals much to the displeasure of ouropponents, usually Barewa College Zaria. On the other hand,Umaru Mutallab, the current chairman of Jaiz Bank was a thornin our flesh whenever we played against them. Musa Usman wasgood in many athletic field and track events, indeed he was an allround sportsman. No wonder he was such an admirable militarygovernor team player of the North Eastern State Bauchi, Borno,Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe. Musa Usman was a devoutmuslim, in as much as a zestful army officer can be. He neverevaded responsibility and never looked ruffled whatever thesituation and environment in which he found himself.He thought tactics and strategy in the army andin the Nigerian Air Force where he was selected and transferredto, when that Force was created. I remained close to MusaUsman from 1954 to 1958 at the Boys Company and the rest ofhis lifetime as friends and family. Even though we parted waysfor a short while, when I had went abroad in 1958 to RegularOfficers Special Training School, Teshi-Accra Ghana and thenAldershot and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Musa Usmanfollowed through the same institutions a year later and wascommissioned at RMA Sandhurst into the Nigerian Army in 1962together with his friend BrigadierGeneral Mobolaji Johnson,the first military Governor of Lagos. Musa Usman kept his friendstrue and through all over time, no matter the prestige and statusto which he had been raised by appointments and by the Grace ofAllah.His charming wife, Jummai Usman ( Nee Nwachukwu), everyouthful and of motherly disposition and her children havealways amazed me as they have conducted their lives as if MusaUsman pervades lively around and nothing much had changedsince he departed, because Musa Usman is unforgettable byanyone who had met him or lived with him. As for me I am everremembering the night we both had to travel at night fromKaduna escorting the body of Mama Hajia Hadiza Abdullahi(mother of Musa) to her home stead at Ankpa in present dayKoji State for internment. I had the privilege to be hosted byAlhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, SAN whose hospitality I enjoyedtogether with an extended tour of the environment stretchingto an abandoned, exposed, surface coal mining for reasons ofnational negligence and ineptitude towards economicdevelopment.I pray for Allahs forgiveness and mercy upon Musa Usmanand his descendants and may Gog shower his grace upon hisfriends and associates, amen.Musa Usman had many qualities that helped him; but perhaps his greatest asset was Hajiya Jummai, his wife, with whom I worked at Federal Training Centre (FTC). She was posted there in 1966 to join her husband at the Air Force Base, Kaduna. She was gentle, simple and unassuming, intelligent and hardworking; and in spite of the relatively high position held by her husband, she kept her cool and was only concerned with her job. There was not the slightest change in her. She did not resign her appointment but in deploying the wife of a sitting governor, care had to be taken. After consultations between Head of the Civil Service and the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, she was posted to the Commission as one of the admin staff. For Brigadier Usman, Hajiya Jummai typified the popular adage that behind ever successful man is a woman. She took her position behind him and stayed there. His wife of many years, she was a civil servant before she got married to him and when he was appointed a governor, both of them decided that she should continue with her work; and she kept her job and went to the office every working day and on timeShe was only seen in public on ceremonial occasions in company of her husband. That, of course was long before the unhealthy and illegal parade of wives in the name of first ladies which had become the norm. A dignified lady, Hajiya Jummai quietly and almost invisibly, made her mark. She ran the home front and strictly kept to her domestic brief. At the end of the tenure of her husband as governor, both of them relocated to Kaduna, where she transferred her service to Kaduna State and went on to become a Permanent SecretaryShe was never known to have engaged in any public activity. Getting a pet project or getting involved in dishing out employment or negotiating contracts. Of course, not only was this kind of attitude frowned at, it was not the sort of thing the society accepted them. All the same, other governors wives attempted and, at least partially, succeeded in getting a hand on these and similar matters. But this was not for Jummai. She kept strictly to her job as a civil servant in the Public Service Commission. An assessment by the former Chairman of the North East Public Service Commission on her was she worked unobtrusively in her office, come to work on time and stayed on until she cleared her deskShe was never known to have made a fuss about anything, even though she was the wife of the governor. How one wished the succeeding crop of so called first ladies would learn from such an exemplanary person, instead of aping those who had gone out for a splash and had earned such a bad name for the government and public service. She didnt do this; and Usman wouldnt have allowed it if she triedThese attitudes and characteristics contrast glaringly with what we saw and still see today. We now have, and this has been on for sometime, leaders who though appointed by the military or purportedly elected in civilian regimes, see themselves as conquerors, and regard resources of the state at all levels of government as spoils of war to be looted at will. They have personalised government to the extent that their interests, their creature comforts and the preferences of their spouses take precedence over public policy and the public interests. Far away was Musa Usman from such attitudes.And today, even if an ungrateful nation chooses to forget his many great, though sometimes not so obvious, contributions to the North and to Nigeria, it cant easily forget the following three institutions that today stand as monuments to his foresight and which people see everyday.At least these three-NECAS, now University of Maiduguri, the Maiduguri Specialist Hospital, now University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and National kidney Centre, and the State Secretariat, perhaps the best in the country-will always stand testimony to the administrative genius of this self deserving leader- the first among the strategic thinkers of his days; and to the end an officer and a gentleman. I wish and pray that the Governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe and Yobe States would see their way to organise a memorial event or outfit in honour of Brigadier General Musa Usman.Adamu Wazirin Fika writes from Kaduna
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