Bamanga Tukur and Uba Sani

Today this column would be deviating from policy matters to pay attention to the personalities stated above. It is important to state that nations which moved into sound development gave emphasis to system standardization over personalities.

The fight over ideology trumped the search for persons to drive the country. The long enduring fight between capitalism and socialism is the struggle over systems.  A bad system would drown the most intelligent person. This is the greatest challenge of our country. This is why in our outing last week we endorsed the statement made by onetime vice presidential candidate of Labour Party, Dr Datti Buba-Ahmed, who said that none of the presidential candidates currently seeking office via 2027 election is capable of changing the fortune of our country. The talk wasn’t an indictment of the candidates, it was a correct assessment of what the existing system could do in the march for sustainable development.

This is not to say the human element isn’t important in national development, it is the next most important factor in the making of a nation. The human element drives the system according to design and expectations. The trait and character they have can be a plus or minus. If the human element is equipped and broad this would reflect positively on policy and programme. If on the other hand their experience and exposure are limited and narrow, the country would be in trouble.

Policies would be tailored to suit narrow personal and group interest, It wouldn’t matter  the cost  on the country and the people. We have seen how citizens bastardized the political architecture we agreed to at Independence. To those who went on the path of recklessness, creating states for their ethnic groups, wives and friends, it didn’t matter but like we can see it has not only killed initiative, it has become a burden in terms of recurrence over capital projects.

We spend more to run government than we have to execute capital projects.  As you read this, Nigerians who want to get into Lagos from the East and South South sleep for days on the road due to the bad state of the highways. This is why the class character of the country’s leadership personnel is important,

We have seen why we have to devote attention to the two Nigerians. I can restate that there are rich and worthy lessons to draw from their disposition, leadership styles and political activities. Bamanga Tukur died at the age of ninety years. He didn’t just walk through the country unconcerned about the proper development of the country, he lived and died a concerned citizen. He saw the challenges and wanted solutions.

He saw we have not established a country, wanted one created and worked hard to see if it could happen in his lifetime. As we noted earlier he became governor of old Adamawa State, but the forces that have held the country down were very much at work, and that experiment at democracy didn’t last long before it was truncated by citizens who chose the wrong path to land themselves into power. The military playing internal politics sacked the civilian leadership and took over power.

With that Bamanga’s vision for that area of Nigeria was aborted. He was a very kind man ever willing to assist anyone who came his way but as he would always tell some of us members of the press who mingled with him, “there isn’t much he could do as a person. Power remained the best platform. He later became the National chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

He was a very successful businessman, building up an African businessmen forum that he led as the head for many years. He believed Africa’s development lay in integration. He pursued his belief vigorously. Where he got the interest of this column is in what he represented as an individual. He was very affable. This quality is low or near absent in Nigeria of today. He was loving and very accommodating.

This point requires elucidation. Almost all the Nigerian leaders of today are demigods. They act it, and we, the people treat them as such. We make our leaders live in a strange world, a world of illusion, virtually quarantined by security personnel, who determine the reality around them. Bamanga Tukur was different. He wasn’t afraid of who came around him, his home or office.

He wasn’t tribalistic. This is one of the plagues that has kept us backward. He loved Nigeria and wanted to see it developed like Europe and the Asian giants. He must have died full of regrets.

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has impressed many of us.  He is a surprise now. It is not certain how many ‘Man of the Year’ awards he has won. If he hasn’t he would need one and if  he won any, he needs many more from across the country for his sense of national responsibility and practical efforts to build a country where all can be one.

He talks national unity and by practical actions proved that bad behavior is behind the many mistakes holding up our efforts towards building a prosperous country where life would be a song worth singing for the far majority of the citizens.

The Uba Sani example is important for the very simple reason that we have entrenched this culture where leaders have made national unity and nation building a slogan and a matter for double speak. They talk about a great country in public and when it is time to match words with action they renegade. In private our leaders pursue minor or narrow interests. We can see the consequences today around us.

The Plain Truth is we need a system just as we need men of high visionary and moral standing to drive the process. These two men have shown that these requirements aren’t rocket science, that we can get them if we really want.