Vice President: Leaders Must Build Institutions, Governance Should Transcend Elections

• Ex-NSA, Monguno, urges revival of Musa Usman’s devt vision

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima has challenged political leaders to look beyond electoral cycles and build strong institutions and policies capable of continuing to serve Nigerians long after they leave office.

Shettima gave the charge yesterday at the presentation of a book chronicling the life and legacy of Brigadier Musa Usman, the pioneer military governor of the former North-Eastern State.

The book, titled, “Service and Impact,” is the biography of the late Usman, who was military governor of North-Eastern State from 1967 to 1975. It is co-authored by Mallam Mahmud Jega and Dr. Theophilus Abbah.

Prominent Nigerians from the North-east geopolitical zone and other parts of Nigeria, including Borno State Governor Babangana Zulum, former Speaker Yakubu Dogara, General Ike Nwanchukwu (retd), and Mrs. Titi Atiku Abubakar, among others, graced the occasion.

The vice president, who was represented at the event by his Special Adviser on General Duties, Aliyu Modibbo, said the quality of leadership should not be judged merely by what an administration accomplished while in office, but by the institutions, policies, and development foundations it left behind.

He stated, “We must build beyond the next elections and think beyond political boundaries.

“Leadership is measured by what continues to serve the people after the leader has left office.”

Shettima said the book presentation offered an opportunity to reflect on a generation of public servants, who regarded political and public office as a responsibility to the people rather than an avenue for personal advancement.

He commended the authors, Jega and Abbah, for documenting Musa Usman’s life and preserving the history of his administration, which, he said, continued to have visible impact across the North-east.

According to him, the former North-Eastern State, created in 1967, covered a vast and diverse territory that now comprised Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.

Shettima stressed that the region’s ethnic, religious, ecological, and historical diversity made it imperative for governments to establish credible and inclusive institutions capable of giving every community a sense of belonging.

He pointed to the Musa Usman Secretariat in Maiduguri as one of the enduring monuments of the former governor’s administration, saying it symbolises the lasting value of purposeful governance.

He stated that successive administrations had built on foundations laid by their predecessors, urging contemporary leaders to sustain that tradition despite the complex challenges facing the North-east.

Equallyspeaking at the event, former National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, said Usman’s contributions to national development remained relevant more than five decades after his tenure as governor of the former North-Eastern State.

Monguno recalled that Usman assumed office at the age of 27 and inherited a vast territory with limited infrastructure, but devoted his eight-year tenure to laying foundations for economic and social development across the region.

He said the former North-Eastern State covered about 289,421 square kilometres and shared international borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Monguno said Musa Usman’s tenure was marked by a clear commitment to transforming the region into a major centre of national development.

He said, “The eight years he served as military governor of the North-Eastern State were exemplified by a commitment to duty, a sense of purpose, and a relentlessness, fired by a desire to transform the North-East into one of the nerve centres for national development.”

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babagana Kingibe, who presented the book, described Musa Usman’s leadership style as collegiate, saying he combined vision and intellectual capacity with humility.

Kingibe attributed the former governor’s achievements to his willingness to listen to colleagues, civil servants, and other stakeholders, rather than impose his views on the administration.

Kingibe stated, “He had humility to know that he didn’t know everything. He had humility to run a collegiate administration, to debate, to relate to everyone in the government as a colleague, as a friend, and not as some kind of a military czar.”