Shehu Aliyu Shagari (1925 – 2018)

Unarguably the last of the titans, Shehu Aliyu Shagari, Second Republic President of Nigeria, went the way of all mortals on December 28, 2018, marking the end of an eventful era in the annals of the nation’s political metamorphosis.
A nationalist, patriot and statesman, Shagari was, until his demise, one of the few solons that did not only dominate his native Northern Nigerian space with mercurial audacity, but also, like his contemporaries, bestrode the nation’s political landscape like a magnificent colossus.
Small wonder then that the series of obviously unhealthy political developments in the country before and after his (Shagari’s) transition have hardly dimmed the avalanche of encomiums that has continued to flow freely like torrents. Tributes after tributes from Nigeria’s elites, including President Muhammadu Buhari who ousted his government, had underlined his sterling qualities of honesty and politics without bitterness which they themselves have failed to imbibe.
Although Nigeria’s political culture had always seem to function around ostentation and wider expectations, Shagari can be excused for whatever shortcomings, having presided over the nation at a period when our optimism about what was possible far outstripped our capacities to build and to persevere.
The Tide is not saying that Shagari was a saint among sinners. Not at all. But he can be singled out as one of those supranational symbols whose invocation had often sufficed to heal divisive acrimonies in the land and douse the unending embers of sectarian and clannish obsessions. It is to his eternal credit that he preached national unity and progress till his death.
Willed into existence on February 25, 1925, Shagari started his education in a Quaranic school and later attended Yabo Elementary School (1931-1935). After attending middle school in Sokoto from 1936 and 1940, he attended Kaduna College from 1941 – 1944 from where he gained admission into Teachers Training College, Zaria in 1944. He was a visiting teacher in Sokoto Province in 1953 and also a member of the Federal Scholarship Board between 1954 and 1958.
After his public service stint, Shagari was appointed Secretary of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) in Sokoto from where he was elected into his first public office as a member of the House of Representatives for Sokoto West in 1954.
In 1958, the then Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa appointed Shagari his Parliamentary Secretary and later Federal Minister for Commerce and Industry. He was at various times Federal Minister of Economic Development (1959 – 1960), Federal Minister of Pensions (1960 – 1962), Federal Minister of Works (1965 – 1966), Secretary, Sokoto Province Education Development Fund, Commissioner for Establishment in the North Western State.
In 1970, Shagari staged a come back to the Federal Cabinet first as Commissioner for Economic Development, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, and later as Federal Commissioner for Finance from 1971 to 1975. During this period, he was a governor of World Bank and a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Committee of Twenty.
A co-founder of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1978, Shagari was elected Nigeria’s first executive President on the party’s platform in 1979 in a keenly contested but controversial election that involved Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Unity Party of Nigeria), Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria Peoples Party), Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim (Great Nigeria Peoples Party) and Alhaji Aminu Kano (People’s Redemption Party).
Upon assuming duties on October 1, 1979, Shagari pledged to promote agricultural and economic development and help prosecute the fight against racism in Southern Africa.
In 1980, he initiated the Green Revolution, a comprehensive agricultural programme to ensure self-sufficiency in food production. He set up among others, 11 river basin development authorities to actualise it. Between 1980 and 1983, he completed the Kaduna Refinery, the Delta Steel complex and the Aluminum Smelter Company at Ikot Abasi.
Basking in the euphoria of the oil boom, Shagari also gave housing, transportation and industries a major boost in his administration’s policy.
A proponent of the African Defence Force in the 1980 Summit of the defunct Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Shagari’s foreign policy was hinged on the liquidation of the white minority rule in South Africa and the independence of Namibia.
Unfortunately, Shagari’s second term in 1983 was terminated by Major General (now, President) Muhammadu Buhari in a military putsch over allegations of corruption.
Yet, his ordeal in Buhari’s hand did not blight his vision for a greater and united Nigeria as he continued to contribute to national discourse, even with his frail health, and until his eventual passage. His, was indeed a life of meritorious service to the nation.
The Turaki of Sokoto since 1962, Shagari was a recipient of several chieftaincy titles of several communities across Nigeria and also a Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), the country’s highest national honour.
May his soul rest in perfect peace.