A Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed,
has dismisses President Muhammadu Buhari’s tribute to the late President Shehu
Shagari, aged 93 who died on Friday.
Buhari, in a statement by his Special
Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Femi Adesina, had described
Shagari’s death as the departure of a patriot, whose life of
service and humility was widely acknowledged, but Mohammed in an interview with
our correspondent stated that Shagari had gained respect by retiring and living
a quiet lifestyle, unlike some in the current political class. The elder
statesman said, “Quite a number of the people who would claim to be his friends
were actually his enemies and they contributed tremendously to bringing down
that government and in making it impossible for us to have a meaningful
democratic dispensation years after his departure from office.”
When asked his thoughts on Buhari’s
tribute, he said, “It’s not sincere. If you’ve contributed so much in bringing
down a government and bringing down a man who had nothing to gain, even though
he had poor eyesight and was in poor health – he was in his late 60s then – you
cannot say, from 1984 till now, you got along well. How did you get along well?
“No matter what you say about the Shagari administration, he knew how to retire
from public service quietly, with a tremendous amount of nobility and
self-respect. You have to give him that.
“In terms of retirement and living a quiet
life and garnering more respect, Shagari is certainly one of Nigeria’s most
outstanding leaders and I certainly believe the nation will continue to mourn
him appropriately.”
According to Mohammed, he was devastated
by the news of Shagari’s demise. He added that Shagari believed in the goodness
of human nature, even when human nature was not always good.
“The first Shagari administration of 1979
wasn’t particularly spectacular. There are quite a number of people there who
really disappointed us, both National Party of Nigeria and Shagari, the
president. He endured a lot but he didn’t want to rock the boat, so he waited
until after the election in 1983 when some the characters were simply asked to
leave or reappointed.
“But even then there were others who were
reappointed and I have a feeling that was because of pressure from within the
party by some people who were seen to be above the law. Some of us would have
been happy to see many of those who did not serve the country well
outright sacked even before the end of the four-year term.
Shagari
had a very modest lifestyle. If you got to know him personally, he was very
cool and had a tremendous sense of humour. He got on very well with quite a
number of people. He was a very wonderful man. I really enjoyed discussing with
him even though we had our political differences.”
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