THISDAYonline

The golden age of Nigeria as a nation was the period 1975/76 when the basic paradigm of ethno-tribal, religious and class liberalism was fiercely promoted by the then Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed.

After the assassination of Murtala by coupists in 1976, General Olusegun Obasanjo, then second in command, took over the baton of leadership and effectively followed the economic blue-print. and policy-plan left behind by his predecessor to the letter, making his already glowing reputation as a civil war hero and dyed-in-the-wool nationalist to soar further.

Living up to his reputation, General Obasanjo quietly retired to his Ota farm after handing over to the democratic government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1979. This Brilliant gesture earned him tremendous local respect and a place in the International Hall of fame. So when successive administrations and regimes failed to put the country on the fast track to economic growth and development and in fact, left it tottering, the only option left was to look for someone who has what it takes to cleanse the Augean stable that was Nigeria.

It was decided that Chief Obasanjo was just the Hercules needed for such a task. Promptly he was released from Prison, granted a state pardon for the treasonable felony for which the Abacha regime jailed him, contested and won the 1999 election as president and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Naturally, most Nigerians were happy because apart from Obasanjo's glorious antecedent as a nationalist, an Africanist and statesman of international stature, his coming also meant that the nation's seemingly hydra-headed socio-economic and political problems would be a thing of the past, just as it signified an end to the then pariah status of the country.

President Obasanjo did not disappoint them. In his maiden address to the nation, he rightly identified the problems that have held the nation to ransom and. promised to tackle them head-on, and with dispatch! The nation was enraptured. The messiah has come they chorused. And with the dramatic way Obasanjo left prison to Presidency and his born again avowal, nothing could have swayed their opinion.

But half-way into his first tenure our man was still making all the right noises and taking the wrong actions. About this time too, it had become clear that Obasanjo had jettisoned all the nationalistic credentials he was known for to pander to some parochial ethnic interests - or so it seemed, because as it turned out it was a mere ploy to lure irredentists from his area into a false sense of security so as to steal their mandate in 2003. And he has succeeded. The Action for Democracy (AD) or what is left of it, has recently joined the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) which is championing the cause of the stolen mandate of April, 2003.

One of the first people who had seen through the red-herring drawn by President Olusegun Obasanjo is the charismatic and self-effacing Senator from Adamawa Central Senatorial District during the first leg of this administration, Senator Abubakar H. Girei, the Sardauna Girei.

A former Principal Quantity Surveyor with the old Gongola Ministry of Works and one-time General Manager of Nigerian Agriculture and Cooperative Bank (NACB) and MD/CEO of a private consultancy firm, Senator Girei was born on March 14, in Girei town, Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State and is married with children. The Senator, though still a member of the PDP at that time, had taken up the gauntlet and warned Nigerians that what they were seeing was not gloss but matt.

At a time when any form of criticism against the apparently rudderless government of Obasanjo was considered sacrilegious by those hawkish tribal Jingoists and religious bigots, this was no mean feat. But then, Senator Abubakar Girei is not the type who balks. Once he makes up his mind on anything he goes all out for it.

Known for his courage and generosity, the Sardauna Girei had displayed similar trait in the run-up to the PDP Primaries in Adamawa two years ago. Although it was clear that government had made up its mind to select their anointed candidates. Girei made sure that he fought to the very end.

A completely detribalized Nigerian whose closest associates include the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Senator J. F. K. Waku, Alhaji Bello Raji among others, he has tremendous respect for elders and traditional institutions as reflected in his continuous cordial relationship and good rapport with even those perceived to be not just his political enemies but who actually raped the people of Adamawa State by forcing unwanted people down their famished throats as leaders.

School are matrices for leadership qualities and, perhaps that is where the charming senator started exhibiting this trait as a pupil in Girei Central Primary School which he attended from 1962 - 1968. From there he proceeded to the famous Barewa. College, Zaria for his ordinary level WASC. He was in University of Maiduguri from 1973 -1975 for his Advance Level (NECAS) before he went to Ahmadu Bello University in 1975 in pursuit of a B.Sc in Quantity Surveying which he obtained in 1978. He was back in the same institution five years later for a masters degree in Construction Management. With that safely in the kit in 1985, he left only to come back again for a Masters in Business Administration which he successfully completed in 1994.

A House captain in Barewa. at one time and a Hall Representative at the ABU at the other, the Senator's actual foray into real politics apart from campus politics which he was actively involved in while in ABU was during the aborted transition programme of General Sani Abacha when he had his eyes on the House of Representative on the platform of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria, DPN.

Generally admired by his people for his easy and affable manners, rare courage, boundless generosity and Godliness, he easily swept the poll in 1999 when. he contested for the Senate on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party.

While in the Senate, he first served as Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Internal Affairs, then Chairman, Senate Services Committee and later Vice Chairman Solid Mineral Resources, Committee. He was also at various time a member of the Local and Foreign Affairs Committee, Banking and Currency Committee, Transport, Culture and Tourism Committee, Police Affairs, defence (Air force), Gas, Drugs and Financial Crime Committee among others as well as being a member of the constitution Review Committee representing Adamawa State in the National Assembly Committee for the review of the 1999 constitution.

A dynamic and vibrant member of the National Assembly, it was Senator Girei alongside other key Senators like Sumaila Mamman, Musa Adede and Haruna Abubakar that facilitated the installment of late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo as President of the Senate. It was he also who initiated the Chuba-for-President campaign which was launched in Yola.

One would have thought that with all this commitments and engagement the Senator would not have had time for his primary role in the Senate. But it did not work out that way. He had executed many projects in his constituency and contributed in the initiation of so many others that are benefiting both his people and Nigerians today. As a matter of fact it is on account of his outstanding performance that he was virtually dragged into the 2003 governorship race by the people of Adamawa State.

Sadly enough some people who place personal interest before the people and who still believe in the primitive accumulation of wealth would not hear of that. He dumped the PDP for the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), effectively putting a check on the predatory tendencies of the PDP in the state as was shown last year by the woeful performance of the party in the state in a kind of election in which number of votes does not determine winners.

Senator Abubakai Girei believes in truth as the only weapon for a positive change in the society. He also believes that in order for people to function productively, they must be empowered. And this belief was his mission statement when he was aspiring for the governorship. It is because of his philosophical outlook to life that Senator Girei has become an unrepentant critic of the Obasanjo administration.

Nigeria is in a dire need of leadership: a focused and proactive leadership with a sense of duty and clear mission not a leadership with traces of senile reflexes and flashes of mental dotage.

As we rejoice with this man of distinction and high integrity, Senator Abubakar Girei on his golden birthday, we should also use the occasion to reflect and pray for the salvation of our great and beloved country.

Bazza Writes From Kaduna.