By Salisu Na’inna Dambatta
“Time is of the essence,” was a favoured phrase of Malam Aminu Saleh, Wamban Katagum and the first Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in the administration of General Sani Abacha. He took over from Alhaji Mustafa Umara of Chief Ernest Shonekan’s Interim Government to become the 12th SGF.
That phrase, which he uttered often, mostly when important decisions were about to be implemented in public interest, underlined the zest, passion and commitment with which he pursued the critical job of co-ordinating the affairs of the federal government from the pivotal and sensitive Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation(OSGF), between November 24, 1993 and October 16, 1995.
He would come to work early, always starting the business of the day with a brief prayer for divine guidance, followed by personal checking of his blood pressure, a mark of health consciousness and discipline.
He closes from work late, toiling all day for the fatherland at one of the most politically, socially and economically difficult times in the history of Nigeria. His boss, General Abacha, has told the nation that his government was “a child of necessity.”
Malam Aminu Saleh, who rose in his glorious long public service career from a Native Authority Treasurer in Azare to the exalted positions of a Federal Permanent Secretary, a Minister of the Republic and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, had acquitted himself as a patriot who devoted most of his life to the cause of Nigeria.
It is apt that, Malam Adamu Adamu, a respected columnist, had quoted the popular column in the New Nigerian, Candido, which characterised him as sarkin yakin Nigeria (a devoted promoter of the Nigerian cause) in a tribute.
A man who was vast in financial management and economic matters, and a smooth administrator with a gift of astute political calculations, he contributed immensely to the process of controlling the problematic aftermath of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections.
He would make contacts and set up meetings with influencial politicians of the time, encouraged dialogue and did plenty of political engineering to end the crisis. As the SGF, he played a key role in stabilising the value of the Nigerian currency in particular, and in determining the overall direction of the national economy in the face of political and economic pressures from Nigeria’s traditional trading-partner nations in the aftermath of the June 12, 1993, elections.
Prior to that as testified by Dr. Bukar Usman, a retired federal Permanent Secretary who worked with Malam Saleh closely, “as a middle level officer in the Civil Service, he was put in charge of the country’s scarce foreign exchange in the Federal Ministry of Finance then at Tinubu Square, Lagos, during the civil war years and he discharged that responsibility creditably by employing his native authority financial management skills.
“He was a firm believer in national self-reliance and so went all out during his tenure as SGF to strongly advocate tapping the enormous minerals and agricultural potentials of this country. To demonstrate such commitments as SGF he organised series of conferences across the nation to discus and give impetus as well as urgency to the revival of crops production and exploitation of mineral resources. He did not sit back and to show his conviction went into the exploitation of kaolin/limestone,” Usman recalled.
His handling of demands and pressure from Labour, which could have aggravated the impact of some of the economic sanctions imposed on the nation, was always tactful and mostly successful. He was always lively and convincing in negotiations.
Busy time as he had as the SGF, he often travelled to Azare, to visit and greet his aged mother, whom he spoke of with great affection, equalled only to the way he referred to Wambai Salihu, his father.
He also held a number of other people in high esteem and repeatedly narrated his closeness to Malam Aminu Kano, one of his teachers at the Bauchi Middle School. He said he imbibed a lot of virtues from his teachers at that early stage of his life. And I add that his clear grasp of Islamic principles and precepts was probably a greater factor in shaping his character of excellence.
Indeed, some of the virtues he exhibited include his deep empathy with the lower and younger staff of his office. Saleh emphasises at staff meetings that it was always for the elder to extend the hand of fellowship to the junior.
More important, he literally taught and guided the staff on the best way to treat matters before them, regardless of their seniority. He always encouraged everyone to focus on his area of responsibility.
At the national level, it is on record that some policy measures that cushioned the effects of the sanctions regime imposed on Nigeria were in large part crafted and pushed up by him.
A man of great sense of humour, the humane disposition of Saleh outside of government business was illustrated in the large number of students he sponsored. He ran an Islamic school with a large number of student intake for decades in Azare and established relations with universities abroad for the sole purpose of admitting students from his Islamiyya School for studies in various fields.
Now that he had answered the call of his Creator on Tuesday, July 22, 2015, Malam Aminu Saleh, a man of many good sides, who played many important roles in the development of Nigeria during his sojourn of over 80 years on earth, is now at rest. May Allah grant him the best of His favours.
Dambatta, a Director of Information, was Information Officer in the Office of the SGF.
