President Shehu Shagari

By Bilyamin Abdulmumin, PhD

On the 25th of February, the former president Mallam Alhaji Shehu Shagari posthumously celebrated his 100th birthday. To honor this significant occasion, his grandchild, Bello Shagari, wrote him a letter in heaven, where he now resides, inshallah.

In the letter, Shagari told his grandfather the entire story he had missed during the seven years since he left. He perhaps started with what would have concerned him the most: Muhammadu Buhari completed his eight-year tenure but never fulfilled the promise to honor him, even though a similar gesture was extended to MKO Abiola for recognizing June 12 and renaming the Abuja stadium after him, as well as completing a mausoleum for Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

The letter continued: Bola Ahmed Tinubu has become the President of Nigeria, but surprisingly, Nigerians are now more patient with the burden of reforms than they were before when they celebrated coups.

Another piece of information shared in the letter was the launch of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s autobiography, a book surrounded by controversies on all sides. Interestingly, the book cleared Shagari of corruption.

The objective of this article was the Presidential Library the Shagari family is considering, as mentioned in the letter. The family hopes to achieve that by converting his decaying house into a historical monument.

Just before that birthday, a fatherly figure sent me a viral video of an old house belonging to Shehu Shagari, which had fallen into disrepair. The video was interestingly captioned with a suggestion: converting the house into a presidential library. The viral video may have already reached the Shagari family, who might have already contemplated it.

I think that so far, the only official presidential library we have in Nigeria is the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL). The complex is described as a mini village, featuring an open-air amphitheater, an auditorium, a hotel, an amusement park, a wildlife park, an observation point, restaurants and bars, a Jumu’at mosque, and of course, a church.

I was surprised to learn that OOPL has a Jumu’at mosque. This highlights not only the size of the village surrounding the library but also the diverse local and international users.

Ultimately, a promising archive of this significance—a repository of presidential documents, a tourist attraction, and an academic center—stands as a proud monument not only for a specific state or region but for all of Nigeria.

As the only democratically elected president of Nigeria’s Second Republic, the call to preserve his legacy for future generations cannot be overstated. Dear Nigerians, in memory of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, let’s make this dream a reality.

By Ukashatu Ibrahim Wakili

In honor of the late President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, GCFR, Turakin Sokoto’s legacy, the Nigerian Council of Journalists, Sokoto State Council, is organizing the maiden edition of the Shehu Shagari Memorial Lecture.

This came to the fore at an Extraordinary Congress of the Council held yesterday at the State Press Center. Speaking, the Chairman of the Union, Comrade Tsalhatu Abdullahi Safiyar Magori, of the NUJ, believed that this event would help preserve the legacy of the late President Shehu Shagari and inspire future generations to learn from his works.

“The Council already started making an effort to involve all relevant stakeholders, including the state government, the Sultanate Council, and some elders with proposals, which they hope will receive a positive response,” he said.

The event was proposed to be held on the 25th of February, which is the birth anniversary of the late Turakin Sokoto.

It will feature fundraising for the promotion of his legacies and ideals, such as education (especially sciences), historical literary works, and political documentation of his works.

Also, the NUJ Sokoto Council moved to confer a posthumous award on the late Usman Faruk, the first military governor of the then North-Western State, who donated his building to the council in 1992. The building is now being used as the NUJ’s state secretariat.

Similarly, various committees have been inaugurated at the congress to assist in achieving the collective goals. The committees include a steering committee, contact committee, finance committee, accommodations and reception committee, lecture committee, and speechwriting committee.

Additionally, the committees were given seven days to submit their reports.

Wife of late President Shehu Shagari, Hajiya Hadiza Shagari is dead. A statement signed by Rtd. Capt. Muhammad Bala Shagari, Sarkin Mafaran Shagari, said that she died earlier today in an Abuja Isolation Centre to Covid 19 complication. Her funeral procession will hold today after Asr prayer, according to the laid Islamic injunctions.