Aminu Saleh: a tribute

“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. He served in that […]

“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. He served in that capacity for a shade less than three years.
That phrase, which he uttered often, mostly when important decisions were about to be implemented in the 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 24th, 1993 and 16th October, 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, the Head of State, General Sani Abacha, has told the nation that his government was “a child of necessity.” Sometimes, Malam Aminu Saleh would take important decisions out of necessity in the public interest whenever he assessed that “time was of the essence.”
Malam Aminu Saleh, whose rise 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 versed and 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 12th 1993 elections. He would make contacts and set up meetings with influential 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 Aminu 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,” Dr Bukar Usman recalled.
His handling of demands and agitation from Labour, which could have aggravated the impact of some of the economic sanctions imposed on the nation, was always tactful and mostly successful. As a powerful conversationalist full of lessons of the highest order, he was always lively and convincing in negotiations.
His image as a person of strong will and the strong impact he made as SGF, heightened the profile of that office, which Civil Servants and the official literature on it describe as the engine room of the Government. Because of his effectiveness and visible role on-post, the national media portrayed him, arguably, as one of the three most powerful public officers of the time.
Busy time as he had as the SGF, he often travelled to Azare, to visit and greet his aged mother, about whom he spoke 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 as a person of high office, include his deep empathy with the lower and younger staff of his office. This quality was manifested in several ways, including gift-giving where occasions justify it. Malam Aminu 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 of his office 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 Malam Aminu Saleh outside of government business was illustrated in the large number of pupils and students he sponsored annually. He has 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 as he lay restfully in his grave.
Salisu Na’inna is a federal director of information.