BECKONED TO SERVE. By Shehu Shagari

 

"I was determined to carry out that mandate to the best if my ability and strictly in accordance with the spirit of my oath of office without fear or favour. I was fully prepared and equipped for the job since I felt i had developed sufficient  experience in the job and had already learnt my lessons...I felt that...I must put the benefit of my long standing experience in government into practice in order to make the presidential system  of govt that we had chosen for ourselves the success that it deserved to be. I already had behind me some 25 years ( 1958 to 1983) of service as a cabinet member of federal govts, federal state and local govts and now as the first Executive President of Nigeria for four years..."

 

So writes Shehu Shagari in this remarkable world class autobiography - that ideally every Nigerian should read - and learn a lot from. A historical sociological treasure trove.

No doubt the author was much misunderstood during his lifetime especially re his stewardship as Nigeria's first Executive President. He and his party - the NPN were easily re elected but the Nigerian army put the skids in his administration. Thereafter Shagari was incarcerated, put under house arrest for years.

He of course was not happy about this and believes so many people who should have known better trued to run him down, or even betrayed him. As he writes here: "One of the biggest disappointments of my life was the discovery, somewhat belatedly that MOST OF THE PEOPLE I TRUSTED ARE NOT IN FACT WORTHY OF THE TRUST"

It was the Gen Olusegun Obasanjo military regime that handed over power to Shagari and his party. This book shows the author respects Obasanjo a lot but was uneasy about some aspects in regards the ex Head of State.  (Obasanjo himself admitted that he voted for Shagari as President). Here is what Shagari writes in this work:

"Yet for some strange reasons this soldier-statesman (Obasanjo) had developed some kind of deep malevolence for me, despite the very high regard and respect I have always had for him, as was demonstrated by the highest national honour I awarded him and which I still believe he richly deserved..."

Alhaji Shehu Shagari, veritable nationalist and patriot, died in 2018. Great man of Integrity and Peace.