MDadminLast week, Senator Muhammed Sha’abaLafiagi, former governor of Kwara State, was made representative of the state in the Senate Constitution Review Committee. I called to congratulate him and then spoke with a cross section of people in Kwara who agreed he was a good choice, with a genuine commitment to, and understanding of the state.
He willnot offer representation with ulterior or pecuniary motive nor will he feather his own nest, behind propaganda and the façade of representation. People remember him as governor during the ill-fated Babangida transition, and is appreciated for his devotion to the best interest of the state. His administration opened up the narrow-based civil service, allowing several people to build sustained civil service careers; and one of the direct beneficiaries of Sha’abaLafiagi’s foresight is the PDP’s National Chairman, Abubakar Kawu Baraje.
Out of power, he fell upon hard political and material times, but remained a dignified individual, appreciated by a lot of people. Not for him, as governor, an over-exaggerated sense of self, nor the distortion of the visual space of Kwara with billboards of self and family. He was never on record as having paid for spurious award ceremonies that people were then corralled to attend. He did not try to extract affection or loyalty by force out of people; in fact people carried the placard of their affection for Muhammed Sha’abaLafiagi in their hearts. His choice therefore recognizes his worth, especially nationally, even in the context of the cloak-and-dagger propensities of our nation’s politics. Truly, a good man can’t be put down forever!
