Nigeria’s
former President, Shehu Shagari, has been laid to rest at his private residence
in his hometown, Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
Shagari who passed on, Friday December 29, at
the national hospital in Abuja after a brief illness was buried according to
Islamic rites today having lived for 93 years.
He was laid to rest after the prayers led by Professor Shehu Galadanchi,
a former Vice-Chancellor at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto.
His corpse arrived at the Sultan Abubakar
airport, Sokoto on Saturday morning after earlier departure from Abuja. The
body was received at the airport by Governor Aminu Tambuwal, members of the
state executive council and other dignitaries on it’s way to his final resting
place in Shagari Local Government of Sokoto State.
Meanwhile,
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state, has declared Monday, Dec. 31, as
public holiday in the state to enable residents offer special prayer for the
repose of the soul of former President, Shehu Shagari.
This
is contained in a statement by Tambuwal’s Director General, Media and Public
Affairs, Malam Abubakar Shekara, and issued to newsmen on Saturday in Sokoto.
Tambuwal said that the
declaration followed consultation with the Sultanate Council.
“The state government therefore, requests
Imams across Sokoto and the general public to dedicate the day for special
prayers for the repose of the soul of the former President and for peace and
progress of the nation at large.
“The government also directs all flags at public
and private premises be flown at half mast in honor of the late former
President, Shehu Shagari,”
it said. Shagari was born in the northern Shagari village founded by his great-grandfather, Ahmadu Rufa’i, who was also the Village Head and took the name Shagari as his family name.
With his great wealth of experience in
service, Shagari served seven times in a ministerial or cabinet post as a
federal minister and as federal commissioner from 1958-1975
In 1954 Shagari was elected into his first
public office as a member of the federal House of Representative for Sokoto
west. In 1958, Shagari was appointed as parliamentary secretary (he left the
post in 1959) to the Nigerian Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and
that year he also served as the Federal Minister for Commerce and Industries.
From 1959-1960, Shagari was redeployed to the
ministry for economic development, as the Federal Minister for Economic
Development.
In 1960-1962, he was moved to the Pensions
ministry as the Federal Minister for Pensions. From 1962-1965, Shagari was made
the Federal minister for internal affairs. From 1965 up until the first
military coup in January 1966, Shagari was the Federal Minister for works.
In 1967 he was appointed as the secretary for
Sokoto province education development fund. From 1968-1969, Shagari was given a
state position in the North Western State as commissioner for establishments.
After the Nigerian civil war, from 1970-1971,
Shagari was appointed by the military head of state General Yakubu Gowon as the
federal commissioner for economic development, rehabilitation, and
reconstruction.
From 1971-75 he served as the Federal
commissioner (a position now called minister) of finance. During his tenure as
the commissioner of finance for Nigeria, Shagari was also a governor for the
World Bank and a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) committee of
twenty.
