Ahmed Musdafa Waziri: A Quintessential Civil Servant at 60, by Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
There are conflicting accounts in different history books about the real origin of the profound, generational phrase, “Life Begins at 40.” The real owner of the intellectual property remains a mystery due to the fact that a lot of authors, musicians, movie producers etc have used it as titles for their literary works. One of them was John Lennon, who wrote a song called “Life Begins at 40” but never recorded it because he was shot and killed two months after his 40th birthday on December 8, 1980.
The most authoritative account however is the one that traces the phrase to the 1932 self-help Book titled, “Life Begins at 40” and written by a curious American author, Walter B. Pitkin. The Book became a hit and bestseller based on the fact that it emerged at a time Life Expectancy Ratio in the US was on the rise.
The thematic preoccupation of the Book revolves round the unpredictable, uncertain and sometimes tragic nature of life during the period of the Great Depression which according to the author could be defied by looking forward to many years of fulfilling and happy existence after age 40, provided that one maintained the proper positive attitude and embraced gratitude.
Contentment, positive attitude and gratitude have defined the life of this patriotic gentleman in all the 60 remarkable years he has been around. This is why everyone believes that a new life of peace and bliss will begin for him with his recent retirement from the civil service which was celebrated with pomp and pageantry by those whose lives he has touched remarkably over the years.
At the slightest excitement, he would just face Qibla (Where Muslims face to pray) and do Sujood (Put his head on the ground in homage) to Allah, thanking Him for all He has done in his life. At the slightest reflection, he would tell the next person: “Abdulrahman, God has done me everything. Alihamdulilah. Alihamdulilah…..! God has done me everything. What else do I want? What? I just want to finish from here and go. I want to finish well. I want to go. After all I have gotten from the sugar industry and NSDC in particular, it will be pure madness for me to seek or accept to stay a day longer here in the name of contract or anything. I won’t try that.”
Despite the fact that he is not particularly rich or wealthy, he thinks more about others and less about himself. He bothers more about how the system will work and serve the overall interest of all and how it will endure to keep serving future generations than how it will serve him personally in the temporary. He would always say: “If we destroy the system because of what we want to ‘chop’ now, where will my Mahmud go in the future? How will your own children too survive?
If you want to see passion in his eyes and witness the fire in his belly, raise the topic of youth unemployment in Nigeria. He once swore that if any big man offers him 10 million Naira as a gift or wishes to help him to gainfully employ three of the young graduates around him, he would gladly take the latter option even though he didn’t have anything close to that amount in his account. He has taken it upon himself to make sure tens of young Nigerians around him are gainfully employed both in the sugar industry and in other places where he is influential. Too many of the beneficiaries of his job-hunting prowess are not even known to him directly. They are either the children, wives, husbands, siblings or friends of his colleagues or acquaintances, or people who just walk up to him on their knees, for whom he pulled strings to get very good jobs for.
Ahmed Musdafa Waziri, aka Ahmadu Sardauna, the Katuka of Gurin in Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa state, has seen it all. He has had an impressive career in journalism, public relations and sugar industry. If he was born to Ijaw parents from Rivers, Bayelsa or Delta state, no one would have named him Ahmed. His name would have simply been ‘Independence’ because he came to the world on the day Nigeria rolled out the drums to mark its fourth independence anniversary.
He was however born to Fulani aristocrats from the famous Waziri family in ancient Yola. After his elementary education in present-day Adamawa state, he became a part of the first set of Mass Communication students at the University of Maiduguri and graduated in 1987. It was in the same department that his path crossed with renowned Mass Communication scholar and Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe state, Professor Umar Pate, as well as the Emir of Bichi, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero. The trio have become best of friends till today.
Waziri’s enduring love affair with the sugar industry began in 1988 following his appointment as an Assistant Public Relations Officer at Savannah Sugar Company Limited, now owned by the Dangote Group of Companies. He was later posted to serve as the Area Administration Manager in Lagos between 1990 and 1992. Mallam Waziri was the Public Relations Manager and Head of the Public Relations Unit of the company from March 1992 to July 2001 when he was transferred to Abuja as Area Manager.
It was while serving as the Area Manager of Savannah Sugar Company Limited that he secured appointment with the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) as an Assistant Chief Information Officer, and pioneer Head of the newly created Information Unit, which is the present-day Corporate Communications Division. He rose through the ranks to became the first Director in charge of the ES Office. He recently finished strong as the most senior Director in the Council.
Mallam Waziri is a firm believer in the saying that “one good turn deserves another.” He does not believe in 99.9 percent loyalty. It has to be 100 percent and above. He is fiercely loyal to the former NSDC bosses and other individuals who have supported him in the past and he does not mince words in drumming it in our ears and praying for these people. From Yakubu Tsala (Shettima Mubi) who employed him in the NSDC, to Dr. Latif Busari who supported the Public Affairs Unit under his watch to stand firm, to Dr. Zacch Adedeji who made him a Director and to Mr. Kamar Bakrin who made the Executive Secretary’s Office (ESO) a full-fledged department and gave him enormous powers, he is incredibly grateful to all of them.
A no-nonsense goal-getter and a man of deep conviction, he brooks no excuses and has zero tolerance for failure. He delivers on any task he is given and expects others to do same.
A deeply spiritual visionary and a historian par excellence, I have lost count of the things he predicted which have come to pass just as his mastery of the evolution of the sugar industry in Nigeria is unbelievable. He doesn’t hesitate to share this knowledge in one-on-one conversations and in official gatherings. He will tell the story in a matter of months in his upcoming Memoir.
During a recent send-forth ceremony held in his honour, the Executive Secretary of the NSDC, Mr. Kamar Bakrin, had this to say about the celebrant: “Alhaji Waziri comes from a long line of Prime Ministers from the Adamawa Emirate and he has consistently lived true to this family name. He is indeed a trusted adviser. He is one of the most effective people I have met in my sojourn in public service. A master backroom strategist, his ability to navigate and get things done is incredible. This effectiveness I speak of has many branches. He is without any doubt in my mind the most punctual person you can have.”
One of his closest (younger) colleagues to the celebrant, Mr Abdullahi Yunusa, also said: “Alhaji Ahmed Musdafa Waziri means different things to different people, depending on his point of intersection with you. Within the Council, we know him as a shrewd organiser, a detailed personality, a meticulous Public Relations professional, a strategic team player, a resourceful adviser and a stickler for hardwork. Outside the Council, he comes up as a loving husband to his dear wife, dotting father to his lovely children and grandchildren, a rallying figure in his community and a proud Fulani man, both in words and deeds. He is a repository of knowledge and a fountain of wisdom and native intelligence. He belongs to the league of the fast-shrinking patriotic, dedicated and illustrious Nigerians who built, nurtured and took the nation’s sugar sub-sector to great heights in the 80s.”
Now that the fine gentleman has bid farewell to civil service, we can only wish him all the good things life has to offer and pray for longer life for him. We also have to call on the younger generation to imbibe his spirit of godliness, selflessness and patriotism.
