SIR: As your tenure winds down in a couple of days, it is time to say well done, though I know you did not expect this. You have firmly made it clear that public service is a trust and pact with the people, who are the real masters, while you are just their obedient uncommon servant.
It is, however, incontrovertible that you have raised the bar of public service, left Kaduna much better than you met her, with a legacy of unparalleled public service, and roadmap for your worthy successor; yet finding time to contribute significantly to the emergence of a tested hand at the centre and one prepared for the job!
You have attained all you set out to do locally in the setting of multi-ethnic Kaduna State, and now set for the stage at the centre. Your bold intervention in putting an end to the suffering of the majority of the masses of our people through hurriedly packaged Naira redesigning at great political risk cannot be forgotten in a hurry by Nigerians from all strata and backgrounds.
My brother and friend, we know like those very close to you that you sincerely desire to take rest and a long break. The ‘yummy’ look in our Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, in days, has given way to overwhelming grey hairs; a product of stress of putting in all for the public good; always at the desk at 8.00 a.m. and working into early hours of the following day, reading all memos, offering needed review and approvals where urgently required.
For you, no file is left untreated within 24 hours or deserves to stay a day longer! But, we cannot still resist joining our common friends in pleading with you to kindly answer the clarion call to further serve at the centre.
We know, undoubtedly, that you are too patriotic to enjoy a long rest at a point our dear nation thirsts for service of the very best available hands to turn things around for our teeming masses and youth yearning for better days!
Yes, the youths whom you massively invested in during your stint in Kaduna, offering them rare opportunities and challenges at management positions. It is most heartwarming that most of these young men and women have lived up to expectations performing incredibly well.
For this and more, we say thank you very much for rekindling the hope that Nigeria will rise again and specifically, for giving every one, irrespective of their religion, tongue and ethnic background a space to perform as long as there is something to offer.
This is a race well-finished as you exit the seat, leaving indelible marks in the sand of time on the infrastructural development of Kaduna and enduring positive impact on the nation’s political landscape
• Titus Ajumobi wrote from Lagos.
