SHAGARI BURIED IN COUNTRY HOME
Buhari Visits Sokoto Today Flags to Fly At Half Mast For 3 Days 35 Apolitical Years Qualify Shagari As Statesman – NGF
It was a final home coming yesterday for Nigeria’s first executive president, Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari, when his remains arrived his hometown of Shagari in Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State for burial.
The former leader’s body was flown into Sokoto State through the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport about 12:55pm, where it was received by dignitaries before it was conveyed to Shagari.
A group of military officers brought out the body from the aircraft and placed in a Nigerian Air Force ambulance for the about 50-kilometre journey to Shagari, outskirts of Sokoto, a place where he was born 93 years ago.
As the body was being brought out of the aircraft with registration number 5N-FGZ, emotions ran high, as many were seen shedding tears.
A host of his family members who arrived from Abuja were also at the airport.
Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was among those who received the body of the late president.
At Shagari town, many residents poured out into the streets to catch a last glimpse of the former leader who brought fame to their town. The roads leading to the town were filled with heavy vehicular traffic as sympathizers rushed to attend the funeral prayers.
The body of the late president arrived Shagari at 2:17pm where a funeral prayer was conducted at his residence, led by Professor Shehu Galadanci, a former Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University.
Former President Shagari was buried at 3:30pm beside the grave of his late son and former Commissioner for Health and Agriculture in Sokoto State, Abdulrahman Shagari, who died in a plane crash alongside Sultan Muhammadu Maccido and other prominent indigenes of the state 12 years ago.
The funeral prayer was attended by Governors Tambuwal, Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara State and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State.
Others include Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, the ministers of aviation, Hadi Sirika; justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN); education, Malam Adamu Adamu.
The Federal Government delegation, also comprising ministers of agriculture and that of women affairs, Audu Ogbeh and Hajiya Aishatu Abubakar, respectively, was led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mustapha Boss.
Other dignitaries at the burial were the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Sama’ila Mohammed Mera, Emir of Gummi, Justice Lawal Hassan Gummi (retd), zonal vice chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in charge of the North-West, Inuwa Abdulkadir, a lawyer, and former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, head of security agencies in the state and a host of others.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, was represented by the Wazirin Sokoto, Professor Sambo Junaidu.
The eldest son of the late former president, Bala Shagari, described the death of his father as devastating to him. He said the late Shagari was more than a father to him. “H e was a teacher and somebody I looked up to. I will miss him greatly,” he said.
He described tributes being poured on his late father from across the country as evidence that the late president lived an exemplary life.
Another son of the deceased, Police Superintendent Haruna Shagari, said their late father willed to be buried beside his son.
Haruna said what he would never forget about his father was when he told him: “You are now somebody in the society” after he was commissioned as a police inspector over 20 years ago.
“These are the words I will never forget, and that have been keeping me moving,” he said
Also speaking about the deceased, Governor Tambuwal said he was a father to everyone in the nation, just as Governor of Kebbi Atiku Bagudu, noted that he was for Nigeria, not Sokoto or the North and that he would be greatly missed.
President Buhari visits Sokoto Today
President Muhammadu Buhari is to visit Sokoto today to condole with the family of the late President Shehu Shagari.
Leader of the Federal Government delegation, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this in Sokoto yesterday.
He said Buhari had received the news about the death of the former president with shock.
“He led the country in good faith and successfully. He was God-fearing, patriotic and proponent of good leadership,” he said.
He prayed Allah to forgive his soul and make him among the dwellers of paradise.
He was very humble, religious – Resident
A neighbour of the former president in Shagari who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday by phone yesterday, said the town was in deep mourning over the “huge loss.”
He said a very large crowd attended the funeral prayers for the late leader, signifying his popularity among the people.
The retired civil servant, who does not want to be named, said he had a shop located close to Shagari’s residence.
He described the deceased as very humble and religious, who did not allow his status to get in the way he related with the ordinary man.
“We attended the five daily prayers with him whenever he was in town,” he said, adding that Shagari was accessible to whoever wanted to see him, rich or poor.
“He usually came here (to Shagari town) on Sunday mornings and left the next Sunday. In-between, he would go to his farm in the morning and return around 4pm when he would sit and receive visitors, mostly the locals. He would finally retire for the day after Isha’i prayer,” he said.
He said Shagari always distributed food, clothes and rams to the less privileged at Sallah periods, adding that the former president would be greatly missed in the community.
Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the late Shagari stopped visiting his country home about six months ago. Residents said it was around that time that kidnapping and banditry started spilling across the border from neighbouring Zamfara State into Sokoto.
Meanwhile, the Sokoto State government has declared tomorrow a public holiday for residents in the state to observe prayers for the deceased.
Shagari passed on on Friday at the National Hospital, Abuja. He was president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1979-1983.