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Bukar Usman @77: Indelible Marks of Prolific Septuagenarian Henry Akubuiro
Nothing in his appearance that morning suggested he was given to the prose side of life. He wasn’t an austere man with puritanical looks, neither did he have those characteristic, jutting beards and faraway looks of a quaint professor whose world revolves around books. Rather, he appeared anonymous in a simple kaftan with sandals to match, as he introduced himself, amid genial smiles, “My name is Bukar Usman; I am an author,” shaking my hands. It was a fortuitous meeting in a Sokoto hotel, April, 2014, during the northern leg of Things Fall Apart @ 50 celebrations organised by the national body of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). On the table lay two sets of books –My Literary Journey and Hatching Hopes –which he autographed and handed afterwards, one each to myself and my colleague, Anote Ajeluorou of The Guardian, who was already acquainted with him.The size of the books bellowed attraction in an instant. Quickly, I flipped through the pages, as I was wont to, as a bibliophile, to ascertain whether they were throwaway stuffs or worthy of attention. I became curious instantly that the man in front of me already had a literary odyssey, which suggested certain experience as a scribbler, yet I hadn’t heard about him as a writer. “If you find the books useful, you can review them,” he offered without persuasion, and asked for my mailing address to send more books he had written. Back to Lagos, before I could even read through the two books he gifted me in Sokoto, the security men at The Sun Corporate headquarters in Lagos alerted me, one day, that I had a carton of books waiting for me at the reception. A carton of books? I wasn’t expecting any. I was wary of unsolicited books, and a frown mounted on my face as I went over to the security office. There it was: a carton of books addressed to me! Searching impatiently for the sender’s name, I saw “Bukar Usman”. Tearing the carton open as I returned to my desk, I saw books ranging from folktales, oral tradition, literature, culture, security to polity: some written in English, others in Hausa Language. My colleagues in the office, who had swarmed around my desk to see what the books were all about, were excited. As Usman directed in the accompanying note, I took my review copies and shared out the rest to my colleagues in the office, who thanked me for the gesture. For the books were overwhelming (the most I had ever gotten from one author at once), I told myself I was going to review only one or two, and forget about the rest, for I already had hundreds of unread books begging for attention. But I was wrong. After reading and reviewing the first, I went for the second, then the third, and many more. Usman’s books were unputdownable, and became, for me, a signpost to learn about exotic cultures, new traditions, languages, and what have you, written not by a professor in the department of English, literary studies or linguistics this time, but by a retired civil servant far from the academe. Just when I thought I had read the last of Bukar Usmanoeuvre, another whooper landed our corporate office in Lagos in December 2015 with the title, A History of Biu, a book that details a vibrant, ancient civilisation dating back to the fourteenth century, as well as its people, culture, agriculture, religion, language and relics. It was a well researched book that opened my eyes deeper to a unique, formidable emirate northeast of Nigeria. Biu, as presented in the book, is a fortress town that nestles south of Borno on a plateau replete with precipitous escarpments. Chronicled as the first city of the Babur/Bura ethnic group and the second most significant urban centre and largest local council in Borno, it is also the provincial hub of commerce and cultural renaissance, and has played a premier role since 1918 when the British colonialists created Biu Division. What Usman has done for Biu in this magnum opus is a lifetime achievement. In it, one learns about the peace-loving nature of the people. Usman informs in A History of Biu that the previous capitals of Biu had to be relocated in ancient times, especially because of war and plague. Each time there was a new threat, the locals would look for a new location on top of a hill. At last, their forbears chose the present location situated on the plateau, 193 kilometres from the state capital Maiduguri. Majority of its inhabitants are said to be farmers, who produce, among others, guinea corn, maize, millet, rice and groundnut. It is from this town that Bukar Usman, an elder statesman with Midas touch, comes from. No doubt, I was thrilled by what I read in A History of Biu, one of my favourite books written by the author, but I had no ambition to visit the land founded by the legendary Yamtarawala anytime soon. I was surprised, therefore, when the retired permanent secretary in the presidency, one day, in April, 2016, called me with a strange proposition: “Henry Akubuiro, I would like you to visit Biu, my hometown, to write stories about it. I bet you would find many interesting places to visit to write about. There are so many negative things and misinformation being written about Borno State in the Lagos press by people who haven’t been there. I want you to go there and write from the perspective of somebody on ground.” Ordinarily, I was supposed to be excited –I love travelling to new places –but I wasn’t at all, reason being that Borno was a state at the mercy of Boko Haram, and I didn’t want to fall a victim. But Usman assured me Biu was a safe haven, the only emirate Boko Haram never overruns and where the Emir never fled from at the heat of the Boko Haram uprising in 2014 and 2015. I wasn’t convinced. So he sent the Galadima of Biu, Alhaji Umaru Sanda, to physically visit me in the office to convince me to visit Biu. The Galadima even promised to send his son to accompany me to Biu. I didn’t give him an immediate response. I prayed over it for days, and got a confirmation I would go and return safely. My wife was alarmed when I decided to go. So I set out, days after, from Lagos to Gombe Airport, together with Galadima’s son, enroute to Biu. It was my first ever journey to the heart of northeast. I had been to Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano and neighbouring Adamawa, but not Borno, even during peace time. It, however, turned out to be one of the most memorable journeys I had ever embarked as a journalist. About 10 kilometres to Biu, I saw a series of impregnable hills rising hundreds of feet above sea level, as described in the book (Biu itself is a 766-metre elevation above sea level). We visited the major roads linking it with other northern cities, like Maiduguri, Damaturu, Numan and Yola. I visited the Emir’s Place, the old Prison, the old District Officer’s office, the irrigated and sometimes rocky farms, the abandoned dam, the salty lake that miraculously bred fishes, the College of Education, Waka-Biu; many landmarks and, above all, the mythical village of Viukuthla known to be the cradle of Biu civilisation, for which we had to trek for miles to reach when our vehicle couldn’t navigate the rocky terrain midway into the journey. I also discovered something about Bukar Usman. I was expecting to see a mansion of his in his hometown, having served many Nigerian presidents as a bureaucrat, including General Ibrahim Babangida, but I was disappointed. His house was just modest, just like its owner. Just few weeks ago, Bukar Usman turned 77. At this age, many Nigerians in his shoes would love to vegetate, away from public glare, but not this septuagenarian. He has continued to provide succour to many Nigerians through his Bukar Usman Foundation. He does not shy away from his new found role as a public intellectual, presenting papers at public fora and documenting vistas for posterity. He doesn’t despair from leading the Nigerian Folklore Society (NFS) to ensure that our cultural heritage is passed on to today’s disinterested generation and those coming after. Usman’s greatest achievement at 77 is not that he dined and wined with some of Nigeria’s greatest leaders in the course of his civil service job spanning over three decades. He will be remembered, rather, by posterity for contributing immensely to building the nation without dramas and, above all, contributing, in no small measure, to cultural renaissance in Nigeria and Africa through impactful books and advocacies. Though a late bloomer in the literary world, Usman has made a name as an ideologue whose views are sought after, nay, revered in public domain at home. As Anne Frank rightly said, “Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness.” Let the beat continue after 77 stanzas! _______________ This tribute by Henry Akubuiro under the title Bukar Usman @ 77: Indelible Marks of a Prolific Septuagenarian was published in the Sun of January 31, 2020, Page 29 and online at https://www.sunnewsonline.com/bukar-usman-77-indelible-marks-of-prolific-septuagenarian/
The Man Dr. Bukar Usman @77 By Bande Matthew Odu (Jnr) It is extremely difficult for me to embark on this project – writing on the man Dr. Bukar Usman, an enigma and a colossus after many prolific writers have also copiously written about him. It is even more difficult for me a cub writer to attempt to write on this personality who is a writer himself- Indeed I was simply casting around for what to write on him that has never been written. The septuagenarian demonstrates an insatiable drive for pedagogy. His hunger for knowledge is unquenchable, it is to him like the ocean water, the more one drinks of it the thirstier one becomes. He has not had a hiatus since he commenced writing. His passion drives his voraciousness. His ink has continued to flow and his ideas, though simple and limpid have remained logical and as clear as a bell. His ideas have become like wine that gets better with age. Dr. Usman is not a flash in the pan. The je ne sais quoi of his writing is what leaves many in perpetual awe and amazement. The energy level and the dedication he puts into his works are inexplicably surprising. Did the civil service rob humanity of one of its finest teachers? What seems like a loss to the ivory tower is the gain of the civil service. The event of recent times has however shown that he has successfully given in equal measures to both his first calling, the civil service and his new found love of erudition. Did I complain about the civil service? No, I did not. And I dare not because the civil service provided the platform, the training and the wisdom that Dr. Usman brings into his writings. I think the foundation for the literary journey was well laid from the civil service. The writings of Von Stein in the 1800s corroborate the work of the civil servants “….they write, write, and write in silence in their offices behind closed doors…” At retirement, Dr. Usman said he has left the stage for younger people, even when he retired without reaching the mandatory retirement age of sixty (60). He was certain, he was not going to take up a paid employment and he has not. Contentment, you would say. He was emphatic that anything that would take him out of his house by 9 am he was not ready to do. He is assertive and has a strong character. He is very meticulous in making his decisions that is why he does not renege on them because they were not taken impulsively. A headstrong and courageous man, he is. Dr. Usman is a true believer in NOBLESSE OBLIGE- the idea that people of high social class should behave kindly to people of lower social class. He is a soft-hearted man who finds it hard to deny any boon, whether it is for friends or strangers. A man of peace who strives constantly to achieve peace, the reason he found new halcyon in both writing and philanthropy. Again, Dr. Usman has gumption, a sort of compos mentis. Little wonder that no sooner had he retired than he realized that his pension was grossly inadequate to continue with philanthropy. He established the Dr. Bukar Usman Foundation: a vehicle that has enhanced and improved his reach, touching lives in all facets of human endeavours and redistributing wealth. In this era where the extended family system is being eroded, Dr. Usman daily accepts to be a father to the down trodden by attending to the army of favour seekers who come to him for assistance. Dr.Usman also maintains a perfect relationship with people of his social standing, the crème de la crème of the society. Records are that he maintains a perfect affinity with his school days friends till date. Dr. Usman has remained in tune with the people, though cosmopolitan and sophisticated in every sense. Both privacy and retirement have not kept him away from the eyes of the media! He has remained the media’s delight, to say the least. I am aware he declines invitations to be interviewed, offers other attention seekers jump at with constant immediacy and alacrity. He has maintained one of the cardinal principles of the civil service- to be seen and not heard; though some say he is hardly seen. He is simply an astute former public servant, an administrator per excellence; an author, folklorist and philanthropist; a man of wit and wisdom, very tacit in speech and highly productive in writing. In all this, Dr. Usman has remained largely humble. What more can I say, than to pray that the ink continues to flow as well as the milk of human kindness. An enigma you are Sir! You are gentle, humble, knowledgeable, acerbic and devoid of rancor. May God’s unending and abundant blessings, love, peace, guidance, protection and provision be within and around you. May you have many more healthy years and happy returns. Wait a minute! Have I been caught in the same web of lengthy descriptive essays by most writers on this personality? I now understand. The temptation to write on him is simply irresistible. I am sorry I veered off my track. My original intension was to use some adjectives and adverbs that I think, head or tail, would provide a fair description of the personality of Dr. Bukar Usman. Permit me therefore, to itemize those adjectives and adverbs to blend and mix the write up having initially digressed inadvertently. Dr Bukar Usman is a historian, folklorist, revivalist, scholar, researcher, conciliator, lecturer, discussant, scribe, writer, editor, communicator, quintessential administrator, emeritus permanent secretary, and philosopher. He is also a philologist, planner, formulator, czar, moderator, discoverer, facilitator, manager, mentor, donor, defender, leader, diplomat, traveler, champion, sponsor, philanthropist, reformer, commentator, theoretician, consultant, negotiator, bridge builder, perfectionist, erudite man, friend of the intelligentsia, public servant, literary icon, inspirator, ethnologist, and disciplinarian. Pardon my naivety if I left anything out. As much as it is difficult writing on you, it is even more difficult repaying you for your kind magnanimity. This subtle effort to describe you is an attempt to preserve for posterity your contributions to leave the world better than you met it. Take this as my modest birthday gift to you at 77, since I cannot requite your generosity to me in particular and to humanity in general. I know you wouldn’t have collected, if we had, because yours is with no strings attached, no quid pro quo. Congratulations Sir. ________________ This tribute by Bande Matthew Odu (jnr) under the title The man: Dr. Bukar Usman @77 was published by the Sun under the title Bukar Usman @77: Celebrating an enigma on January 17, 2020, page 32 and online at https://www.sunnewsonline.com/bukar-usman-77-celebrating-an-enigma/. It was also published by the Independent under the title Celebrating Iconic Writer, Administrator, Dr. Bukar Usman @77 on January 18, 2020, page 25 and online at https://www.independent.ng/celebrating-iconic-writer-administrator-dr-bukar-usman-77-a-tribute-by-bande-matthew-odu-jnr-gods-unending-and-abundant/. The Nation also carried the same tribute under the title The man: Dr. Bukar Usman @77 on January 18, 2020, page 32 and online at https://thenationonlineng.net/the-man-dr-bukar-usman-77/ The Guardian published the same tribute under the title A quintessential administrator, writer, folklorist, Bukar Usman at 77 on January 23, 2020, page 20 and online at https://guardian.ng/opinion/a-quintessential-administrator-writer-folklorist-bukar-usman-at-77/
SALUTE TO BUKAR USMAN @ 77 A Tribute by Khalid Imam “Without commitment you never start, without consistency you never finish… ease is the greater threat to progress than hardship” (Denzel Washington, October, 2018). According to Tony Buzan, the author of “Mind Map Mastery” and an acclaimed brilliant motivational speaker, “Everybody has the potential for genius.” Why? This is largely, as he would allude, because the human brain has the breathtaking capacity to mysteriously and meticulously work faster than a super computer. It is not hard to comprehend that what Tony Buzan seems to emphasize here is the fact that no one, yes, no individual, no matter one’s exceptional brilliance, has the complete monopoly of genius; and that accomplishment is also not a medal strictly reserved for the special ones or the few gifted minds one is stunningly marvelled by their seemingly remarkable superhuman exploits. To properly comprehend Tony Buzan’s thesis, one needs to clearly appreciate that everyone blessed with a healthy brain and stable mind has equal potential to display uncommon genius and/or marvellous success. Sure, it is not difficult to believe that the road to harness one’s full potential to genius or achieve outstanding accomplishment is to discover oneself. This is to say, in life, self – awareness, more than any other thing, is one very critical success pathway – a smooth pathway leading one to the palace of brilliance and success. Therefore, there is no gainsaying the fact that self – awareness is one very fundamental life – changing factor that helps even animals to live a life of great genius and fascination. No close observer of the animals’ distinct and wonderful lives would fail to be amazed by the great talent, wit and genius they often display while hunting for games or building a shelter against any harm visiting them. For instance, even one with a faint knowledge of life in the animal kingdom can’t fail to understand that the eagle is a very unique and most powerful bird for its sharp sight and great focus. From far distance, the eagle can spot a swimming fish inside the sea, and within a blink it would swoop and have it for lunch. A lion, although not the wisest or the biggest animal, still rules the animal kingdom for its unmatched bravery, uncommon discipline and exemplary attitude. A lion is fully aware of itself as the king in the jungle hence it only goes for a kill when hungry. This attitude and sense of pride earns the lion respect from all. The ants tiny as they are, are blessed with diligence and outstanding organisational capacity to slowly but steadily move a mountain while the tortoise and the fox often regarded as the most cunning if not the wisest animals too do demonstrate uncommon behaviours for humans to learn. Even though, it is common knowledge that animals are not so endowed with super brain and other traits like humans, a careful study of their wonderful and mysterious lives stresses that all animals are aware of their special endowments, unique qualities and distinctive ways of life. Unarguably, a close observation at animals and their fascinating lives would help the wise among humans to easily discover oneself. To stress, one who discovers oneself is one whose understanding of oneself is like a rudder in the canoe of one’s life. And since the human mind, according to Tony Buzan, is broadly divided into two, the self-realised person is one whose brain is functionally at work, allowing its logical left side and its critical right side to be the captain of one’s life. Therefore, it is important to admit that mind mapping helps one to sail through the sea of life because a mind properly mapped is like a train on a track. This long background, if anything, invites the reader looking for one individual whose well mapped mind has succeeded in helping him to have his eyes on the long game of life as a role model, one should be happy to have my mentor, Dr. Bukar Usman. To be a person worthy of becoming a true leader or a mentor to a generation of young people, as Hillary Clinton would say, one must avoid persons notoriously known for dishing out “outright lies and incoherent dangerous ideas,” or one struggling with “personal feuds”. For sure, as Hillary Clinton would have re-echoed, an outright liar or intolerant snake ready to strike is not someone everyone in his right senses should trust or accept as a president, a captain or a mentor. And if one with adequate knowledge, stability of mind, great sense of direction and full understanding of all the responsibilities leadership places on him being an elder statesman or a leader, is the ready-made choice for a captain or a leader, for sure, my mentor, Dr. Bukar Usman, the president of the Dr. Bukar Usman Foundation who is also the president of the Nigerian Folklore Society is the perfect choice. Dr. Bukar Usman, who turns 77 years last December, is a retired federal permanent secretary who served at the presidency with distinction largely for his selflessness and great love of his country. This well experienced administrator and soft-spoken septuagenarian son of Biu, a northeast ancient town in Borno state, has all the attributes of an eagle for his foresightedness and focus. He has the discipline and organisational prowess of an ant considering the remarkable success he, as a writer of over thirty books and the many lives his foundation has touched within its short lifespan. One would say Dr. Bukar Usman is an excellent model to emulate for anyone in search for a mentor who will be a guide teaching one to be diligent and to believe in oneself. Soon after his retirement in 1999, he mind-mapped his way, and against all lures to derail him, he remains steady and dogged, resulting in bumper harvest of dozens of books from him. The books he authored cover topics such as history, culture, literature, security, media, international relations, African regional politics, national integration and good governance. In short, Denzel Washington’s perfect description of the path to success quoted in the epigraph to this piece aptly describes Dr. Bukar Usman. Here is a man who working with a handful of dedicated staff and resourceful research assistants, demonstrates that “without commitment you never start and without consistency you never finish.” True, his commitment and consistency helped to give birth to dozens and volumes of groundbreaking published well – researched books that only serious universities or research centers can produce. Here is a man whose old age has not hindered him from pursuing his mapped-out goals and achieving excellence simply because of his firm belief that “ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.” While rejoicing with my mentor, Dr. Bukar Usman, I pray to Allah to continue to strengthen him. Oh Dr. Bukar Usman, may you age with grace as you enjoy your 77th birthday in good health. Khalid Imam a teacher, a poet and the Coordinator of All Poets Network is based in Kano. His email is [email protected] ___________ This tribute by Khalid Imam under the title Salute to Bukar Usman @ 77 was published by the Sun on January 25, 2020, page 26 and online at https://www.sunnewsonline.com/salute-to-bukar-usman-77/. It was also published by the Independent on January 25, 2020, page 11 and online at https://www.independent.ng/salute-to-bukar-usman-77/. Thisday also carried the same tribute under the title Celebrating Bukar Usman at 77 on January 26, 2020, page 69 and online at https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/01/26/celebrating-bukar-usman-at-77/. The Nation published the tribute with the original title Salute to Bukar Usman @ 77 January 29, 2020, Page 26 and online at https://thenationonlineng.net/salute-to-bukar-usman-at-77/
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