BukarUsman.net

 Comments on Dr Usman’s Articles/Lectures/Interviews

I went through your piece and was moved to tears to learn about tolerance in older democracies, among others. We are glad we have great minds like you as a mentor. Please keep it up sir. – Yemi Adebisi

Interesting article. I believe you flattered Nigeria and Nigerians in trying to compare Nigeria with South Africa (SA). As a sports tourist to SA a few years ago, I came back to Nigeria with the sad reality that the two countries are nowhere at par. Certainly, not in sports and not in tourism. It will take us another fifty or more years to be where SA is today. – Prof. Michael Ayivor 

I just read your article and I must say I really enjoyed it. I hope you are finding the National Development Plan (of South Africa) interesting. We are presently working on a National Spatial Development Framework which would guide development at the national level by trying to achieve the goals of the National Development Plan. We also have some other interesting policies, plans and programmes which Nigeria can learn from. Hopefully I could get the opportunity to use what I have learnt here back home. Kind Regards. – Adefemi Adegeye

Thank you very much for sharing the link of your article. It was very interesting to read the comparison between the two countries. – Tayo Adegeye 

Mr and Mrs Adegeye,

Thank you very much for your compliments and the informative comments.

May I know what ‘spatial development’ means and what it is intended to achieve please?

With warm regards- Dr. Bukar Usman – September 11, 2016

Good Afternoon Sir,

I have tried to answer your question below:

Spatial Development and Spatial Development Framework

Spatial development can simply be put as the way in which our cities and towns develop physically or the way in which we want them to be developed. 

A spatial development framework is a long term plan that guides a city’s growth and development. The plan indicates which areas will be developed in the nearest future and the type of development that would take place in this area. The aim of spatial development framework is to foster growth and development as well as promote employment and inclusivity.

According to the City of Tshwane (2012: 34), “the purpose of the municipal spatial development framework (MSDF) is to provide a spatial representation of the vision of the city as a tool to bring together all areas of spatial planning such as planning of roads, service infrastructure, land use planning, open spaces, building infrastructures and movement patterns both vehicular and pedestrian. The MSDF also serves as a guide in the decision making processes of the municipality with regards to spatial development. The overall aim of the MSDF is to achieve the city’s vision by achieving certain goals which are:

• Addressing social need
• Restructuring of a spatially inefficient City
• Promotion of sustainable use of land resources
• Strategic direction around infrastructure provision
• Creating opportunities for both rural and urban areas
• Guiding developers and investors as to appropriate investment localities
• Rural management programmes to improve livelihoods and stimulate employment

Three levels of Spatial Development Frameworks

There are three levels of government in South Africa and each of them by legislation is required to develop spatial development frameworks.

The National government would prepare a National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF)

Provincial government would prepare a Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF).

Tshwane or Pretoria which is a Municipality (Local Government) would prepare a Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF).

These spatial development frameworks are guided by policy documents and plans. For instance, the Municipal Spatial Development Framework is guided by the integrated development plan of a municipality. (I will discuss this, the integrated development plan briefly below).

The National Spatial Development Framework is guided by the National Development Plan and other national policies and the Provincial Spatial Development Framework is guided by the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy of a province.

The preparation of these plans involves a lot of consultation and participation with stakeholders, community members and government officials from the three tiers of government. Each of these plans highlights what the government at each level wants to achieve in terms of development, service delivery and job creation.

What is an Integrated development plan?

The Municipal Systems Act (MSA, 2000) requires a municipality after consultation with relevant stakeholders and affected communities to develop a long-term plan for the municipality, which must put into consideration provincial and national sector plans. The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) outlines key programmes, priorities and projects for a 5-year Mayoral term which are represented spatially in the Spatial Development Framework of the municipality.

Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA)

I have attached the act which was drafted by the office I worked. Uncle Sunday was leading the project for 11 years and left after the completion to pursue a career as an Advocate. In Chapter 4, page 21 you can see more on spatial development frameworks.

Nigeria?

These are ideas that we can use to develop Nigerian cities, make them orderly, foster growth and employment. But one would need serious political support in terms of developing legislation and policies that would force local and state government to develop plans of what they want to do during their tenure with adequate consultation with community members.

Sorry for bombarding you with all my planning jargons, I hope you find it a little bit interesting. Thank you – Kind Regards. – Adefemi Adegeye

Your Excellency Sir, Change starts with you…
Change was your idea not ours.
Change was your manifesto, we do not have a manifesto
Change was your mantra, not ours
Change was your magic word
Change starts with you.
We did not vote us into power…
We voted you into power because we bought into your Change mantra.
Change you sold.
Change we bought.
And Change we want.

Change we can touch, Change we can feel, Change we can relate with, and Change that has a human face. And we want it from you.

Show the light, we will find the way.

In 1937, when the Great Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Owelle Osowanya Onitsha) launched the West African Pilot newspaper, he chose a very special motto for it.

“Show the light and the people will find the way.”

Zik knew leadership is everything.

The very idea that ‘Change’ starts with the led and not the leadership can be best described as an abdication of responsibility by the leadership.

That was the utopia Karl Marx preached, but as he also found out, it took the intervention of the ruling class in the person of Frederick Engels for his ideas to be heard.

There is no known historical precedent where the people led the change paradigm without the leadership.

I have ruminated through my books on political and economic history. There is no known reference.

The closest was the French Revolution of 1789, and if you take a closer look, it was not even started by the Proletarian class. Danton and Robespierre were not ”the masses”.
Every dramatic, and drastic change witnessed from the 19th to 20th century across the globe has been top down.

Nnamdi Azikiwe studied it quite well in his Renascent Africa, and came to the conclusion that “Show the Light, and the people will find the way”…

Chairman Mao failed woefully in China because he believed change could come from the people. That was why he launched the Cultural Revolution.

But it took Deng Xiaoping to show that leadership is everything when he manipulated the ”unseen finger” that has pulled over 600 million out of poverty in the last 30 years. That is leadership!

Cuba withstood the world’s blockade, suffered all sorts of indignities, yet gave their people one of the best education and health care services in the world. It took the leadership of Fidel Castro….

General Park knew this quite well when he set out the policies that encouraged the Chaebols in South Korea. You can describe him as a dictator, but he laid the foundation for the take off of a prosperous Korea. Today, I am writing this with a Samsung mobile device, thanks to the foresight of General Park, whose daughter incidentally is the present President of South Korea.

Lee Kuan Yew is an evident testimony that change can only be effectively and efficiently launched top down. He enumerated everything succinctly in his well received book, From the Third World, to the First World. Singapore today is a living testimony to that.

Mahathir Mohammad pointed out that principles can be replicated. He learnt from what happened in neighbouring Singapore, and helped steer Malaysia in same pathway.

Can we take a look at what leadership caused in Chile; that is today well referenced as the Chile Miracle? The bringing in of the Chicago Boys who helped drew the economic blue print that led to the emergence of the first rich society in South America? This too is a well documented case study.

What of Dubai?

Was it the poor people of Dubai that caused the change or the Sheikh who pursued his dreams in spite of contrary views from ‘knowledgeable folks’….today, the Dubai experience has been duplicated in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain etc etc…and in each case, it took leadership.

Brazil already has an economic growth template initiated by President Cardoso while he was the Minister of Finance. But it took Lula Da Silva to take Brazil to global prominence…

Now let us come home to Africa.

Botswana has always been described as an oasis in the midst of poor leadership, mismanagement and chaos. Was it the Botswana people that engineered the change process or the leadership of Ketumile Masire who followed in the footsteps of the first President of the country Sir Seretse Khama. He mentored Festus Magae, reputed as Africa’s incorruptible leader. Is Botswana today not regarded as Africa’s most stable country, with the continent’s longest continuous multi-party democracy? It is relatively free of corruption and has a good human rights record.

Look at Rwanda….

Just 20 years ago, it was the most destroyed nation in the world. Go there today. It is a model. Walk through the streets of Kigali, it is the neatest city in Africa. Even Rwandans don’t even walk around dressing haggardly. Interact with them to check out their level of patriotism. Check out their growth rate and how today they are the most respected African country at international diplomatic circles.

Look at Ethiopia, hitherto known for poverty and hunger…today it is the driving force in the Africa rising story. They are building a massive 8000 km railways criss-crossing the entire country. Their airline is the most profitable state run airline in the world, and the rate of infrastructure development is second to none in sub Saharan Africa.

I can go on and on….

I can also go into Europe and give examples where just one man or woman came up with an idea, sold it to everyone, and ensured everyone is part of it.

Even democratic Germany survived the economic crises of the last decade because of the leadership of Angela Merkel.

In the United States, and at different times in their history, we have seen the emergence of someone who took the bull by the horns, and steered the nation from economic doldrums to prosperity.

It started with Thomas Jefferson.

Then we had Abraham Lincoln

Then Franklin Delano Roosevelt whose astute leadership ensured Americans elected him four times as President even when he was bedridden.

We had John F. Kennedy, whose dream was to put a man in the Moon.
We also had Ronald Reagan

Bill Clinton, and of course Barack Obama……
These leaders stood out.
In the UK, we had men like Winston Churchill whose words, just words boosted hope in time of despair, and whose wisdom helped save an entire continent.

In France, we had men like Charles de Gaulle. He was France, France was him.

He was affectionately described by the French as “Celui qui dit non”

Your Excellency Sir, show the light, and the people will find the way!

LEADERSHIP IS EVERYTHING – Emmanuel E. Awure

Thank you for sharing the ‘glimpses’ of South Africa (SA) with us, Sir. SA is apparently more physically developed while we outshine them socially. – Mikailu Ibrahim

Wow! The historical paradigm is truly ingrained. Great, thought-provoking and skillful report. It is time to restructure. University of South Africa has a student population that is higher than the population of students in Nigerian universities put together. Azania (South Africa) cannot be compared with Nigeria. – Prof. Selbut Longtau

This is a very good piece. It suggests that you visited South Africa as an intellectual not only as a tourist.  The simple answer to your poser in the last paragraph is South Africa. You have said it all except that there was no comparison of how many “parasitic” billionaires are there in both countries and how many private jets did you count at both Nnamdi Azikiwe and Oliver Tambo international airports. Ditto the Development Plan. Food for thought! Kind regards.  – Prof. AY. Shehu

…One more thing sir, I won’t end this short mail without acknowledging that your piece on Glimpses of South Africa made an interesting read. I frankly enjoyed it. It was as tantalizing as a tuwon sallah meal. Kudos, sir. Best regards. – Khalid lmam

Thanks, Dr. Usman, for the piece. I really enjoyed reading it. It was an excellent comparison of Nigeria and South Africa. Bravo! – Prof. Segun Adekoya

Thank you for sharing. The similarities are quite striking. I have thought so.

Warm regards. – Prof. Gidado Tahir

	(Click any of these two articles written by Bukar Usman to read it) Tribute to Shetima Ali Monguno Shinkafi: Tribute to A Security Guru
Salam, my distinguished senior brother. I’ve read through the two tributes you wrote on these illustrious and distinguished elder statesmen (Monguno and Shinkafi) of the North and Nigeria in general. I thank you immensely for taking the time and pains to put the hitherto unknown attributes of these great Nigerians more especially to the younger generation. I am highly impressed.  Once again thank you sir. – Hassan Zakari Thank you very much for sharing your works with me, sir. I have read the two touching tributes you wrote on late Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi and Shettima Ali Monguno. Best regards – Abdulaziz Abdulaziz Thanks for this great tribute to our well esteemed Statesman who, like you, I met in my early years in the diplomatic service. I met him in Dublin in 1974, when he came to represent General Gowon at the funeral of the Irish President. He flew in from New York (NY) as all the top level officials who were in London at the time declined to cross over to represent the Federal Government. He was contacted in NY, flew in; and from the airport straight to the Church for the funeral ceremony. He spent over 8 hours the next day at the airport trying to return to NY but the weather delayed all flights until they were cancelled that day. He subsequently left the following day without complaining for a second. He was simply a great Nigerian. Thanks for speaking for us all who knew and held him in the highest esteem. – Amb. Segun Apata Thank you for the piece. We have lost two great figures around the same time -Shinkafi and Monguno. May their souls rest in peace and may you be rewarded for immortalizing them with the pieces – Mika’ilu Ibrahim This is to acknowledge your interesting articles on two of our revered elder statesmen from Northern Nigeria, Shinkafi and Monguno. We pray that Allah (SWT) will forgive them and bless their souls. Sadly, to the best of my knowledge, neither of them wrote his life history, nor had any one written their biographies. It touches me that we are not only losing them, but also the stories about them as well! Maybe, it was time a project was established to harvest valuable histories; at least in respect of our founding personalities from Northern Nigeria. But the funding; huh! – Prof. Ismaila A. Tsiga I have just finished reading the third of the series of tributes you paid to three illustrious nationalists who recently passed on. While I cannot say much about the first two who were security legends, your assessment of them must be right since you were in your own right a legend in security issues.  However, on the third elder statesman (Monguno) I also had a privilege of meeting him in 1969 while I was in the 6th Storey Building Ministry of Commerce and Industry.  Mr. S.B Awoniyi was the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Mines and Power. He introduced me to his minister, Monguno, and the impression I had about him then had remained. He was a pleasant gentleman to meet.  He advised on how I should focus on my job and make a good career in the service. Nigeria has lost again a very patriotic and committed nationalist. We thank God for granting him such a long and fruitful life. May God grant him eternal rest. – Segun Ajibola, from Toronto Canada One quality of character  that shone through the two commentators,  Mr. Segun  Ajibola  and Segun  Apata  is the show of appreciation  and respect  to the elders for their  good characters and true commitment to  service. They did that because they are also good people in their own right.  For me it is inspiring and a big lesson. – Salisu Saleh Na’inna Dambatta May his gentle and distinguished soul rest in perfect peace. I saw him, Monguno on one occasion that I accompanied two politicians to see him when he was the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). If I recall properly, the politicians went to solicit his support for the creation of Adada State. May his family and friends be consoled. – Prof. Damian Opata Thank you Bukar for this refreshing insight into the life and times of a great Nigerian who served diligently. I can now understand why he was so durable. Shettima Ali Monguno is now more complete in my mind for who he was. Best wishes to you and your family. – Faderin Iyun May Allah forgive the sins of Marafan Sokoto and grant him aljannat Firdausi. My condolences Mouftah. I remember the last time we paid him a visit was in your company, Hon YT, Dr Aliyu Modibbo Umar, Adamu Modibbi and Uba Saidu Malami. –  Hon. Mohammed Umara Kumalia A great and compassionate man. May Allah grant him AlJannah Firdausi, amin. Allahu Akbar! – Mouftah Baba-Ahmed A great man gone! Inna IillaHi wa Inna IlaiHi Rajiu’un! One of the leaders I truly respect. An excellent senior brother. May his soul rest in perfect peace. May Allah forgive him all his trespasses and reward his good works with Jannatul Firdaus. – Bashir Tofa Much appreciated. A very factual and fitting goodbye to a deserving elder statesman. Sincere regards. – Sunday T. Dogonyaro Very interesting and revealing. – Cyril Uchenna Gwam Sir, Ranka Dede and lob (praise in German) for your Shinkafi/Yusuf tributes…Floreat! – Prof. Olatunde Okanlawon Well done sir. May his soul rest in peace, amen. – Hon. Dr. Wale Okediran Beautiful tribute Sir. Hope all is well with you. Have a great weekend. – Amb. Fatima Balla Thanks for your piece on Alhaji Shinkafi. But for your tribute, I didn’t know that he has passed on. Those of us who were not involved in intelligence service align fully with the thrust of your piece. I join others in thanking you for the tribute. Very warm regards. – Segun Apata A fine gentle man (Shinkafi). I remember him very well during one of the national security retreats. He was the chairman of a syndicate group and I served as the Secretary. May Allah grant him Aljanah. My warm regards sir – Francis M. Fariku My condolences. I didn’t know about the demise of Alhaji Aliyu till I received this message. May Aljannat fiddaus be his final abode. Mu kuma idan tamu tazo Allah ya sa mu cika da eemani Amin. – Mahmud Maijidda Thanks for continuously keeping me in the loop. Well written. Sad loss of yet another noble statesman. – Amb. Bolere Ketebu Sir, thank you for sending me the eloquent tribute you paid to the late Marafan Sokoto. Here is mine own tribute, shared with a few others. Regards: A great man indeed. Over many years, as an official of the Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA), I became very close to the late Marafa. He was always interested in knowing what will take place and when, so that he could adjust his programs, for he never liked missing any BOBA function unless it was absolutely necessary. Lately, however for reasons of health, he would take excuse in good time. One episode I will never forget was when he couldn’t turn up to an event he had earlier promised to attend and I called to remind him. He said, “Haba, Shehu ba ka gani na tsufa?” (Shehu, don’t you see that I am now an old man?). But when I retorted that, Malam Yahaya Gusau, a very much older and respected elder member was already there, his response was, “Kai dai Shehu takadarin yaro ne” (Shehu, you’re…(Mouftah, take over please). And in about 15 minutes, he was there. The other thing I know is that, the late Marafa and my kinsman, the late Alh. MD Yusuf were close, and at times I used to drive MD to Mafara’s house in Kaduna, but their ‘tête-à-tête never lasted for more than 10 minutes! May Allah bless Marafa and grant him a place in the Aljanna Firdausi, amin. – Usman Kaikai Dear Sir, I write to express my sincere appreciation to you and your foundation, for your valuable contribution to our people. You have really touched our lives through your enormous projects. May God reward you abundantly and give you good health and strength to excel in all your endeavours. Thanks – Mohammed Ali Walama Biu

	Tribute to A Classic School Master Commentary
I stumbled on this tribute to late Mr J.O Abolade as I was searching for the school anthem of Federal Government College (Ijanikin) Lagos. I was a member of staff of that school from 1991 to 1995.      I woke up thinking about the sad situation in my beloved country  a tottering giant whose legs and vital organs have been eaten away over the years by sheer human greed and selfishness borne out of utter  ignorance. I thought of the magnitude of effort & work that have gone into ‘making the nation one’  the Unity Schools & the sacrifice made by staff, the National Youth Service Corps scheme and the posting of Federal officers, a-times at  great inconvenience, to every remote corner of the country, among other efforts. I almost felt a sense of defeat. I found myself humming “Builders of Bridges across Young Minds” and my mind went to the composer of the song, Mr Abolade.      I never worked directly with him but I knew the family. Mr Abolade was a complete gentleman. And…that is the comment you would hear from those who worked with him. His wife is a perfect lady.      I pray that the bridge building that they and the rest of us worked at will not be in vain. We hope in past students of Federal Unity Colleges like Dr Bukar Usman to maintain The Bridge. THE BRIDGE MUST NOT COLLAPSE. – Mobolaji Oworu