Leadership (Abuja)
Prince Charles Dickson
20 November 2008
Alhaji Shehu Musa, former Secretary to the federal government under President Shehu Shagari is dead, he died this morning in a London Hospital. He was the Makaman Nupe
A retired Public Officer from Bida, Niger State. Alhaji Musa studied at the University College, Ibadan and graduated in 1960 with a B.Sc (London) degree in Mathematics and Physics. He later proceeded to the University of Minnesota where he obtained a Masters degree in Public Administration in 1962. Upon graduation, he joined the Nigerian Public Service where he rose through the ranks to hold the positions outlined below:
Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence (1971); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health (1974); Director of Customs and Excise - charged with the responsibility of reorganization and rationalizing the Department (1975 - 1976); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health (1976 - 1978); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance (1978 - 1979); Secretary to the Federal Government (1979 - 1983)
· Chairman, National Population Commission (1988 - 1992)
He is a recipient of the National Honours of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) and of several other local and international awards. He holds a traditional title of "Makama Nupe" of Bida Emirate Council.
In a recent interview he said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) is like the Prime Minister in a presidential system of government because there is hardly any memorandum to which he does not make an input before it gets to the president.
The Makaman Nupe made this known while reacting to the insinuations that the appointment of Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, former Defence Minister, as SGF is a demotion of sorts since as Secretary to Government, he has no voting in the Federal Executive Council.
He decried the politicisation of the civil service started with the creation of states, whereby "experienced civil servants had to be spread across and many inexperienced people were catapulted and therefore the strength of the civil service in terms of policy advice was weakened." He also said that the dominance of the military in governance did not help matters because "they just gave orders and these relatively inexperienced civil servants followed the orders without questions."
In addition, the mass purge of the civil service which was embarked upon by the Murtala Mohammed administration, according to Alhaji Shehu Musa, also "contributed to the weakening of the civil service." He also blamed the military for the present corruption in the civil service. According to him, when the military was at the helm of affairs, they ordered civil servants to give out contracts without following due process, adding that "some civil servants were also interested in making money. So, these are the two sides of the coin."
He was once eulogized by Former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, at a book launch as one of the few Nigerians who stand by both their superiors and subordinates at all times, adding that he cherished his (Shehu's) company because "he is free from disruptive influences".
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