In the days of the Northern Region, the government constructed air-strips for use of the Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, in most of the provinces that made up the Northern Region, including Mubi, Jalingo, Wukari, Sokoto, Gusau, Minna, Azare, Gombe, Bauchi, Idah, etc. Sir Ahmadu Bello had three small Cessna aircrafts in his fleet.
The administration and operation of the fleet of aircrafts was supervised directly by an Assistant District Officer, ADO, in the Premier’s office. His name was Alhaji Suleiman Gurin, a former teacher from Adamawa Province.
One day, Sir Ahmadu Bello flew one of the aircrafts in his fleet to Sokoto on a private visit.
When he returned to Kaduna, the administrative headquarters of the region, the ADO, Alhaji Suleiman Gurin sent him a bill for his flight to Sokoto! His explanation was that the Premier went on a private visit, using the aircraft that was strictly for official schedules.
The importance of his request was that the Premier was owing the government! And therefore should make the appropriate refund to the government’s treasury. Without any hesitation, Sir Ahmadu Bello, who was amused at the request, made the payment.
When he went public with details of his exchange with Alhaji Gurin, it was his way of commending the ADO, and setting his conduct as one that others should emulate.
He wanted to further affirm the reality that everyone who served was a subject to the state, and to the laws that have been made to effectively govern that state. When state actors, regardless of the privileges conferred on them by their offices, begin to assume superiority over the state itself, perdition is not far from that society.
When subordinates respectfully hold their bosses up to these standards, the pillars that hold societies together remain firmly in place. Of course, the whole saga became an unforgettable one for the ADO and his family”.
Culled from: Bello Yusuf’s Unforgettable Sir Ahmadu Bello: Human Angle Stories to Inspire. GRIPLES