Falae’s stewardship and vision for Nigeria By Bukar Usman

When the 9th Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, marked his 80th birthday-anniversary recently, friends and associates gathered at Akure, the Ondo state capital, to celebrate his life and accomplishments in and out of public service. So outstanding are his contributions to the country and his broodings over its affairs that a colloquium tagged “Nigeria: Work in Progress” was organised to kick off the celebration the first day.  Two other events – a thanksgiving service held at St. David Anglican Cathedral, and a reception at the hall of the cathedral took place the following day. This article is based on my participation in these events. 
 I served under Falae in the Cabinet Office/the Presidency. And, for many years, I have known him as someone who likes a modest lifestyle. Found in his sitting rooms in Lagos and Akure are common furniture. Nothing around him is flamboyant. Even the clothes he wore to the colloquium, thanksgiving and reception were simple and ordinary; his spouse, Mrs. Rachael O. Falae (née Fasoranti), was also modestly dressed.
     A common thread in the discussion of the colloquium theme was general lamentation over the low level of progress made by Nigeria, in relation to its peers, since independence. As a way forward, emphasis was placed on the urgency and necessity of “restructuring” the polity. In his vote of thanks to wrap up the colloquium’s proceedings, Falae responded to the views expressed at the colloquium and resolved to rededicate himself to his convictions for as long as his feet and faculties could carry him. 
 
Restructuring the country is a pet idea of the celebrant, Chief Falae, the Olu of Ilu Abo. He and his associates have, for a long time, been vigorously propagating it. Two books, The Way Forward for Nigeria: The Economy and Polity, written by Falae and published in 2004, and Dayo Awude’s Keeping Faith: A Biography of Olu Falae, published in 2008, provide details of what Falae and his associates think about “restructuring” as a panacea for Nigeria’s socio-economic and political problems. Both books were available about a decade ago, when the celebrant turned 70.
     In those books, Chief  Falae called for the formation of a group of social-democrats who would be committed to the pursuance of “liberal and welfare” programmes with the aim of making immediate, sustainable and maximum impact for the benefit of the people (Falae: 127-133). 
     The vehicle for the attainment of Falae’s dream for Nigeria remains a Sovereign National Conference comprising all the 275 ethnic nationalities (Awude: 53) fairly and directly represented as delegates and whose outcome should return the country to the “spirit” if not the “letter” of the Independence Constitution of 1960.  He said that was the authentic federal system negotiated by the nationalists but was unfortunately set aside by the military intervention of 1966. 
           
I maintain that Falae has paid his dues in rendering distinguished service to Nigeria. As a civil servant, he was a first-class planning officer and economic wizard who rose to the post of a Permanent Secretary in record time. He was a consistently high performer who, like Chief John Oyegun, earned the epithet “flyer”. He indeed flew out of the civil service to the post of a banking chief executive where he also distinguished himself creditably. However, it was upon his return to the service in 1986, as Secretary to the Federal Government under President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, that he got deeply involved in the momentous decisions, policies and programmes of the time. 
     
     The Civil Service Reform of 1988 was one other notable policy which Chief Falae, as Secretary to the Government, vigorously implemented. That led to the abolishment of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the designation of the Permanent Secretary as Director General and stripping the post of responsibility as Accounting Officer. A subsequent review by the Allison Ayida Panel under the General Sani Abacha administration led to the restoration of the post of the Head of Service and re-designation of the Directors General of ministries as Permanent Secretaries and the restoration of their responsibilities as Accounting Officers.
     One lesson to take away from here is that in nation-building, choice of words and names matter when it comes to public policy formulation and pronouncement. The inadvertent use of the word “colony”, for instance, was enough to throw the spanner in the works and hinder the current search for solutions to the age-old herdsmen/farmers crisis.
Chief Falae’s Political Motivations
Currently, Chief Falae is the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Awude, his biographer, said that politics was ingrained in him since his secondary school days. As someone who was acquainted with him when he was Secretary to the Government, I did not know about this until 1989 when discussion arose about his interest in partisan politics. I was in Malaysia as a member of the Nigerian delegation attending a Commonwealth Security Conference. As we drove from Kuala Lumpur Airport to the town, a senior Nigerian official asked me, “Is your boss involved in partisan politics?” I said I did not know and I was honest about it. Not long after we returned to Nigeria, Chief Falae declared his interest in running for president and became a presidential aspirant in 1992. Before then, only his immediate predecessor in office, Shehu Ahmadu Musa, had expressed interest, as a former Secretary to the Federal Government, in running for president.
 It should be emphasised that there are trying moments in the nation’s history when Nigerians, be they public servants or not, must stand to be counted on the side of national unity and national stability. The challenges of Aburi Accord of the pre-civil war years attest to this. Those who find themselves in positions of leadership and influence at all levels should exercise caution in their utterances and be sensitive to the feelings of others, more so in a highly diverse country like Nigeria. They should avoid offensive and alarmist pronouncements that are likely to cause disaffection and more problems for the country. Dialogue is important but we should not do it in a manner which threatens national unity and stability. 
     Aside from talking, our elite need to put their thoughts on paper. Although I enjoyed reading the celebrant’s biography, I maintain that it is also good to hear directly from him. So, I urge that Chief Falae should write a full length autobiography as a legacy and source of reference on his long and pivotal roles in the social, economic and political affairs of this country. He is an embodiment of information. His 146-page book, The Way Forward for Nigeria, though quite informative, it merely contains four lecture papers he delivered at different times to outline his long held views and projections on the economy, restructuring, education and the role of the progressives in the polity. 
 
Dr. Usman was former permanent secretary in the Presidency, Abuja. 

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