They once occupied public positions before they left the scene. Long after they quit office, not much is known about them again. ELEOJO IDACHABA asks where they could be at the moment.
Godknows Igali
Godknows Igali is a former diplomat and became prominent during the Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and continued through the Yar Adua-led administration to the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.
He began his career in the Foreign Service in 1982 and was posted to Czechoslovakia where he remained till 1986. He returned to the then Ministry of External Affairs headquarters after his posting and joined the newly established Trade and Investment Department to drive the Structural Adjustment Programme introduced by General Ibrahim Babangida in 1986 on the international front.
This Bayelsa born-diplomat served in different diplomatic corps across the world, distinguishing himself as an expert on economic diplomacy. He served as secretary to 10 Nigerian missions between 1986 and 1991.
Dr Igali served as the special assistant (special duties) in the Presidential Villa between 2005 and 2006 as well as secretary to the Presidential Committee on Money Laundering and Financial Crimes within the same period. He also served as secretary to the Presidential Subcommittee on Review of the Public Service Rules in 2005.
He was later appointed secretary to Bayelsa state government in 2006 and was concurrently named honorary adviser and peace envoy to the president on Niger Delta when militancy started in the creeks. During this period, Igali was in charge of negotiations with various militant camps following the emergence of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
Through his engagement with the militants and other stakeholders, the 2007 general elections were held in spite of several threats. Also several expatriates kidnapped in the region were released.
He served as secretary of the Presidential Council of the Coastal States of the Niger Delta under President Obasanjo’s administration and accredited to have suggested the amnesty programme.
Subsequently, he was appointed the substantive adviser on the Niger Delta by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in June 2007. It was during his tenure as the presidential adviser that the framework for the Niger Delta Amnesty programme was developed.
He remained engaged in Niger Delta issues as one of the leaders of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum which helped to facilitate dialogue between the federal government and the Niger Delta Avengers that had grounded oil production at the time.
Later, he was appointed as Nigeria’s ambassador to Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway respectively between 2008 and 2010.
In 2010, he became permanent secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources and later deployed to the Ministry of Power by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013.
Igali joined the governorship race in Bayelsa state on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011, however, he lost.
Habibu Shaibu
Habibu Idris Shuaibu was military administrator of Niger state from August 1998 to May 1999, when he handed over to a democratically elected governor, Abdulkadir Kure.
The Kano-born military officer was an aide to General Ibrahim Babangida and was among those referred to as ‘IBB boys’.
In 1989, while at the U.S Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, he wrote an unpublished thesis titled, ‘Military Involvement in Politics in Nigeria: The Effect on Nigerian Army’.
Speaking as one of those who backed General Babangida’s coup of August 27, 1985, he said the reason for the coup against the General Muhammadu Buhari’s military junta was because Buhari did not distribute positions to junior officers.
He was appointed administrator of Plateau state by the General Sani Abacha in 1996.
Shaibu, who retired from the army as a Colonel, was one of the gladiators in the 2011 governorship race in Kano state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Speaking on his ambition he said, “I felt I was good enough to be the standard bearer of my party then mostly because of my track record.
“Also, I had experience as a military administrator of two states in this country. Besides, right from childhood, I have had a lot of privileges and a lot of opportunities to experience leadership at various levels.
“I will say that right from primary school, I had always been a leader. In secondary school, I was appointed a class monitor. Also, I was the first junior student to be appointed a food prefect, a position held hitherto, by my seniors who couldn’t perform and who couldn’t be trusted. At that time, the authorities felt that it was necessary for me to be appointed and I was appointed.
“When I joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, I also had the privilege of becoming the cadet adjutant who disciplines the entire cadets. The position is the equivalence of the deputy head boy.”
Not much has been heard of this military officer turned politician after his failed attempt to be governor of Kano state in 2011.
Tunji Alapini
Mr Tunji Alapini is a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police. At a point, he was also a spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force.
Speaking on his experience s police officer Alapini had said: “The Force took away my privacy, it took away my sincere judgments most of the times because you would understand that in a regimented environment where there are patterns of what to do, you may want to do things differently when the authority thinks otherwise.
“You cannot go against your service, you would have to do it the way they want it as long as it’s within the doctrines of your organisation and within the ambit of the law. At times, as an individual, there are certain things you would do differently if you had a choice. Those are the things the force took away from me.”
On patriotism he said, “When you are joining the Force, search your conscience on what you are particularly going to achieve with that uniform. Are you going there to be a core professional? Are you are going there to corrupt yourself? Are you going there to serve ethnic or religious purpose?
“If you’re going there to be a true professional with the resolve to do the job for which posterity will favour you, then begin that from the first day you get in. Those you meet in the morning, you may not see again at noon and the impression you create will leave with you for a lifetime. The best thing is to ensure that you are doing the right thing from beginning to the end.”
Alapini, who left the force almost 10 years ago, has been off the public scene.
