My prayer for my mentor, leader and friend is that the God whom he has served so faithfully will grant him many more years in good health and strength; that the wisdom accumulated over seven decades will continue to benefit our country and coming generations; and that the seeds he has planted — in public institutions, in the Church, in education and in people — will continue to bear fruit long after the stories of our present politics have faded.
It was already past 11 o’clock that night when I finally got home. We had spent much of the day poring over data on the performance of ministers, interrogating numbers, testing conclusions and considering what they meant for the work of government. It had been a long day, even by the standards of an office where long days were quite normal.
I took my bath and was preparing to retire for the night when my telephone rang. There was something important that needed to be resolved. A decision had to be reached, and the resulting document needed to get to President Muhammadu Buhari the following morning. He apologised for calling so late and asked if I could return to the office.
We worked into the early hours of the morning, going over the issues until he was satisfied that what would reach the president was clear, considered and fit for purpose. For me, that night captures something essential about the man whose 70th birthday we celebrate today.
For the better part of the nearly six years that Boss Mustapha (CFR) served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, I had the privilege of working closely with him, providing technical support through the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and its Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) programme.