It was Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka who sometime ago introduced  the sarcasm of “please quote me in my own words” into the public sphere. The irony should be obvious: how else could a man be quoted except in his own words?  Soyinka has employed  the phrase to respond to the  frequent attribution of false statements  to him by unscrupulous elements who attempt  to rig legitimacy into their views by giving those positions the Soyinka signature. Unforunately, the activities  of persons “quoting” Soyinka in their own  words have not abated in the permissive world of  social media. This trend  triggered the publication of the series entitled “Interventions,”  by which Soyinka now  responds to specific topics of public debate.

In fact, long before the advent of the social media, some eminent public figures were not content with speaking to reporters  when granting interviews. They would insist on writing their responses to the questions from media houses. 

Perhaps, former governor of Jigawa State and one-time foreign minister, Alhaji Sule Lamido, had in mind  this extreme distortion of history arising from the perversion in the social sphere when he embarked on writing his memoirs entitled “Being True to Myself.”

 By writing his own story, Lamido has offered history a self-definition of his political personality. This book will  remain clearly distinguishable from other versions of the Lamido story  which may be told by others. To that extent he has done a great justice to himself and posterity. In other words, Lamido may not need to plead henceforth  that “quote me in my own words.”

Not many Nigerian politicians can lay claim to political traditions. Yet there are identifiable political traditions of different origins  in the history of  Nigerian politics. Lamido is indisputably among the view   politicians that could be traced to a political tradition that is undeniably progressive. And he is very proud of this background. A man of organisation, Lamido is also among the vanishing breed of politicians who take the  fidelity to political parties seriously. To be sure, if there is one politician who would not defect from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), that politician is certainly Sule Lamido, the prince from Bamaina in Jigawa state!  As one of the founders of the PDP, Lamido has remained committed to the party through thick and thin of the stormy waters of Nigerian politics. The progressive streak  has been discernible in Lamido’s politics all through his career. In the Second Republic he was elected to the House of Representatives on the platform of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), a party that had the heritage of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) whose leader was the legendary populist, Mallam Aminu Kano. To the people, NEPU was simply the party of the “talakawa,” the poor. During the transition programme of President Ibrahim Babangida, Lamido was elected the national secretary of the “little to the left” Social Democratic Party (SDP). In this dispensation the PDP cannot, of course,  be accused of being a party of the Left. Yet Lamido, as a PDP governor in Jigawa did something that was reminiscent of his NEPU political ancestry. Long before the idea of cash transfer as a social protection instrument was embraced by the  federal government, Lamido’s administration in Jigawa had a programme of giving stipend to the most vulnerable in the state based an authentic social register. The programme expectedly generated an avalanche of criticisms from the right-wing  elite who argued that the money given to the poor could be better invested in cottage industries and other economic alternatives. Lamido countered the technicist arguments on a philosophical basis. He explained that the organising principle underlying the programme was the respect for the dignity of human person and not economic calculus. In any case, the beneficiaries were living on begging; some of them without limbs were carried in wheelbarrows  to line the streets. Such persons were not in the position to engage in productive activities even if the jobs were available. The idea of the cash transfer was to keep the beggars off the streets while the stipend is taken to the poor  in a dignified manner.  Here we are talking of the  poorest of the poor. Anyone who was  already a dependant on another person, who earning income, was disqualified from receiving the stipend because of  limited resources.

Such is the nature of the politics of Lamido whose  autobiography will be launched in Abuja next Tuesday.

The composition of the committee organising the book launch says something about the breadth of  Lamido’s politics.

The committee chaired  by Senator Mustapha Khabeeb has Dr. Aminu Abdullahi Taura as secretary. Other distinguished members of the organising committee are Senator Ibrahim Musa Kazaure, Ambassador Joe Keshi, Ambassador John Shankaiye, Hon. Musa Elayo,  Iyom Josephine Anenih, Hajiya Inna Ciroma, Hajiya Zainab Maina, Professor Tijjani Naniya, Dr. Max Ndugi Abe, Dr. Auwalu Anwar, Dr. Akilu Sani Indabawa, Alhaji Mustapha Sule Lamido, Dr. Babandi Ibrahim, Prof. Nu’uman, Alhaji Ahmed Amin, Alhaji Ismaila Omipidan, Umar Kyari Jitau and Umar Danjani.

Below is a  foretaste of the book launch  given yesterday at a press conference  by Senator  Khabeeb:

“Sule Lamido’s autobiography, for which he gives the intriguing title BEING TRUE TO MYSELF, takes the reader through a  revealing story on the making of what he has become today – a versatile, au courant, urbane, cosmopolitan, knowledgeable, dynamic, highly principled and dedicated leader and public servant who has given his all towards the making of modern-day Nigeria. As an elder statesman now, Sule Lamido has done well to document this revealing and remarkable experience, which has taken him to the nooks and corners of our country and beyond. He revealed how this has enabled him to build an enormous clientele of friendship and association with people from all parts of the country and internationally. His calling initially in the private sector before joining the political fray revealed itself in his rich pattern of relationships.

“It is worthwhile for everyone to recognize that Sule Lamido’s character and disposition took root from his typically innocent Fulani nature of truthfulness, of seeing life with pure simplicity devoid of flamboyance or pretence. But, it is also a disposition of not being given to condescending or patronising attitude from anyone – no matter their social standing. His is a character that has also been moulded and imbued with a sense of honour, sincerity and honesty, typical of a blue blood pedigree.

“Viewed from this antecedent, Sule can easily be excused for his bold, blunt truthfulness when it comes to speaking his mind on any given issue, to anybody, no matter how highly placed.

“President Olusegun Obasanjo discovered these attributes early in Sule and probably was one reason for the enormous confidence he had in him to make Sule Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister.

“Besides writing a foreword to BEING TRUE TO MYSELF, the former President is also the Special Guest of Honour at next Tuesday’s occasion.

“So, did the author of BEING TRUE TO MYSELF have a central role and say in all other political arrangements that culminated in the formation of the Peoples Democratic Party? Indeed, Sule was a founding member who has tenaciously stuck with the party to this day.

“Many other colleagues of his have since switched camps, some several times. Sule Lamido, Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi, Dr Iyorchia Ayu , the book reviewer next Tuesday, all played key roles at the Jos Convention which produced Obasanjo as the presidential candidate and later as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1999.

“BEING TRUE TO MYSELF will surely resonate not only with students of history and politics,  but with every Nigerian who still believes in the politics of principles and the promise of a better Nigeria.”

Doubtless, Lamido’s autobiograpghy is a welcome addition to the corpus of memoirs of those individuals who have played significant roles in the  making (and unmaking?) of Nigeria. This is more so given the shallowness often displayed in the public shere about even the recent history of the nation. There are indeed untold stories of Nigeria. How enriching would it have been to history if General Yakubu Gowon and Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu  could write their respective memoirs  on the civil war. Those who have stories to tell should write from their various perspectives. President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in charge of the Nigerian state cumulatively for nine years and  eight months, said he would not write his memoirs because doing so would make  some people unhappy. On the contrary, from whatever prism through which Babangida’s memoirs, “A Journey in Service: An Autobiography,”  is read, the point is  that the former president has told his own story. And he is very lucky to do so. 

This reporter, as a  member of  a three-man  team which interviewed Babangida 27 years ago in Minna, posed the question of what the general thought  the verdict of history would be on him in the light of the criticisms from various quarters. Babangida’s response was that there would be many versions of the history. Now, it is difficult to fault that assertion, which is far from being cryptic as the former president is often described.

Some philosophers of history object to Thomas Carlyle’s argument that  the “history of the world is the biograpghy of great men.”   Yet, it is indubitable that the insights and arguments  from the  various biographies of individuals who have played important  roles in history  would constitute some of the  veritable materials to be used by professional historians for the  construction of a grand history of Nigeria.

Here lies the significance of Lamido’s memoirs.

So, saying congratulations to Alhaji Sule Lamido will be in order.