Shehu Musa Dies in London

Secretary to the Government in the Second Republic, Alhaji Shehu Musa, is dead. He was 73 years old.
Musa, who held the chieftaincy title of Makama Nupe, died yesterday in a London hospital.
Details of his death were sketchy last night but a press release by the family said the remains of the former Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) would arrive Abuja this morning from London.
His remains will be interred on Friday at Bida, Niger State, his hometown, according to Muslim rites.
Musa was born on January 16, 1935.
His last public service appointment was as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Ele-ctoral Commission (INEC) under the late INEC Chairman, Justice Ephraim Akpata.
Musa served as Secretary to the Government under President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic.
He was a frontline member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), which held sway at the centre in the Second Republic.
In the aborted Third Republic, Musa pitched his tent with the National Republican Convention (NRC) and even vied for the party’s ticket to contest the presidency which he lost.
Musa was the chairman of the NPC that conducted the 1991 Census under the defunct regime of military President Ibrahim Baban-gida.
He was also chairman of the Red Cross Society of Nigeria.
A distinguished retired public officer, Musa studied at the University College, Ibadan and graduated in 1960 with a B.Sc (London) degree in Mathematics and Physics.
He later proceeded to the University of Minnesota where he obtained a Masters degree in Public Administ-ration in 1962. Upon graduation, he joined the Nigerian Public Service where he rose to the position of a permanent secretary.
Musa was said to be a detribalised Nigerian who believed in the indivisibility of the country.
Responding to a question on the achievements of the country in an interview with a national newspaper on the occasion of Nigeria’s 48th independence last October 1st, he said: “This is a very general question in terms of expectations which differ but there are areas where one can say we should feel fulfilled and there are areas where things have really not been what our expectations are; they are much less.
“When I talk about where we should feel fulfilled, it is in the area of unity of the country. The country with all the hiccups here and there, I think we have done what I call satisfactory achievement. Like I said we have had hiccups here and there, both through very serious civil war but today, we are doing everything possible to remain united.”
Hajia Mamuna Jumai Musa, the eldest child of the deceased, said the former SGF would be buried in Bida, Niger State on Friday, adding that his body would be flown in from London where he was taken when he complained that he was not feeling fine.
“Daddy will be buried in his hometown, Bida on Friday. His body will leave London tomorrow morning (today). We are all moving to Bida for the burial,” she said.