Shehu Shagari: as a young man

The South Eastern Muslims Organization of Nigeria (SEMON) has condoled with the Federal and Sokoto State Government as well as the immediate family of former President Shehu Shagari over his demise.

The Public Relations Officer of SEMON, Alhaji Muhammad Ajah, in a statement on Thursday described the death of Shagari as a monumental loss to the nation and democracy.

He underscored the fact that the late Shagari’s wealth of democratic experiences was still required as a source of strength in the continuous push to fix Nigeria.

He said that late Shagari was a colossal front for Nigeria’s democracy and a backbone for the success of many Nigerian patriots, especially the youths, in entrenching and stabilising democratic norms and culture in the country.

He urged both President Buhari’s Federal government and Gov. Aminu Tambuwal to immortalize the great leader whose service to the nation was remarkable and far-reaching.

“On behalf of Ndigbo Muslims of Nigeria, we join millions of Nigerian compatriots and other nationalities to condole the federal government of Nigeria, the Sokoto state government and the Shagari’s family over the death of the former democratic President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who died at the National Hospital in Abuja.”

Ajah commended the practical re-union of the Buhari’s and Shagari’s families, asking them to take past happenings as the struggle for national goodness and direction.

He lauded Shagari’s magnanimity to forgive all his offenders before his death, an act that is a very fundamental teaching in Islam.

Ajah described late President Shagari’s regime as the beginning of Nigeria’s democratic experiment, a foundation that was restored in 1999 after successive military juntas in the bid to keep Nigeria together and united.

He, therefore, appealed to the Federal and Sokoto state Governments to name big institutions and establishments after Shagari.