All those that came in contact with Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari would be left to wonder how a man could achieve so much in life and attain the peak of his public service and political career, yet remain humble in his countenance, speech and interaction with both the highly placed and the common people in the society.

Many a times, people who have heard from afar the household name, ‘Aminu Bello Masari’, had already prepared their minds that he would be just like any other ‘big man’ with a big ego and the pomposity that is typical among men with power, wealth and influence. Many people of such caliber are known to easily get carried away by their achievements in life which never fail to reflects in their appearance, speech and interaction with others. 

But for Aminu Bello Masari, a former dedicated and well accomplished civil servant, former Katsina State Commissioner of Works, former Member House of Representatives, former Number Four citizen of the country being the Speaker of the Green Chamber of the National Assembly, and then as Governor, he still managed to remain the same humble man from Masari town who still maintained his old contacts and his lifestyle of simplicity, humility, caring and generous nature.

A whole book can be written on the subject matter, but it can also be summed up in how as Governor, Masari resisted the temptation to behave like an Emperor, a posture that is common among state governors who feel on top of the world for those temporary years. Masari kept his doors open for kings and labourers alike, for business moguls and sugarcane sellers alike, and he remained so for the whole eight years.

During that period, the official and residential sections of the Government House remained open for access to all and sundry as Masari and his aides and other members of his cabinet split their official and personal time to attend to the demands of office and those of the public, as true leadership demands a balance between the two.

Masari was also generous to a fault, making sure to exhaust all the financial votes due to his office, to the last kobo -- just to meet the pressing and remote needs of his less privileged guests who flock to his office daily. Many of his aides have often picked fault in his insistence on rendering help to all that he could see, but he insisted that His money was meant to serve and help Katsina people.

No wonder many shed tears while bidding Masari farewell knowing that it was the end of an era of uncommon simplicity, generosity and impact in very personal ways; and looking back, those traits played a key role in Masari’s success in leadership, politics, and in life generally and are some of the reasons why he is dearly missed by Katsina people from all walks of life.

Adamu is state editor of FRCN Kaduna and Assistant secretary Nigeria union of journalists Katsina state council, writes this for Katsina city News(Magazine)