Tributes have continued to flow from friends, relatives and eminent Nigerians as an elder statesman, Ambassador Ahmed Alghazali, passed away on Wednesday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.
Alghazali, who was aged 86, died after a protracted illness and left a wife and 12 children – four men and eight women behind.
His funeral prayer took place at his family mosque in Fizzan ward, old Maiduguri. He was buried around 4:39pm at Royal Cemetery (Kawur maila), behind Shehu of Borno’s palace, Maiduguri.
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno south), Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan (APC, Borno central), former Head of Service, Professor Oladapo Afolabi, Emir of Machina and other top government officials were in attendance.
One of his children, Babagana Ahmed Alghazali, who described his father as an extraordinary person, said he did not amass wealth but dedicated his life to serving Borno State and the country.
“He didn’t build or buy any house. He lived in a house given to him by his father before I bought the one he lived in the GRA without him knowing until after seven years,” he said.
Ahmed said they had been calls and tributes from eminent Nigerians, including former president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the chairman and chief executive officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) and a host of others.
Ambassador Alghazali was a permanent secretary in five ministries before he became the first Head of Service after the creation of Borno State.
The late elder statesman also served as a Nigerian Ambassador to Iran and Saudi Arabia and a national commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He also served as the chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, which was the last place he worked before he retired and relocated to Maiduguri in 2011.
Born in Marte in 1938, Alghazali was from one of the prominent and educated families in Maiduguri.
He started primary school at Gaidam in 1947 and completed it in Nguru, where his father was serving.
At an early age, Alghazali went to Borno Middle School, then Barewa College before he proceeded to the Nigerian College, where only 14 of them were northerners out of almost 2,000 students.
We lost a foremost elder – Borno Elders Forum
The secretary/spokesman of the Borno Elders Forum, Dr Bulama Mali Gubio, said they received the news of Alghazali’s death with heavy heart and prayed Allah (SWT) to be pleased with him and grant his soul perfect peace.
Also, the chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Tunji Olaopa, in a condolence message described the late Alghazali as a thorough-bred public servant.
“He devoted a princely part of his life to the service of the country as an ambassador and through the Federal Civil Service Commission, where he was a two-time chairman from 2001 to 2019.
“Known for fiercely guarding against political interference in the work of the commission, his era was marked by discipline and strict adherence to the constitutional mandate of the FCSC.
“Other achievements of the commission under him included the issuance of the first edition of guidelines on appointment, promotion and discipline in the Service.
“Alghazali’s memory strongly recommends itself as a guiding star at the FCSC as we embark on its reform and build on his legacies of discipline, thoroughness and meritocracy towards bequeathing an envisaged civil service of world class status to the nation,” he stated.
Furthermore, his neighbour, Muhammad Bakura, said his simplicity and down-to-earth sincerity endeared many people to him.
“We lost a kind-hearted man and strong pillar in the society. Using his name in this area, we benefitted many things from the government without him knowing.
“May Allah forgive his shortcomings and admit him into Jannatul Firdaus,” he said.
Weekend Trust reports that on Friday, various mosques across Maiduguri engaged in prayers for Allah (SWT) to forgive his shortcomings and admit him into Jannatul Firdaus.
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