Though I have privately sent him messages which he rightly acknowledged when he had his Birthday @53, I strongly feel compelled to openly appreciate him in view of the positive value he has added to humanity irrespective of their ethnicity, tribe, language, religion and colour. I will certainly not forgive myself if at this juncture I don’t openly appreciate him for the world to see his virtues and passion for Nigeria.

He is a Prince, a direct descendant of the Sokoto Caliphate Royal Dynasty, yet unassuming. He is a detribalised Nigerian, so passionate about Africa;s most populous nation moving forward. He is a workaholic, a very focused personality who loves everything about Nigeria: from culture, politics, sports and the people. Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, a two-time Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is an endowment to Nigeria since in every generation, nature creates few people who positively transform the lives of the people.

Alhaji Suleiman, as a practitioner of political history, can be likened to event of 1979 elections where the Great Nigerian Peoples Party (GNPP) presidential candidate, the late Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, had nurtured advocacy for politics without malice appealed for participation without the normal ‘do or die’ or “make-it-or-break-it” mindsets of the political class where he had tendered a new dimension to approach towards politics as it is in any civilised society, Suleiman surely believes in this principle and philosophy. This soft spoken Harvard University graduate once told me: “It is Almighty Allah who decides who leads the people, not man. May Allah be praised.” That was why when he received the outcome of the Sokoto Gubernatorial election in 2015, his spirit was not broken, he remains standing like the Rock of Gibraltar, which the Spanish and Latino communities call Peñón de Gibraltar, sometimes called by its original Latin name, Calpe,) being a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is 426 m (1,398 ft) high-ever reliable and dependable.

Like Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, an apostle of politics without bitterness and good governance in a remarkably pervasive schism that is normal in Nigerian politics, he strongly believe politics can be practiced without having to soil integrity, reputation, family name and image.

This cerebral politician and businessman with B.Sc Degree in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU, Zaria) 1986 and MBA from ABU 1989 has helped, still helping, empowering youths in Sokoto State through various youth empowerment schemes which has added value to the workforce in the state even without being in political power. He believes in service to humanity.

It is a man like this that Nigeria and Nigerians need with sound economic leadership, entrepreneurial prowess without discrimination ever willing to help Nigerians, passionate about sound economic policies for the nation in a pragmatic way that will facilitate Nigeria's economy out of the woods.

Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, words alone fail me to recount your numerous philanthropic gestures to humanity because they are countless like the sounds of the sea shore and uncountable like the stars in the sky.

If all Nigerian politicians are like Suleiman, so passionate in redeeming Nigeria genuinely, then our economy will be great, our agricultural farm produce will be plenty and cost of food will be very cheap in Nigeria. He’s highly consulted globally on issues regarding economy and agriculture. It is high time the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari who vowed: “I am for Everybody, I am for Nobody”, taps into this raw, economic knowledge of Suleiman so that together, all Nigerians can witness food security, economic progress which will bring life-back to various homes across the nation. He is indeed a great Nigerian, economic genius and hero of all times. God bless Nigeria.

•George Elijah Otumu is a CNNiReport Journalist North America. Photo shows Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman.

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