Distinguished Senator Garba Musa – The Prize for Selflessness is a Call to Serve 3

Distinguished Senator Garba Musa Maidoki

Kebbi South Representative at the Nigeria’s 10th Senate

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,” William Shakespeare.

Without any iota of doubt, with a humble beginning, Maidoki achieved greatness in his career and through his selfless service to his community, equally achieved greatness in the eyes of his people and the Kebbi South electorates thrust greatness upon him by voting him to represent them in the 10th Assembly.

His track record as seen from his career, Garba carries his carriage with intelligence, experience and large heartedness that anyone would be curious to know him. Asides his career success, he has also been of immense social contributor to the society at large.

As an economist, he was groomed on the job to be proficient on many different strategies of planning for many theatres of operations, business/data analyses, business partnering, contracting, budgeting and logistics with knowledge about the energy transition for over 30 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas, energy, transportation, trade finances, banking and industries.

In addition, he garnered experience as Valuator, Auditor and Analytical Skills in the oil and gas, energy sector.

His career progression gave him a strong organisational leadership and operational expertise with a proven track record as a highly self-motivated team player with keen attention to detail, an analytical and commercial mind-set with effective organisational first-rate communication, presentation and stakeholder engagement skills. He mentored a pool of youngsters with diverse talents and abilities as he was once mentored and groomed.

In his 33 years of career in the oil and gas, Garba led an inclusive change, transform businesses by facilitating the decision-making processes towards impacting the bottom-line in diverse work environments. His experiences ranges from common cost management/reporting, planning to performance and have a great aptitude for learning, demonstrated adaptability and resilience.

He demonstrated visible and felt safety leadership, executing safe work, and implementing the Manage Supply Chain Management System/Business Model, with proper risk management, contract management with effective checks and controls.

Garba Maidoki is competent at skill levels in Health, Safety and Security, Environment and Social Performance (HSSE&SP). His career taught him to Lead, Prepare and Apply budget responsibilities, contract strategies, variation submissions and presentations to the Contract Board/Committees.

He reviewed and monitored standards, including logistics infrastructure and resource assessment. He coached, developed and managed teams of personnel responsible for performance support production.

At the home-front, Garba’s mother-community, let me reproduce a little from my article, “The Dilemma of finding the Right Adjectives and Qualifiers to Describe Garba Musa (MaiDoki),” (read here...)

In that piece, I stated that:

That is why the only word, within my limited vocabulary that is close to describe the total sum of Garba Musa’s commitment to his people, over and above “generosity and philanthropic, defender and protector,” is “Altruism” – “Selflessness!”

This is unselfish attitude marked by the concern for the welfare of others. This ‘Maidoki’s’ attribute goes beyond giving money or time to others. This can be done without personal risks. On the other hand, a hero might not have the resources to give, but can play other vital roles at his personal risk to liberate and promote others.

This is as closest as I can get in describing Maidoki – “Altruism – Selflessness.”

Selflessness is putting others first! Thinking of others first!! The virtue of putting other people’s needs, interests, or wishes before one’s own is one of the strongest virtues of leadership. It goes beyond being “patron, humanitarian, donor, sponsor, promoter, contributor, backer, and guarantor.”

Well, Garba Maidoki helped many identify and connect with others and that in and of itself was rewarding. In all his dealings Garba Maidoki never exhibited the “big man syndrome” – ego,  pride or for a desire to be noticed.

Distinguished Senator Garba Musa Maidoki

Kebbi South Representative at the Nigeria’s 10th Senate

Selflessness is not a skill most people learns overnight, it is a constant work in progress and Garba Maidoki demonstrated this over four decades. Selflessness has become his traditional virtue in many acts and occasions.

Selflessness is Garba Maidoki loving other people, demanding his patience and kindness. Maidoki as a generous giver is never envious of others. In his reserve nature, Maidoki is never rude or looks down on others because of his career success. A character many elites flung at will.

Garba Maidoki reflects true selflessness – acting without thinking about how he will profit or benefit.

There is no two ways about it, the peak of service to the people is selflessness, where one is extremely giving and full of favour, and infinitely generous, as achieved, proven and demonstrated by Garba Musa Maidoki to his people.

The learning points in Garba’s résumé is that it is not okay to just be successful at a career and relegate the home-front, not to care about the foster community. It is not okay to ignore the needs of those around you all because you were too busy attaining career success.

Garba’s story has proven the importance of taking time out of a crowded schedules to do something not for self, but for the people and community who are in need of your services and help. And one of the most fulfilling ways to do that is to expect nothing in return – finding significance and joy by serving others.

As in the story of Garba Musa Maidoki, eventually, God rewards those who commit to helping others selflessly and the prize, as in Garba’s case is the “call to serve!” after all, greatness, growth, and significance is found on the path of service to humanity.

True greatness and exaltation come with a price and Garba paid that price along the pathway of humble service to his people and he was handsomely rewarded with a priceless prize – a “call to serve” the people of Kebbi South in the 10th Assembly as a Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic.

It is very fitting that Garba has proven to be a great man with the quality of his contributions and services to the people years before he ventured into politics to demand for their votes.

This is a special tribute not only to the Distinguished Senator, but to all those who faithfully stayed true to his vision and that of the founding fathers, to all men and women of honour who laid the groundwork for establishing the institutions he will be representing.

As far back as 2009 in a tribute to Professor Andrew Jonathan Nok (MFR), titled, “Another Giant Leap for Professor Nok; A Milestone for A.B.U., Zaria,” I had cause to write that

There is no moral courage as bestowing honour to one whom honour is due. The old axiom which states that, “Honour is given to whom honour is due” is not really in Toto so!

There is nothing more far from the truth than such a bizarre statement. It is not quite true. For one of the most difficult things bestowed on human is really ‘honour’.

Honour is never given to anybody on a platter of gold. At best grabbing and utilising all the opportunities that passes one’s side, in fact in other instance, going out of one’s way hunting for such opportunities fearlessly and courageously, guided only by the spirit of serving humanity.

It is only then that one easily claims all the honours due to one, otherwise they would simply pass one by – honours in this case elude even the true owner.

As I wrote those words for Professor Nok then, I stand firmly to believe that by winning this election, Garba Musa actually wrestled and ‘deservedly’ wrenched out what belongs to him and the people of Kebbi South. He was able to fearlessly and courageously venture into the murky waters of politics, defeating an incumbent and seasoned vicenarian politician on elective posts in the just concluded 2023 general elections in Nigeria.

Garba Musa Maidoki was able to achieve this “because of his upbringing, training, toiling days long, and burning the midnight oil while others slept on his steadily ascend step-by-step onto his career ladder and higher societal pedestal, as he accumulated knowledge and wealth of experience and selflessly gave back to his constituency.

There is no iota of doubt, the Senate is just the beginning. Garba will continue to soar higher in serving his people,  fighting where necessary, insisting on collecting the dividends of democracy they so deserve, not waiting to be ‘given’, but rather grabbing from the ‘national cake’ again and again as Allah wished.

This political honour is an extraordinary honour in recognition of Garba Musa Maidoki’s selflessness, a prize for his selflessness, which lead his people to call him serve them in the 10th Assembly of the Senate of the 4th Republic of Nigeria.

It is my fervent prayers that Garba will prove to be a great ambassador to Kebbi South’s heritage, traditions and ideals as set by our forbearers, Kebbi State and Nigeria at large as the Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Let me conclude with the words of Winston Churchill to Garba Musa Maidoki, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”

This concludes the series of the story of GARBA MUSA MAIDOKI

Editor’s Note:

This is the concluding part of the promised I made to tell the story of Garba Musa Maidoki beyond his curriculum vitae.

It is now your turn to assess whether the “exercise in genealogy” and the job of placing him and his curriculum vitae on my slaughter slab and the surgical dissection they went through under my analytical magnificent microscope and the penning of the story was enough to redeem my pledge of telling the story of the Distinguished Kebbi South Senator beyond his curriculum vitae was worth the while.

Acknowledgement:

           This story would not have been completed without the outstanding contribution of many. I wish to appreciate Muhammad Sani kataka, Taginna Bete, Tami kanki, A'imila Joji and special recognition to Haruna Shira'a (Sarkin Samarin Magami) Bala Danzaki, Salisu Usman, Sani Danyaro and Likita Isah.

           Noblenews acknowledge both the moral and financial support of Mr. John Kamba, Col Kele (Rtd), Col D.R. Hassan, Bala Manga, Engr. John Saleh and Stephen Ubandawaki. I hereby acknowledge your response each time we call upon you. Thank you

M.D. Danjuma, Lead Research Assistant on the Maidoki Biography.

NB Faruk, Writer/Editor.

U. S. Machika.

The Noblenews Personality Page

All Correspondence to:

usnoblenews@gmail.com