By Monday Ijeh
Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on public officers to imbibe the culture of documentation of their lives in office to assist the younger generation to prepare for the future.
Shettima made the call on Saturday in Abuja at the inauguration of a book on the biography of a former Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Usman Baba.
The Vice President, represented by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Abubakar Kyari, said the greatest tragedy of a public officer was to walk through the corridors of responsibility without leaving a record.
“For decades, this failure to document our lives in office has sabotaged successive generations, forcing each to begin afresh, to search for their bearings through the dark of an unfamiliar terrain.
“There is no doubt that we are a nation that has paid dearly for the inadequacy of mentorship.
“We cannot claim to be a society ready for the future if we do not prepare the younger generation for the tasks ahead,” he said.
According to him, there is no way to achieve this convincingly without documenting our experiences and bringing the next generation close enough to learn the ropes.
He said in leadership, examples were not inherited, but created, narrated, and offered as guideposts, adding that the story of a public servant was not his own alone.
Shettima said the public servant was entrusted with authority on behalf of the people and as such he owes them an honest account of his stewardship.
“This obligation to narrate our journey is part of the accountability that has been missing for far too long in the public space.
“When leaders keep quiet, history becomes distorted. When leaders speak, posterity gains charity. Public service is not a secret cult and our experiences should never be treated as such,” he said.
In his remark, Baba said he was inspired to document his life as a public officer because of the need to inspire others to aspire to fulfil their destinies.
“I appreciated that my privileged experience at the apex force leadership could spark strategic actors within the internal security space,” he said. (NAN)
Edited by Yakubu Uba
