The apex northern socio-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has described Mallam Adamu Fika who died on October 24, 2023 as a nationalist, towering giant of a public servant, elder statesman and a man who served Nigeria in several notable positions.
ACF in a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, also described the late elder statesman as a man who epitomised excellence in selfless service.
Late Mallam Fika was one of the initiators and founding fathers of the ACF, and was chairman of its Board of Trustees from 2014 to 2020, but his story was much broader, as he was best known for far more according to the statement.
“Late Adamu Fika was one of the early crops of young northerners who formed the immediate post-colonial pool of well-trained, professional and dedicated civil servants that epitomised excellence in selfless service. He was among the erstwhile civil servants, of whom the North and Nigeria will forever be proud of, who saw to the smooth transition from regional to state administration following the very first in the series of state creation exercises following the abolition of regional governments.
“In this regard, late Mallam Fika was in the league of such equally towering public service giants as late Ali Akilu, Justice Buba Ardo, Yahaya Gusau, Sunday Awoniyi, Ahmed Joda, to name a few. He would also be remembered for serving as permanent secretary in a number of federal ministries, Head of Service, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The ACF also disclosed that in more than the literal sense, Mallam Fika had mentored a number of top civil and public servants who had gone on to leave their marks in the service of the nation and that even in retirement, he had served as pro-chancellor and chairman of council of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.
“Until his death, he had remained a highly respected highly revered “consultant” of sorts to those who sought counsel on how to handle intricate state matters, and known for his humility and dignified comportment. It was a fitting farewell to late Adamu Fika that an overwhelming gathering of society’s very top notables and beyond-capacity-crowd turned out for his funeral rites at the Sultan Bello Mosque Kaduna, a day after his demise.
“His was certainly a life well-led, with an illustrious career of service, of which many posthumous tributes described as meritorious, highly principled, dedicated, forthright, bold, brave, unblemished, iconic, pivotal, exemplary, etc.
“As it mourns the painful loss, ACF therefore extended her heart-felt profound condolences to late Mallam Adamu Fika’s immediate and extended families and friends across Nigeria, the federal and Yobe State governments and the Emir of Fika and the Fika Emirate Council.
“May Almighty God in His Infinite Grace and Mercy grant forgiveness and eternal rest in al-Jannah Firdaus to late Mallam Fika, CFR, Wazirin Fika, and public servant extraordinaire,” the forum prayed.
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