Henry Akubuiro
The Bukar Usman Foundation, founded by the revered public intellectual and prolific author, Dr. Bukar Usman, has added four new titles to an overflowing oeuvre. The offerings, published by Klamidas Communications Ltd., Abuja, include two books in English by the author and two in indigenous languages, sponsored by the foundation.
The biggest of them all is the 456-page offering, My Public Service Journey: Issues in Public Service Administration in Nigeria. Also in English is Restructuring Nigeria: An Overview.
The two books in indigenous languages include one in Yoruba entitled Ogorun-un Itan Lati Ile Yoruba, written by veteran journalist and former Guardian Arts Editor, Ben Tomoloju, in collaboration with the Bukar Usman Foundation. The second is a 266-page book in Hausa, Falsafar Bukar Usman, written by Khalid Imam, in collaboration with the Bukar Usman Foundation, which has been impacting countless lives through education, literature and philanthropy.
These latest offerings followed in the heels of a number of well researched books on Nigerian folklores, myths and legends released not too long ago by the Foundation, a non-profit making outfit.
My Public Service Journey …, written by Bukar Usman himself, is the author’s expository work on the Nigerian public service. It speaks volumes of the perspectives of a seasoned bureaucrat who rose through the ranks to the pinnacle of his career, serving with distinction as director-general/permanent secretary in the presidency during his last 11 years of his 34-year civil service tenure.
My Public Service Journey … is the public service-equivalent of Usman’s earlier work, My Literary Journey, itself a continuation of his autobiography, Hatching Hopes. This particular book is seen largely as the judgement of an insider peeping into the chambers of the public service from the outside.
Restructuring Nigeria: An Overview verges on an issue that has become a major talking point in the country recently. With this publication, it probably marks the first time somebody has documented the key points of the restructuring debate in a book form.
In the five-chapter book, the author responds to some of the crucial questions raised by many stakeholders. Although some of the topical issues are controversial, he deploys temperate language in discussing them, identifying 30 contentious issues and logically countering them one after the other.
The Yoruba book written by Tomoloju and sponsored by the Bukar Usman Foundation, Ogurun-un Itan Lati Ile, contains 100 folklores from Yorubaland. It has an Igbo equivalent, Nchikota Akuku-ifo Ndi Igbo, funded by Bukar Usman Foundation, which will be released next year.
The fourth book, Falsafar Bukar Usman (Bukar Usman’s Philosophies), written by Khalid Imam but sponsored by the Bukar Usman Foundation, contains 23 songs by three different Hausa song artists. Composed between 2013 and 2019, the songs mainly extol the virtues of the retired permanent secretary as a person and the Bukar Usman Foundation, too.
Born in 1942 in Biu, Borno State, Dr, Usman was educated at the famous King’s College, Lagos, for his higher education, and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a degree in Public Administration and International Relations in 1969.
After his retirement from the federal civil service in 1999, he dedicated his time to creative writing, cultural research, and folklore revival in Nigeria, and has produced dozens of books to that effect. Usman is currently the President of the Nigerian Folklore Society (NFS).