By Folorunso Alagbede, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim for his sense of patriotism, noting that he (Anyim) had always put the nation first in various positions held so far in the country.
Buhari equally commended the leadership qualities of Anyim, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, saying he has all it takes to be entrusted with higher responsibilities in the future.
The President stated these in his remark at the weekend at an event in Abuja to honour Anyim on the occasion of his 61st birthday.
The former Senate President, who now a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Buhari further said, is a humble leader who sees the entire country as single constituency.
The President, who was represented at the ceremony by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha, said, “Senator Anyim Pius Anyim is a patriotic Nigerian who always puts his nation first and he is one of stabilizing voices we have today in the politics of our country.
“This he has demonstrated in a number of times. But the one that stands out and still echoes with me was his insistence that elected officers should always stay a single term and he kept to his word by not seeking for re-election to the Senate, after the expiration of his first term as Senator and Senate President in 2003.
“That many Nigerians cutting across various political divides are gathered here today (weekend) to celebrate you (Anyim) is a glowing testimony of your contributions to the growth of our nation and its political development,” Buhari stated.
Speaking on a personal note, the SGF emphatically said that the experiences garnered over the years by the former Senate President place him at a vantage position to seek higher political calling.
His words, “Let me say, on a personal note, as the current and 19th SGF, that I have drawn a lot from the wealth of wisdom of Anyim, that has been the source of strength and the endowment that Senator Anyim has brought to the fore of governance in this country.
“We don’t often meet, but whenever we meet, we share knowledge about the responsibilities of the office and the enormity of the act of balancing contending forces and interests, that is always vested on any occupant of that office.
“And I want to thank you (Anyim), for the wealth of experience and the depth of knowledge that we have. I make bold to say whoever had occupied the Office of the Secretary to the government for four years in an evolving democracy like Nigeria, with diverse contentious issues, is capable and able to occupy any office,” he added.
Also speaking at the ceremony, immediate past President of the country, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan described Anyim as a unique leader who never allowed the trappings of office to get into his head.
For Jonathan, the sheer number of people gathered at the International Conference Centre to honour Anyim was an indication of the trust Nigerians reposed in him, years after leaving the office as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
He said, “”Some people are very busy and in most Saturdays, some people don’t like to wake up early. For you to have gathered these numbers as early as this time today (Saturday) means a lot.
“You were the Senate President when I was the governor of Bayelsa state and I remembered you visited me in the house one day and of course by divine providence, you became the engine of my government as my Secretary to the government of the Federation.
“The first day I became President, Anyim Pius Anyim wanted to be chairman of PDP and he came to me with a lot of dreams and we spoke. I may not bother you with details but he was never the chairman of PDP.
“When he became the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, he did not even come to me with a biscuit but we found him worthy as a Nigerian that had experience in managing systems, managing issues and also somebody who had friends across the country and when we were looking at the person we wanted to be the Secretary to the Government, of course we wanted somebody from the South-East because PDP then normally made sure that every geo-political zone had one key office. Now, we don’t have enough people, so we don’t have that.
“Up to the time I was the President, something somehow happened in a way that we never expected. The PDP philosophy then was that the President will come from one geo-political zone, the Vice President from one geo-political zone, Secretary to Government from one-geo political zone, the Chairman of the party from one geo-political, the Senate President from one geo-political zone and the Speaker from one geo-political zone, but that was when PDP had a lot of spread across the country.
“Now it is difficult to package that because even the All Progressives Congress, APC don’t have that kind of spread. So, it is difficult to get that package. That was very unique and it was a good way of accommodating every sections of the country.
“And so, we zoned the Secretary to the Government to the South-East. We looked at our brothers and sisters, the characters, and they were very nice people. They had many competent people.
“But let me say that it’s like a lot it fell on Anyim Pius Anyim and we made him the Secretary to the Government. And I don’t regret committing him.
“He is a very hard working young man, committed to serving this nation and I believe if he has the opportunity to serve more, he can do better,” Jonathan said.
Jonathan noted that at 61, Anyim is a bridge between the old and the young.
His words, “Today, we are celebrating a young man but you are getting old now. At 61 years, you are no longer very young but you are willing to serve and as somebody who has served at the parliament as a Senate President, at the executive level as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, it is quite tasking.
“Having served in that position (SGF) for the period, I know he is fully baked and I didn’t receive too many complaints. You know as a President, everyday, you receive complains from those who work for you- the ministers, your aides, advisers, assistants and so on. I didn’t receive too many complains about Anyim Pius Anyim,” he added.
