The last dance with Corps Marshal Dauda Biu — by Kayode Olagunju

I met Dauda Biu in 1988. He was the Zonal Accountant, Kaduna Zone of the FRSC while i was in charge of the Pubic Enlightenment and Research in the then Benin Zone. Dotun Onifade was also in Kaduna in charge of Operations. We were young officers and there was a national program that brought many of us from the then five zones of the Corps to Kaduna. We needed to ‘explore’ the town. So we hit the town with Dauda Biu as the Commander in Chief. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for the few days in town with Dauda and Dotun being the wonderful hosts. We became friends from then till he finally answered his creator’s call last sunday. We vividly remembered the memorable kaduna encounter mid-august this year when he came to Osun, this time Yomi Asaniyan replaced Dotun Onifade when we had what is now the last dance with Biu in Osogbo.

Biu was a straight forward being. His No was no and yes remained Yes. Once you hear, walahi, it is not possible, stop wasting your time and when he said “i will do it”, don’t bother yourself, be rest assured, it would be done. Relate that to funding of projects and releases as he was the ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer’ of the Federal Road Safety Corps for years. When he became the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, he instantly cleared all my outstanding bills, not even with any prompting from my end. He did same for so many officers and marshals of the Corps. Biu was very popular among staff for his promotion incentives and other welfare initiatives. He also tried to correct what he considered the mistakes of the past. After my decoration as Deputy Corps Marshal as i turned to salute him, he smiled and said ‘you know you are our General in whom we are always pleased and proud of, walahi’. We both smiled and he shook me, very strongly. A great man in deed. Very courageous and strong. He did his best to move the Corps forward.

I got a call from him after my retirement . ‘Figaro, where are you? Can you see me tomorrow?” Told him i was out of town but will be back in two days and would see him, once i arrived Abuja. There was no need to ask why he wanted to see me. I was always comfortable with him, so no shaking as we say. I came in as promised and headed straight to his office. He told me he had two things to offer me. One, he gave me a “business ” to continue to keep the body and soul together. He extended that to another retired senior officer. Then, what he considered to be the most important. He wanted me to take the role of a consultant to help them manage their data and resuscitate the National Crash Reporting Information System (NACRIS), a World Bank sponsored program initiated by Corps Marshal Osita Chidoka, which i coordinated as the Head of the Policy, Research and Statistics (PRS) Department of the FRSC. The program was meant to harmonize all crash data of the country. Data were in silos with Police, FRSC, Hospitals, State Agencies having separate and different data. We set out to give the country reliable harmonized data with great integrity. The World Bank sponsored the employment of an expert who came to Nigeria to work with me on the project for about a year. We had series of engagements with stakeholders, designed and we all agreed on formats, collection and harmonization processes using technology. You can imagine my excitement when CM Biu called on me to resuscitate the Scheme. We agreed to meet again the next day, not knowing that was his last day in office. His successor CM Shehu Mohammed called me as he took over and assured that my contributions would continue to be needed and would even expand the business offered. He has done well in the assignments, but the story today is not about him.

Dauda Biu, you played your parts. You were loved by many. You gave your best. You kept your friends. You were not perfect of course, like many others but we believe, the Lord will rest your soul, forgive your sins and grant you eternal rest. It is like you came for the last dance in Osogbo to always remember you just like your many great legacies. You will always be in our memories. Sleep on Dauda, Walahi, we will miss you. Adieu.