Eric Teniola

Alhaji Gidado Idris, a rare civil servant, is 80, Sunday March 15. He has served his country for 42 years. And he has seen it all. He has shaped and witnessed history in his years of service. An adage says “If you let me frame the question, I will get the answer I want”. Alhaji Gidado Idris, born into the royal Idris family in the ancient city of Zaria, framed the question of his career in the civil service years ago and got the answer by rising to the highest pinnacle of his profession before retiring in 1999. Soft spoken and principled, he cultivated a high degree of friendship from the lowest to the highest, across the country. He is like an encyclopaedia of events with accurate dates. He remembers all and forgets nothing. He was a trusted aide to the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, an in-law to President Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, a trusted friend to Major General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Sani Abacha, General Abdusalam Abubakar and former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar and a very close aide to President Olusegun Obasanjo who awarded him the national honours, Commander of the Niger in 1978. His wife Hajia Maryam Idris was the best friend of Hajia Maryam Babangida - a friendship that started from their school days as secretariat students at the Federal Training Centre, Kaduna and spanned over 40 years until Maryam Babangida died on December 27, 2009 in a Los Angeles hospital, United States of America. He cherishes friendship and builds trust among friends. On the directive of Sir Ahmadu Bello, Gidado Idris drafted and typed the dethronement letter of the former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi, the father of the present Emir, in August 1963. A copy of the letter is still with him today.

On January 14, 1966, the then Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola in company with Chief Richard Abimbola Osuolale Akinjide flew to Kaduna in a chartered helicopter to warn Sir Ahmadu Bello of an imminent coup d’état and of a grand plan to eliminate some key politicians including both of them. Sir Ahmadu Bello advised Chief Akintola that there was no point running from the country and if he was truly the leader of his people it was most honourable to die among the people. Shortly after their departure to Ibadan, Sir Ahmadu took a drive round Kaduna in an open car. Seated beside Ahmadu Bello was Gidado Idris. A few hours later Ahmadu Bello was killed.