DAPO OLORUNYOMI
“One sunny afternoon in 1953, first-year pupils of Katsina Middle School were sweating it out in an arithmetic class. Mallam Baraya Gombe, the teacher who doubles as headmaster, was prowling the narrow passage between the blackboard and the class, his hulky frame casting a frightening shadow on the class.
One of his pupils was missing, and Gombe, without prompting, knew who that could be: Leko, the truant, was at it again. Suddenly, as the teacher was trenchantly stressing his point, a tall, skinny, gangling frame burst into the class, his face plastered with smiles. Gombe was mad with rage.
Who was this lousy fellow, late to class, still grinning, still naughty? He thought. He reached out for Leko, the famous hockey player, soccer centre-forward, and the school’s 800-metre record holder, who had never hidden his disdain for school, and delivered a horrendous slap on his face.
Muhammadu Buhari, Leko for style, in later years an army general and former Nigerian Head of State, learnt his first lesson in discipline, order, and rules…”
NB: Mr. Olorunyomi, now Publisher of Premium Times, wrote the above as an intro to a cover interview Late General Muhammadu Buhari granted the TheNews Magazine in the early 1990s. Today is his birthday. Happy birthday sir.