WALI OF ILORIN @ 90 : Alhaji Shehu Usman Mustapha is a man of peace- Raheem Adedoyin

WALI OF ILORIN @ 90 : Alhaji Shehu Usman Mustapha is a man of peace- Raheem Adedoyin

 By _Raheem_ _Adedoyin_

Wali of Ilorin, Alhaji Usman Mustapha is the beloved father of Moshood Mustapha (his Apple's eye). Moshood Mustapha ( MM) is the beloved friend  and brother of Raheem Adedoyin.
So,  it should be no surprise that  I'm close to Wali.
But I'm more than MM's friend to Baba. I'm also his son. He calls me and MM 5 and 6. Whenever I visit him, he usually  says either "Ore re nko"( how is your friend?) or  " Ibeji re sese bami soro tan ni"( your twin has just spoken to me"-  on phone).

I had known Baba by reputation since when he was Hon. Commissioner  for Finance. We were young, so young then, but the star commissioners of the era were unmistakable.

I got to know Baba better( physically) during our time( MM and I ) in the Cabinet of Gov. Bukola Saraki ( CON).

I got even closer to him after he led a delegation of Oloye( late Dr. Olusola Saraki) to my late father's 10th Remembrance Anniversary prayers in Ijomu Oro, Kwara State on November 24, 2010.
Other members of the high- powered  delegation were Alhaji Saka Opobiyi, late Alhaji Amosa Jidda, late Alh. Oba Bolanta and Alh. Ayinla Alarape.

It was a memorable day for me as the presence of the famous delegation whom I hosted in our family house became a big thing in the community (May Allah grant Oloye and his late disciples Aljanah Firdaus).

From then on, I was Wali's Pikin.
During the APC Guber Primaries campaign, I was the DG of MM Campaign. It was a tough time but I can never forget Wali's guiding hands in what we were doing.  Wali was MM Group's soothing balm when MM was disqualified disgustingly on radio midway into the Primaries .

Wali is a man of peace. The MM campaign benefitted from his wise counsel  especially in the handling of a very tricky campaign issue.

As I often do, I was with Wali yesterday to felicitate with him ahead of his 90th birthday today. " Ore re nko" was the first thing he asked me( never mind that  my friend, typically,  had spoken with him severally before my arrival). As always, it was fun being with Baba.

 As I prayed yesterday, we will all live long to witness Baba's 100th birthday and more alive.

Happy Birthday, Baba Mosudi. He said