Again Igala lost an Icon Col. Ahmed Usman EX Millitary administrator ondo and Oyo state, he was an igala icon, Ex military govenor died yesterday night in Jos, Plateau state , OBSERVERS TIMES learnt that Preparation is on going to bring his body to his hometown Okura, Dekina of Kogi State .
Ahmed Usman was born in 1951. After joining the army, postings included Second in Command, 192 Battalion, Abak and 141 Battalion, Kano (1983–1985), United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon(1985–1986) and Battalion Commander G Amphibious, Elele Port Hartcourt (1990–1991).
Usman was appointed governor of Ondo State in September 1994. While governor of Ondo State, Usman installed Oba Adeleye Orisagbemi as the Attah of Ayede Ekiti. On 17 June 1996, Usman threatened to dismiss any Ondo State judge who granted bail to secret cult suspects. In 1998, a former Managing Director of a subsidiary of the Odu’a Group alleged that he had given bribes to Usman while he was administrator of Ondo State
Late Col. Ahmed Usman as a military Governor of Oyo state
In August 1996, Usman was deployed to Oyo state at a time of growing discontent about the military regime headed by Sani Abacha. On 12 May 1997, a bomb explosion in the state capital of Ibadan injured two soldiers and a policeman. Usman said the perpetrators were cowards. Two people were killed and about 20 wounded at the Salami Sports Stadium, Ibadan in April 1998, when supporters of the United Action for Democracy (UAD) disrupted a pro-Abacha rally that had earlier been addressed by Colonel Usman.
Seven people were killed in 1998 May Day clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters. Usman blamed “foreign enemies” of supporting the violence.
Later that month, Usman said security forces had been placed on red alert to stop any protest in the state capital, Ibadan.
A few days later thirty-seven Nigerians were arrested and charged with subversion. Usman said they would be treated as “prisoners of war”. Three other people, one a prominent newspaper editor, were charged with subversion. Sani Abacha died in June 1998. Usman was relieved of his position as governor in August 1998.
Usman stayed out of politics after the return to democracy in 1999, until in August 2008, when he declared that he intended to run for governor of Kogi State in 2011
Addressing his kinsmen, families, friends, teeming loyalists and supporters at his country home in Okura Olafiya in the eastern flank of Kogi State, before 2011 Guber election. Usman said his decision was informed by the current sufferings of the people in the state arising from bad leadership.
He pointed out that the deplorable state of infrastructure and squalor in the land, if allowed to continue unabated, would lead to total collapse of the system thereby jeopardizing the future of the people of the state as well as the children yet unborn.
Usman, pointed out that he decided to bell the cat, by throwing his hat into the ring to “save the people of the state from this agony and squalor”, adding that they cannot fold their arms and watch their people to continue to suffer untold hardships. The APC stalwart, assured that Kogi under his leadership would witness accelerated development.
He stressed that as a highly trained military officer of the infantry corps of the Nigerian Army, he would use his wealth of experience and exposure to mobilize the state for development if given the mandate, promising to run a transparent government.
He enjoined the foundation members of the APC in the state not to “abandon the ship for whatever reasons”, urging them to remain in the party to salvage the situation together, for the common good of the people.