Brigadier General Ali Williams Butu (rtd): The Fearless Officer And Brilliant General Goes Home
By: Yahaya Kana Ismaila
News of your death has benumbed me. Your demise is another reminder that death is very selective. It comes for the good, the bold and strong first, leaving weaklings who cower at the sound of their breath feel larger than life itself. By taking you, it will appear death is on a mission to separate this world from an astute, dependable, distinguished, unrelenting, undeterred, unputdownable, and reliable assets.
Like every human being, General Butu was infallible, however, despite his mortal foibles, he was dependable, unwavering in his pursuit of truth, unbending when convinced, and welcoming of superior arguments. Butu was a man for all seasons. Once he’s convinced by your value as a person and the validity of your ideas, he stands with you through thick and thin.
Gen. BUTU was an educational colossus and a renowned Associate Professor of Geography with several publications to his name. He was a well celebrated Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) professional, and he consulted with several government and nongovernmental organisations notable amongst which are the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, where he chaired several Panel Review for EIA in several states on behalf of the latter.
General Butu joined the service of the Nigerian Army Education Corps as a lieutenant in 1992 and rose steadily to attain the career-defining rank of Brigadier General. Butu’s educational journey started in his home state of Taraba and got to its peak at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where he obtained his PhD in 2011. Before his swansong posting at the Nigerian Army University Biu, Gen. Butu enjoyed a very eventful military career, holding several positions. His most notable posts include Brigade Education Officer Ikeja Lagos; Commandant, Command Secondary School Kaduna; Assistant Director Education at AHQ DATOPS Abuja; Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna; and Registrar, Nigerian Army College of Environmental Sciences, Makurdi.
Gen. Butu towers above petty sentiments and relishes every opportunity to say the truth, even to power, especially when it becomes necessary and unavoidable. This trait endeared him to many who considered him the conscience of the NA and voice of the voiceless. And, as it is with people of his conviction, expressiveness, and intellect, his mien also put him on a collision course with powers that be!
I encountered Gen. Butu first in Edegye – Mbeki. He was honouring the invitation of Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, the pioneer Registrar of the Nigerian Army University Biu and erstwhile DG of NYSC as he was celebrated by the Osu – Ajiri. His speech at that event brought him out as someone who follows his heart and is never afraid of traveling alone if accompanied by the truth.
My path will later cross Butu’s, this time in all of his glory, when I posted to work with him at the Faculty of Environmental Science. My first significant exchange with him was unforgettable. “I see that you are teachable and very eager to learn, you will go far,” he said. General Butu was indeed a teacher. He is very generous with his knowledge and ideas, and patient with learners.
If meticulousness were a person, it would have been named BUTU! Everything must satisfy the average (he hated the term ‘minimum’) requirements for it to go out to the public. He never fails to remind me and everyone around that whatever we write will outlive us, hence the need to write it well so that those who see it long after we are gone will remember us kindly and proudly. His secretary will lament the number of corrections from his boss. But I relished them, everyone corrective ink an opportunity to drink from his wealth of experience! General BUTU was so meticulous that he corrects even external memos sent to him before filing them!
Last year, General Butu wrote a heartfelt tribute to his late friend, Bob. And because he claims I am an English person, he called me to be his audience as he read the piece out loud. Then, he fell silent for a while, something in the tribute striking a chord. When he found his voice again, his words were sobering!
Yahaya, he bellowed with that deep baritone of his. Someday, if we are lucky, someone will write a tribute for us. I pray that you will be the one to write a tribute for me. We are Africans, and we believe death should be by age. Please, when you write about me, don’t leave anything out, not even the bad side of me. I know we don’t say ill of the dead, but if you relate only my good side, you would have written a half tribute. Yahaya, I may not be proud of my bad side or whatever mistakes I may have made, but I take responsibility because both are what make Butu”.
It breaks my heart that I have to write this tribute and try as I may, I can’t even relate all the good that made you BUTU; talk more of the bad side. I am perhaps luckier than most to have enjoyed a cordial, even fatherly working relationship with you. This much is evidenced in the reference letter you wrote me last year, which I will now frame as my greatest memento from working with you.
I was heartbroken the last time I saw you at the hospital. I would have wagered that you were stronger than pain, but to see you humbled by it, as you lay in that hospital bed shook me very deeply. Yet, despite your pain and health battles, you were a pillar when my dear mother, Hajiya Akedi was taken from us early this year. I could feel the discomfort in your voice as you strained to comfort me with your frank words. Now, I also have to bid you goodbye. If I feel this terrible about your demise, I wonder what your family will be going through. Hmmm….What a year this is turning out to be for me.
When your exit from the NA was confirmed late last year, you told me gleefully, “Yahaya, it is time for me to go and rest. I have done my best. It’s now you people’s turn to carry the touch”. Indeed, you have gone home to rest from this sinful world. Rest on GENERAL, we will be along in due time!
Adieu Brigadier General Ali Williams BUTU. Rest on till we meet to part no more!
Ismaila writes from the Nigerian Army University in Biu
Indeed Gen Butu the Fairless one…. I am so short of words, Though I have not worked directly under him but, I sought his counsel when I wasbin the University and even when I was leaving and he was frank and blank. It is a miss to us . Rest on sir
Gen Butu a man of standard, it was a privilege to be his student. I remember my first encounter with him, I bow to greet him he too did the same. A very humble and patient man, those that where opportuned to learn or meet with him know this fact and when he lecture he make sure everyone understands.
Rest on a hero, teacher, mentor and father.
It pained my heart to write you this words.
General Butu, I met him during my NYSC days at command Secondary School Kaduna when he was the commandant in charge, a blunt, funny, straight forward, kind military officer and astute administrator. May your soul rest in peace General.
He was our geography teacher back then in 1994, in the Nigerian Military School, Zaria. And hie humility, kindness and dedication has endeared him to all of us, making us enjoy geography so much. Infact some students had to attend his classes even if they were not offering the course. May Almighty God grant his family and loved ones the strength and fortitude to bear this shock and irreparable loss.
A General and a gentleman to the core. May your gentle soul rest in peace sir