Navy Captain Musibau Atanda Yusuf an Ẹgba indigene from Abeokuta, Ogun State, succeeded Lt.Col. Bawa in August 1998 and was in charge till May 29, 1999 when he handed over to the first elected Executive Governor of the state - Otunba Niyi Adebayo.
Yusuf's tenure was an eventful nine months because he is a man of action and I can testify to that because I continued to report from the Government House, traveling with the new MILAD's entourage to the nooks and crannies of the state and to other parts of the country particularly to Abuja, Lagos, the Senior Military Training Camp in Zaria - his duty post been appointed a Military Administrator; Abeokuta his home state; Ilorin, to attend the burial of General Tunde Idiagbon, Avuvu village near Owerri, Imo State to the funeral of former Military Administrator of Edo and Ondo States, Navy Captain Anthony Ibe Onyearugbulem to mention but a few of the trips I traveled with Navy Captain Yusuf.
The common expression to hit the ground running perfectly describes the approach of Captain Yusuf to governance. He hardly sat in the office. Even after returning to the state from a long journey, instead of going to the office or retiring to government house to rest, Yusuf would direct on pager or walkie talkie in the vehicles directing the convoy to an ongoing project. His was always unscheduled projects inspection.
I remember a particular occasion that he made inspection at night and directed some vehicles from the convoy to be positioned strategically and put on their head lamps which he used to inspect the project. This took place at a dam he constructed between Ikogosi and Igbara Odo on Ikogosi river. The dam was intended to serve towns, villages and communities in Ekiti Southwest Local Government Area and its environs. The project was commissioned but even though I convered some other Chief Executives who governed the state, I haven't heard anything about the dam ever since the regime of MILAD Yusuf.
Another occasion he used vehicles' headlamps to inspect an on going project was in Ado Ekiti at Ilokun, where a television Station was under construction. Captain Yusuf inherited the project from his predecessor, Col Bawa and he was in a hurry to make the station come on air before his tenure lapsed. So, wherever he went and whenever he returned to the state capital, a visit to the project was a must.
At the time the television building was being erected, the transmitter and other studio components had arrived the Lagos ports awaiting clearance. We reported for work very early one Monday morning and we were put on yellow for a journey to Lagos. We were already on the way before I learnt that we were heading for the Apapa Wharfs to effect the clearing of the television equipment that had been held up there for months.
I also learnt that before the MILAD took the decision to go and personally collect the equipment, the management of the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State BSES had stationed a staff in Lagos to work with the Clearing Agent contracted to clear it but no result.
We arrived in Lagos before 10am as we made the journey from Ado Ekiti to Apapa Wharfs under three and a half hours. At the massive gate at the Nigeria Ports Authority NPA, Captain Yusuf hired a truck that would convey to Ado Ekiti, the tv equipment he has not seen. The truck joined our convoy and we entered the ports with siren and the whole place knew a V.I.P was on their premises.
To cut the long story short, within two hours, the television equipment that could not be cleared by the contractor in three months was released and we headed back to Ado Ekiti straight from the Lagos ports.
On our way back from Lagos, a commercial bus ran into our convoy at Osogbo Junction in Gbongan, Osun State. Although, no fatality or injury to the passengers in the two vehicles involved in the accident, the government vehicle, a Peugeot 504 somersaulted with serious dents all over.