When his ship anchored in Tokyo, Nasution heard a radio broadcast about the proclamation of Indonesian Independence.

[6] In 1956, Nasution was appointed as the Commander of the Special Forces Regiment of the Indonesian Army (RPKAD), after his predecessor, Mayor Djailani, was put in prison following the Lubis Affair.

Nasution appointed Commander Lieutenant Colonel Wiriadinata from the Air Force and Mayor Indra Subagyo from the Navy as his deputy.

[8] The operation consisted of one RPKAD company, two PGT (Pasukan Gerak Tjepat, Quick Reaction Force), and an infantry battalion from Central Java that were planned to be airdropped into Pekanbaru.

[8] Besides that, several BRIMOB (Mobile Brigade Corps) units also joined the operation under the command of Police Commissary Sutjipto Danukusumo.

[9] The operation began at the dawn of 12 March 1958, when the Kangaroo Command, consisting of one RPKAD company and two PGT (Pasukan Gerak Tjepat, Quick Reaction Force) companies, was parachuted to capture the Simpangtiga Airfield and the city of Pekanbaru.

[13] With this position, Nasution was formally inaugurated as the governor of Riau on 6 January 1960, replacing Sutan Mohammad Amin.

The BPH was later tasked to form the Regional People's Representative Council of Mutual Assistance in the Riau Province.

Upon hearing this news, many Riau civil employees refused to be moved to Pekanbaru, and opted to resign instead.

[4] Assisted by Ahmad Faqih, an expert in public works, Kaharuddin planned Pekanbaru as a modern city.

Kaharuddin modeled the Pekanbaru after the New York City, with a road system in the form of streets and avenues.

With an agreement between the company and the Pertamina along with the Department of Mining, Nasution was allowed to utilize all of the vehicles previously owned by Caltex.

Under the protection of the Siliwangi Division, the mission organized a rally against the Communist Party of Indonesia in the Dwikora Stadium.

Several students, such as Mustafa Noor, Leonard Kaligis, M Arifin, Fauzi Suherman, Agus Jun Batuah, from the Ampera Mission and Imran, Asman, and Juliaman from KAPI and KAMI were arrested.

The demand was fulfilled by the central government, as on 15 November 1966, Arifin Achmad was inaugurated by Basuki Rachmat as the acting Governor of Riau.

During his time in the Merdeka Regional Military Command, he took part in crushing the Free Papua Movement.

[24] On 13 June 1983, Nasution was officially inaugurated as the Governor of North Sumatra by the Ministry of Internal Affairs Soepardjo Roestam.

[25] During his term, Nasution ordered all of the civil servants in North Sumatra to wear white uniforms.

Finally, on 16 October 1986, the operation officially began with the formal opening by Minister of Agriculture in the Sileang Village, Dolok Sanggul, North Tapanuli.

[26] A further assessment about the economic operation was conducted by the Social, Economy, and Agricultural Faculty of the University of North Sumatra on 14 September 1988.

[26] The word Maduma in North Tapanuli was popularly known as the abbreviation to Martangiang Dungi Mangula which means pray and work in the Batak language.