Like I have always said, I do not identify myself with the culture of wishing ‘happy birthdays’ to people as a matter of personal principle—and if must be added, inspired by my religion. Rather, I pray for them, for their past sins to meet Allah’s forgiveness, and bless their years ahead, which, because it is normally done silently, need not be dedicated a column as such. Right now, there is even a better reason, even if it used to be my tradition, to depart. This nation is in a state of mourning, but which it seems, she did not want to accept, she, by and large, refuses to acknowledge such; she bleeds, but she says it is a sign of relief, of success—of also, ‘pathological stupidity cum arrogance’; and those who, even if nobody acknowledges such, ought to and must do, are, indeed, to the surprise of no one, the ones who, redefine it to mean indifference, at best, and/or at worst, celebration—because teetotalism is a ‘virtue’.
If ever one should write a tribute at a time like this, it has to be one of sympathising with families who, for being Nigerians by geographical necessity, had and continue to have their beloved ones massacred by the ‘irresponsibility’ and ‘lousiness’ of a [domestic imperialist] state apparatuses–and if I use ‘prebendalist champions’ here, to borrow from Adamu Adamu, it is because I have no better word. It has to be one which stands in solidarity with an innocent world; which invokes Allah to land tons of fortitudes on the hearts of mothers whose lifelong dreams, nine months pregnancies, and love, all suddenly went for nothing. I, as I feel guilty of anyway, to be sincere, consider any tribute other than that, at this point, a ‘luxurious’ insensitivity!
This tribute, therefore, I have to admit, is a bi-product of the intellection that found itself at the centre of the dialectics between two extremes of, well, wrong ‘season’ and right reasons. I know, certainly of course, that there is jargonisation here, if not, contradiction, but a helpless one. You see, the presidency made a statement that was rather one of its usual rubbish, but met with ‘coincidence’ on its way, to be right, that Boko Haram cannot shut down this country. Even with that, it has to be corrected that, the country cannot be shut down only from doing serious national business, not from indulging in multimillion Naira party, and of course, certainly not by and for Boko Haram, but for her sons and daughters who happen to be tragically at the hands of ‘kain-kain’ soaked brains.
After this somehow verbose preliminary, and noting that writing tributes at this time amounts to insensitivity, I feel confident to say that failing to write a tribute to and on Prof Nur Alkali is at the same time a big mistake. This is for two reasons. One, in it—I mean in his life, some part of which are herein noted—there are numerous lessons to derive, especially that we have found ourselves in an age where upcoming generations are faced with conflicting and dangerously tempting psycho-moral and career choices to choose from. And if there isn’t any clue on just which one to choose, Boko Haram or other such aberrant groups may step in and decide for them, which runs the risk up keeping us perpetually stuck in this situation if there are no individuals, English man calls thema: role models, who, by sheer force of example, trend-set for them a path of saner life to follow.
Two, that we are victims of our own silence, complacence, and taciturnity, is no more a postulation to debate on, but a fact already established; and hence, our salvation lies in those who saw it a divine duty to say things as they really are, who understand the ‘manipulation’ between the alternation of the moment of silence and talking. And last year when I wrote that Prof Nur Alkali is one upright figure who says it as it is, no sooner, the nation saw him saying it the way it really was and dosing the president and his entourage pills that are adequately bitter—forcing it to do the needful. And in a situation where our silence, it has been admitted, has come to hound us, men of such quality, I suppose, should either be given the centre-stage to do the right talking as they know how or be learnt from.
And yes, to say that Prof Alkali is a role model from whom to learn, is, sincerely, ‘begging the question’. Without stating that, for instance, he is a dedicated scholar who have contributed enormously to scholarship and learning, as a, say, teacher, is a fallacious argument, and assuming the role of a judge to have decided and concluded for my audience what to think.
For fact, Prof has not only taught a large number of students, wrote treatises, sent children of the have-nots to school, headed or managed learning institutions, but also helped to nurture institutions from scratch to fame and leads failing ones to resurrection. Right now as we are talking, Prof Alkali is the Chairman, Committee of Planning and Implementation of one to-be-established ‘al-Sudais University’, in Abuja, concurrently holding the same position at Baze University, a world-class citadel of learning which he also helped to establish. And someone just recently was complaining that Baze is attracting his staffs away. In Borno state he is at the moment the Chairman, Technical Committee on the Establishment of Borno State University; and already Yobe State University was his ‘notorious’ handiwork of marrying words with action, to state a few.
And this day has in it a very interesting coincidence. And you even suspect’ it of some special relevance. It ‘launched’ into this world another individual, Ahmed Ibrahim Gazali, whose life is an embodiment of exceptional humility, moral rectitude, philanthropy and kindness. It was he, one fondly remembers, who demonstrably taught us that the greatest of savings is giving, sadaqa. He, it remains, the very Ahmed who locks up himself in his room when, because of deeply-ingrained philanthropy, he has less to give people. Anyone who meets him first forms an impression of a father in him; and it was what led someone who was ‘intimidated’ by it, to ‘allocate’ the nickname ‘Ba’ande’ to him, meaning ‘babanmu’, ‘our father’. And some of us privileged to have lived with him, could have thought of no better name.
While Prof marks 68 on the 3rd, at the same day, Ba’ande clocks virtually half the number. There is a reason, I insist, there has to be, why these two personalities were born at the same date. And your curiosity snowballs on arriving at the conclusion that both of them have virtually the same personality. Only that while Prof was a scholar extraordinaire, Ahmed is an emerging pension guru, but they are both historians. And you can say, they are both ‘teachers’–the only difference being that, while Ahmed teaches how to ‘live’ a successful life, as against academic knowledge, by force of personal practice and examples, Prof, groomed as an academician, does both. And at the end, being privileged in your life to have associated and learnt from them, you are left no better option than to pray they be granted better health and longer life here, to keep impacting on us lesser mortals, values and principles of life; and in the hereafter, be afforded a mellifluous parade march into the highest Class of Paradise.
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