By Muhammed Sani Inuwa
It was the afternoon of Monday, 6th December 2021 when that call came in from your closest and dearest friend and brother, Alaranma Jibril Darda’u while I was far away in the Chief Magistrate Court, Egbe, Kogi State. It was indeed ‘distressful’ in the real sense of the word as it pounded me with the news of your involvement in a fatal motor accident that left you comatose. You were returning from Kano, after taking the last batch of your children to a Qur’anic memorization School. My journey from Lokoja to Zaria along with Alaranma Jibril Darda’u, Uba Sadi, Bashir Inuwa and Ummi a day after, was like a yearlong voyage beset with all sorts of thoughts and sentiments, mixed with a great deal of suspense.
You were unconscious when we arrived the Accident and Emergency Unit of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shikka, Zaria where you were admitted and were being managed for what I later learned to be ‘intracerebral hemorrhage’. ‘An emergency condition in which a ruptured blood vessel causes bleeding inside the brain’, explained Dr Abdulkareem Kabir. One of the Doctors managing your condition. Whatever that was, I had no idea. ‘It’s life threatening condition,’ Dr Abdulkareem confessed. I managed to keep the light of hope burning until you breathed your last at exactly 5:55am on Wednesday the 15th December, 2021 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). It then dawned on my helpless and hapless self that I have lost not just my blood brother but also my compassionate friend and caring father. I thenceforth become a real orphan. Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi rajiun! Inna lillahi wainna ilahi rajihun!! Inna lillahi wainna ilaihi rajihun!!!
Our father, late Alh. Inuwa Da’agana, died while I was in the womb, but you fathered me so well that I was, throughout my life, shielded from the pains and predicaments of an orphan. You took the responsibility for my Islamic, moral and western education till my successful call to the Nigerian Bar which saw you overwhelmed with joy. You molded me into the person that I am today. You ensured that I get married to loving, caring, and cultured wives. I never for once doubted the wisdom and rightfulness of your guidance, neither have I had any regret keeping by your instructions. From the benefit of hindsight, your approvals and disapprovals were well-thought-out and rightly informed with seeming divine underpinnings. I reminisce over your life and times with nostalgia.
Brother, it is already a year since you left us. Therefore, it has been your style to demand proper account and I have decided to do that very briefly, with our family in focus. We owe a great deal of appreciation to almighty Allah and then to the amazing individuals that have stood by us throughout those hard and dark times till date. Brother, your closest and dearest friend and brother, Alaranma Darda’u Jibril, has remained truthful, faithful and committed to your agelong relationship as he has not only been supportive of the family but has continued to religiously look after your children. Our brothers, Uba Sadi, Bashir Inuwa (Baban Muazu), Lawan Hafiz, Isah Hafiz and Magistrate Tanimu have remained very kind and supportive as ever. We have also received remarkable gestures from our aunties and uncles including but not limited to Hajiya Lami Lawal (sister Saratu), Professor Marietu Tenuche (Vice Chancellor, KSU), Professor Rahanatu Lawal (sister liya), Sister Rufia, Sister Jamila, aunty Fauziya, uncle Abdulqudus, and Dr. Abdulmumini Lawal. Others include Architect Mahmood, Zakari Ola, and others too numerous to mention. May Allah reward them abundantly.
Brother, I have been struggling, in my own way, to take on your aspirations and see your inner but untold dreams come true. After your demise, Ammar’s admission into the university fully materialized and he is now on course to becoming a Quantity Surveyor. Ummi is still pursuing her ambition to become a lawyer and recently got married to her heartthrob, Aliyu Usman Tenimu whom you approved of and prayed for. Muntaqah is now schooling at Al-Hidaya Senior Secondary School, and he is doing commendably well. Fatima, Zainab and Ummayya now school at Nurumubeen International School, Lokoja and they are coping fine. Mab’uthah, Walid, Abdulrazaq, Hasin and Abu Ubayd have continued their Qur’anic memorization classes with Abdulrazak leading the race. During my usual visits, I was always moved by their level of studiousness, commitment, and brightness, of course, like their father. Your adorable ‘Didi-for-Life’ (as you fondly refer to your second wife, Mansura) recently secured a job with the Kogi State University, Anyingba as a Graduate Assistant.
Brother, I have been supportive of aspiring pilgrims and facilitated their enrolment and registration process, as you have always done. Admittedly, I could not take on your contribution towards Qur’anic memorization in the society especially the Lokoja Traditional Area. No worries please, for Alaranma Darda’ Jibril Darda and others like him, are there to do that as always. As for the financial liabilities, we have been very relentless in liquidating them and are almost done doing that. Be rest assured, we will get done with that for good latest by March 2023.
Lest I forget, Rukaya, my second wife gave birth to a boy a month after your demised and he has been named after you, Almujahid and based on our final discussion, I have been able to, with the support of your dearest and closest friend and brother, Alaranma Jibrin Darda’u, establish my Law Office in Lokoja under the name and style of M.S Inuwa & Associates and to the glory of God it’s thriving.
Brother, I so missed your radiant face, cheerful smiles, serene-mindedness, and above all, your sense of satisfaction and collectedness in the face of terrifying challenges. You are mild-mannered, religious and an excellent keeper of relationships. These are rear attributes that have singled you out and endeared you to the family, relatives, the Muslim ummah and we pray, to Allah. On this day, I can only pray that Allah contines to have mercy on your departed soul, forgive your sins, and grant you Jannatul Firdaus Al-A’la.
M. S. Inuwa Esq, is lawyer,he writes from M .S. Inuwa Associates Chamber , Lokoja
