Adieu Prof Maikaba

When I saw the news of the demise of Professor Balarabe Maikaba on Facebook on Sunday afternoon,  April 26, 2020 by one of his students, I was shocked and I couldn’t believe it until when I saw it again, this time posted by my friend with whom we did a Post Graduate studies at Bayero […]

When I saw the news of the demise of Professor Balarabe Maikaba on Facebook on Sunday afternoon,  April 26, 2020 by one of his students, I was shocked and I couldn’t believe it until when I saw it again, this time posted by my friend with whom we did a Post Graduate studies at Bayero University, Kano.

Inna Lillahi wainna Ilaihirajiun (From Allah we came and to Him we shall return).

I  came to know the late Kano City born Professor Maikaba during the 1996/1997 session at BUK when I got admitted into level 200 to read B.A Mass Communication/ English. He was then called Malam Balarabe Maikaba because he had only a Master’s Degree at the time. He taught us Theories of Mass Communication, Media Law and Ethics, Communication Research and Statistic, History of Mass Communication among others. I believe there was no student in the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies (FAIS), especially Mass Communication Department that did not   know him because in every level he was teaching  a core course.

Professor Maikaba was a brilliant and eloquent academician. Whenever he teach you a course, you will understand it very well, because he used simple English  and give simple examples. He hardly miss his classes and only occasionally he take attendance or call names for C.A.

Another interesting and surprising thing about late Professor Maikaba was that from  day you started attending his lectures, he can identify you wherever he meet you.

Professor Maikaba was a very religious man. I could recall that whenever the Azhan started calling for prayers, he will stop the lecture until it is done.

During the 2007/2008 session, I applied for my Master’s Degree based on his advice but unfortunately, my name did not appear in the PG school applicant list because of some unpleasant happenings at the  university’s ICT unit at that time. I applied for M.Sc and printed a copy as it was normally done by every applicant. However, a certain individual who was then heading  the unit and another who was  the head of Mass Communication Department refused to give me the admission despite the intervention of one of  BUK’s four Emeritus Professors. I then went to late Professor Maikaba and told him what happened, He collected my printed application copies and told me that as far as he was concerned, I had fulfilled all the requirements to be admitted and advised me to try next time.

Another thing that late Professor Maikaba did to me which I will never forget was that when I was transferred to Maiduguri regional office by my employers( Media Trust Limited) at the height of insurgency in Borno State in 2011, as the then Head of Mass Communication Department, he expressed his willingness to pave the way for me to start lecturing in the department.

“Do you have a Master Degree?” he asked,  “I can employ you as lecturer,” he added, apparently in an attempt to save me from the trauma of going to the war zone in the North Each.

Sadly I don’t have a master’s degree at the time, which was the new  policy of the National Universities Commission (NUC) for varsities to give employments for academic staff.

In 2016, I met Professor Maikaba again when he jokingly asked me, ‘Madabo, how was Boko Haram in Borno and your newspaper Daily Trust?’ I told him I have  been transferred back to  Kano as Head of  Advert at the Regional Office. He was very excited.

Professor Maikaba also informed me that  he was the head of Department,  so if I am interested, I can apply for my Master’s Degree; and I did  just that. I am now in possession of my  Certificate of Master’s Degree.

Professor Maikaba spent over 30 years of his life teaching journalism and mass communication. His former and present students and indeed the BUK community will continue to miss him. We had a rare gem and a mentor in him.

I pray Almighty Allah to forgive him all his shortcomings and reward him with Aljannatul Firdaus Ameen.

Madabo works with the Advert Dept of the Daily Trust, Kano Bureau Office