‘Baba Femi’: Exit of a royal ‘comrade’

It was Yaya, Professor Bello Salim, the former Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) that captured it all on my Facebook page, when he said: “We have physically lost a truly royal, hard-nosed, brilliant, but humble and caring intellectual. But Baba lives in us still. Adieu Baba.” Sanusi Abubakar (Baba Femi) is […]

It was Yaya, Professor Bello Salim, the former Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) that captured it all on my Facebook page, when he said: “We have physically lost a truly royal, hard-nosed, brilliant, but humble and caring intellectual. But Baba lives in us still. Adieu Baba.”

Sanusi Abubakar (Baba Femi) is one of the many thorough-bred intellectuals I am blessed with as uncles. It was my immediate-younger brother Abubakar who broke the sad news that very early morning. In a soft-laden voice, he said “Baba Femi ya rasu a Abuja” meaning Baba Femi has died in Abuja. 

So many things came into my mind. I picked my phone and started calling other uncles and aunts who were already on their way to Abuja to pay their farewells to their brother.

Baba Femi was very caring to his brothers and sisters. I remember recently when I called his sister and my aunt Gwaggo Habi, what she said: “How is your uncle Baba Femi?”

This is the same with all his other brothers and sisters such as Gwaggo Jabba, Gwaggo Tawal, Baba Aminu, or his cousin Yaya Daudu (Abdulkadir Kabiru Bayero). The bond among members of the Sarkin Dawaki Maituta’s family is indeed strong.

Despite his busy schedule, Baba Femi was attending the annual meeting of the family in Kano. He was at the last one held on January 2, 2016. Two days after his death, Facebook “reminded” me of a picture taken at the event. In the picture, there was Baba Femi and my father Alhaji Mahmoud Abdallah, who died on August 6, last year.

They are the two elderly members of the Sarkin Dawaki family that died within the past year. 

Baba Femi’s simplicity is legendary. Whenever I came across him in the office during the weekly editorial board meeting, he always stretched his hand for a handshake and I continuously “avoided” it. He always ended up saying “ka na lafiya?”

Unlike many others, Baba Femi was known for his intellectualism, and rarely for his royalty. He never flaunted that aspect of his life though he was sired by Sarkin Dawaki Maituta Abubakar, a senior kingmaker in the Kano emirate and Filani Dudu, a Kano princess and direct sister of the legendary Kano emir, late Ado Bayero.

Like his late mentor, Dr Bala Usman, Baba Femi’s writings were incisive. He deconstructed socio-economic issues point blank without recourse to whose ox is gored. Though he was a columnist and member of the Daily Trust Board of Economists, the closest I came to relating with him professionally was last year during the “Breakfast Meeting with CEOs and Top Executives in the Public and Organised Sectors” organized by the Board of Economists in Transcorp Hilton in February.

As one of the rapporteur, Baba Femi’s intervention on various economic issues was marvellous. A week later, I remember calling him seeking permission to give his number to a senior colleague in one of the national television stations who was looking for an expert on economy.

Like Yaya (Professor Salim) said, many Nigerians, not only his family, will miss him. His Tuesday column in Daily Trust, where he dissected economic policies, was read by many and will be missed too.

May Allah have mercy on Baba Femi, the day he was born, the day he died and the day he will rise again. Ameen.