ELEGY FOR AHMAD GALADANCI

Ahmad, a very good boy, son of a very good man (our brother, friend and senior academic colleague Dr. Bashir Galadanci of the Faculty of Technology, Bayero University, Kano, and now Commissioner of Science and Technology, Kano State); son of a very good woman (our sister Hudallah Abubakar Abba, a pillar of the Muslim Sisters’ […]

Ahmad, a very good boy, son of a very good man (our brother, friend and senior academic colleague Dr. Bashir Galadanci of the Faculty of Technology, Bayero University, Kano, and now Commissioner of Science and Technology, Kano State); son of a very good woman (our sister Hudallah Abubakar Abba, a pillar of the Muslim Sisters’ Organisation, MSO, as well as the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria, FOMWAN).

 

Ahmad is grandson of two eminent elder statesmen and scholars: paternal grandfather Professor Shehu Ahmad Sa’id Galadanci, one-time Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodio University (University of Sokoto as it then was) and long-time Nigerian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; his maternal grandfather the late Shaikh Abubakar Abba Girei, himself a great Islamic scholar and a contemporary of the paternal; both grandfathers one-time principals of the famous School for Arabic Studies, SAS, Kano (and, may I add, my alma-mater secondary school).

Ahmad had died in a road accident on his way back from Argungu, Kebbi State, where his siblings and he had gone for the Wedding Fatiha of the daughter of another good friend of ours, Dr. Ibrahim Sulaiman, Vice Chancellor of Katsina Islamic University. Ibrahim and Bashir, late Ahmad’s father, have been friends for so long they have become as blood relations. In fact, when Ahmad died, his mother Sister Huda was in Abuja putting finishing touches to the to-be residence of the self-same bride Ahmad had gone for the Fatiha of. And it fell on Huda’s friends such as Dr. Fatima Batul Mukhtar to condole and console her.

To lose a child in whatever circumstances is devastating enough. To lose someone so young in an accident is doubly devastating. But to lose a first-born son in a family is unfathomably tragic: the father has lost a friend and confidante; the mother the apple of her eye; the brothers and sisters their mentor, their guide, for the Hausa say babban wa magajin uba (meaning: the first-born son is the acting father). One cannot imagine the depth of the grief, the loss, the sadness in the Galadanci family. We share this grief with them. Who best to tell us about late Ahmad than Ahmad himself? On Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 6:08am, just eight days before he died, Ahmad had posted an article titled “Theory and History of AhmadBGaladanci” on his Facebook page, excerpted here:

“Life should always mean something to a person. This has been something I have always believed in. People should realise how lucky they are to be alive in this world, and should make the most of what time they have on earth to strive to achieve what they love. Through this effort, they should also try their best to make the world around them a better place. “My name is Ahmad Bashir Galadanci and I am a student of architecture. I am fond of design and art, and I believe this is the reason I decided to study architecture at university…It is my belief that through architecture, I can help Nigeria…

“…my parents introduced me to reading, which is something I have never let go of. I read anything I can get my hands on–books, magazines, newspapers, brochures and articles I obtain online. I always wonder why so many people are so averse to reading. There is so much education to be gained by reading, as well as serving as a way to relax.

“As a person, I believe that I am not very outspoken. People often describe me as being reclusive, shy or, if they wish to be a bit more gracious, as being reserved. I think reserved would be an acceptable description if I may say so, although when one gets to know me, one realises that I can be quite friendly and humorous. My personality ensures that I would make a poor politician, because I am not one to dabble too much in matters which do not really concern me.

“However, I firmly endorse the idea that the only way to help our nation move forward is by actually trying to do something about the problems we face–and for me this means engaging in politics. My father, who, as well as being a computer engineer, is also into politics, has instilled these values into us. “Overall, I feel as if I’m trying to finding a balance in my life in which I can practise and engage in all the things I hold dear and believe in so I can make my life and that of others around me more beneficial. This is my brief theory and history.” This posting by late Ahmad attracted tens of comments over the following few days. Ominously, a couple of days after the posting, on September 27 at 11:08am, a friend had posted this on Ahmad’s page: “ok…i dint read this to d end which is very unlike me but…go Ahmed!!!! achieve your goals…life is actually too short” [sic].

Indeed too short. It is reported that that once the great scholar Imam Malik Ibn Anas saw the Death Angel in his sleep and the Imam asked him: “How much time is left for me to live?” The Angel pointed to his five fingers. Then the Imam asked him: “Does that mean five years, or five months, or five days?” Before the Imam had a chance to get an answer, he woke up. So the Imam went to someone who could interpret the dream.

The man told him: “Imam Malik, when the Angel pointed to his five fingers, he didn’t mean five years or five months or five days. The Angel meant that your question ‘how much time left for me to live’ is among the five matters that only Allah (exalted be His Name) knows about’. The man recited the following verse from the Qur’an: “Verily, with Allah alone is the knowledge of the Hour. And He sends down the rain, and He knows what is in the wombs. And no soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.”

Two and a half years ago on this same space, we mourned the loss of another first-son, Captain Isma’il Yadudu, son of our brother Professor Awwal Yadudu. If death were something we could get used to, we should have. But alas no! In his moving elegy on the loss of a friend of his, Niger Republic musician Mamoudou Abdou Salam had said: “Mutuwa Ke Ba Ki Da Sabo” (Death! You Never Respect Familiarity!). Very true. For Isma’il, for Abubakar Tafida (Mulki), for Ahmad, for Nigeria!

Or, as sung by John Donne in his poem ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’:

Each man’s death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

May Allah forgive Ahmad; may He grant father Bashir, mother Huda, the brothers and sisters and us all the fortitude to bear this loss. Ahmad was as a meteor: he has appeared; he has passed; at 24.

Ahmad’s last posting on his Facebook page was: “Eating fish in Argungu”. It was sent on Saturday October 2, at 4:52pm, less than 24 hours before he died. In an email to a cousin of his on August 25, Ahmad had written: “It’s so amazing and sad that while some people are busy celebrating, others are nearing the end of their lives. Allah Ya sa mu cika da imani, ameen.” And a day earlier, he had written: “I always wonder what people are gonna say of me when I pass away.” We say good, Ahmad, we say good!

Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaiHi raji’un! We are from Allah, and to Him shall we return.