Goodbye, Atika Balal

I’d known her for almost a decade now and since our first meeting within the Media Trust family we had been good friends. Beyond the newsroom, we also had common ground, though I was ahead of her by a year as a pioneer student of the Post-Graduate Programme at the Department of Mass Communication, Ahmadu […]

I’d known her for almost a decade now and since our first meeting within the Media Trust family we had been good friends. Beyond the newsroom, we also had common ground, though I was ahead of her by a year as a pioneer student of the Post-Graduate Programme at the Department of Mass Communication, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, for the 2007-2008 session.
At work, Atika would attract my wrath with her razor-sharp wit. After teasing me, she would run and hide behind Malam Abdullahi Idris, our News Editor who we call ’Baba’. Then came Stella Iyaji, who joined us later and both of them formed the gang of “musketeers” against me in the old newsroom. Though Stella and I knew each other before she Joined Media Trust, Atika brought her closer to me and has now gone to the world beyond, leaving us behind.
As Stella testified, Atika was a generous woman. At many instances, especially when I moved close to where she lived, and when my car broke down or I left it in Kaduna, she would get a cab for us and insist on paying. I will never forget the lunch she and her good friend Mrs. Omelogo gave me four years ago in Wuse II. These things matter.
Although many people misunderstood Atika to be quick-tempered, I dare say no to that because they didn’t really know you. Four years ago, our friend and colleague Jamilu, lured us into organizing a failed monthly contribution of about five people for which Atika was only a custodian and not a participant. I was averse to it because I never participated in anything as such but when I heard that she was the custodian, I quickly agreed to join, with the condition that I will be second to take it. Unfortunately, after some others failed to remit their dues, I lost my temper and screamed at her over the phone. All she did was to cut the call. Shortly thereafter, I realised that I messed up and I began to dodge her in the office, but one day we met at the gate and I was jittery having offended her. To my shock, she smiled and said: “Ba ka ji kunya ba?” Indeed, I buried my head in shame and I quickly apologized, we both laughed and it was over. That was Atika: She never kept malice, was frank, forthright and straight-forward.
Intelligence, I would say, was Atika’s prominent feature. Anybody who knew Atika would testify to her high level of intelligence. Her command of the English language always astonished me and when she spoke, her intonation was that of an English lady who was speaking Queen’s English. This I admired so much.
To anybody who knew her, family was most important to her. Three people were always on Atika’s lips; Baba, her younger brother, her father and her grandmother Hajiya. Although a military officer, Atika would call Baba many times asking him if he had eaten breakfast, lunch or dinner. I never saw anything like that in my life. Atika’s dad was her friend and they were close. 
Hajiya, Atika’s grandma, was also always on her lips. She was fond of her and later I realised that they were two of a kind, perfect friends who were always fighting but nobody dared to settle they settled themselves.
When news of Atika’s wedding broke, we her friends celebrated it and eagerly anticipated that day but unfortunately for me, I couldn’t make it, and again, she wasn’t angry at me. I always felt I failed her as a friend but she would wave it aside. It then happened that she relocated to Katsina to be with her husband and there came the distance.
Last month, Atika wrote a beautiful analysis on the politics of Katsina ahead of 2015 and the lot fell on me to read through that fateful day, and there was little or nothing to remove or add because you were an excellent writer.
Atika, your sudden and painful demise is a great loss not only to Media Trust or journalism but also to humanity at large. From God we came and to Him we all shall return! Adieu, my sister and friend.