I remember Yusufu Bala Usman

His contribution will last forever, reverberating around the corners of Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.  He was not only an academi-cian; he was a pan Africanist and freedom fighter. He fought with his pen and ideas; not gun. He had the power of oratory to convince even his worst antagonists. He was a […]

His contribution will last forever, reverberating around the corners of Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.  
He was not only an academi-cian; he was a pan Africanist and freedom fighter. He fought with his pen and ideas; not gun. He had the power of oratory to convince even his worst antagonists. He was a prolific writer on diverse subjects – history, politics, geo-logy, etc, with prowess and deci-siveness.
When Mozambique, Angola, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were under colonial subjugation, he was at forefront in the struggle for their liberation. This was the reason the new government in Mozambique invited him on the day of independence.
His legacies are the quest for knowledge, struggle for truth and justice, virtues that made late President Umaru Musa Musa ‘Yar’adua, describe him as “ruthless, courageous and highly determined, with zeal in the pursuit of knowledge and truth and equally courageous with passion in the application of that knowledge, in the pursuit of truth and justice”.
Bala died prematurely, when the nation was in dire need of him. We need his knowledge, his prowess and his fearlessness to interrogate our present circumstances.
In the Second Republic, Dr Yusufu Bala Usman was a secretary to the government of Kaduna state, in the administration of Governor Balarabe Musa, which was under the umbrella of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). He made tremendous contribution, even though the regime had a short lifespan. But looking at Balarabe Musa today, a politician who didn’t accumulate wealth, one could imagine the kind of transparent government they ran.
Even among his peers in the university, Bala was a monarch, an academic prince who was never sloppy in his work. He worked very hard and researched extensively. He enjoyed tremendous respect from his colleagues. Today, there are a number of people who tag themselves as “BBU” Bala Brought ups. This crop of people taught by Bala is doing well too.
It is truly a loss to Africa. We lost a champion, a liberator, a messiah. Bala fought even imperialists and neo-colonialists. He fought religious manipulators and ethnic champions; he fought public funds looters. In fact he fought a lot of wars, lost some, and won some.
He will continue to remain in our memory.

Bishir Dauda, Sabuwar Unguwa, Katsina