Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa: Exit of a colossus

What I do know and believe very sincerely is that things work out according to the will of God and that seem to be the only consolation that I have on this painful passing away of a distinguished gentleman. I had not seen the Governor for a while but as fate would have it, on […]

What I do know and believe very sincerely is that things work out according to the will of God and that seem to be the only consolation that I have on this painful passing away of a distinguished gentleman. I had not seen the Governor for a while but as fate would have it, on Wednesday the 5th of December at a conference organized by Arewa House in Kaduna, PI Yakowa was at hand and declared the meeting open.

He was as usual full of humility and I remember the eulogies and encomiums from those who spoke at the ceremony on the good works of Patrick especially as they relate to Arewa House.

Dr Kabir Chafe, the Director of the center, was bold enough to tell the gathering that it was Patrick who single-handedly resolved the long nagging problem of drainage and road network at the historic center.

According to Dr Chafe, the sanitation and drainage network at Arewa House had gone very bad and a promise for a long time hang on the neck of Northern Governors but nothing was done until he approached Sir Patrick Yakowa who immediately dispatched his works commissioner to site and the job was since done.

Little did anybody in that audience knew that barely eleven days later, the governor would be gone. In fact that is the beauty as much as it is the tragedy in life that we are all walking in the shadow of death and that as a necessary end, it will come when it will come.

In Patrick, we lost a peaceful personality whose exalted office never confused his simplicity. He was pious and low profile. The Governor of Kaduna State ordinarily should hold his head high because Kaduna remains the traditional headquarters of Northern Nigeria whether anybody likes it or not.

In my view, Patrick’s life was a puzzle. There is no one governor in Nigeria today that possesses the public service credentials as much. After graduating from the university, he had worked in the Kaduna state civil service until he became permanent secretary and subsequently a commissioner before moving to the federal wing as Director. At that level, he was a minister and a permanent secretary before going back to Kaduna to become the secretary to the state government and subsequently Deputy Governor and eventually the Governor of the state.

All through these movements across the ladder the man never lost his personality and humility. He was calm and calculative. Conscious of the very delicate political balance in his state and being the first person from the south to be elected as the governor of the state, Patrick navigated the political landscape with style and maturity.

As usual such would always lead to suspicion on the part of his constituency, but he was resolute, astute and prepared to stabilize the polity, move the state forward and entrench a culture of oneness. Virtues, which I am sure, Patrick Yakowa died in the hills of their actualization.

We mourn this death for so many reasons but as I said earlier, God never put aside His wills just so that we can have things the way we want them. Certainly the loss of Patrick Yakowa was a colossal lost to all those who desire to see Nigeria great and especially through the stabilization of Northern Nigeria. We will miss his moderating influence, strong character and purposeful leadership.

My condolences to the woman of peace and candor, Amina. The loss is painful but solace in God is the way out and to the children, the realities of life is that if we live we must encounter the pangs of death and it is always the wish of the parent he or she be buried by the child and not vice versa. Given the chance, we would not agree on what time it is ripe to go, but God has that authority outside of us as such He wills it as He wish.

We lost a man of peace and humility; we lost a leader and a gentleman of exemplary credentials. Adieu Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa Nakowa! God have mercy!