Professor Yusuf grasped Western and Eastern traditions
The week of March 17 to 22 recorded the demise of several prominent citizens, among them a professor of Arabic Studies, the late Professor Harun Al-Rasheed Yusuf; the founder of Mammy Market in Military Barracks across the country, Maria Ochefu and Kano industrialist, Nasiru Ahali. The late Professor Harun Al-Rasheed Yusuf died this week. He […]
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The week of March 17 to 22 recorded the demise of several prominent citizens, among them a professor of Arabic Studies, the late Professor Harun Al-Rasheed Yusuf; the founder of Mammy Market in Military Barracks across the country, Maria Ochefu and Kano industrialist, Nasiru Ahali.
The late Professor Harun Al-Rasheed Yusuf died this week. He was the head of the department of languages at the Northwest University, Kano. Previously, he lectured Arabic Studies at the Bayero University Kano in the 1980s.
In a eulogy by Prof IBK, the deceased was described as a man of passion for ideas and with “uncommon knowledge of the interface between Western and Eastern intellectual traditions” as well as a mastery of languages, philosophy, both in the Greek masters and the early Muslim.
Prof IBK wrote, “Around 2012-13, I heard that he was the founding HOD of the newly created department of languages at the recently established Northwest University, Kano. I immediately got in touch with him, and, a year later, he advised me to apply for a visiting post there. I did, first voluntarily, then in a fully paid visiting position. Again, our old friendship blossomed. My wife and I used to visit his house at Rijiyar Zaki. I had just moved into my private house there, close to his street. His wife, much older than my wife, still ended up being friends until her death before his. We attended all his family occasions. Then his health began to deteriorate. Yet I used to accompany him on his early-morning walks on the Gwarzo Road pavement. Still, he would take up an intellectual topic such as “What do you think would be the future of AI?”, or, sometimes he would talk about the influence of Latin on the English language”
“The late Prof HR was a true and exemplary man of letters, a polyglot, a polymath, and a man full of infectiously beautiful bouts of laughter, benign sarcasm, and a playful mien. I knew he had been ill for some time. When I heard of his death, I was frozen in time, and my mind rushed into memories of my BUK encounters with him, and our brief sessions with him as my departmental head and senior colleague. The late Prof HR lived a worthy life, a life full of service, passion for ideas and teaching. He will be missed by all those who know or have known him intimately. I pray for the repose of his soul.”
Ochefu’s mammy markets birthed commerce in barracks
The founder of Mammy Market in Military Barracks across the country, Maria Ochefu, died at the age of 86.
Her son, Professor Yakubu Ochefu, said she passed away in her sleep at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi.
As the wife of former Military Governor of Enugu State, South East Nigeria, Colonel Anthony Ochefu, she started Mammy Market, which later became a household name in all military barracks across the country.
She mentioned two past Heads of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd.) and former President Muhammadu Buhari, all retired, as her customers during her early days as a barracks trader.
In an interview with Daily Trust on her 75th birthday, she narrated how she, as a wife of an army officer, started the business of local brew, ‘enyi’ and incorporated the name, Mammy Market from her nickname, ‘Mammy’ at the Abakpa Barracks in Enugu in 1958 and replicated it in Kaduna, Ibadan, Zaria and Lagos.
“At the time we went to Lagos, I had become so popular that people would just say they were going to mammy market to drink. I opened a big shop in Lagos. It was at that point that I officially incorporated the name Mammy Market and got my license. That is the story of the mammy market in army formations nationwide,” she said.
“At that time, the only thing soldiers’ wives did was to take food to their husbands at their workplaces in the morning, afternoon and in the evening if he was on guard. Then, the schools were far away and the wives would take the children to school and bring them back. Between 1958 and 1960, I used a small bicycle which I bought for less than one pound to ease my movement and I was so proud of it. I made the money from selling enyi. I used to take my children to and from school with a bicycle,” she added.
May her soul rest in peace.
Nasiru Ahali, renowned Kano industrialist, dies at 108
A renowned Kano industrialist and chairman of Mainsara & Sons, Nasiru Ahali, has died, aged 108.
His son, Aminu Ahali, confirmed that he died in a Kano hospital on Thursday night.
The nonagenarian was one of the pioneer industrialists in Kano, reputed for setting up a formal business environment with an organisational structure.
In a statement, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin described the deceased as a patriotic citizen whose contribution to industrialisation in Kano State cannot be overemphasised.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Ismail Mudashir, he urged the family of the late business icon to find solace in the fact that the deceased was a devout Muslim who spent his life and resources worshipping Allah SWT and assisting humanity.
“Malam Nasiru Ahali played a pivotal role in the development and growth of businesses in Kano. As one of the pioneer industrialists in Kano, he has helped shape the formation of formal businesses across the state through his company, Mainasara and Sons,” he said.
He prayed for Almighty Allah to forgive his shortcomings, grant him Jannatul Firdaus and grant his family and associates the fortitude to bear the loss.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the immediate family of our late business icon. May Allah SWT grant him Jannatul Firdaus and give all those he left behind the strength to bear this loss,” he said.