Tribute to Alhaji Dr. Mahmud Abubakar Rimi

I was very young when Mahmud Abubakar Rimi led Old Kano State, but the inspiration I derive from his charismatic leadership, focused and purposeful development projects provision and his confidence while speaking in public, have in no small measure shaped my thinking and true understanding of what public service life should be. His eloquence lies […]

I was very young when Mahmud Abubakar Rimi led Old Kano State, but the inspiration I derive from his charismatic leadership, focused and purposeful development projects provision and his confidence while speaking in public, have in no small measure shaped my thinking and true understanding of what public service life should be.
His eloquence lies in his capacity to address public with uncommon charismatic confidence that I have ever witnessed by any public figure. I would remember clearly in 1981, the Vice President of the United States of America (USA), Mr. Walter Mondell visited Kano and was hosted by Abubakar Rimi to a political rally at Shahuchi Play ground which I attended as a secondary school student in Form 2. After Mr. Mondell finished delivering his written speech, Rimi stood up and responded with no single paper on his hand with classical world class English diction that surpassed the written speech of the American Vice President. This single episode was my driving motive towards pressuring my late Father, Alhaji Abdullahi Dan Amina to purchase a cassette recorder so that I can record speeches of Rimi and President Shagari and a dictionary to look for meaning of words and adjectives spoken that I don’t understand. This singular event has had a profound effect in and reality shaped my diction and vocabulary as attested to by my colleagues and students.
I am celebrating a hero that is dead, but born today, though he is dead, he is still very alive with me and us. Indeed, many people die but remain alive for the good work they did and inspiration they provide to others, Mahmud Abubakar Rimi is one of them. As we remember his birthday, I pray to Allah, Subhanahu Wataala, to grant him the highest Paradise (Jannatil Firdausi) and uplift his family for his uncommon determination, courage, hard-work, patience, perseverance, futuristic outlook and his pure and undiluted love for the people of Kano that are still benefiting from his projects and programmes.
Nazifi Abdullahi Darma PhD teach Economics at University of Abuja and can be reached on [email protected]