Walin Zuru: A good man is gone!

It was around 12 noon on Sunday March 15, 2020, that his call came in. Declaring that he was quite indisposed, Abdullahi Ahman, Walin Zuru wanted me to attend funeral prayers for a gentleman, a Zazzau Emirate title-holder that were to hold at the nearby mosque during the Zuhr prayer. I attended the solemn event […]

It was around 12 noon on Sunday March 15, 2020, that his call came in. Declaring that he was quite indisposed, Abdullahi Ahman, Walin Zuru wanted me to attend funeral prayers for a gentleman, a Zazzau Emirate title-holder that were to hold at the nearby mosque during the Zuhr prayer.

I attended the solemn event regrettably I didn’t go over to see him afterwards. Twenty-four hours later I was to stand in the same mosque for his funeral prayers.

Allahu Akbar! That day a friendship of half a century came to a sudden and jarring end. Gone was a vital link, “a nodal” between a swarm of friends, in the manner of that gem of a networker, the late Gidado Bakari. I lost a listening ear and a confidant whose companionship made living in Kaduna less the chore it would have been. Even as he was frequently away, and often for long in the last four or so years, I always expected, and looked forward to his return for us to continue an idyllic life together. Only that this last one turned out to be the final, permanent return. Inna llaha yaf’alu ma yurid.

Abdullahi Ahman was born in 1947 in Zuru in present-day Kebbi State where he had his primary education. He thereafter attended Government College, Bida and studied Public Administration at Ahmadu Bello University, graduating in 1973. He was also at Ohio University in the United States for a Master’s degree in Political Science. Temperament and training combined to make an excellent administrator of him.  He did his National Youth Service in Calabar, Cross River State after which he joined the Administrative Officer cadre of the defunct North-Western State Civil Service. Ahman was at various times the District Officer (D.O.) of Anka, Kaura Namoda and Bagudo Development Areas of the state – the precursors of the present local government areas. Thus the sobriquet “D.O.n Anka.”

Ahman thereafter served in various ministries of  Sokoto State before joining the Shehu Shagari College of Education as Registrar of the institution in 1978. Kaduna Polytechnic was his next port of call, in the same post, in 1986. A year into service at the Polytechnic, he was recalled home and appointed Commissioner and member of the Sokoto State Executive Council by the then Military Governor, Colonel Ahmed Daku. He first headed the Ministry of Works and later Health.

The reorganisation of the Bank of the North (BON) in 1988 saw Ahman being appointed Executive Director in the Bank. Serving out the four-year term, he turned to private business. The former federal government privatisation agency, the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC) appointed him a member of one of its Sub-Committees to supervise the privatisation of the National Fishing Company.

Ahman dabbled in politics from the time of the Abacha regime when he was elected Senator on the platform of the UNCP. General Abacha’s death truncated his transition programme so the legislators were never sworn into office. He represented Kebbi State at the National Political Reforms Conference organised by President Obasanjo 2005/2006 and was the candidate of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) for the Kebbi South Senatorial District in the 2007 general elections. He lost the contest because in today’s politics it’s the rich not the righteous that win elections.

He was active in the affairs of Zuru Emirate and was a member of many committees and a participant in many initiatives to uplift the Emirate and its people. Many youths organisations made him their patron; he quietly helped qualified indigenes of Zuru to obtain employment. The late Emir of Zuru, Mallam Usman Danga recognised his many contributions to the emirate and in 1993, honoured with the title of Walin Zuru.

Walin Zuru Ahman was an affable man with obvious presence, a quiet and patient person. He interacted with people with courtesy, whatever their rank or status. For those who approached him with their problems he would listen to them patiently, would not cut them off and would go to great lengths to assist them. For the many the Walin Zuru unexpectedly almost offhandedly did good to, his passing was the occasion to recall that experience in the hands of a non-relative or kin.

As we await our turn to return to our Maker we will continue to pray for the repose of the souls of Wali Abdullahi and those who went before us. May Allah Azzawajal admit them all to His Mercies. Amen.