Yakowa’s memories continue long after exit

Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa meant different things to different people across the nation and beyond. But what is not of any disagreement is the fact that the man has scored many firsts all culminating in tragically, his being the first sitting governor in Nigeria to die in an aircraft crash at a time his profile […]

Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa meant different things to different people across the nation and beyond. But what is not of any disagreement is the fact that the man has scored many firsts all culminating in tragically, his being the first sitting governor in Nigeria to die in an aircraft crash at a time his profile was rising, considering the dynamics of leading a heterogeneous state of Kaduna’s statue.
Yakowa was the first civilian Minister long after General Y. Y. Kure from the southern part of Kaduna State. He was Commissioner, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Deputy Governor (twice) and later Governor. The first and only Southern Kaduna person and the only Christian elected Governor of Kaduna State.
The man was passionate about the growth and development, peace and Unity, and the security of Kaduna State. Yakowa never believed in holding grudges. He never believed in taking prisoners. He never believed in “it cannot be done”. He had no official time different from private time. He blunt all fault lines. He commonised the office of the Governor such that he was accessible to all sorts of people. He was, like his pet name, Nakowa (meaning in Hausa ‘belonging to all’).
Yakowa would resume office early and would come out to say “you are dismissed for the day” to his aides and security details, only to return to his table for more work as late as you could imagine. He would grab your hand in a friendly manner with smiles on his face to the admiration of onlookers, take you aside and scold you far from public glare. Observers would never guess the true picture. Many of his aides would confess that any day he says “well done” to you, you would feel like the world has been handed to you as he rarely says that, being a stickler for excellence.
On official duty and in the most outpouring of crowds, Yakowa would overrule his security detail or protocol officer to have audience with the person you least expect would have his attention. He would eat and drink where officialdom would frown at. He would visit a place where you never expected he would be. He was humble to a fault.
And as if having the power foresight, the incumbent Governor of Rivers State Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi at the funeral of Yakowa in Fadan Kagoma, December, 2012, told Mrs Amina Yakowa and the children that after laying their patriarch to rest, then they would know the true friends of the family. Today, Mrs Yakowa actually does know the true friends of the family, and those who have abandoned them. But the consolation lies in the fact that two years after his demise, many of the late, great man’s memories continue to live on, even after the symphony of his music is gone.
Kadir wrote in from Kaduna and can be reached at [email protected]