Yusuf Gambo Hawaja, a kind man gone too soon

Allah SWT has told us that “Every soul shall taste death”. For sure, we all know and believe what Allah, our creator, says but each day, one of us passes away, death becomes new and unbearable to us. On Sunday, 19th February, 2017 we were hit in Jos, Plateau State, by the news of the […]

Allah SWT has told us that “Every soul shall taste death”. For sure, we all know and believe what Allah, our creator, says but each day, one of us passes away, death becomes new and unbearable to us.

On Sunday, 19th February, 2017 we were hit in Jos, Plateau State, by the news of the sudden passing away of Barr. Yusuf Gambo Hawaja, who until his sudden death was the Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, Jos. Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Rajiun (From Allah we came and to Him we shall return).

I got close to Barr. Hawaja because of our common profession. He was doing his pupillage with Garba Pwul (SAN) while I was doing mine with S. U. Dikko, now the Chief Judge of Nassarawa State.

Barr. Hawaja was hard working and ever willing to learn the law. We moved on up to the period we attained our “freedom” and set up our separate law offices in Jos.

Our second meeting point with Barr. Hawaja was in community services, an area in which he was second to none. Whenever the leadership of the Jasawa community and the ulama at large called us to serve, he was always among the few that participated without complaint or excuses.

The political tendencies of Barr. Hawaja were obvious, possibly due to his background as someone who came from a political active father.

Throughout his foray in politics, his base was the youth and the grassroots. So, when he aspired to be the elected chairman of Jos North LGC in the ill-fated November 2008 election, he was the choice of the youth and by extension a popular choice in the defunct ANPP.

However, he was schemed out by the leadership of the party but was not deterred. He bounced back during the 2011 general elections, aspiring to be the House of Representatives member and won the primaries but he was again schemed out by the Council of Ulama.

That didn’t discourage his sense of serving his community and humanity generally. He however lay low politically until the 2015 election where his active role in the election of Governor Barr Simon Lalong, which led to his ultimate appointment as the deputy Chief of Staff, a post he held until his death.

One needed to be close to late Barr. Hawaja to know how humble, principled and humane he was. He was a silent performer that touched many lives without the publicity that accompanied most politicians’ works. The number of people that trooped to his family house at Dilimi Street, in Jos for the funeral in less than an hour after his death signified how moved the people were.

Also, the large number of people that accompanied his remains to the Zaria Road cemetery tells a story of a great loss and a man of the people from across the divide, not necessarily Muslims.

Notable among those present at the cemetery were Barr. Sunday Abednigu, the chairman, Nigerian Bar Association Bukuru branch, Prof. Danladi Atu, the Chief Registrar of Plateau State High Court and Sharia Court of Appeal. Also, High Court justices and Kadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal led by the Grand Khadi himself as well as lawyers, political associates and foes and many ordinary citizens both young and old escorted his remains to the burial ground. One thing that struck me deep was the series of testimonies people were passing on Barr Hawaja and one instance will suffice.

After the funeral prayer and we were about to depart to the burial ground, a sick looking old man approached me and requested to follow me to the burial ground in my car. I obliged him as there was a space for one more passenger. As we drove, the man began to cry and in the process, started narrating that he had been sick for over five years and perpetually on some special medication. He said all those years, it was Barr. Hawaja that took care of the cost of his medication.

He recalled that one day during a function at the house of late Hawaja, he was there and food was served but he declined. He said late Hawaja insisted that he must eat but he confided in him that his thought was with his family who he left at home with nothing to eat.

According to the old man, the visibly shaken Barr. Hawaja asked him  to see him later which he did and he gave him money enough to buy foodstuff for his family. The man said he must attend the funeral of Hawaja even if that would be his last engagement on earth!

Time and space will surely not allow me to pay the deserved tribute to late Barr. Yusuf Hawaja but certainly, a rare gem is gone and finding his replacement will be extremely difficult. We have nothing to do rather than to continue to pray for his soul to continue to rest in peace.

Barr. Ishaq, a legal practitioner, sent this piece from Jos, Plateau State.