By Dr Ibrahim Musa

“For each and everyone of us men and women, the young and old, the leaders and the led, the haves and have-nots; there is a time to be born and a time to die. In between is a privilege to live; to live to the glory of your creator, to the glory of humanity and to the glory of your nation.” ~ James Haruna Audu

When I picked the pen to write about you, it suddenly dawned on me that you are gone forever. I will never see you again and nor will you ever get to read my tribute about you. Such an overwhelming thought finally broke my emotional shield and tears flowed like a river on my cheeks.

I have tried first to convince myself that the news of your death was just a nightmare, hoping that I would wake up with a racing heart to see everything going on fine. Alas! As the clock ticked and ticked, and time passed- the shocking reality began to sink: “Kulli man alaiha faan. Wa yabqa wajhu Rabbika zuljalali wal ikram.”

Shehi is someone I adored for his stellar qualities. His charisma, courage, demeanor, taste and enterprising style made him a dream leader for our generation. Although by rank and age he was far above me, yet he treated me as one of his closest allies and a confidant.

Whenever I was bored with work at office, I would rush to his tastefully furnished office where we usually dwelled in socio-political discourse. He was always angry at the sorry state of our national infrastructures. He was literally bitter about the bad leadership that came to define the Nigeria of our generation. Little wonder that for the past 16 years he had devoted to the Project Buhari and invested so much in his own unique way to see that Buhari has emerged as the president of Nigeria. Immediately Buhari was announced as the winner of 2019 election, Shehi joyfully organized one of the biggest open-invite “walima” to celebrate the victory.

He remained optimistic that Buhari would eventually turn around the fortunes of this country. This was the typical Shehi who was so passionate about his choices. Love or hate him, you would not find pretense in his dictionary. At a point he was offered a political appointment to be the head of a health-related agency- but he instantly turned down the offer by pointing out to the government his conflict of interest. Even the person who brought the news of that appointment to him was left completely amazed by his forthrightness. I am not aware of many people capable of doing that.

To say that I am presently devastated is an understatement. Losing such kind of a trusted and dependable comrade at a prime age always create a huge void. We had many shared dreams for the development of our state, Kano and country, Nigeria. As our most distinguished mentor Dr. Michael DeBaun would say, “Shehi has done more non-imaging transcranial Doppler scan (TCD) for patients with SCD than any other expert in the world.”

He had successfully trained several radiologists, medical officers and nurses the rare skills to do TCD, which has now become a standard of care for our patients in Kano and Kaduna states. If not for his untimely demise, he would have been the first radiologist in the world to use the Artificial Intelligence (AI) mannequin specifically designed for TCD training.

I remember his vision of venturing into big data science for TCD. Professionally, he had his path well laid down for him. On the business front, the Ray Scan he founded a couple of years ago is probably the biggest indigenously driven private diagnostic center in Kano. He was like the proverbial Midas, everything he touched turned into gold. His was a life completely devoted to family and humanity- from philanthropy, leadership of professional groups to community service. Considering that these legacies would survive him, I take solace in the fact that he lives through his good deeds.

I have a take home message for his immediate family. He was certainly a good man! His son Murad, daughter Fatima and the unborn child would live to be proud of him as a father. He did everything humanly possible to leave behind a good family name; and I could see that his kids have that trait to step into the big vacant shoes with time. To Zainab (his dearest wife), I pray that you may have the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. This is, indeed, a trying time but God is sufficient for you. We pray for Allah to repose Shehi’s soul in Jannatul Firdaus.

Adieu brother
Adieu comrade

Dr Musa, is a Consultant Hematologist at AKTH