Opinion
Bashir Tofa: The Saint Goes Home
Àliyu Tilde
While I was still in the fold of my blanket this morning, I was unprepared for the sad story of the departure of one of the finest souls that lived among Nigerians. HRH, Muhammadu Sanusi II broke to a group I belong the news that Alhaji Bashir Tofa died last night.
I abandoned the idea of leaving the bed and prepared to embrace the approaching sadness that will possess my soul, turn my heart heavy and throw it into the abyss of the extraordinary sadness which typifies the loss of a dear one.
The Reception in Heaven
The angels must have been busy all day preparing a grand reception for the homecoming of this saint. The heavens, adorned with stars that lit every corner and layer of their galaxies, were in perfect state of readiness when his soul left our filthy planet—where it was imprisoned for nearly seventy years—to the station of majesty, in the company of angels who carried it to the presence of the Most High. The tables, the rivers, the fountains, the fruits and the hur, must be rushing to attend to a soul which served so many poor here on earth for decades and cared so much for us and our future. “The reward goodness is goodness.”
Saints are Different
Here on earth, the sadness of his loss overtakes us as we commit his body to the earth. We will grieve over his loss and reminisce on his abundant virtues. He was a life well lived; its replacement difficult to find as few saints live on earth. I have met only few like him among our elders who not only took our decay seriously but worked tirelessly to treat it all their life. His dedication to the larger Nigeria and his immediate society is manifest even at first meeting and its depth increased with every contact. He was the kind of elders one would wish to meet every day, tapping from their experience, sharing their spirit and drinking from their fountain of knowledge.
That was the takeaway of my first meeting with him at his house at Gandu in Kano in 2016. He admired my rantings in the newspapers sixteen years earlier; then my adventure into poetry persuaded him to reach out to me. He injected, like no other, in me the impetus to compose more since I “shocked” him with Ta’aziyyar Abubakar Ladan Zaria and he added more doses with each composition. He was the oxygen that fed the flame of my verse until the very last one I sent him – Dare Sahibina and Lambar Yabo. The poems that many others greeted with envy, he invigorated with fruitful praises. Such are saints. They act differently.
Malam Bashir did not sit to lament. He did everything his body and soul could permit. He formed and joined unions and organizations for the advancement of his society including politics which he played without the greed of the hungry or the flamboyance of the elite but with the purpose of the reformer. While politicians abhor reforms that check their delinquency, our saint inspired it with his soul that was pure and focussed on heavenly values. Where others wanted you to leave, he encouraged you to stay. Saints are different.
One can easily say that the fate of this country would have been different had he won the June 12 election in 1993. May be the election would not have been cancelled and we would not have walked the disastrous path of the regimes that superintended the unabated failure of the Nigerian State in the following three decades. But it is just unfortunate that the default setting of this world is for we fools to be the majority and when we are in power or called upon to elect a leader, our logarithm prefers our kind over the saint whom we often despise, fear or envy. The result of that permutation is the failed Nigerian state of today.
Virtues
Nigerians will be counting the virtues of that Saint today. The earliest I read was the one that accompanied the news from Muhammadu Sanusi II. He said: “He was the last man standing for sanity and the protection of Kano and its heritage.”
My indefatigable sister, Hauwa Umar Aliyu Birniwa, said, with a broken heart:
“Personally, I testified that Alh Bashir Tofa is a good, kind and one of the MOST generous person I’ve met in my life. One needs to have a glimpse of his private life then will know who and how generous Alh Bashir Tofa was. He always had a store in his residence that is stocked with atampa (ankara) and materials (Yadi) that is being sown and distributed to orphans and the needy. The tailors are like permanent staff as that was what they do all year round…. I have personally collected more than a thousand sets of those clothes and distributed them to the needy. He has been sponsoring health outreach activities. I can testify that during one of such services he gave me slots for people in my rural communities in Birniwa LGA, Jigawa State. He was also an Intellectual. I have most of his written work on different thematic issues. I think I have more than 15 copies of his books that he wrote on different things from science, social sciences to fiction.”
While other will remember him for different things, as a conclusion, I reproduce here a synopsis for a poem he wanted me to compose which portrays his passion for peace and progress of his society. It came after listening to the last two compositions I sent him, which I mentioned above:
“Brilliant. How I wish you would compose a 3-minute poem which will draw the attention of Boko Haram, bandits and leaders on the following:
“1. The danger of terrorism, killings and kidnapping of people and looting their wealth. They should understand that there is judgement tomorrow.
“2. Leaders should desist from playing with the trust of power which God has put in their hands. They should know that there is judgement both in this world and in the hereafter.
“3. That God may come to our rescue, other people should be seeking the forgiveness of God change their bad habits. People should organize themselves and help one another in guarding their borders and know that government cannot do everything. Etc.”
It is a shame that I could not compose anything since that chat and he did not live to see me fulfil his wish.
Farewell
In a state of sadness but with lots of gratitude to God for a life well spent, we pray that may the soul of our saint rest in perfect peace, in the Heaven high above. My sincere condolences to his wonderful family and the great people of Kano.
Kanawa ku dau hakuri.
إِنَّ ٱلۡمُتَّقِینَ فِی جَنَّـٰٰتࣲ ونهر. فِی مَقۡعَدِ صِدۡقٍ عِندَ مَلِیكࣲ مُّقۡتَدِرِۭ
“The pious will dwell among gardens and rivers, firmly established in the favour of a Mighty King.”
Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde,
Is a commissioner of education, Bauchi state.
He wrote this tribute on Facebook.
My Dear Khalifa
It has been seven years, yet it feels like yesterday since you departed. Our memories of you remain vivid, priceless, and are deeply rooted in our hearts. The moments we shared, your teachings and your selfless example continue to shape us daily, to the admiration of many.
Your legacy, especially your deep devotion to Islam and its propagation, still echoes across generations and geographies. Through your life of service, you inspired countless others to embrace kindness, humility, and compassion. You lived not just for yourself but in service to others, and this principle continues to guide our path.
In honour of your memory, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to selfless service. We will continue to support noble causes and charitable undertakings that reflect the values you lived by, regardless of race, gender, or background.
May the Almighty Allah, in His infinite mercy, keep granting you Al Jannah Firdaus. May your soul continue to rest in the eternal peace and light of His divine presence.
Abdul Samad Rabiu, CFR, CON
For the Family
08.05.2025.
Isyaku Ibrahim
There is no doubt whenever you talk about Enyimba of Aba in Nigeria’s top flight who won the competition nine time, the next team that will come to your mind is Kano Pillars that lifted the trophy on four good occasions. But nowadays,it seems the Kano darling is losing its prestige, recognition and above all popularity in the local league.
This was as a result of lack of total commitment, determination, tenacity, patriotism,diligence and seriousness which the side was known for in the past.
To say the fact, the pyramid City lad was previously rated among the traditional teams in the top flight as they have established and tested players that would not disappoint their teeming fans no matter where they are playing.
It was based on this late Rashidi Yekini while watching the team at Adamasingba Stadium now Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan said if he was to play for a local team he would prefer to lace his boot for Kano Pillars ahead of others.
The reason he Said was simply due to excellent free flow football of the team but now it seems that has gone for bad.
When the club was established as early as 1990 among the objectives behind was to boost the name of the state through football and beside that win trophies with a view to competing favourably with others.
While those behind the idea should be commended to a large extent for their foresight in that respect in view of how the team is now a household name in the round leather game countrywide but there is the need for a collaborative effort with a view to normalising things in the ancient city side as the club has now stepped down from its aforementioned aims and objectives.
It is painful that the team’s main priority nowadays was not to lift the league as the case was previously but to survive relegation which was baseless,laughable and nothing to write home about considering their past experience particularly when they were based at Sabongari Stadium.
Definitely,this season is almost over as Remo Stars are as good as being crowned the winners of the event
The best option for Sai Masu Gida is to start early preparation for the upcoming season through putting their house in order aimed at restoring their winning culture as the teeming fans are tired of flimsy excuses on the reason behind their lack lustre performance year in year out.
Honestly, what they are basically hoping for is to see the club matches theory with practice through grabbing the trophy or at least earning one of the three continental tickets in the country.
optimistically this is achievable with the full support of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf coupled with that of his laborious and submissive Deputy Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam, good management, superb technical crew and the support of ardent fans who are always with the side in either thick or thin.
Ibrahim is a Director Public Enlightenment at Kano State Ministry of Special Duties.
Prof. Ibrahim Bello-Kano (IBK)
Double Professor Uba Abdallah Adamu has angered many non-Kano people resident in Kano by his famous, widely circulated quip, an aphoristic description of Kano in which says the anyone tired of (living in) Kano is tired of life. Prof Adamu’s appraisal of Kano is based on a sound premise and a powerful emotional logic. Prof. Adamu’s comment has a powerful pedigree. On the arguments of the highly acclaimed French sociologist and space theorist, Henri Lefebre in “The Production of Space” (1974), it can be shown that Kano, especially the city and the metropolitan area, has three characteristics, typical of the greatest cities in the world since Antiquity:
1. It is a conceived space (an urban area, complete with a series of interlacing and interloping and interlocking urban designs since the 9th century). Kano was already a city and an urban space well before 1903. It’s one of the oldest urban areas in the Sudan.
2. It is a lived space, complete with the everyday experiences of its inhabitants and their emotional identification with it. Hence the many “quarters of the city”— from Alkantara, Alfindiki, Ayagi, to Mubi and Gwangwazo and beyond those.
3. Kano is also a practiced/practised space, with its inhabitants, visitors, and emigré population working to “practice up” the city in their daily lived experiences and within its urban and emotional spaces. That’s the truth of Prof. Abdallah Uba Adamu’s hyperbolic reference to Kano as a barometer of happiness or depression.
Prof Adamu is also correct in that most immigrants to the city never leave it, even if their last name may indicate other towns or cities. Already, Kano is one of the most truly cosmopolitan cities in Nigeria, surpassed only by New York, London, and Abidjan. In 1958, almost a decade before Lefebre’s book, the philosopher of science and urban studies, Gaston Bachelard published “The Poetics of Space” in which he argues that to live, or to choose to live, in a place, say the Kano metropolis, is already to enact an emotional act, and an existential event, in and for which Kano is already a resonant space of intimacy, or an intimate place of lived subjectivity. This is the case because one cannot live in Kano, even for a brief period, without (seeking to) creating a home, a nest, and an intimate space of “Kano beingness” or a Kano-based “being- in-the world”. That’s why Kano evokes and resonates with a strong emotional identification with it. When I was about 8 years old, I was told, on visiting the Dala Hill, that God had planned to create a holy city in Kano, but a dog urinated on the hallowed ground, and that’s how the divine plan was moved elsewhere. Of course, that story is clearly apocryphal, yet it shows how the Kano people are intensely proud of their places and spaces. So, Prof. Abdullah Uba Adamu’s hyperbolic and surreal description of Kano is essentially correct and pleasingly poignant. Many emigré groups are unhappy with his remarks, but if you live in a place, earn a living in it, or draw opportunities of all kinds from it, then you have got to love Kano, the most romantic of cities, a city full of dreams, aspirations, emotional highs and lows, and learn to identify with its fortunes. Kano, the city of gold and piety, recalcitrance and hope, modern politics and ideological contestations; the city of majestic royalty; the city of women and cars, as Shata once described it. Kano… the great Entreport. Kano, your name will endure through the ages. Cheers.
Ibrahim Bello-Kano (IBK) is a Professor of English at Bayero University, Kano.
Power Shift in Kano: Ganduje Family Bows to Emir Sanusi as Nephew Gets Turbaned
Kano legislator, Masu dumps NNPP for APC
Dangote donates N15billion to Kano varsity, offers Automatic jobs to best graduating students
Mangal sponsors Hernia, Hydrocele surgeries for 12,300 vulnerable patients
