Remembering Mahmud Dukawa, a Dana Air crash victim

On June 3, 2012, a Dana airplane, with registration number 9J 992 and flight no. 0992 was nearing its destination at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos, having taken off from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja an hour earlier. But it developed double engine failure which resulted in its crashing at Iju-Shaga, in Lagos killing all the 153 passengers on board, in addition to the aircraft’s crew and some people on the ground.
Plane crashes, wherever they happen in the world, are international calamities largely because the passengers, pilots and crew members tend to be of multinational composition. The situation was not different with Dana air flight 0992. The people on board comprised of some Chinese, Indians, Britons, and Americans. The large majority of the passengers were however Nigerians, including Mahmud Dukawa.
Another striking phenomenon with airplane crashes which makes the calamity distinct is the fact that it is largely the middle and upper classes that constitute the victims. They are those who travel by air mainly due to the exigencies of their respective public as well as private pursuits. And one thing with the middle and upper classes is the investment sunk in them. They tend to be technocrats, bureaucrats, other professionals, business moguls, academics, students and infants. Apart from losing the investment in human capital development of these people, the nation, and indeed humanity, suffers from the vacuum they left behind in their respective positions in the society.
The case of Mahmud Dukawa is demonstrative of this assertion. Born on the 15th of May 1960 in Dukawa Quarters of Kano Municipality, Mahmud was enrolled at the Kofar Na’isa Primary School in Kano by his elder brother and guardian, Malam Yakubu Ahmad Dukawa – himself an educationist who happened to be the longest serving head of the famous Aminu Kano College of Islamic Legal Studies. Since Mahmud’s father died when he was an infant, Malam Yakubu  became his guardian, and that of this writer, who them through the schooling stages up to university graduation. One thing which he (Malam Yakubu) never forgets was the obedience of Mahmud throughout all of the childhood years. Although from Dukawa to Kofar Na’isa was quite some distance (about two kilometres), Mahmud never complained and never declined to go to school. It was Malam Yakubu, on his own, who saw it fit to transfer Mahmud to the nearer Shahuci Primary School (about half a kilometre from Dukawa Quarters) where he completed his primary education.
On getting placement with Government Arabic Teachers College (GATC) Gwale in Kano, Mahmud did what seemed to be the only objectionable thing in his life as a student. He came one evening to notify Malam Yakubu that together with a friend they had decided to seek transfer from GATC, Gwale to Kano Teachers College (KTC) in Sabon Gari. When asked what informed their decision, he said that they learnt that only a few candidates make their Grade II in the GATC due to the Arabic language factor, which students find to be a difficult subject, and which was a prerequisite to passing Grade II in that School. Malam Yakubu objected to the decision without any hesitation (after all, he is an Arabist himself, his first and second degrees were all in Arabic Language). He argued that Mahmud could after all be among the few who will pass. He further encouraged Mahmud with words of wisdom: ‘perhaps you will grow to master both English and Arabic and thereby becoming a multi-lingual!’ And so it came to pass. Mahmud returned to GATC, sat for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in his fourth form and passed with credit in all subjects. He also passed his Grade II on completion of the fifth form. On discovering the benefits in learning two second languages, he pursued his Arabic lessons with Malam Yakubu. He also pursued Islamic Studies tutorials with different Ulama (Muslim Clerics) in Kano, prominent amongst them include Sheik Ibrahim Khalil, the late Sheik Yusuf Uba Mandawari and the late Sheik Ali Khalil Alkantara. As at the time of his demise, Mahmud had more of Arabic and Islamic Studies books than books in any other field of study. He held his collections so dearly that when thieves burgled his house, barely two weeks to his death, he expressed gratitude to God that they did not touch any book in his library.
Mahmud’s formal higher education included a B.Sc. Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, 1986 and an M. Sc. in Banking and Finance from the Bayero University, Kano, 1994. He was a fellow of the National Accountants of Nigeria (FCNA) and Associate Member of the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM). He attended several professional courses in and outside Nigeria.
He did his National Service (NYSC) at a secondary school in Ondo State, during the 1986/1987 service year. He started his working career with the Kano State Board of Internal Revenue, in 1987; he transferred his services to the Kano State Investment and Properties (KSIP) Limited in 1988; was appointed the Chief Accountant of the state-owned Daula Hotel in 1995. He voluntarily resigned from the state civil service in 1996 and took up appointment with Mutari Dangana and Co. Chartered Accountants, at a time the firm was auditing the Buhari–led Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). He finally joined the services of the National Universities Commission (NUC), as Principal Finance Officer, in March 1999, where he rose to the position of Deputy Director (Treasury Division) in January 2010, a position he held until his death on June 3, 2012. He served in a committee called SCOPU (Standing Committee on Private Universities). The Committee represents NUC in ensuring that applicants for private universities meet set standards before licences are issued to them. Five of the Committee members were onboard the Dana Airplane on their way to Lagos for such assignments when the tragedy occurred all of them perished.
All those who knew Mahmud mourned his demise. Malam Yakubu Dukawa, his guardian, said there cannot be a living person in these times that can be more loyal, more obedient and more supportive than Mahmud. Sheik Ibrahim Khalil, his religious tutor and mentor, said it is preferable to lose a thousand souls that are not like Mahmud than to lose one like him. The Monday Bulletin of NUC, Vol. 7 No 24 of 11 June 2012 gave an official position over Mahmud thus, “Malam Dukawa was active and firm, but gentle; a pillar of strength and indeed a remarkable reference point in the Commission”. The NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie personally said he has never known an employee who returns part of his DTA (Daily Travelling Allowance), because he was able to accomplish an assignment earlier than the slated date for completion other than Malam Mahmud. His wife, Aisha, said she used to sympathise with women who do not have the likes of Mahmud for a husband. His nine children will miss his charms, warmth, and care. The elders among them will miss the private lessons he used to conduct with them, the outings to Mosques, places of religious lectures, houses of friends and relatives and all the fun associated with that. The women class he introduced at the NUC Staff Quarters in Karu will forever remember his last sermon to them, warning that when death occurs there should be no chest beating and no excessive cries, just before he left them to board the ill-fated flight. His classmates, colleagues, and neighbours will miss his mediatory role amongst them. The Malamai Extended Family members in Dukawa, Garko, Birnin Kudu and Gwaram will forever lose the moral and material support he rendered to both those who asked and those who shy away from asking. Finally, for me, his immediate elder sibling, I will say I have lost my half. There was no line to be drawn between me and Mahmud. My remaining half that is still existent will continue to pray for the eternal rest of my half that is gone until I join him.
My last communication with Mahmud was when he was on board that ill-fated plane. He phoned to commiserate with me over the loss of a colleague of mine (Abubakar Musa) with whom I taught at Kano State College of Arts and Sciences and with whom he had sought Islamic Knowledge under various Ulama in Kano, to the point that he (Abubakar Musa) had established a Zaure School of his own where he taught others. It was as though Mahmud was thinking he was going to join him soon. Less than two hours after that comment, he followed his friend to eternity. May their souls rest in perfect peace, amin.
Dr. Dukawa is with the Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano.