….And Baba Garba too

Abubakar Abdullahi Yusuf, whom the kids and I fondly call Baba Garba, was my husband’s younger brother. He had fallen ill while on an official trip to Lagos and had to return home to Kano ahead of schedule. He was immediately rushed to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for what seemed like a heart-related ailment. In the two days he was on admission there, all those who had seen Garba knew he was a man in pain. But because he was stoically conversing with his visitors and answering phone calls, no one entertained the idea that Garba might be dying.
About an hour to his death he had told his wife, Asiya, to go and pick their children from school. It was not until he removed the oxygen mask that was fixed on him a few minutes earlier, and asked his younger brother Aminu to read the shahada for him, that it became obvious Garba was dying. He repeated the shahada twice and took a deep last breath soon after. May Almighty Allah accept his final affirmation and reward him with Aljannah Firdaus, amin.
I will miss Garba’s brotherly chat and regular emails – for he was fond of forwarding to me interesting stuff from the internet. But above all I will miss his unconditional acceptance of me as a sister-in-law. One hears horror stories about very critical and highly-influential brothers-in-law who made their brothers’ wives miserable, I never had any of that with Garba. He was a thorough gentleman and a dedicated husband and father. May Almighty Allah grant him eternal mercies and bless the five children he left behind, amin.