Death is a necessary end for all living things. Paradoxically, even though man is aware of the inevitability of death, he broods and frets when a person he has had an intimate relationship with is no more.
As a social animal, man can’t stand the reality of losing the company of a fellow human being he is used to, or come to terms with the thought of losing the chance to see, talk or relate with him or her in any way anymore. Depending on the intensity of the relationship, it takes weeks; months or years before the memories of a departed loved one vanish steadily.
Such is the situation I found myself in when on Sunday, October 6, 2024, a phone call jolted me to the reality of losing an intimate friend of several decades. The shock of losing Alhaji Ibrahim Abdu Baiwa was indescribable. I couldn’t believe that Ibrahim, with whom I mapped out what we intended to do together in a few days, had passed on to the great beyond.
The deceased, who indeed was billed for a surgical operation at a hospital, had no inkling that his days were numbered. He was said to be so eager to get to the hospital at the appointed time, that he threatened to leave home without those to accompany him in the car he drove himself to the hospital.
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Born at Ringim in Jigawa State in 1950, Ibrahim received his early education at Katutu Primary School from 1960-66. He attended Wudil Teachers’ College from 1967-71, and by 1972, we met for the first time at Advanced Teachers’ College (now FCE), Zaria where we went for our NCE training.
While he did his teacher’s training at Wudil Teachers’ College, I did mine at Kano Teachers’ College (KTC), or what was then known as the Grade II section of ATC (now FCE), Kano, also from 1967-71.
In those years, all NCE students had to compulsorily offer education (with all its branches: psychology, philosophy, curriculum, and administration), practical teaching, General English and one minor subject. That was besides intensive study of two teaching subjects which one had to specialise in. Ibrahim’s teaching subjects were Geography and Physical and Health Education (PHE), while mine were English and History.
After finishing NCE in 1975 as in-service students, we were posted to various secondary schools and teachers’ colleges. We were then bonded to teach for at least two years before proceeding with our studies. During the two years, Ibrahim was posted to Dawakin Kudu Science Secondary School, and one other school. I was posted to Gumel Teachers’ College and GSS, Karaye.
In 1977, Ibrahim and I were again mates at ABU, Zaria which we finished in 1980. He did his NYSC as the officer-in-charge of voluntary schools at the Agency for Mass Education from 1980-81. I did mine as a teacher at FTTC, Ndele, in Rivers State.
In 1983 Ibrahim went for a training in information management at the National Institute for Public Information (NIPI), Kaduna, and later did a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (PGDPA) at ABU from 1986-87. Before then from 1981-82 the deceased was PHE education officer in the Inspectorate Department of Kano Educational Resource Centre (KERC).
However, in 1982 he opted to transfer his services to Kano state Ministry of Information. Consequently, he was made the editor of the daily Information Bulletin, which was then a veritable source of information for media correspondents in the state.
Satisfied with his performance, the ministry saw him fit to hold the post of Chief Information Officer in charge of public enlightenment, which he held from 1987-88, and was then made the Editor-in-Chief of the monthly Courier Magazine from 1988-91.
At Allah’s appointed time, late Ibrahim was given the hitherto prestigious post of Director of Information in 1988, a post he held until 1991. In that year, Jigawa state was created out of Kano state and officers from the state had to move to their new capital in Dutse, where he was allowed to continue as the new state’s Director of Information.
He remained in that post up till 1998, when he resigned from service to start private business. He was then made the training manager of an NGO known as Nigeria Opportunities Industrialization Centre from 2001-02. Having acquired experience from the NGO he registered a consultancy firm, later renamed Sima Training and Consultancy Services Limited, for the training of staff of ministries and agencies at the federal, state and local government levels.
That remained his preoccupation until Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, the Creator of the universe and all its contents, recalled him to heaven early last month.
The deceased was a highly conscientious and dedicated person who was friendly, considerate and kind to all those who came close to him. He was caring, sincere and committed to his friends, by whom he always stood come rain or shine.
Late Ibrahim had a sense of humor. He loved to make people laugh, and if someone cracked a good joke you could see how heartily he laughed. He was a go-getter to the core, and a strongly resolved person who persevered to achieve any goal he set for himself. As a friendly person who mixed well with others, scores of his relatives and acquaintances thronged the venues of his jana’iza prayer and burial at Dorayi Babba Cemetery in Kano.
My condolences go to all his friends and old classmates, including, to mention a few, Malam Abba Dabo, Dr. Ayyuba Ibrahim Adamu, Alhaji Hafizu Abubakar Ringim (ex-IGP), retired Captain Sagir Mohammed Ringim (ex-Kano state Information Commissioner), Alhaji Bala Getso, Alhaji Yusuf AbdurRahim, Alhaji Sani Adamu, Alhaji Musa Kabara, Alhaji Sule Imam, and of course myself.
Same goes to circles of friends at two recreation centers which he frequented while away time almost on a daily basis. These ‘joints’ are located at Wharf Road and an old upstairs close to Unity Bank headquarters on Zaria Road. Finally, may the gentle soul of Ibrahim Abdu Baiwa rest in eternal peace, and may Allah (SWT) forgive his shortcomings and grant him rahmah in Aljannat Firdaus, amin.
Muhammad wrote from Hotoro, Kano ([email protected]).
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