I have met many different people right from the time I began as a journalist. But meeting Ahmed Abubakar was the best thing that ever happened to me since the beginning of my journey in the pen profession. I have learned priceless lessons just by being at his side for the few years I have met him.
When I first joined the correspondent chapel in Jigawa, Ahmed Abubakar, being the chairman of the chapel, was the first person that accepted me to the group. Since then, I have enjoyed zero discrimination being the latest person to be part of a people that some have been together with for over twenty years. My natural stubbornness has seen me, and he fell into terminal conflicts. But irrespective of that, I still managed to become one of the closest people to him. Well, many will claim they are close to him as well, and that is very true. That’s Ahmed for you.
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I have never known his permanent enemy. In the little time I have been with him, I know of some people he had issues with, to the extent they took him to the police. But a few days later, they came running with their problems, and he did not hesitate to give them a helping hand.
Talking about helping others, not a single one of us as members of the correspondent chapel is not indebted to him. Whenever we look for a shoulder to cry on, we confidently and boldly lay our heads and whip profusely. His response is always the same to everyone “everything is going to be okay”. And he never gives up until it is.
You can hardly find a Nigerian without prejudice. Ahmed Abubakar is among the few I have known in my life without that. To him, you can be what you are or come from wherever you want in Nigeria, and he doesn’t care because he will treat you equally with his brother. Even for a single time, I have never heard him condemning a people of a community, tribe, or religion for the mistake of one of their own. It is not that he makes his comments carefully. It is because that’s what he is. In the chapel, we have had so many people from different parts of the country with different beliefs, and they can testify to that.
As the person with the least experience among the chapel members, Ahmed Abubakar has been the source of support to me. Whenever I did something close to good, his comments all the time were “excellent job Sadiq.” and these words, knowing fully well that the job he was referring to was not that excellent. However, that has always been a strong motivation for me to do more. This attitude of him is not unique to me, as many of the younger journalists among us get the same comments from him for doing not a very good job.
Ahmed Abubakar’s good traits did not stop at his gentility. He is also one of the most generous people I know. Just a few weeks ago, before the celebration of eid el Adha. We were struggling to see that we slaughtered a bull for the celebration. We decided to contribute and buy one so that we can share. We were short of money because many people that have promised to join have failed us. Despite already buying two huge rams for his celebration, he still managed to complete the money despite the financial challenges. And he still took care of the people that brought the bull from Azare, the people that slaughtered the animal, and those who rost the skin and head.
Another thing I learned from Ahmed Abubakar is the ability to accommodate two opposites. This attitude was most challenging to understand about him. And even with my ability to observe, I had to ask him to tell me how he could do it with such ease. I became fed up with his usual defence of both Governor Badaru and that of Sule Lamido. And I asked him, how can you like them both when they are from opposing parties? He smiled and replied, “let me tell you, Sadiq, always look at the positive side of things. You would find it easy to appreciate everything, for instance, despite the criticism against Sule Lamido and the challenges we had during his tenure. He has done so much in terms of infrastructure in the state, and most of all, he appreciates journalists more than any governor I know. And for Badaru, it’s straightforward. Like you know, anyone criticising him is because his calculator has affected him, not because he is not working for the state and that calculator has little effect on us.”
After I have lost my mother and sister, I have never thought I would shade tears for someone I would meet outside my family. But I did. And this is because Ahmed Abubakar has become more than a stranger to me and many others. This is because Ahmed Abubakar has become a family. A family member that is hard to forget.
May the Almighty Allah grant him Jannatul Firdausi.
