By Yakubu Abdullahi Yakubu
Wakili Tarihi Adamawa
The transition of Tafida Adamawa Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to me, is a personal loss. I deeply mourn him, especially as he was a close confidant of my father. As a child, I remember answering our phone (44593) and taking a message for my dad. “Bamanga Tukur from NPA”, he would say.
His name surfaced again in 1983 when he joined the race for the governorship of Gongola State. My dad, being in the office of the president, worked for the NPN, the ruling party. Gongola State was ruled by the GNPP and I saw how they fought tooth and nail as the opposition.
Out of curiosity, I was visiting the campaign office of BMT Organization to watch the hustle and bustle of politicians.
On the night of his election victory, we danced on Ahmadu Bello Way, Jimeta, opposite my home.
Bamanga Tukur hit the ground running. He formed a transition committee led by Hamidu Alkali to chart a new course for the state. He started implementing the recommendations immediately.
Lo and behold! Exactly 92 days later, the military struck.
In 1992, or thereabout, my colleagues and I working at the press building at the Government House overlooking the Tukur Lodge, decided to walk to meet Bamanga Tukur to confirm if he was going to join the presidential race under the National Republican Convention. He just engaged us in conversation and dodged our questions.
I met him again up close two years later during Sallah day at his house. He was busy with guests, many of them. I decided to go to the back of the house. I handed someone in the kitchen my compliment card. I was the correspondent of The Democrat newspaper.
When he saw the card he disentangled himself from the crowd in the parlour and came right at me. He was asking, “Where’s Alhaji Abdullahi Yakubu, where’s Alhaji Abdullahi Yakubu”?
I got scared and stuttered. “I am the one with the card. I am his son”. He greeted me and went back into the house.
Another couple of years later, I was made a member of the publicity committee for his turbaning as Tafida Adamawa. I was then editor of the state-owned newspaper. We interacted well to see to the success of the programme.
At the time, I was doing research at National Archives Kaduna. Poring through the Yola Middle School file, I saw the best exam results achieved by two students – Mahmud Tukur and Bamanga Tukur. I wanted to copy it in my notebook but lost it among other files.
In 2008, I visited Tukur Lodge for an interview with him for my book The Fombina Dynasty Since 1809. He gave me his perspective on Lamido Aliyu Musdafa.
“I came to know Lamido Aliyu Musdafa as the Wakili Doka (Chief of Police). It was a novelty to see people wearing uniform and shoes in those days and walking into Lamido’s palace. When we went to the Yola Middle School, it was routine for students to come and salute the Lamido, every Friday morning. After my school, I started working in the Adamawa Native Authority Accounts. We went on tour with the Lamido across the province. One day, while on one of the tours to the Mambilla plateau, I injured my toe, but I kept on going. When we reached Mai Samari, for camp, one veterinary officer, (from Katsina) came to me with first aid and applied iodine on my injured toe. He said Lamido knew about my injury and sent him to take care of me.
“As a young man, I was put in charge of district council funds. I used to see him visit my father, then the Wakili Chamba, during his riding exercises. During Lamido Ahmadu’s reign, he would come for the Friday homage, in his police uniform, with the cross belt. It was my first vivid memory of Aliyu Musdafa as an individual. I used to admire him very much. Then, it was only Europeans that became senior police officers. During my bid for Governor of Gongola State, in 1983, Lamido helped me tremendously with advice. After my election, he organised a durbar to celebrate my victory.”
When I was leaving, he expressed joy in my coming. He prayed for my late dad. He said, “You do not only look like him, but you also talk like him. You are a chip off the block”.
When I heard of his death this afternoon, I became weak and gloomy. The first thing that came to my mind were his words – “You, do not only look like him, but you also talk like him”.
Bamanga Tukur lived a fulfilled life. He’s 91 years, short by four days. May Allah forgive his shortcomings, as any human being, and admit him to paradise.
Yakubu Abdullahi Yakubu, Prominent Journalists and Wakili Tarihi Adamawa is based in Yola Adamawa State.