A Personal Tribute to Bashir Tofa

 6^th January, 2022

By: Amir Abdulazeez

W

e have begun this new year on a very sad note following the death of one of Nigeria’s finest individuals, Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa. Aged 74, he died in Kano at a hospital after a brief illness. The demise of Tofa in the first week of 2022 means we have to carry on with this turbulent journey of returning Nigeria back to sanity, this time without one of its strongest pillars. But most importantly, it is another reminder to all that our days on earth are numbered and there will be a day to account for all our actions.

Late Bashir Othman Tofa, the former Presidential Candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) will easily enter the list of the top 100 greatest Nigerians of all time irrespective of the criteria employed to make up the list. The only people that will argue against this are those who do not really have knowledge of the type of life he lived and the diverse nature of lives he touched and then of course the young people who don’t know much about him.

In Kano, Tofa sits top in the hierarchy of past and present most influential people in the history of the state. Kano has had many elders, politicians and great men, but none was as unique as Tofa. When Late Yusuf Maitama Sule died in July 2017, I had one major fear of who will replace him and the calm wisdom he represents, not until I remembered Bashir Tofa. Today both are gone; May Allah have Mercy on them. Before he died, Tofa was the Chairman of the Kano Elders Forum.

Unlike many Nigerian statesmen, Bashir Tofa’s political journey was modest. His profile is not filled with government positions and appointed portfolios. In fact, I can’t think of any other politician who managed to reach the peak of the ladder without riding on the back of so many government positions. During the Nigerian Second Republic, Tofa was at various times the secretary of the Kano branch of NPN before he later became the party’s national Financial Secretary and was a national member of the Green Revolution National Committee.

During the Third Republic, he was part of the Liberal Movement which metamorphosed to Liberal Convention when it was not registered as a political party. He joined NRC in 1990. In 1993, Tofa was elected the presidential candidate representing Kano and later defeated Pere Ajunwa, Joe Nwodo and Dalhatu Tafida to clinch the NRC ticket. His running mate in the election was Sylvester Ugoh, an Igbo and a former governor of the now defunct Central Bank of Biafra and an ally during the NPN days.

Indeed, his character, humility, and love for one Nigeria stood him out. This is reflected in his utterances. He preached peace, love, justice and tranquility. In 2011 when President Goodluck Jonathan was declared winner of the Presidential elections, Kano was one of the places where hell broke loose. Hooligans and hoodlums were busy destroying everything that looks elitist irrespective of political affiliation. Some of these hoodlums attacked and burnt a section of his house, reportedly destroying some of his properties in the process. He ordered that np body should maltreat the attackers.

Bashir Tofa was only concerned with the future of those youths and how they could be reformed as he blamed the decay in societal values for their actions. He said, if the society had done its job properly, these attackers would probably be in school or work places, therefore, he pardoned them. He was a known inspiration to the youth and always advised everyone on the need to maintain peace, law and order. Being a man that always strived for orderliness, he set up the Bureau for Islamic Propagation in the mid-80s that helped to unite Muslim scholars in Northern Nigeria, narrowing the differences that characterized their relationships.

I have for long had fears over the longevity of Bashir Tofa, although God has preserved him for much longer than my fears. I can’t really say why, but since after the deaths of two Principal June 12 actors, MKO Abiola and Shehu Musa ‘Yaradua over 25 years ago, my worry was that Tofa will also go home someday, a reality I had never wanted to come to terms with. He survived much longer, but I wished some of his other June 12 compatriots had also lived long enough to witness the type of Nigeria we live in today. When we met in early 2021 at the funeral of his youngest brother, Alhaji Abba Tofa, I had a reoccurrence of those fears.

Many people have misunderstood Tofa for long and some had only gotten the chance to truly know him from 15 years ago to date when he had focused less and less on politics and business to rather shift his attention to private life, authorship and philanthropy. Though he has been combining all throughout his life, but as he became an elder, he focused more on guiding the society to the right path.

It is unfortunate that many people never had the opportunity to have a taste of his wisdom and calmness. But it is more unfortunate that some who had the opportunity of doing that did not utilize the opportunity. In the wake of the balkanization of the Kano Emirate, Tofa made a last-minute attempt to save our heritage even when the Governor will not listen to elders. It was reported that the Kano State House of Assembly suspended plenary session to see him when he visited. It was said that they received him quite well and treated him with utmost respect while he appeals to them to ditch their plans. As destiny will have it, they went ahead to pass the law that disintegrated the long-standing emirate shortly after he left. After that, he said he has satisfied his conscience by doing his part.

Tofa is the type of elite you can only find in the most developed countries of the world. An elite in the class of Abraham Lincoln and the likes. He was the most organized Nigerian elite I have ever come across. A renown politician, A social and family leader, a successful entrepreneur, a vastly knowledgeable gentlemen, an erudite scholar, a formidable stateman and an intellectual author. Who will fill this vacuum? Perhaps there will never be another Bashir Tofa again.

Standing on his grave where he was buried in between his late father and mother, I held back tears severally while thinking about the complexity of life and simplicity of death. Even such a great soul had to eventually succumb to death; we must be careful with this life. Every other person around the cemetery not only wore a sad look, but also an image of an uncertain future. This great man will be mourned forever.

Bashir Tofa has had a successful life which impacted on society at every stage. He is indeed a hero and role model for all generations. He understood society quite well, he acknowledges its rot and the task required to fix it. I still remember Bashir Tofa’s simple campaign slogan when he ran for president; Tofa is the Answer. There was so much wisdom in the slogan; whatever are the problems, past and present, Tofa is the answer.

In Primary school, we had so many MKO Abiola and SDP sympathizers in my primary six class. However, some weeks before the June 12 Presidential elections, my classmates came to realize that Bashir Tofa was my Grand Uncle. Since that day, whenever I come in the morning, the routine chanting praising Tofa will fill the air. My class teacher enquired about the new development, when I explained to him, we laughed about it. He was supporting Abiola though, but whenever he sees me, he’ll jokingly say Tofa is the Answer.

Twitter: @AmirAbdulazeez