By Faisal Jazuli Kazaure
I am among those whom Allah blessed with the opportunity to meet the late Emir of Gumel, His Royal Highness Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Sani, CON, under circumstances I never imagined would become one of the memories I would carry with me for the rest of my life.
At the time, I was a student of Science Secondary School, Lautai, in Gumel. One day, a friend and I entered the mosque at the gate of the Emir’s palace to charge our mobile phones. Unfortunately, due to our lack of understanding of the electrical connection, something went wrong and caused some damage.
The mosque attendants and palace guards detained us and informed us that our teachers would have to be contacted.
We were taken into the Emir’s palace and made to sit on a veranda. We were frightened, anxious and uncertain about what would happen to us. As young students, being taken into the palace was intimidating.
After some time, His Royal Highness came out, accompanied by one of his attendants.
We greeted him, and he asked us: “Who are you?”
We explained that we were students who had come to charge our phones, but that something had gone wrong with the electrical connection in the mosque and caused minor damage.
He then asked: “Where are you from?”
I replied, “I am from Kazaure.”
He asked again: “Whose son are you in Kazaure?”
I told him who my father was, although he did not recognise the name because he did not know my father personally.
At that moment, I had no idea what would happen next.
But what happened afterwards is something I have never forgotten.
His Royal Highness ordered that we should be allowed to go.
He did not merely forgive us. He showed us a level of kindness, compassion and concern that we had never expected. From that day onward, he treated us almost like members of his own household.
Every Friday, we would visit the palace to pay our respects to him. Eventually, whenever we went to the palace and needed to charge our phones, we would simply plug them in there.
To some people, this may seem like a small and insignificant incident. To me, however, it was a profound lesson in life.
It taught me that dignity, compassion and kindness are not necessarily measured by wealth, power or status. What makes a person truly memorable is the goodness of his heart and the way he treats those who have little or nothing to offer him.
For us, he could have chosen to punish us. Instead, he chose to forgive us. He could have treated us as troublesome young boys who had damaged property within the palace premises. Instead, he treated us with understanding and warmth.
That simple act of compassion left an impression on me that has endured for decades.
I did not have the opportunity to meet him again until 2021, when I accompanied the former Minister of Water Resources, Engineer Suleiman Adamu, to visit him.
When I saw His Royal Highness again, memories of that childhood experience immediately came flooding back. I remembered how frightened we were when we entered the palace as young students and how we left feeling as though we had been welcomed as members of the family.
That second meeting also reminded me of how some encounters in life may appear ordinary at the time but later become precious memories. A brief conversation, a kind gesture or an act of forgiveness can remain in a person’s heart for many years.
Today, His Royal Highness has returned to his Creator.
The man we once approached with fear left us with a lasting memory of compassion, kindness and humanity. For me, his legacy is not only in the history of the Gumel Emirate or in the offices and honours he held. It is also in the hearts of ordinary people whose lives he touched, sometimes through acts that may have appeared insignificant to others.
His kindness to two frightened schoolboys may have been a small moment in his long life, but for us, it was a defining experience.
It is often said that a person’s true legacy is what remains in the hearts of people after he is gone. If that is the measure, then the late Emir left behind a legacy that will continue to live in the memories of those who encountered his humanity.
May Allah have mercy on the late Emir of Gumel. May He forgive his shortcomings, illuminate his grave, shower him with His abundant mercy, and reward him with goodness for all the kindness and noble character he showed to the servants of Allah.
May Allah grant us a good ending, allow us to die in faith, and enable us to leave behind a good legacy in the hearts and memories of those we encounter.
Jazuli write it from Kazaure local government area of the Jigawa state
