By Isyaku Ibrahim
A proverbial statement says nobody lives forever this is right as anyone of us has his appointed time
Surely,this is what occurred on the fourth of April 2010 to the unarguable leader of progressive and radical politics and outspoken in nature Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Rimi who answered the divine call on his way home after attending the coronation of the Emir of Dass in Bauchi State
Many shed tears as an icon was no more a situation that created a huge vacuum in political history of the country
Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Rimi was a person whose name transcended national boundaries in view of his multiple admirable attributes
Among the qualities of the late consummate politician which made him peerless in the midst of the larger society include, verbosity , truthfulness, receptiveness, incorruptible , courageous, fearlessness, , humourous , people centred and above all just and kindness
These were just parts of the uncountable attitudes which made him so popular across the larger domain not Kano or Nigeria alone as rightly said earlier
If one could remember the late Political maestro who could had vied for Senator, before Engineer Salihi Iliyasu was disqualified, he was once invited to address a colloquium organised by the former President George Bush Junior campaign team who was among the few Africans accorded such prestige
Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Rimi was by no means a needle in the eyes of many in Nigeria’s politics in view of his steadfastness utmost sincerity and his stance against draconian policies and programmes by both military and civilian administration geared towards inflicting additional pain on the ordinary citizens
This was witnessed when he navigated the affairs old Kano as he made it second to none in terms of infrastructural development and people oriented policies and programmes countrywide in less than four years of his stewardship, as he ditched the party that brought him to power to another to aspire for second term
It was on record that none of his successors matched his actions regrettably, most of his projects were yet to be completed till date and others were abandoned
He was ranked as the most performing Governor in the history of defunct Kano after late police Commissioner Alhaji Audu Bako
It was on record that he appointed a graduate packed government that consisted of members rival parties who steered the affairs of strategic ministries this include Alhaji Abdul Hamid Hassan NPN, Education, Shehu Shanono UPN Local Government,and Ahmed Hassan Sani GNPP the present Emir of Gumel in Jigawa State Internal Affairs, Information Youths Sports and Culture first in the history of Kano and beside that almost bulk of them were under forty years of age
Thus as the disciples of the fire brand politician commemorate 16 years after the demise of the gem fondly called limamin canji , na Sa’a maisa’a , fari ba ka Yi farin banza ba, Rimi adon gari , Maigida I will not be misrepresented if I say the monumental hole created will be pretty difficult to fill with his dead ideology wise in view of his abundant skills
We prayed to God in his infinite mercy will erase his limitations and grant him free admission to heaven
