Because of the time difference between Nigeria and where I am, it was at the breakfast table while going through my emails that I stumbled upon the shocking news of the death of this promising Adamawa patriot.
Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu Modibbo is a household name in Adamawa. He contested for governorship election a few times, but was unlucky.
He was one of few firebrand politicians that during campaigns, say it as it is and tells it as it is, especially in his younger days.
I know that he indulged himself in politics as far back as 1983 when he worked for the Bamanga Muhammad Tukur (BMT) organisation that saw to the successful election of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the Governor of the defunct Gongola State in 1983.
The long military rule between 1983 and 1999 gave him the opportunity to concentrate on his chosen career of banking despite being a lawyer. From New Africa Merchant Bank in Kaduna to UBA in Lagos and finally after retirement, joined Sigma Pension Group.
I knew Adamu Modibbo very well. He was like a younger brother to me. My maternal first cousin, Hauwa’u Modibbo was his paternal aunt. His immediate elder sister whose name I will not disclose was my classmate at Hammawa Primary School, Yola, from 1964 – 1968 after which I transferred to Fufore Primary School.
It was in Fufore that Adamu and I became close despite the age gap. His father was the Mufti, assisting Alkali Bananga Raji at the District Court, when I joined him at Fufore Primary School. He was classmates to my late cousin, Aminu Njobdi Ribadu, Bello Tukur and Abubakar Jijjiwa. I was about three classes ahead of them.
Man proposes, God disposes. Adamu Mu’azu Modibbo had a vision for Adamawa, but it was not meant to be. Adamawa and indeed, Nigeria, have lost a great patriot.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings and grant him Aljannatul-Firdaus.
Aminu Iyawa is Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Mexico
