We were really happy in that photo. I was at Gotel TV on the invitation of my idol, Chief Timawus Mathias, to speak to the editorial staff on a couple of subjects when we linked up again with my old friend.
We both started out at NTA Yola as a ‘hustler’ reporters (translation: no formal employment at the time; just working for free and hoping the bosses would see our hard work and give us jobs). He translated and presented Hausa news, Labaru, at the time.
Related: Nigerian journalist Ibrahim Abdulaziz dies, for burial Saturday
He had a funny run it with the then General Manager, I don’t remember his name now, but he was a Basakwacce, who didn’t like an expression Ibrahim used in the bulletin that evening. He stormed the newsroom the next morning and demanded to see Ibrahim. On sighting the ever-smiling young reporter, he could barely restrain himself. He unloaded a broadside on Ibrahim who apologised but smiled through it all.
“Kai ne ka ce hajan mujiya a cikin news? Ka san news is very serious kuwa? Kawai ka zauna a telebijin ka cewa mutane, hajan mujiya?”
We all laughed after he stormed away, having delivered his reprimand. Being a non-native Hausa speaker, I never quite understood what the drama was. Perhaps, my senior colleagues Maijamaá Adamu or Hamza Sheikh did. But we all laughed together with Ibrahim and at him.
Despite the public rebuke from the GM, Ibrahim Abdul’Aziz Dan Almajiri never stopped smiling and his commitment to the profession never waned. Although he later left NTA, it was on his own terms and to seek challenges elsewhere. He later worked at the then new FRCN Station in Yola, then he went on to Gotel Radio and Gotel TV. He also worked for a private journal being published out of Kaduna. He capped it all with a stellar reporting job with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America radio service.
Ibrahim loved journalism. He loved being a reporter. He enjoyed covering major events and bravely thrusting his microphone or midget in the face of powerful people. I know he’s interviewed President Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He was respectful of everyone no matter their age or gender. In an era where journalism had descended to barely concealed toxic ethnicity and religious bigotry, Ibrahim kept his head above the noise and offered his microphone to ‘friend’ and ‘foe’. He understood the responsibility that having a voice gave him and never abused it.
Oh dear! He really had so much to offer.
The news of his sudden death has left me contemplating the point of it all since one could be taken in the morning of a rather promising life.
Ibro Dan Almajiri, as I used to call you, may God forgive your shortcomings and grant your smiling soul aljanah firdausi. Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un!
Murray is a Public Affairs and Corporate Communication expert
