By Mahmoud Ibrahim Bako
I have lost a friend, Lt. Shamsuddeen Umar Bello, a bosom friend, the most truely God-fearing youth I know. A very brilliant Academic and a military officer.
Right from the start in Primary school, he was calm and intelligent. We were all surprised when he said he will be going to the Nigerian Military School (NMS), as we thought the military was not for gentle men. Indeed he did not just remain a gentleman, but he became the most gentle of us all. Immediately we finished primary school. Himself and Auwal Isah (Daddy) got the highest score in our National Common Entrance Examination.
We all finished Secondary School and secured admission at ABU Zaria. He was a very hard-working student. We met everyday at Sulaiman Hall mosque and recited the Qur’an together for about two years, until I graduated, having studied a four year course. He was the best graduating student in his class and returned immediately for his M. Eng. Upon the completion of his masters degree, he was given appointment as a Lecturer at the Department of Water Resources, ABU Zaria but his boss at the Nigerian Army refused to release him because he liked him and adviced him to go to NDA and be regularized as an officer instead, having secured admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy around the same time.
Indeed I, and many others who receive his daily WhatsApp admonition messages will greatly miss him. It’s less than a year now that we attended his wedding at Yantumaki, Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina State.
It was about two months ago that I saw him last, passing in his car, I called out his name and he stopped, his wife was sitting beside him in the front seat. We greeted very affectionately, as it was the first time we met, ever since he got married, as he was given pass of less than seven days to do his wedding preparation and ceremony. I never knew that it would be the last time I will meet with him in this mortal world.
Last night as I slept, I had a dream where I saw my late father, I was happy that I saw him but I woke up mournful. I never knew that by 7 am I will receive the news of the second most shocking death in my entire life but I am consoled that just like during the mourning of my father when everyone, either young or old who spoke about him would say: they have never seen someone who everyone, either friend or other wise agreed was a good man. like my late father, I bear witness that Shamsuddeen will receive similar testimony.
Last night before I went to bed, I saw a BBC Hausa news that said that some soldiers were attacked at the boarder between Katsina and Zamfara States. I never knew that I will be directly affected by the attack. Nigeria is loosing a lot of brilliant young men, whom parents and the government has spent so much to train. . We know there is nothing we can do to avert what Allah has destined to happen and we take solace in his mercy, we also know that in a war soldiers die but we know that alot of these casualties are directly the consequences of corrupt and incompetent leadership. Hundreds of billions are spent annually on security, yet there seems to be no end to the insecurity. Our military and police complain of having inferior weaponry compared to some non state actors. We have potbellied, clueless leaders that line their pockets with billions, as the young brilliant youth that represent the future of this country get masscred in droves.
Indeed, your life was a short but well lived one. Your fear of God, humility and hard-work have inspired many people to strive to be better. I for one, always admonished myself to be a better person by simply reminding you, even as you walked this Earth.
We are consoled even more when we remember the saying of the prophet Muhammad (SAW): once upon a time a group of people passed by him and his companions carrying a corpse. His companions praised the deceased and said how good he was, so the messenger of God said, Ameen. Another group passed by carrying a corpse and they derided the deceased as being a very bad person, and the messager of God said Ameen. So he informed his companions that when a person dies, Allah the almighty accepts what people say about them (as that represent who they were while on earth). I testify that you were the very best amongst us. When your time was finally up, you paid the supreme price in the service of humanity, for the sake of the hundreds of villages that have been sacked by bandits, for the sake of hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, women and children that have been made homeless, for the sake of mothers that have been made widows and children that have been made orphans. Indeed you are a matyr! and what a noble way to depart this world!
I pray Allah accepts your prayer in your final WhatsApp update where you prayed and said ” Oh Allah! I seek your pardon. Forgive my transgressions and take my life only when you are pleased with me. Amin ya Hayyu ya Qayyum” Ameen.
May Allah forgive you, my father and all the faithfull till the end of time.
Mahmud Ibrahim Bako,
An admirer and a true friend.
