Tanko Yakasai: Muslims in Kano, Nigeria’ll miss Isyaku Rabi’u

Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, on Thursday, gave graphic details of how Muslims in Kano and in Nigeria, including the whole of the sub Sahara-Africa, would miss the departure of late Khalifa Isyaka Rabiu.

The elder statesman, who spoke in a telephone interview, explained that the deceased, who died in a London hospital at the age of 93, was a rare gift to humanity, recalling that at a very tender age he was gifted with the gift of reciting the Holy Quran.

While praying for his soul to rest in the peace of Allah, Yakasai recalled that during his life time, Rabi’u built and sustained hundreds of Islamic schools across the country, adding that he also served as an influential stabilizer for peace and progress among Nigerians of different religious and ethnic backgrounds.

“In the whole history of Northern Nigeria, and I can say Africa, Isyaku Rabiu built Friday Mosques and Islammiyya schools. He built these schools in Nigeria, in Senegal and Morocco among others, Not only that he built them, he sustained them in terms of the salaries of their teachers and provided resources for the maintenance of these institutions.” he said

“By his death, the country has lost somebody who has tremendous influence to intervene effectively when the situation requires intervention. He is the pillar that can be relied upon to harmonize situation whenever there is a crisis” he stated.

“He stands alone as somebody who combined all those favors with humility. I will advise the younger ones to emulate his commitment to peace, harmony not only among adherents of Islamic religion but among Muslims and non Muslims in Nigeria and beyond”.

He was impressed that the Kano State Government had declared Friday a public holiday in the state in his honor but appealed to the state government to seek out more gigantic means and institutions to immortalise his legacies.

He also tasked the Federal Government to make policy provision for the immortalization of the respected Sheilk who passed away on Tuesday in a London hospital.

The remains of the deceased would be brought back to Kano on Thursday and buried on Friday after the Friday prayers, according to a government statement.