By Abubakar Akote
The good spirits in late Alhaji Abubakar Gimba, which many people thought had died with him reawaked recently in Minna, Niger State, as families, friends and well wishers gathered at Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre to present to the Public, his new book “Oh Uhud: Thy haunting Spirit”, published after his death by Kraft books, Ibadan.
The occasion which was a bit emotional and full of storytelling about his good lifestyle and achievements was graced by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Sarkin Zazzau Suleja and Etsu Lapai, Mallam Awwal Ibrahim and Alhaji Umaru Bago III, as well as members of the Alumni Association of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The chairman of the occasion and Sarkin Suleja, Mallam Awwal Ibrahim, who was in tears while presenting his address said “Gimba was a courageous person”, describing him as a man whose life was spent championing morality and good governance. He said though the occasion was not to mourn the deceased but to launch the book he wrote before his death.
The occasion witnessed a spectacular session of the reading of late novelist and essayist ‘property Will’ as written by him before his demise. As read out at the occasion, late Gimba who had authored about 17 different book titles had bequeathed 50 percent of them to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria while the remaining 50 percent goes to his family. According to the ‘Will’ when the last person in the family dies, 70 percent of these book titles be given to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria while the remaining 30 percent will be given out to indigent students of Ibrahim Badamasi Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai.
The book titles bequeathed include Witness to Tears, Letter to an Unborn Child, Why am I doing this?, Sunset for a Mandarin, Innocent Victim, Once Upon a Reed, Inner Robbery, This Land of Ours, Letter to the Muslim Fundamentalist, Thoughts of Yesterday, A Matter of Faith, Conversation from the Letter Box, A toast in the Cemetery, Footprint, Sacred Apple, Trial of Sacrifice and the newly launched Oh Uhud: Thy haunting Spirit.
Also in his ‘Will’, the deceased bequeathed 50 percent of all his Islamic text books to Islamic Education Trust (IET), Minna while the remaining 50 percent goes to Ribadu Rahman Islamic School, Minna. In the meantime, Late Gimba wrote his property ‘Will’ that all his non-Islamic text books be kept in the library of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State as charity.
The ‘Will’ further spelt out the fund set aside by the deceased for funding of education and marriage of his children.
The Book Reviewer, Professor Tanimu Abubakar of the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with the review titled “The Audacity of the writing space and the veracity of rumination: A review of Abubakar Gomba’s Oh Uhud: Thy Haunting Spirit” said “there is in Gimba the convergence of the dignified person and the disenchanted writer and the indefatigable reminder.
He added that “the precarious of this convergence within a depressingly underdeveloped social formation and its opposition to the exploitativeness and banalities of a retarding society define the broad ideological dimensions of Gimba’s writings and their motifs and this paradigm is evident in the book…”[Oh Uhud: Thy haunting spirit] launching recently in Minna.
The book was said to have been written within four years – 2011 to 2014 — when Gimba was sick and undergoing medical trip abroad.
In his address, the Former Head of State who presented the book at the prize of two million naira, described late Abubakar Gimba as a man he so cherished and a man with good characters worthy of emulation.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State, represented by Commissioner for Local Government, Kabiru Abass Musa also presented the book at the cost of one million naira.
In her votes of thanks, the first daughter of late Gimba, who is also the Faculty Officer of the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar Gimba described her late father as friendly and easy going person.
Other speakers at the launching included, the National President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Mr. Denja Abdullahi, members of the Alumni Association of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria among others.
Late Gimba could be counted among the few well to do intellectuals who God gave the spirit and wisdom to give out a large percentage of their wealth as charity for development of mankind.
Wrote from Minna
