Even though he is my father, I knew many things about him from his friends, family, and some elders of the Tudun-Wada community.
My father, a fine attorney Mukhtar Adamu Abubakar died some 32 years ago as a result of a ghastly motor accident that occurred on April 18th, 1993 on Bauchi to Kano Road as reported by the Triumph Newspaper of 27th April 1993.
We lost him when I was just 6 months old, I was not opportune to meet with him and learn from this brilliant gentleman.
Alhaji Me Tebur, a relative of Alhaji Lawan Na Yaya and Alhaji Sulaiman Yahya would tell an elder brother, another family friend Mujitafa Lawan Muhammad that Tanko Dan Takarda ne “Tanko is a learned person”.
I have written a series of tributes to my father since 2011, the last time I penned a tribute was in 2023 titled: 30 Years Without Mukhtari Professor
My father bears different nicknames, he was called by his friend Professor, and community members referred to him as Tanko because he is a younger brother to two women Late Maryam Adamu (Ladi) and Binta Adamu (Zaria). It’s the tradition of the Hausa people to refer to someone with two immediate senior sisters as Tanko and that’s how my father and mentor got the name having been born and raised in a predominantly Hausa Community.
He was called Comrade because he was a student leader, Speaker of the Students Representative Assembly of Ahmadu Bello University in 1979, and Secretary General of the Students Union Government in 1980.
It’s not a coincidence that I was also the Deputy Speaker of the Students Representatives Assembly of Northwest University, Kano, and also the Secretary General of the Students Council. It’s a thing of joy that I followed the footsteps of my role model even though I didn’t read law.
Tanko Dan Takarda is a regular reader of newspapers, he was a contributor at the then Sunday Triumph Literary Digest and an anchor of a radio program at Kano State Radio Corporation as I was told by a fine writer and journalist Mallam Kabiru Muhammad Gwagwanzo who was once an Editor of the Triumph newspapers.
As I delved into the story of my father, I realized that he left a good name for his family and was one of the most loved personalities by his friends, family, and community members.
My father was a man of many parts. He worked briefly in the bank, was a freelance journalist, a successful lawyer, and also a writer. This can be seen through his love for books and contributions to the national dailies. My mother always remembers his column ‘Literary Corner’ in the then Sunday Triumph.
We inherited a large number of books from our father, many of which were autographed by the authors, including the renowned novelist and author Chukwuemeka Ike, who was a contemporary of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, etc., the late Dan Iyan Zazzau Nuhu Muhammad Bayero, and the Liberation of Nigeria, which was autographed by the late Yusuf Bala Usman.
My father was a Pupil Counsel in the Kano State Ministry of Justice a senior Magistrate Grade I and II in the Kano State Judiciary before he was appointed company secretary/legal adviser of the Nigerian Hotels Limited in Lagos.
My father died two days after he was appointed Solicitor General of Kano State by then-governor Alhaji Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya. As reported by The Triumph of Thursday 27th April 1993:
“New Solicitor General Dies
Alhaji Mukhtar Abubakar whose appointment as Solicitor General of Kano State was announced last Friday has died in a private clinic last Sunday.
He died from fatal wounds he sustained in a ghastly motor accident on April 18th, 1993 on Bauchi to Kano Road.
Aged 34, the deceased had his primary education at Tudun Wada Nassarawa LGA before attending Government Secondary School Lautai Gumel from 1972-1976. He graduated with an LLB Hons Degree from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in 1982 and was called to the Bar in 1983.
The Late Mukhtar started his career as a State Counsel with the State Ministry of Justice, Kano, and had attended various courses at the University of Lagos and the Nigerian Institute of Legal Studies.
In 1987, he joined the lower bench of the judicial department in Kano state as a senior magistrate and rose to the position of chief Magistrate.
In November 1991, he went over to Nigerian Hotels Limited as the Company Secretary, a position he held until the announcement of his recent appointment.
Meanwhile, the governors of Kano and Jigawa States Alhaji Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya and Barrister Ali Saadu Birnin Kudu have paid a condolence visit to the family of the deceased.
The governors described the death of Alhaji Mukhtar Abubakar as a great loss to the state Judiciary and the entire people of Kano State”.
The legacy of our iconic father, the Late Mukhtari Adamu Abubakar of blessed memory, has granted us unexpected favors and accorded us respect and courtesy many times
“He was nicknamed professor by his secondary school classmates because of his mastery of the English Language.
He was friendly to all that he met, he was exceptionally brilliant and unassuming”.
This was in the words of one of his classmates in a comment to one of my tributes in their class WhatsApp group. It was sent to me by the Dan Amar of Gumel Alhaji Sani Ahmed Babandi in 2021.
I have written a lot about my father for the past 15 years, but words will not be enough to describe him. We shall tell my son, Muhammad Mukhtar, Adam Naufal, and their cousins Fatima, Ameer, Khairat, Haidar, and Fudail about a great man called Mukhtari Professor.
May Allah S.W.T grant my father, his friend, Yusuf Muhammad Tudun Wada, Hajiya Hauwa Mai Kosai, Baba Ladi, Aunty Sarauniya, and all the departed souls eternal rest.
Ameen.
Mr Mukhtar writes from Abuja, Nigeria
