By Adamu Muhd Usman

“The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand: The angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.” — George Eliot
Time flies. Positions change. Money disappears. Beauty fades. Power shifts. Events pass. Empires fall. Memories are forgotten. History is distorted. People die.
With these realities in mind, I am reminded of Sir Winston Churchill’s reflections following the Second World War and the fall of Hitler’s Third Reich. In his characteristic rhetorical style, Churchill praised the bravery of the pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain, declaring, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” He meant that the entire British Empire and its people owed their survival to the courage of those few pilots who resisted the Nazi invasion.

Unfortunately, today’s Nigeria tells a different story—one characterized by a glaring lack of faithful, honest, committed, courageous, and selfless leadership. The North, the entire nation, and even parts of Africa remain trapped in cycles of socio-political, economic, and educational crises, worsened by poor governance and leadership failures.

This brings us to the subject of Sule Lamido. While many know who he is, few have paused to ask who can replace him or inherit his legacy. Leadership inheritance transcends material possessions like wealth and power; it also includes values, knowledge, and ideology.

Sule Lamido’s story is one of resilience, service, and achievement. He began as a merchant in the 1970s, traveling across southern Nigeria. He later became a unionist, a member of the National Assembly in the late ’70s, a civil servant in the ’80s, a political party leader, a diplomat in the late 1990s, and the executive governor of Jigawa State in 2007.

His tenure as a politician, minister, and governor left a legacy that cannot be forgotten—even by the least politically inclined among us.
Lamido’s administration recorded significant achievements in education, healthcare, agriculture, potable water supply, societal reorientation, civil service reforms, youth and women empowerment, commerce, technology, rural and urban development, and road infrastructure. Notable among his achievements were human development programs such as the Talakawa Summit and the Jigawa Summit on Investment.
Lamido’s life has been devoted to defending democracy and promoting societal development. He remains a bold, courageous, and visionary leader—dedicated to improving lives, advancing democracy, and serving humanity selflessly.

Lamido’s political career is deeply intertwined with Nigeria’s democratic history. He played key roles during the Fourth Republic, particularly as the national secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which supported the late Chief MKO Abiola’s emergence as Nigeria’s most credible elected president. He was also a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998/99 and remains active in its affairs today.
Despite facing political persecution, witch-hunts, and imprisonment—especially under the PRP and military regimes—Lamido remained steadfast in his fight for democracy and the rights of the downtrodden.

Lamido’s legacy includes his struggles, sacrifices, and achievements as a politician and democrat. He has never been accused of tribalism, nepotism, or religious bias. His integrity, competence, and ability to build bridges among diverse groups make him a true nationalist.

In political circles, analysts and observers alike agree that no one in the region or even the nation matches Sule Lamido’s credentials and achievements. His wealth of experience, character, and influence place him in a class of his own. Few, if any, can match his political alliances, governance record, and commitment to democratic values. Indeed, Dr. Sule Lamido (CON) embodies the qualities Nigeria needs in leadership today.

However, the pressing question remains—who can step into Sule Lamido’s shoes?

This is a vital question that calls for serious reflection among political elites, northern elders, Jigawa citizens, and members of the Sule Lamido Political Dynasty (SLPD)—the Hurriyya family.

Sule Lamido’s successor must be humane, acceptable, and capable of managing people across tribal, religious, and political divides. They must be selfless, courageous, and deeply committed to the welfare of the people—offering servant leadership driven by the fear of God rather than selfishness, arrogance, or vindictiveness.

Such a person must continue Lamido’s legacy of speaking truth to power, protecting the well-being of the masses, and championing progressive governance without bowing to praise-singers or political antagonists.

History is the ultimate judge of men and events. Like a mirror, it reflects the true image of what stands before it. Despite attempts to manipulate it, the truth always prevails.
And so the search continues—In Search of the Next Sule Lamido.
Because if it’s not Sule Lamido, it’s not Sule Lamido.

Adamu writes from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa State.

By Adamu Muhd Usman

“The living are just the dead on vacation.”
— Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949), Belgian playwright and poet

Life is a mix of moments—some filled with joy and celebration, others marked by grief and reflection, and still others spent in leisure. Among these, the most difficult is undoubtedly the day of death.

I come from a family of 15 children from my father, with over 150 grandchildren. The eldest of us, Khadija Usman, popularly known as Gamandi or Yaata, passed away on Saturday, December 21, 2024—just four days before Governor Namadi’s tragic losses. Coincidentally, we share the same hometown, Kafin-Hausa.

Khadija is survived by her children and grandchildren. Among her children are Adamu (Engr), Usman Babali (Don), Jibrin (Jibson), Ismail (A Cole), and her daughters, including one who was married to the late Labaran Alhaji Muhammad (Normal). Tragically, Hauwa, Labaran’s widow, also passed away just two weeks later, enduring the pain of losing both her husband and mother in such a short time. May Allah forgive them all.

Similarly, Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State faced a double tragedy. Within 24 hours, he lost his mother, Hajiya Maryam Umar Namadi, on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, and his eldest son, AbdulWahab Umar Namadi, on Thursday, December 26, 2024. At the time, the governor was on an official visit to China and returned home to the heartbreaking news.

Even more devastating, Abdulwahab, aged 24, died in a car accident while traveling from Dutse to Kafin-Hausa to mourn his grandmother. He was laid to rest in the Kafin-Hausa cemetery according to Islamic rites, just a day after his grandmother’s burial in the same town.

The back-to-back tragedies have left the Namadi family, Kafin-Hausa, and the entire state in deep sorrow. Sympathizers poured into the governor’s residence to express condolences. Among the mourners was my leader and mentor, Alhaji Dr. Sule Lamido (CON), former Governor of Jigawa State, who also visited me personally to console my family over the loss of our eldest sister.

Prayers were offered for the repose of the deceased, as these losses deeply touched everyone.

People from all walks of life—irrespective of tribe, region, religion, or political affiliation—gathered to support Governor Namadi. Losing both a mother and a son within such a short span is a burden beyond words.

I had known Hajiya Maryam Umar Namadi for over 45 years. Fondly called “Iya Hajja”, she was a woman of faith, kindness, and generosity. Her devotion to peace, reconciliation, and family unity made her an inspiration to many. She was a true philanthropist whose life is worthy of emulation.

At this point, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Her Excellency, Hajia Hadiza Umar, the governor’s wife, on the loss of her son, Abdulwahab. I deeply appreciate her personal visit to me on Sunday, December 22, 2024, just a day after my sister’s passing, despite her husband being away in China at the time. I pray that Allah rewards her kindness and grants her the strength to endure this painful period.

At just 24 years old, Abdulwahab had a promising future ahead. He graduated from Federal University Dutse (FUD) and was preparing for his NYSC in 2025. Notably, Governor Namadi, known for his modesty and values, chose to educate his son locally rather than sending him abroad, despite having the means to do so. This decision reflects his grounded character and belief in simplicity.

Losing two beloved family members in such quick succession is never easy. This is undoubtedly a trying time for Governor Namadi. However, with Allah’s will, his faith and trust in the Almighty—the Sustainer and Healer—will guide him through this difficult trial.

I pray that Allah (SWT) grants Governor Namadi and his family the fortitude to bear this immense loss. May He also bless the departed souls of their loved ones, my sister, and all others who have passed, granting them eternal rest in Aljannatul Firdaus.

The dignitaries who visited Kafin-Hausa to pay their respects—including the Vice President, Kashim Shettima; serving and former governors; ministers; members of the National Assembly; deputy governors; presidential aides; politicians; academicians; diplomats; traditional rulers; religious leaders; businesspeople; journalists; NGOs; and various associations—serve as a reminder of the inevitability of death and the importance of preparing for it with humility and righteousness.

May Allah have mercy on us all.

Adamu writes from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa State.

By Ehichioya Ezomon

There’s a resurgence of “false or fake” reports of death of prominent Nigerians spurned by the mischievous for inexplicable reasons. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, are among the latest victims of repeated reports of their deaths by mongers.
The canny thing about these reports is that they come mostly towards or at the end of the year, in November and December. Is it that the creators and spreaders of such rumours don’t want the affected to live into the New Year, or it’s mere coincidence that the news often appears at the twilight of the year?
The most (in)famous “false death” reports in Nigeria came in early November 1989 when news broke that the first President of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Owelle of Onitsha, had passed away. He’s then 85.
Nigerians and members of the global community were shocked and saddened, such that many – even his kindred Igbo, friends and political associates – took the news on its face value, and began sending condolences to the Azikiwe family, and the Government and people of Nigeria, and making arrangements for a state burial for him.
But alas, the “Great Zik of Africa” was “alive, hale and hearty,” and unprepared yet to leave the world! He said so unmistakably by wishing the purveyors the death they’d wished him. Indeed, some of those emergency mourners and “arrangers” of Zik’s funeral died before he finally departed at 91 on May 11, 1996.
Prof. Olatunji Dare, a respected communication scholar, teacher, author, satirist, columnist and editorialist, is the first awardee of First Class in Mass Communication of the University of Lagos in 1973. A Professor of Communication, Emeritus, of the Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, USA, and a recipient of multiple Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards, he’s a journalism great, and among the best craftmen in the profession. He served as chair of The Guardian Editorial Board and Editorial Page Editor, and was one of the “intellectual editors” that moulded The Guardian into its mantra of “The Flagship of Nigerian Press”. The Editorial Adviser of The Nation since its inception, Dare recalled the media faux pas on Dr Azikiwe, in vivid prose, in a piece, “The day Zik didn’t die,” published in The Nation on November 8, 2016 (as excerpted below).
According to Dare, “Rumours of Zik’s death started swirling on Wednesday, November 8, 1989, apparently triggered by enquiries from a BBC correspondent about his condition. By Friday, the rumours had gained so much traction that two newspapers published speculations about his death.
“If any doubts lingered about Zik’s condition, they were dissolved by the newscast the NTA beamed to its fabled 30 million viewers the following night, almost one-half of it a moving depiction of Zik’s life and times. The newscast, a marvelous production featuring footage and archival material that captured Zik’s illustrious career, as well as moving tributes by those who knew him well, plunged the country into mourning.
“By Saturday, November 11, virtually every newspaper had the story of Zik’s reported death as front-page lead, in type size and headline vocabulary that sought to do justice to the great man’s memory. Even those newspapers that left some room for doubt still felt obliged to refer to Zik in the past tense. The obituaries were adulatory, as indeed they should be.
“At the convocation of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, in Kuru, near Jos, the assembled dignitaries reportedly observed a moment of silence in honour of Zik’s memory.
“The whole thing had begun with a ‘letter of condolence’ that Dr Kingsley Mbadiwe had sent with accustomed magniloquence to the Federal Government on the ‘passing’ of Zik. For good measure, he also sent a copy to the NTA. That letter, plus a statement issued on behalf of the ‘National Committee for the Transition of Dr Azikiwe’ by four prominent Nigerians, was all the NTA had relied on for its categorical pronouncement on so weighty a matter.
“Out-of-work politicians saw an opening and moved in swiftly. A First Republic legislator and former stalwart of the Zikist Movement, Chief RBK Okafor, panting as if he had sprinted all the way from Nsukka to Rutam House in Lagos, narrated breathlessly how he had cradled his “beloved Zik” in his arms and how, even as his life ebbed, the great nationalist had said to him: “Chief RBK Okafor, my political son, remember that I am a Pan-Africanist and should be given a Pan-African burial,” or words to that effect.
“When the tale appeared in cold print, Okafor denied it vehemently. He forgot that Ebube Wadibia, The Guardian’s resourceful and street-smart news editor, had caught him on audiotape word for word. It turned out that Okafor had not seen Zik in several years.
“Nor were desperate politicos the only groups with eyes on the main chance. At the airport lounge in Lagos, a person claiming to be a doctor told a Newswatch executive with critical solemnity that he had just come away from performing the autopsy on Zik and signing the death certificate. That disclosure won him instant celebrity.
“By lunchtime on Saturday November 11, reports of Zik’s death had fallen apart. Television network news on Saturday showed Zik alive and well in his living room talking with Colonel Robert Akonobi, the military governor of Anambra State and a team of journalists.
“Zik, it turned out, had been watching the newscast at his home in Nsukka with his vivacious wife Uche, thinking that it was his birthday tribute until he heard, ‘And may his great soul rest in peace.’
“What went wrong? Dr Azikiwe was of course not the most accessible of eminent Nigerians. Still, how was it that, for more than 36 hours, the entire news media and the government’s information machinery and the security apparatus could not establish his condition?
“Zik-gate (which Dare says was ‘invented’ by Eluem Emeka Izeze, ex-Editor, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of The Guardian) showed how narrowly the news media cast their net and how vulnerable they were. It was as if they had resolved not to let the facts get in the way of a ‘good’ story. If they had checked and re-checked, they would have saved themselves a shameful outing that they will never quite live down.
“And if a government obsessed with ‘national security’ had swung into action with all the resources at its disposal as the rumours spread, a national embarrassment would have been averted.”
Rounding off the beautiful article on the media failure on Dr Azikiwe, Dr Dare asked: Can Zik-gate happen today? And he answered in the negative, as “there are far more news sources, and the media have become more enterprising and sophisticated.”
But that’s before the age of social media in our clime! Because of the bitter lessons learned from the Zik episode, the media, for a while, appeared to self-censor from rushing to publish unverified news about the death of prominent Nigerians. It wasn’t that there weren’t false news about such occurrences, but they’re few and far apart.
On December 31, 2010, Obasanjo quoted one of his friends as saying that he’d “counted seven times” that Obasanjo’s rumoured to’ve died between 1999 and 2010. Obasanjo stated this at his Hill Top home in Abeokuta, capital city of Ogun State, when he addressed the news about his “demise.”
Obasanjo spoke to newsmen, thus: “I think people take delight in speculation and rumouring. A friend of mine told me this morning (December 31, 2010), breaking to me the news of my death, and he was trying to confirm. He said he had counted seven times that I have been rumoured dead since the eve of my inauguration in 1999 as a democratically-elected President of Nigeria till today.
“Those who indulge in this – and those who have superstitious belief that when there are rumours and speculations like this, it means longevity – will not give up. Whether longevity or not, what I know is that until the Good Lord, who has created me, decides to say yes, ‘I have reached my take-off point to return to Him,’ people may speculate, people may rumour and that will be their own handicap.
“My word to Nigerians is that wishes are not horses. People wish and God does not make it to happen. But I know that anybody created is bound to die sometimes. When my time comes, it will not be man that will decide; it is in the hands of God,” he said.
Obasanjo debunked the latest “fake news” about his death on November 26, 2024, during the inauguration of a dual carriageway in Osogbo, Osun State capital city, to commemorate the second anniversary of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Going after the rumour peddlers with a “return-to-sender” message they’d intended for him, Obasanjo said: “I heard the rumour that I was dead. I saw it on social media. I quickly told my children and my relations that it was not true and that I was alive. Those who want me dead, that is their wish but God still keeps me alive.
“Why would anyone wish me dead? Those who harbour such thoughts will not escape tragedy themselves. This kind of rumour is not only disturbing but shows the extent to which some people misuse technology. It is unacceptable.”
As for Prof. Yakubu, the second rumour about his death came in December 2024, three years after a similar “fake news,” prompting the INEC chairman to declare that, “I am alive, hale and hearty,” and presented the itinerary of his activities in Nigeria during the timeframe of his reported hospitalisation in London.
A statement by Yakubu’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, reads in part: “Our attention has been drawn to a fake news narrative circulated by a section of the social media, claiming the purported death of the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at a London hospital. The story first appeared on Monday, 9th December, 2024.
“We hereby appeal to the public to disregard the rumour. Prof. Yakubu is alive, hale and hearty. In fact, he has not travelled to London in the last two years. He was present at an interactive meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on Wednesday, 11th December, 2024.
“He also chaired the commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners on Thursday, 12th December, 2024. Both events were widely covered on television and reported on the front pages of most newspapers yesterday, Friday, 13th December, 2024.”
Recalling that “mischief-makers on social media carried a similar fake story in 2021,” Mr Oyekanmi warned that, “those who indulge in this practice, as well as those who spread it, should be mindful of its effect not only on the individual, but also the wider society,” pledging that the INEC “will continue to work with genuine media professionals to combat the scourge of fake news and the danger it poses to society.”
Will people stop to create and spread “false or fake” news about deaths of prominent Nigerians? Whose death will next be conjured? Will the media, as usual, fall for it without authentication? Such, in the words of Prof. Dare, will be a “shameful outing that they will never quite live down.”

Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria. Can be reached on X, Threads, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp @EhichioyaEzomon. Tel: 08033078357