November 27 became a defining moment
The strongest Gamji Tree of our time is late
Has fallen to Rise in Al-Jannah Firdawsiya
An unprecedented human caravan is afoot
The condolence Qiblah has shifted to Bauchi
The city is hosting its biggest crowd in history
Apart from Yakubu, Balewa and Saadu Zungur
No one has come close to the Sheikh in fame
Perhaps none will ever come close to the icon
The day’s first news story was a very bitter tale
A much anticipated but highly disdained storyline
A paragon of spiritual and moral rectitude is gone
Even before meeting him the name rings alarms
He spent a century sermoning on life’s purpose
He ringed that bell for me for years until 1995
A chance came to engage him daily for weeks
A reportorial duty to record Ramadan Tafsir
For one major national broadcast channel
This was Voice of Nigeria radio in Lagos
The first cleric to offer Fulfulde network Tafsir
Courtesy of grandson Aminu Yusuf Bombiyo
As custodian I couldn’t take the task initially
Every year, someone within the ranks acted
But for 1995 no one was readily available
Listeners couldn’t afford to miss the usual
I opted for the critical annual responsibility
It usually coincides with the Mawlud Nabiy
Lucky to sit by one of the world’s topmost clerics
Taking-off from Bauchi, we traversed the north
Stopping over in Kaduna, we reached Zaria
Branching to Kano, and re-routing to Funtua
At each goalpost there was Tafsir and more
A unique Tafsir direct from his memory lane
All my travel logistics were heavily subvented
I took lessons, relaxed and relished in his dish
The team had late Dr. Hadi on top of logistics
I felt a sense of purpose and happily at home
On the farewell day my wardrobe was redone
And my pocket was full not with a brown envelope
But with a white Halal version from the Sheikh
And after a full month I never wanted to leave
And how to tape the program for thirty days?
He created the time and space in his schedule
It became a household platform for the audience
Listeners all across Western and Central Africa
Struggled and scrambled for the next Ramadan
And we taped all episodes from Bauchi to Funtua
Curiously he never asked about my own parents
Even though my dad was also a Sheikh Dahiru
In 2014 @ the Global Media Forum in Bonn
On the sidelines of the annual media convergence
Having left Nigeria past twenty-four hours earlier
Colleagues from DW asked about his death rumour
That was eleven years away from his real timeline
I placed a handsfree call to Aminu Yusuf Bombiyo
Aminu responded: “I am seated with Sheikh at home
In fact, we prayed Zuhr together in congregation”
That incident was my first lesson in fake news
That is the power and tower of social media
The absence of a gatekeeper a huge challenge
The Sheikh conducts Tafsir in five languages
Arabic, Hausa, Fulfulde, Wolof and Kanuri
Wolof was the language of his Sheikh Inyass
But he offered to sell-off his Kanuri lexicon
So that he could purchase English for Tafsir
Long after him his Kanuri will remain on the stall
Yes, in the marketplace for even lower bidders
His proficiency in all five languages is profound
His great mastery goes beyond merely passable
He lived and loved for as long as a full century
Blessed with nearly six hundred direct offsprings
95 children, over 400 grands and over 100 others
The total number in his direct Zuriya are over 600
I was chanced to ask him some lexical questions
I needed to know his translation of modern terms
He confided in me as much as I knew that nowadays
Scientific research, inventions and discoveries
Are not rendered in our local African languages
They are done in western tongues and terms
But rooted in Arabic since the Prophetic years
Many such olden discoveries and inventions
Remain buried in the deep archives of history
Virtually all of them including Algebra are Arabic
Arabic and European languages can be Arabised
They can as well be Fulanised to suit a purpose
Even though no African lexicon for inventions
However, descriptions can be offered for many
Modern terms and terminologies in our world
And since the computer is garbage in and out
And can hardly, blatantly and selfishly tell a lie
Can be translated as “Konpewata” or “Modibbo”
This proficiency transcends all his languages
This demonstrates the volume and quality
Of his contributions to human understanding
The volume of the lives he has touched is truly
Unimaginable and can be hardly quantifiable
His passage means a lasting yawning gap is here
It also means that the flock of students he made
Are prepared enough to fill-in the huge vacuum
Beneficiaries are everywhere around the world
They will not only continue sharing his legacy
And mentoring, exemplifying and impacting
But will also continually live out his vacuum of
Service and sacrifice towards human progress
In scale, scope, style,
sophistication and service
There can never be another Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi!
(c) Abubakar Abba Tahir
November 2025