My late father, Alhaji Abdulkadir Barau, was born in 1926, in Tandama, Ɗanja Local Government Area of Katsina State. Two years after he was born, his late father, Alhaji Barau Bakori, relocated to Bakori from Tandama, owing to the change of his business from a Kolanut merchant to purchase of cash and food crops on behalf of some Multi-National Companies that engaged in exporting Cotton, Ground-nut, Hides & Skin as well as other food crops.
He became their agent on advise by his best friend, late Ibrahim Namowa, who was also their agent. Namowa was my maternal grandfather.
My late father was enrolled into a Qur'anic School in Bakori, in 1933, at the age of seven. And within six years, i.e. from 1933-1939, he had memorized the Holy Qur'an. In the same year, at 13 years old, he was enrolled into an Elementary School in Bakori, the equivalent of a present day primary school. He spent three years there before he was removed in 1942 on the instructions of his father who wanted him to assist in his expanding business.
But before fully integrating into his father's business, he was first sent to work under the Katsina Native Authority as a Scribe (Bukaɗi) to the then District Head of Faskari, Galadiman Ƙogo, from 1942 to 1945. He was then transferred to Bakori as the Scribe to the Village Head of Jiɓa, under Bakori, Jiɓa Ibrahim, from 1945 to 1948, where he retired from public service at the age of 22.
My father got married to my mother in 1943, at the age of 17 while my mother was just 12 years old. And they lived together for 68 years until he died in 2011.
He then continued to assist in his father's business, which he took over after his father's death in 1985, together with his siblings.
My late dad was one of the community leaders in the locality. He was the Chairman, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC); Chairman, Izalatul Bidi'a Wa Iƙamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), Bakori Local Government Chapters, respectively. He exuded confidence and commanded respect in the locality and was always sought after to settle disputes. Always out to assist people, even though he was not stupendously rich. No beggar passed by without getting at least a farthing, even lunatics. All the people who sat together with him never left him empty handed. That's why he was always surrounded by people like a king. We, his children, were often asked to record the names of people he gave small loans to, particularly primary school teachers and labourers. When he died he owed nobody anything, but we collected a lot of repayments from such people, most of whom brought the money willingly, even those that were not recorded. He also became a father figure to all non-indigenes resident in Bakori. Yorubas, Ibos and other minority tribes all turned to him in times of need and he never failed them.
It was from him we learned the psychology of handling lunatics. He said we should treat them nicely, feed them but never joke with them and then send them away, otherwise one day they might turn against you. If you follow that advice, they become your slaves and you can control them effortlessly.
His position as a community leader also made him attractive to politicians who always consulted him and sought for his advice in politics. Heavyweight politicians like the late Lawal Kaita, former Kaduna State Governor; former Katsina State Governor, Sa'idu Barda; Senator Sama'ila Mamman Kurfi; late President Umaru Ƴar'Adua; former Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema; current Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari and several others never passed Bakori without a stopover in his house.
He was a classmate (at elementary level) of the late District Head, Bakori, Makama Tukur Idris and other community leaders like late Senator Tukur Yusuf Ajiya, and late Ahmadu Bakori, a one time Commissioner in the old Kaduna State, as well as Alhaji Abdullahi Abasaya, father to my friend, Kabir Abasaya, Director Programs, Katsina State Radio.
Because my father was the oldest in the class and the brightest, he was made the class monitor and the head boy. I remember late Makama Tukur, at a condolence visit when my father died, told us a story of how they used to refer to my dad as their teacher because whenever there was no teacher available, he was often assigned to teach his classmates.
My dad's brilliance was obvious even to us his children. Whenever we were travelling and I told him the distance to our destination in kilometers, he would convert the distance to miles off head, without using a calculator! He, it was, who sharpened my reading skills in Hausa. He would often ask me to read from any Hausa book such as "Magana Jari Ce", etc, while he corrected me. And he coached me how to write in beautiful hand writing. He also assisted me with my homework whenever he had the time.
As a teenager, he was often loaned to an Ibo merchant, called, "Duniya-da-Faɗi", (meaning the world is wide - I don't know his real name), who lived opposite his father's house to act as his manager. The Ibo merchant and my grandfather were both Licensed Buying Agents (LBA) who purchased food and cash crops as well as Hides and Skin for French and Italian companies such as CFAO and L. Ambrosini etc. The commodities were weighed on a scale before packaging and my father, as what they called "scale-boy", took down the measurements from the scale, converted the pounds & ounces into money by using a reckoner (Raskwana in Hausa) - there was no calculator then. A reckoner is a book of tables, more like the four figure table, used to calculate the cost of each ounce. At that tender age, my father had memorized the whole reckoner! Whenever the weight was announced, my dad would instantly name the equivalent amount in Pounds and Shillings without looking at the reckoner! The Ibo merchant would shake his head and say, "There must be something in your head"! 😃
Aside from his exceptionally retentive memory, one of my father's attributes was his remarkably beautiful hand writing. He was one of the best hand writers I know.
He was the eldest of 12 children, some of whom had reached their peak in the Public Service before they retired. One of them was late Muhammadu Ɗangwaggo Bakori, who was a professionally trained Agricultulral Officer that trained at Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and spent one year in the US, undertaking further training. He retired as a Director, Katsina State Ministry of Agriculture. He was the father of my cousin, Ahmed Mohammed Bakori, a Professor of Agricultural Economics, currently at Bayero University, BUK, Kano. Another one of his prominent siblings is his sister, Indo Muhammad, who retired as a Director, Federal Ministry of Education. Hajiya Indo Muhammad, MFR, a two time principal at FGGC Bakori and Zaria, a former Commissioner, Katsina State and a Queen's College Ilorin graduate, as well as a 1977 graduate of ABU Zaria, who graduated with a second class upper division and topped it up with a Master's at Nottingham University in the UK and another Master's at her Alma Mater, ABU, Zaria. Another of his brothers is Engr. Muhammad Kabir Barau, who retired as the Managing Director, Nigerian Gas Marketing Company, NGMC, NNPC. Kabir Barau studied Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, with Specialization in Oil and Gas Technology at Bulgaria.
As a father, my dad was beloved by his children. He was such an orator that he could move you to tears with words or he could make you laugh to tears as the occasion demanded. One particular anecdote I often remember with merriment is a hilarious story my late brother, Sanusi, told us that happened between him and our late father when they went to the farm together. It goes like this...
My father had a phobia for snakes, so whenever he was going to the farm, he wore rain boots. This, according to him, was to protect his feet from mud and thorn. But deep down we knew he also wore it to protect the feet against snakes. And we knew that in a certain area of the farm a snake was often sighted. So, as usual, that day, he was wearing the boots when my brother accompanied him to the farm. As they were going round, they went close to where the snake was often sighted and my father took a wide berth to avoid the area. My brother teased him and suggested that my father passed through that area since he was wearing rain boots. My father immediately retorted angrily that what if the snake jumped into the boots from the top, how many times would it bite him before it was removed?
It's much more hilarious if you hear the words in Hausa, "Ashe kai sakarai ne? Takalmin-ruwan banza? In ya yi tsalle ya shiga ta sama, cizo nawa zai yi man kafin a cire shi?" 🤣🤣😂
We often shared that joke and laughed to tears...
May Allah have mercy on him and all other Muslims.