Precisely Nine Hundred days today when Malam Rufa’i Ibrahim has his
last breathe on this earth. He passed away on Saturday 2nd, April
2016 at Gwagwalada Hospital. To commemorate the day, I reproduced below,
a tribute I wrote on him which appeared in Peoples Daily Newspaper of
Tuesday, April,12th 2016. I titled the tribute “Rufa’i Ibrahim: A Gem
Has Gone”
>>>>Rufa’I Ibrahim was fondly referred to by his friends and colleagues as Malam; a coinage he loved so much. As can be attested to by all who knew him Rufa’I Ibrahim preferred to be referred to as Malam simply by reason of his character and by his world outlook. Malam Rufa’I Ibrahim was a man who found nothing enticing in life. Throughout his entire 66 years that he spent in this world, he considered life not too valuable. His belief was that life can only be appreciated if it was channeled towards serving humanity; that explained why he not only appeared humble but he tried to encourage those close to him to imbibe that culture of humility. What enticed him and which he cherished much to a fault was truthfulness.
Malam Rufa’I Ibrahim was one person that can look at you straight in
the face and bare his mind to you without minding whether it would
hurt you or not as long as what he told you was nothing but the home
truth.
The way Rufa’I Ibrahim looked at the world differed sharply from the
way many of his contemporaries view it. It was for this reason that
throughout his life, he did not put any value to worldly things.
Though he got so many opportunities in life to make a fortune out of
it, his principles which are anchored on simplicity and truthfulness
hindered him from amassing wealth which he did not labour for. I came
to know Rufa’I Ibrahim as I grew up in a far distance, but the
profession I chose -Journalism and which happened to be Malam Rufa’i’s
profession – made me to go closer to him. I first have a personal
contact with Malam Rufa’i Ibrahim some time in 1990 then I was working
with the Nigeria Standard newspaper in Jos. We met at his family
residence at Appolo Crescent, Jos. Immediately he saw me, he asked,
‘how is the Standard?’ I told him the Standard was fine but he
immediately asked me whether I needed a change of environment to which
I replied yes, without any hesitation. He then asked me to give him my
credentials. Within a week I got a letter requesting that I should
come for an interview with the now defunct Today Newspaper in Kaduna
signed by Malam Kabir Yusuf, the present Publisher of Daily Trust.
But after consultations I was prevailed to remain with the Nigeria
Standard. Since that encounter, I came to understand Malam Rufa’i
Ibrahim as someone who is willing to help others out of their
problems. We increasingly became so close to each other by the passage
of time. Our closeness was however, consummated, so to speak, when he
picked up a consultancy work with the Nasarawa state Government in
2000 to assist in setting up a state owned Newspaper Nigerian
Newsday.
Rufa’i’s relocation to Lafia after picking up the consultancy work
provided yet another alibi for us to be together. Then I was working
with the then deputy governor of Nasarawa state, Prof. Onje Gya-wado
as Press Officer. Rufa’i specifically instructed me to be reporting to
him instead of my usual reporting place which is the deputy governor’s
office. But frankly speaking, at that time I chose to remain with the
deputy governor’s office because of the advantages that go with the
office. Sensing my disposition and being a simple man, Rufa’i reasoned
with me. Though he did not appoint me as his special assistant
officially,
I played that role unofficially. Whenever I finished work at the
deputy governor’s office I dashed to the Lafia Hotel which served as
both Rufa’i’s residence and office. That was my routine for almost
three years.
Shortly before the 2003 election, Rufa’i Ibrahim sought the assistance
of my ministry which is the Ministry of Information, for me to serve
as News Editor, Lafia office of the Nigerian Newsday. By that time
Nigerian Newsday had two offices, one in Abuja and one in Lafia.
Ministry of Information granted Rufa’i Ibrahim his request and I was
seconded to Nigerian Newsday. For another four years I was with Rufa’i
at Newsday where I served as News Editor and unofficial special
assistant.
When Aliyu Akwe Doma took over from Abdullahi Adamu as governor of
Nasarawa state in 2007, Malam Rufa’i Ibrahim voluntarily surrendered
the affairs of Newsday and headed for Abuja to face fresh challenges
in the media world while I headed back to my Ministry of Information
to head the department of Orientation. Even with Rufa’I’s departure
from Lafia we still maintained our closeness on phone. Besides, that
whenever he was heading to Lafia either on sallah or on any other
private engagements he always notified me and I will be with him till
he departs back.
I last saw Malam Rufa’i physically when he was in Lafia to condole the
family of late Liman Dahiru on the death of late Garkuwan Lafia Malam
Sarki Dahiru sometime in December late last year, though during that
visit his skin illness visibly manifested in his body but he still
looked agile. He returned back to Abuja same day and we continued
communicating with each other up to the time he went back to Germany
for the check up. Even while he was in Germany we spoke severally. His
response whenever you asked him about his health was ‘Al-mamdu
–lillah’ meaning all the glory be to Al-mighty Allah. The last time
Rufa’i called me was on Wednesday 30 March, three days before his
death to acknowledge the receipt of a message which I earlier sent to
him in Abuja.
The thought of calling Rufa’i ran through me that very Saturday that
he departed this world to ask about the preparations for the National
Agric Show which Nasarawa State hosts annually between 4th to 8th
April at Tudun Wada, a village near Abuja and of which Rufa’i served
as Media consultant since the beginning of the exercise in 2007 but
put off the idea of calling him for no apparent reason only to
received a call from Chika- soron Lafia Alhaji. Hassan Abubakar,
barely three hours later- that is at about 3. 30 pm – that ‘Malam is
dead’. ‘Which of the Malam’, I enquired from Chika-soro, he replied
the ‘very Malam you know’. I asked again, ‘which of the Malams?. In
fact my brain refused to comprehend the Malam he was referring to
until he mentioned ‘Uncle’ then it dawned on me that he is referring
to Malam Rufa’i Ibrahim. We all burst on phone with Inna lillahi waina
ilaihim Rajuun. After we calmed our-selves and hung the phone, I
immediately put a call to Shehu Othman in Oxford, England to confirm.
The response I got from him was that I should check my whatsApp page
and he burst out crying. After consoling him I hung the phone. I was
in a state of disbelief on the death of Malam Rufa’i despite all the
confirmations I got from several sources, including the call I put to
Rufa’i’s immediate younger brother Malam Aminu Mustapha Ibrahim when
he confirmed, ‘As I’ am talking to you we are at the Gwagwalada trying
to collect the corpse’. Yet I refused to come to terms with the death
of Rufa’i until around 10 p.m when the body arrived their family
compound in Lafia then it dawned on me that ‘A gem has gone’. May the
gentle soul of Malam Rufa’i Ibrahim rest in perfect peace.
nasarawaeye.com 