Widow
of the late Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa, Amina, said in
Kaduna on Sunday that her worst regret was not praying with her husband
before he embarked on his last journey to Bayelsa State on Saturday.
Amid
sobs, Amina narrated how her husband left the house on Saturday without
the usual ‘prayer of agreement’ and how they had planned to meet in
Abuja for a thanksgiving service for President Goodluck Jonathan’s
wife, Patience.
She
told the congregation at a church service organised for the late
governor inside the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House that, “Everyday,
we normally hold our hands to pray before he steps out of the house to
the office. But on Saturday, when he told me he was leaving for Bayelsa
State. I just bid him farewell and we said we would meet in Abuja for
the thanksgiving ceremony of President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife,
Patience. I regret that we could not pray as usual. After that he came
down and left for Bayelsa.
“We
used to wake up every morning to pray. Before yesterday (Saturday), he
used to insist that we pray before he would step out of the house
for any engagement. On December 23, we would have celebrated our 34th
year of marriage but for death.”
She said she could not pray for her husband on Saturday because she was down with catarrh.
“We
planned to meet in Abuja today for the thanksgiving service of the
President’s wife. He (Yakowa) had been a pillar of support to our
family,” she added.
Yakowa;
ex-National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi , and four others died
when a Naval Augusta 109 Helicopter in which they were travelling
crashed in the Nembe-Okoroba in Bayelsa State.
They were returning from the burial of Pa Douglas, the father of an aide to Jonathan, Oronto Douglas.
Other
victims of the crash were Yakowa’s special adviser, Dauda Tsoho;
Azazi’s bodyguard, Warrant Officer Mohammed Kamal; and two naval pilots
- Commander Muritala Mohammed Daba and Lt. Adeyemi O. Sowole.
The
traditional ruler of Kagoma, Col Paul Zaka Wyom, said he would never
forget his last encounter with the late governor during the just
concluded council poll which incidentally took place on Yakowa’s
birthday.
Wyom
said, “It is very difficult to give a full description of the
governor. The last time that I saw him was during the Local Government
election in the state on December 1, 2012. That was the moment that I
will never forget in my life.
“He
was a seasoned civil servant. He will be remembered for being the first
civilian governor of Kaduna from the Southern part of the state and he
will also be remembered for his prudent management of state resources.”
Also
on Sunday, the President-General of the Southern Kaduna Peoples
Union, Dr. Ephraim Goje, narrated how Yakowa visited his parents’ grave
barely 15 days before he met his death.
Goje
said, “One of the last encounters I had with him that I will never
forget happened on December 1, 2012 which was his birthday. If you
remember, he also conducted the local government elections on that day.
At about 1 pm, I called him to congratulate him on his birthday and for
successfully conducting the local government elections.
“He
said to me, my president, as I speak to you, I am standing by the
graveside of my parents. I have not had the opportunity to come here in
the past two years and I am using the opportunity of this elections to
come to their graveside.
“He
said further that he will surprise the people of Kaduna State when he
presents his 2013 budget and that through the document, the people of
the state will know that he meant business. I told him that wherever his
parents were, I am sure that they would be proud to have him as their
son, especially rising through the ladder to be the governor of the
state. We are also proud of him and his achievements.
“After
the election, I went to his village (Kagoma) to see him and discovered
that he had left for Kaduna. I never knew that 15 days later, he will be
no more. We are really grieving and sad.”
Goje
said the death of the governor came to him as a surprise, noting that
with the loss of a “great son” like Yakowa, a big vacuum had been
created in the state.
“The
death of Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa came to me as a surprise and with great
shock. I want to say that Kaduna State has lost a great son and a big
vacuum has been created. He was a man with a passion to develop Kaduna
State. There were no religious or ethnic considerations in his actions
and he was dedicated to the development of the state,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment