RENOWNED progressive intellectual, Prof Omotoye Olorode, has paid glowing tributes to the late Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the iconic radical and progressive former governor of Kaduna State, who died on Wednesday at his residence in Kaduna at the age of 84.
Prof Olorode, who described a short note made available to National Record as a ‘tentative tribute’ to the late radical statesman, said “Comrade Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa was such a phenomenon!”
Olorode said:
“The passing away of our illustrious Comrade and patriot, BALARABE MUSA is occurring at a time that is particularly bad for the masses of Nigeria’s labouring, exploited, abused and exploited masses!
“Comrade Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa was such a phenomenon!
“An exemplar where good examples are rare; a collectivist where individualism and megalomania are ruining popular movements; a genuinely modest revolutionary and intellectual leader where many think that leadership is about ostentation and intellectual posturing and private accumulation; a courageous and reliable Comrade; a patriot for all seasons!
“So long, Comrade BM!”
The late Alhaji Balarabe Musa was buried yesterday evening at the Ungwan Sarki Cemetery after Islamic funeral prayers were held for him at the Sultan Bello Mosque, Ungwan Sarki, Kaduna.
Punch newspaper quoted the first son of the late icon, Kazeem Balarabe Musa, as stating that his father died of heart-related ailment which he had been suffering from in the last decade.
“I am happy that my father, who I shared his political philosophy died in the presence of his family members today. He left behind a legacy of African records. I am very delighted to have a father like him (Balarabe Musa),” Punch quoted Kazeem, who, when asked how he would remember his father, reportedly said: “he will be remembered as a lover of the poor and I will remember him for the training he gave us as his children as well as the mentorship that I received from him. He was not only a father to me but a mentor. I like his political ideology.
“He was straight forward and honest.”
