By Ismail Auwal
Kano State Government officials have shunned Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa’s funeral prayer today at his house located in Gandu.
Tofa died at the age of 74 in the early hours of Monday morning after a protracted illness.
He was an elder statesman and former presidential candidate in 1992, under the defunct National Republican Party (NRC).
The deceased was a fierce critic of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje on Kano Emirate Laws that balkanised the old Emirate into five in the state.
He argued that the emirate law was an attempt to destroy the ancient city’s 1000-year-old heritage.
Tofa had also criticized the governor’s plan to obtain a Chine loan for the light rail project.
He then contended that the project might not be of great importance to Kano residents.
The state government’s refusal to attend the deceased’s funeral prayer has fueled speculation that the government refused to let go off its grudges against the deceased.
The funeral prayer was attended by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the former governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, and the former minister of Agriculture, among others.
The deceased was born on June 20, 1947. Tofa had his primary education at Shahuci Junior Primary, Kano, and then continued studies at City Senior Primary School in Kano.
Between 1962 and 1966, he attended Provincial College, Kano. After completing his studies at the Provincial school, he worked for Royal Exchange Insurance company from 1967 to 1968. From 1970 to 1973, he attended City of London College.
His political career began in 1976, when he was elected to the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Council. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1977. During Nigeria’s Second Republic, Tofa served as secretary of the NPN’s Kano branch, later becoming the party’s national financial secretary and a member of the Green Revolution National Committee.
