By Bashir Mohammed
Kano
A former Minister of Works and later defence during the First Republic, Alhaji Inuwa Wada, has died at the age of 98 at his residence in Kano, after a protracted illness.
The late Wada, an uncle to the late Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, was one of the leading power brokers during the reign of the late Sir Ahamadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region.
He was at one time the acting prime minister for as he held brief for the late Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, when he was on annual leave.
At the time his career ended as a Minister with the demise of Sir Ahamadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in the 19966 military coup, the late Magajin Garin Kano stayed away from partisan politics up till the time of his death.
Meanwhile, the funeral prayer was presided over by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, along with a retinue of place of palace officials, district heads and notable eminent personalities, including Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Extolling the virtues of the late Magajin Garin Kano shortly after the funeral prayers, former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, described him as “a patriotic and selfless citizen” who died serving the nation.
He said the late Inuwa Wada was an iconic figure who stood for the North in its hour of travails, adding that he was a nationalist who had his name written in gold on the sand of time.
While praying to Almighty Allah to grant his soul eternal bliss and to give his family and the people of Kano and the North the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, the former envoy called on the new generation of youth to emulate his good qualities in all their conduct for the development of the nation.
