Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Hundreds of the masses as well as Very Important Personalities (VIPs) yesterday filled up the Sultan Bello Mosque for final prayer and as well followed the remains to Ungwan Sarki cemetery to give their last respect to late Balarabe Musa.
The cemetery is a stone throw from the decreased’s residence.
Balarabe Musa, a left-wing politician, was elected Governor of the then Kaduna state (comprising Kaduna and Katsina states) during the Nigerian second republic on the platform of PRP with a socialist ideology that believes in welfare of the common man, the poor.
The movement from the Mosque to the cemetery created heavy traffic gridlock along Isa Kaita road, as the Governor of old Kaduna state, was laid to rest at about 4.PM.
Alhaji Balarabe Musa, who was born on August 21st 1936, died at the age of 84. His death was confirmed same Wednesday morning by his eldest son, Ibrahim.
The janaiza (last prayer) held at Sultan Bello Mosque led by Sheikh Ahmed Gumi immediately after the Asri (early evening prayer).
The Sultan Bello Mosque open ground was filled with people from within and outside the Kaduna metropolis who came to pay their last respect to the decreased who has been described as the defender and voice of the masses.
The prayer was however not left for the masses alone as former Governor of Kaduna state, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramallan Yero, Secretary to the Kaduna State Government (SSG), Alhaji Balarabe Lawal and former executive secretary of Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Alhaji Hussaini Jallo alongside serving commissioners and other top government functionaries attended the last prayer.
The body was then moved to the Ungwar Sarki cemetery, in a Kaduna state government ambulance with registration number KDGH 13, where the former Governor of old Kaduna state was laid to rest.
The trip from Sultan Bello Mosque to the Ungwar Sarki cemetery a distance of less than four km took over 20 minutes, as residents in large numbers trooped to bid Balarabe Musa final respect.
Many motorists have to meander their ways to the venue of the final interment.
He held office from October 1979 until he was impeached on June 23, 1981 by the then National Party of Nigeria (NPN) which dominated Kaduna State House of Assembly.
