The ‘Busanga volvo’ with a seatbelt: A Tribute to Alhaji Abubakari Alidu (Zemoli)

It was an early cool harmattan morning, while I was in the boarding house preparing for my WASSCE exam which was only 4 months away. One of my younger brothers unusually stormed my dormitory. I quickly felt all wasn’t well.
Few days earlier, I had visited my grandfather whose health was worsening by the day.
Apparently, the oldest man in Bimbilla then had passed away.
Alhaji Abubakar Alidu was then the Zemoli to the Bimbilla Naa. He had lived so long that when he died no one could tell his age with certainty.
Alhaji was an Islamic scholar whose knowledge in the religion was not in doubt. He traversed north-eastern Africa, not in search of greener pastures, but to acquire Islamic knowledge and worship his Lord. He is on record to have been one of the few people in Bimbilla who went to Mecca for pilgrimage ON FOOT! unbelievable you will say. But that is the reality. During the second leg of his visit to the holy Land, it was by horse. This is how Alhaji and his compatriots then, such as Alhaji Asimah, toiled to earn the favour of their Lord.
Baba, as we used to call you, you left this world on 14th January, 2007, 12 years ago. You left a solid legacy, a legacy that will continue unabated, in Sha Allah.
I was your closest companion, for I was your eldest biological grandson. You loved me so much that wherever you were going, you will take me along. At the age of about 16, you trusted and sent me to represent you in a funeral in Yendi in 2005.
At a much younger age, you used to carry me to farm whenever you were going. In one of the occasions, I slept and fell over from the bicycle. You didn’t realize it and rode to farm before realizing that your friend wasn’t on the bicycle. You rode back and saw me still sleeping in the bush. Lol. From then, you started using a rope to tie me on the bicycle whenever we were going to farm. Funny? Lol. That is how intimate we were.
Promotion of family relation was your hall mark. You visit family and relatives, no matter which part of town they were. You were the eldest man we knew, but that didn’t make you sit at home waiting for the ‘younger’ members of the family to come and greet you. You will walk to Masaka to greet Mr Salifu Asabre, to Baatingli to greet Alhaji Yaalo, Haji Amina, and Zabalindoo Paga, just to mention a few.
Words cannot be used narrate your life.
We only pray that the Almighty Allah will extend His boundless Mercy on you, forgive your sins and above all grant you Jannah.