Year 2010 was a watershed in my relationship with Marafa. He agreed to be the Chairman of my daughter’s wedding reception fixed for July way back in April. Two weeks before the day , his younger brother and the then Governor of Zamfara State was to be honoured on the same day at Abeokuta. He arrived Ibadan as my guest but on getting to Aare Arisekola’s house, he was reminded of the event at Abeokuta to which everybody including Aare Arisekola seemed to be aware and not my daughter’s wedding. He quickly told them that he was in Ibadan for Gani and for no other person. Case settled; he honoured me throughout the day.

His principled stand ensured that I did not have to look for an emergency Chairman at the reception venue after I had “boasted” that Shinkafi was my friend. Other big men would have disappointed.

It was at the wedding that he asked me about Sultan Bello Hall since the authorities after me had not been “harassing” him as I used to do. I quickly reawakened   his interest and that led to a donation of a total sum of N5.5 million from Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara State governments – the largest N3 million was from Sokoto State through his contacts .

Until he became the Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council of Sokoto State University recently, he had kept away from receiving University honorary degrees yet he eminently deserved one. He equally refused the idea of a book being written in his honour. He told me point blank that his profession – police/security detested  the idea of self-seeking biography or book in any form.

The quality of people from all over the world at the burial at such a short notice was a testament to the quality of this kind-hearted father and a highly untribalised Nigerian, who had political contacts across the length and breadth of Nigeria and had restructured Nigeria in his thoughts and actions before the current and recurrent agitations for restructuring. The blind, reckless, mindless pursuit of material success is the cankerworm that has virtually completed its task of totally destroying our society and, indeed, our chances of building a nation. Alhaji Shinkafi was indeed a compass for moral guidance. I submit without hesitation that Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi was a hero and great man in the true sense. May his redoubtable soul continue to rest in peace.

Shinkafi was born in 1937 at Kaura Namoda, Sokoto State. He joined the Nigeria Police Force in 1959, after passing through the Police College in Kaduna. In 1973 , he graduated from the University of Lagos and a year later, he graduated from the Nigerian Law School. He was a Federal Commissioner of Internal Affairs in 1975 and later became the head of the National Security Organisation in 1979.

During the Nigerian Third Republic, Shinkafi was one of the promoters of the Nigerian National Congress (NNC) a political association formed in 1989 after the unbanning of political groups by the Babangida administration, the NNC later joined the National Republican Convention. Earlier on, Shinkafi emerged as a leading presidential candidate during the period Babangida banned old breed politicians, he created a choice 92 campaign group for his presidential ambition which intended to have a canvasser in every ward of the federation. But after the unbanning of old breed politicians, he had to face tough competition in Adamu Ciroma, who had earlier supported his ambition.

However, the primaries were later annulled and the presidential politicians banned, a new primary to be conducted under a new Option A4 electoral system was approved by Babangida. During the next primaries, Shinkafi supported the eventual NRC presidential candidate, Bashir Tofa and the party chairmanship aspirant, Hamed Kusamotu. Nigerians will miss Marafa.
ConcludedDr. Adeniran is of the Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Ibadan