Man of Letters
(A Tribute to Bello Musa Dankano)
By Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi
__________
In Malumfashi’s quiet dawn
He rose.
A child of dust
And northern skies,
Where history walks
In ancient robes,
Wisdom lives
In elders’ eyes.
From humble chalk
And classroom board,
He shaped young minds
With patient art.
A teacher first
Before the world
Would learn
The measure of his heart.
The call of service
Drew him forth
To halls
Where weighty matters lie,
Where duty walks
With sleepless steps
And truth
Must never learn to die.
Through offices
Of state he climbed
With steady hands
And mindful grace,
Till Katsina’s trust
Upon him fell.
A steward
In a crucial place.
He’s a guardian
Of the public trust
Which stood
Where policy must stand,
Guiding the course
Of state affairs
With thoughtful mind
And careful hand.
Yet deeper
Still his roots
Were set
Within the ancient
Emir’s reign.
Talban Galadima
He stood:
A name of honor
To sustain.
Where palace walls
And culture meet
His counsel moved
Like desert wind.
Soft with wisdom,
Firm with truth.
A keeper
Of the past within.
But ink too
Answered to his soul.
The page became
His second throne.
Where stories
Walked through
Markets loud
And truths
In gentle satire shone.
He wrote
Of locust seasons harsh,
Of mirrors held
To power’s face,
Of caravans
And petrol queues:
A nation’s struggle,
Time and place.
A father’s love
Within his home
Planted seeds
That yet will rise.
Children bearing
Forward light
Reflected
In their father’s eyes.
So rest
In peace
O elder of the pen,
Whose life in service brightly ran.
For Katsina’s wind
Still speaks
Your name:
Bello Musa Dankano.
The noble man.
__________
© Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi, Sunday 19-09-1447 (Hijriyya), 08-03-2026 (Miladiyya).
