My father, Alhaji Musa Muhammad, was an orphan who lost his father at a very young age. He was nicknamed Musa Lare in reference to his mother, Lare. His father, Mallam Mamman Aminu, a staff member of the Nigerian Railway Corporation and a native of Daura in present-day Katsina State, was transferred to Ringim to work at the corporation’s train station. There, he met Lare, a Fulani widow, and they married in the early 1940s.
Their first child, a very handsome boy, was named Musa. Sadly, destiny decreed that Mallam Mamman would not live long enough to have another child or witness his son’s growth and achievements.
Alhaji Musa Muhammad was born in 1945 in Ringim. After completing mandatory Qur’anic school, he was enrolled at the age of seven in Ringim Elementary School (now Katutu Pilot Special Primary School) in 1952, finishing in 1955. In 1956, he proceeded to City Senior Primary School, Kofar Nasarawa, Kano (now Government Girls Secondary School, Shekara, Kano), and graduated in 1958. In 1959, he entered Kano Provincial Secondary School (now Rumfa College, Kano) with school number 230.
His first job came in 1963 when the University of Ibadan, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, offered him a one-year temporary position. He conducted a market study on the quality, quantity, and price of selected farm produce – millet, sorghum, and beans – at Kurmi and Sabon Gari markets in Kano. The results were sent monthly to the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) Kano for onward transmission to the University of Ibadan. During this period, as a federal government worker, the Emir of Kano, Sir Muhammad Sanusi I, provided him with accommodation at the palace.
In 1964, Alhaji Musa Muhammad joined the Forestry Division of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture as the pioneer Government Forest Guard. He attended the Government Forest Guard Course at the Regional School of Forestry, Jos, after which he was posted to Zaria. In 1966, he was transferred to Kaduna Parks and Gardens as Officer in Charge of nurseries.
When states were created in 1967, he was deployed to his home state, Kano. Following directives from CP Audu Bako, the then Military Governor, he was posted to Kuda Gangara in Kazaure Emirate to establish Bagaruwa plantations for producing pods used in the state’s tanning factories. These plantations were established at Kuda Gangara Forest Reserve along Achilafiya – Karkarna Road.
In 1968, he applied for a change of cadre from Forester to Forest Assistant in training. His application was approved, and he was sent to the Federal School of Forestry, Ibadan, for a six-month Forest Assistant Course, running from May 1970 to October 1971. He completed the course with a Second-Class Certificate and was posted to Kano North Central Administrative Area, headquartered at Dambatta, as Area Forest Officer in charge.
In January 1973, he was selected for a one-year Diploma Course at the Federal School of Forestry, Ibadan. He graduated with a First-Class Diploma, becoming the first Northerner to win a prize in silviculture (the cultivation and management of trees). Due to his outstanding performance, he was posted to Hadejia Administrative Area as Forest Officer in charge. There, he established three new forest nurseries in Hadejia, Diginsa, and Kafin Hausa, upgraded the Birniwa nursery, and created shelterbelts in Diginsa and Birniwa, along with numerous roadside plantations.
In 1975, at the age of 30, while working in Hadejia, he met my mother, who was then fifteen years old. They married that same year and remained together for fifty years until his death.
In 1976, he was transferred to Kano, attached to the Forest Management Division (West), and placed in charge of the Savannah Investigation Unit, which conducted soil and vegetation surveys, produced soil maps, and interpreted aerial photographs.
In 1977, he was transferred to Kano South West Administrative Area, headquartered at Rano, as Forest Officer in charge. In 1978, following the local government reforms, he applied for the position of Head of the Local Government Agriculture Department, in line with a Ministry of Agriculture circular inviting qualified diploma holders to apply. He was appointed and posted to Ringim Local Government as the pioneer Head of Agriculture.
In 1980, he was transferred to Tudun Wada Local Government. While there, he expanded his qualifications by enrolling with the British Institute of Engineering Technology, Aldermaston Court, Berkshire, England, to study Tropical Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering, and Animal Husbandry in the Tropics via correspondence. He completed these courses in three years.
In 1983, he returned to Ringim Local Government, and in 1984, he was transferred to Gezawa Local Government as Head of Agriculture. In 1987, he was moved to Dutse Local Government. That same year, the Kano State Government decided to professionalise the Inspectorate Division of the Ministry for Local Government. Heads of Departments in Agriculture, Works, Health, and Social Welfare were selected on merit through interviews. He was appointed Assistant Chief Local Government Inspector, joining three colleagues.
This role gave him opportunities to attend various courses, including:
1. Project Management Implementation and Control at the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute, Ilorin.
2. Rural Development Project Formulation and Management at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
3. Leadership and Management at the Nigerian Institute of Management.
4. Various workshops, seminars, and committee assignments within and outside Nigeria.
Following the creation of Jigawa State in 1991, he was deployed as Assistant Chief Local Government Inspector. With civil service reforms, his post became Assistant Director of Agriculture Inspection. In 1992, he was transferred to the State Council of Chiefs as Council Secretary. He was promoted to Deputy Director, then substantive Director in 1997, a position he held until his retirement on 31 August 2001.
Twenty-four years after retirement, on 3rd July 2025, he passed away peacefully at home in Ringim without any known illness, leaving behind my mother and 19 children. Among his sons are two classroom teachers, four lecturers, and a consultant neurosurgeon.
My late father was a man of strong faith, selflessness, and patriotism. When asked how all his children found good jobs, he replied that it was Allah who provides and that he had prayed for his children’s success. He detested corruption, avoided politics, and never sought personal favours. He refused cash gifts even from his children and was meticulous about keeping records and time, locking his house himself every day at 8 p.m.
He was the healthiest person I have ever known. I never for once saw him bedridden or visiting a hospital. Even at 80, he could drive, walk upright, and retained his senses of smell, hearing, and sight. He ate in moderation – only twice a day – favouring healthy, traditional foods such as fura, zogale, bread, tsire, and tea, with oranges, mangoes, and bananas as his preferred fruits.
While in service, he also farmed, growing millet, sorghum, beans, tomatoes, and other crops for home consumption. After retirement, he devoted his time to prayer and religious duties, declining all job offers. Though considered an elder statesman in Ringim, he kept few friends and preferred to stay indoors, coming out after late morning prayers until Zuhr to interact with neighbours.
His enduring message was: “Be resolute, fear your Creator, and surmount every difficulty to achieve your objective. It is not the beginning that matters but the end.”
May Allah (SWT) forgive his shortcomings, accept his good deeds, and grant him Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen.
