With Tahajjud prayer in mind, I retired early to bed. At around 10:30 pm a friend called saying Garus is dead! My response was, “Nabaruma?” “Yes”, he replied. It was shocking and devastating; the only Garus known to our wide circle of friends is no more! I spoke with three other friends thereafter; the shock was so overwhelming they could only murmur “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhir rajiun”! Until his demise on 18th May 2020, Justice Garba Musa Nabaruma was the Chief Judge of Yobe State. My Du’a while performing Tahajjud prayer that night was to ask Allah (SWT) to forgive and admit him in Al Jannah Firdous. Ameen thumma Ameen.
I first met Nabaruma in 1974 when their set from Government Secondary School GSS (formerly Community Secondary School – CSS) Nguru was transferred to GSS Maiduguri to repeat their final year (form five) to prepare them for WASC. It was the policy of the North East Government then that the first set of students from Community Secondary Schools (CSS) repeats a class for their educational grounding.
Nabaruma was one year my senior having graduated in 1975. He proceeded to ABU Zaria where he graduated in Law in 1979.
As students, our holidays in Nguru were exhilarating. We bonded socially and enjoyed a communal life. With Nabaruma’s encouragement, some of us became regular readers of fiction novels. We competed at who read the most novels before the holiday was over. He never slept without a book or magazine in his hands. His hunger for knowledge broadened his worldview. Consequently, he could engage in deep and wide discourse on political thoughts, economics and current affairs.
His intellectual disposition made him a role model to many of his juniors in secondary school some of whom took after him to read law at the University. Nabaruma was not all book, he was sociable and full of humour. He could be comical and sing songs to amuse friends. One of his favourite songs was “my bele oh, my head oh”, a chorus made popular by late Jagua, the Nigerian comedian. Not so good in cooking. He cooked his jollof rice by adding all ingredients at once from the start in the pot and called it freestyle.
After NYSC, Justice Nabaruma got employed with the now rested Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI) and posted as Legal Officer to its Maiduguri branch. Working in Maiduguri was a dream-come-true for Nabaruma. He had a tremendous liking for Maiduguri; “Maiduguri London” we used to tease him.
A generous person, Nabaruma made my study in University Maiduguri less stressful with regular stipends. His giving was as free as his spirit. Serious as he was with work and relationships, he was never self-seeking. It is interesting to know that it took more than two years for Nabaruma to learn how to drive his first car. His car was often in use by friends. If he needed to use the car, he would rather friends drove since they were better drivers than him. I was one of his unofficial drivers whenever I was at home. Malam Ganger, his childhood friend, also helped in driving him. He calls him “dogon driver”, meaning tall driver.
Since we all stayed in the same house, he would often be dropped at his office, and whoever was driving would take off with the car, in the company of others, for their transportation needs. It wasn’t unusual that Nabaruma would neither see the car nor inquire about it because a friend had it. He used alternative means if he needed to move around. If he had to drive the car, he applied some curious driving technique that took care of traffic on the driver’s (left) side. Blind to the right, he left traffic on that side to take care of the car. Consequently, the right side of the car got brushed even while he was to park the car in the garage.
Justice Nabaruma left the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry for private practice. He joined the Bahanoor Chambers, owned by another brilliant and experienced legal luminary, late Justice Isa Usman. His exceptional performance in courts earned him the reputation of a serious and intelligent Attorney.
Despite our closeness to him he never discussed his clients or hold discussion with them in the presence of a third party in his office. I have learnt early from him the value of clients in business, which helped me greatly while working in the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
Justice Nabaruma left Bahanoor Chambers to join the services of Yobe State Judiciary and was appointed as a Judge. Being from Yobe State, that transition from private practice to the Judiciary signifies his contribution to develop the young State. He was appointed as Chief Judge of Yobe State in 2011. The office of the Chief Judge is third in the state official hierarchy. The office with its conservative paraphernalia did not change the essential GARUS.
He remained humorous, kind, caring and “man of the people” to his last day on earth. A young lawyer in Damaturu confided in me that people flocked to his house as if he was a politician because Justice Nabaruma was so caring and generous. May Allah abundantly reward his act of sadaka/assistance for the underprivileged.
It is evident that Justice Nabaruma used his office as Chief Judge to revolutionize and transform the Judiciary in Yobe State. He built more than seven Magistrate Courts to hasten the dispensation of justice at the grassroots. He also appointed two new Judges and seven Magistrates. He facilitated the conduct of Workshops and Seminars to update the knowledge of Judges and Judiciary staff.
He was credited to have built a well-equipped world-class ICT and e-Library for the judiciary. It is acknowledged that the domestication of the Child Rights Bill and Administration of Criminal Justice Bill in Yobe State was what he cherished and supported. He formed Committees to make the dispensation of justice much easier. Under Justice Nabaruma, Yobe State Judiciary experienced unprecedented positive changes on account of which it was given numerous national and international awards.
A few months ago, I seized upon an opportunity with someone I know that is close to senior officers in the Federal Ministry of Justice. The Federal Government was going to set up a Committee to review some of the nation’s outdated laws. I suggested Justice Nabaruma be considered as a member of the Committee. I was confident he was grounded in knowledge and experience to meet the task of reviewing our colonial laws, which he had cause to query often.
Justice Nabaruma had an infectious personality. Wherever he was he attracted a crowd of friends and well-wishers. His jokes, storytelling, and analytical ability endeared him to friends and earned him their respect. Though I was about four years junior to Nabaruma, age was no barrier to his friendship so long as he finds one mentally mature and purposeful in life. I shared a room with him for over a year, but he never felt inconvenienced by my presence.
He hardly missed, without cogent reason, any invitation for marriages, social events or even solemn events like burials. He was the “wakil” (representative) to many grooms, age-mates and juniors, at their weddings. Despite his tight schedules, Nabaruma rushed to attend my wedding in Maiduguri in 1997. Not only did he participate fully in the marriage procedures, he also gave me a generous financial contribution. His parting advice to me was “love, responsibility and patience.”
Anytime I met him that wide and brotherly smile was always there for me. He will enquire, “yaya iyali?” (how is the family?) and “yara nawa?” (how many kids do I have). Any time I was in Damaturu he would insist on me eating lunch with him in his house. Big brother, we will miss you surely and sorely.
In a condolence message to friends of Justice Nabaruma a friend wrote, “….we have lost an active team player in the house; we owe him endless prayers. May his sojourn in the waiting room he now occupies be tranquil and full of bliss.” We say Ameen! Nabaruma fraternizes with serious and purposeful people.
His skills in making friends were exceptional. His groups of friends that I know from the 80s and 90s have all excelled in their chosen endeavours and have come to occupy leadership positions either in the public or private sector. We, indeed, have missed a friend indeed!
For Justice Nabaruma, the journey of life came to a shocking and abrupt end on 18th May 2020. He has since disembarked upon reaching his destination. About two weeks to his demise we lost two other people very close to him and the Nguru fraternity in particular.
First, it was Fouad Alwan (Nabaruma’s classmate and my senior in school) followed by Baba Mai Lawan (Nabaruma’s retired Chief Registrar and my classmate in the University). Sources said Justice Nabaruma had mourned them and fervently prayed for Allah’s forgiveness for their souls. May Allah reward Fouad and Bamai with Al-Jannah Firdous. Ameen.
A friend who had called Nabaruma to condole him over the death of Baba Mai Lawan reported that he (Nabaruma) had grieved his death and observed to the effect that death was now stalking “our circle”. Allahu Akbar! It was like a premonition about his approaching time!
As I was about discontinuing this tribute for a friend, brother and mentor (there can’t be an end to Nabaruma’s), my little kid of about 6 years old asked me what was wrong. It was then I realized my eyes were filled with tears. I told him it was that stubborn catarrh that refused to go.
As we, your friends, continue the journey of life, you will always be in our prayers and Du’a until we reach the same destination too. If Allah gives me the opportunity to see one person in heaven besides my parents, it will be you, my big brother. And that brotherly, heavenly smile will be there for me as usual. Sleep well in the comfort of Al-Jannah Firdous.
MB Sabo writes from Efab Estate, Abuja, and can be reached at bukarmustaphasabo@yahoo.com
