Former Governor of Jigawa State Alhaji Sule Lamido has expressed deep sympathy with the family, friends, Kano State and Nigeria at large over the death of Bashir Today.
He particularly lamented on the vacuum his death has created in the effort to resolve the seeming division in Northern Nigeria and the emerging cracks threatening the legendary Unity in Diversity with serious security and economic consequences.
Lamido in a personal message which was made available to the NationalUpdate said,
“When the idea of forming the Abuja Round Table the parent body of AR CHAT ROOM was mooted by a group of nine namely, Dr Bello Halliru, Mahmoud Yayale, Attahiru Bafarawa, Barr Tanimu Turaki, Adamu Waziri, Ibrahim Shema, Ahmed Makarfi, Lawal Batagarawa and myself, I was mandated to approach and invite Bashir Tofa to join us. “Bashir was my good friend and I have read quite a number of the books he authored especially the History of the Propets in Islam which are extremely educating and illuminating thus my fondly calling him Ustaz! “He told me he was writing another 500 page book also on Islam and promised that I will be the first to receive a copy. Allahu Akbar, he never lived to fulfill that wish!
“Back to the gist of what i want write. I visited him at his Castle and told him about the Group and as expected, he asked about the objective of the Group.
“I told him the names of the members and our concern and worry about the seeming division in Northern Nigeria and the emerging cracks threatening our legendary Unity in Diversity with serious security and economic consequences.
“I informed him of our desire to identify like minds to dialogue and restore the trust and common bond among the various components of Northern Nigeria irrespective of our religion or tribe as per the dream of our founding fathers!
“The Bashir I know who will do anything and sacrifice anything for Northern Nigeria did not disappoint me and instantly jumped at the idea and so the birth of Abuja Round Table and subsequent AR Chat Room.
“I knew Bashir Tofa as an extremely courageous and fearless person and above all highly knowledgeable.
“His able leadership qualities of Abuja Round Table and AR Chat Room eloquently testify to that. “His loss is not only to his family, the good people of Kano and Nigeria but will leave a huge gap in the service of Northern Nigeria by Abuja Round Table and Chat Room!
He prayed God to comfort his family and give them the strength to bear the irreplaceable loss and God to admit him into Aljanna.