A Golden Moment at Is’haq Kawu Modibbo’s Palace
It is extremely enigmatic seeing man being fond of a fellow man the way I am to Is’haq Kawu Modibbo. Anyways, I would say it is normal.
My unconditional predilection for this veteran bureaucrat dated back to 2012 or thereabouts as his preternatural writing skill, analytical precision and profundity, and belligerent posture against oligarchic force in the Kwara state formed parts of the ingredients which endeared him to me. I would take my precious time to comb ilorin.info his articles just to whet my intellectual apetite.
In 2014, during my Internship stint at the defunct African Independent Television (AIT) at Fate road, accidentally on one Friday, I found myself in the compound of Late (Rtd) Justice Seidu Kawu for Juma’a Service, I swiftly conjectured about the affinity between IMK and the owner of that palatial lodging. Not long after then, my findings revealed that the house belongs to Kawu’s patriarch.
A DREAM COME TRUE
It was exactly on the 28th September, 2019 a day after our newspaper outfit (The Informant247) had held its annual Media Parley in which Mallam Is’haq Kawu Modibbo was expected to be part of the panel discussion giving his agelong experience and expertise in the field of journalism, but owing to his round-the-clock schedule he couldn’t make it.
Felt apologetic about his absence at the event, the NBC boss invited us to his plushy palace at GRA in Ilorin. On getting to his abode, there was no sign he was at home, I found my way to the restroom, eased myself and performed my Ishai prayer. If there was one thing that caught my fancy on that day, it would be the sumptuous scenery I enjoyed in Mallam Modibbo Kawu’s compound as several bouquets of flowers and grove of ravishing trees give the lodging some paradise touching.
At about 9:30, IMK as he is fondly called showed up as he wasted no time pleading with us for having kept us waiting for long. Truth be told, his simpleness and humbleness kicked a soft spot in me. He just entered the compound like a nobody rocking his Ankara attire. He ushered us into one of his parlours immediately.
Seated on his cushion chair with his left leg crossing the right, he began to profile his professional experience from the time he was working as a freelance journalist with BBC to his days at Daily Trust and how he had helped to grow the Blueprint Newspaper.
Throughout the chitchat, wallahi it seemed to me like I was caught in the web of figment that I chiefly paid attention to the discourse. There is no gainsay that his generation is one of those who were fortunate to enjoy the best of Nigeria – his command of the English is noticeably impeccable, uncle Lanre is a raconteur like he, himself referred to Mallam Mamman Daura in his latest article. He is a bibliophile. No wonder, I saw a book on his stool bearing the portrait of Alex Ferguson. The discussion went on and went, as we all enjoyed professional tutoring and admonition from his wealth of knowledge. He entertained questions from us. The meeting continued to climax until we thought it would sensitive of us to allow Uncle Moddibo get some rest after he had had series of meetings with different personalities. So, around 11pm the down-to-earth NBC boss accompanied us to the frontage of his house, at the same time he was hilariously telling us how he named his two dead male and female monkeys after two prominent couple in Kwara State and how his unabridged appreciation of flowers emanated.
Henceforward, I drew another insight of Mallam Is’haq Kawu Modibbo, it is obvious IMK wields a high-powered web of clout and connectivity with most northern luminaries. He is a rare kind of creature who greases the engine of good relationship. He is a man of leviathan intellectual quotient who knows more than he thinks he knows, I consider him a fountain of knowledge who always replenishes himself with a new stream of learning.
I had continuously been thinking luck has always been smiling at him, but it dawned on me when I realized that probity and erudition flows in the veins of Modiddo’s bloodline – for those who are conversant with the IKOKORO family. So, the successes he has garnered in the last fourty two years in the cause of his profession is merely an addition to his lineage’s sterling profile.
It is on the basis of the circumstance which brought this quick-witted man in as Director General of National Broadcasting Corporation that I discerrned that nothing is as rewarding as brainpower and proficiency – I make bold to assert that IMK before his appointment was not even a member of the ruling party and the worst is, he was never at one point in time in consonance with those who brandished influence in his state. Then what factor could have influenced his appointment in 2016 as DG, NBC?
For those of us who want to tow the footprints of erudition, probity and propriety, we are lucky to have found an immaculate role model in the RECLAIM lord.
Aure voire!
