It is a fact that in this life, there are only two certainties. And the two are that we are born one day and that one day we will all die. And in between these two certainties there is a trip we all named or called living.
Consequently, when we live, we will all die one day since death is inevitable. This means that we will sooner or later all be going to die when we lived our respective lives and meet our ancestors.
It also means that one day every soul must taste death either one by one and sometimes collectively in groups via road accidents, building collapse, boat mishaps, plane crashes etc.
Therefore, this week, I want to remember my former boss and my teacher teacher who was also my good friend late Musa Tijjani, the former editor of the Triumph Newspaper. He was my role modal who I benefited so much and tapped so much from his journalistic aptitude.
It was a fact that, the late editor had contributed so much to who I am today because he had taught me a lot and I also learnt a lot from him.
Not only me, even the world of journalism has lost an individual full of journalistic prowess. As an editor, the late Musa was one of the most respected editors I have ever come across because to me, he was synonymous with skill and integrity.
He was an example of the highest values in journalism, both as editor of Triumph and as an ardent follower of sports journalism locally and internationally.
Apart from his too consuming editor’s task, late Musa Tijjani was a well celebrated and a well-known sports lover and follower whose love for Arsenal Football Club of England was not hidden.
His love for English Premier league is widely opened as hardly a match was played without him being fully present before a TV screen.
As I said before the passage of the late editor was a grave loss to all of us, especially those that know his value and worth.
And that is why I used to also state that if there is anybody that the death of the late Malam Musa Tijjani touched more beside his immediate family it is no other person than me.
The late editor of The Triumph Newspapers died on the 25th of April, 2020 during the peak period of Covid-19 pandemic.
For sure the grief and the pains of his death is still unbearable to me because it had deprived me from tapping from the pool of his journalistic knowledge and expertise.
Not to me, his immediate family, Kano state and indeed the journalism fraternity too had lost an accomplished professional.
Late Musa Tijjani was a legend that I always remembered, especially during our good days when I worked very closely with him in The Triumph Publishing Company before it was temporarily closed.
He was a marvel in his own lifetime, one with a pool of knowledge of the journalism profession, an affirmed sports fan of intellectualism and a leader with complete zero tolerance to laziness and truancy at work.
Late Musa re-engineered my passion for sports journalism. His immeasurable love for sports distinguished him from other editors.
Unlike most editors that I had worked with, those who have nothing or no interest in sports, late Musa Tijjani was different as he was an ardent lover of sports and full member of The Triumph Sports Desk and contributed vastly to its development and tremendous achievements.
I always remembered the late Musa Tijjani as a workaholic individual in nature as he would never rest or even sometimes have time for his meal until the job was over.
He used to put us working with him on our toes all day from the newsroom to pre-press room until the paper left for the printing section every blessed production day of the Triumph.
I will say it here that whoever worked under the late editor must have ameliorated his knowledge in various fields of journalism.
As I used to say it before, apart from Sani Muhammed Zaria, the former Group Sports editor The Triumph and that the defunct New Nigeria Newspapers who initiated, built and nurtured sports love and writing skills in me, no other person that encouraged and supported me like late Musa Tijjani.
Late Musa Tijjani drew me near to him immediately when my mentor Sani Zaria transferred his services to the New Nigeria Newspapers, Kaduna in 1995.
He encouraged me to continue with the legacies Sani Zaria left, especially his Samba column which I later changed to Sports Eye.
Late Musa and Malam Garba Shehu the then Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Triumph Publishing Company who is now in the presidency, serving as the SSA to the president were the two that gave me words of encouragement and support after Sani Zaria left.
I will never forget the support and encouragement late Musa Tijjani gave me in my life because it made me to be one of the opinion molders in Kano sports development.
He encouraged me not to succumb to all manners of intimidation and blackmail by those who wanted to discourage me from writing but I ignored and continued with the journey that I found pleasing and rewarding, thanks to the most valuable encouragement of the late Musa Tijjani.
I got closer to him and learnt more when I was transferred from Lithographic section to Composing section of the Triumph Publishing Company and was assigned to be in charge of collecting all Daily Triumph pages from sub-editors and placing them in their right positions of the paper in the prepress room.
After placing all the pages at their right positions in the Prepress room, the late editor will again go through all the pages on the computer screen to make sure that no error is undetected.
Up to the time when he left the company to The Leadership Newspaper in Abuja, I continued to use the knowledge and skills I tapped from him and that yielded positive result as the then management of the company under the leadership of Kabiru Muhammad Gwangwazo (Allah ya yarda da aikinsa) saw me worthy to replace Sadiq Abdullateef, the editor of the then newly established weekly sports newspaper called “Sports Fair”.
That happened when they transferred my services to the Editorial Department and appointed me to serve as Sports Fair editor, the position I held until the company was closed and transferred to the Kano State Polytechnic.
To most of us, the late Musa was not only a professional journalist par excellence, he was a teacher and an epitome of investigative and sports journalism.
I and lots more missed him dearly and will continue to remember him and pray for him for the Almighty Allah to continue to grant him eternal rest and that Aljanna Firdaus is his final abode. Till we meet to part no more.
