The remains of former governor of Kaduna State Patrick Yakowa were buried at his country home at Fadan Kagoma yesterday.
Yakowa died on Saturday, Dec. 15, in a helicopter crash at Nembe Local government Area of Bayelsa along with five others, including former National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi. In a tribute at the burial service held at St Paul Catholic Church, President Jonathan eulogised Yakowa describing him as a ``bridge builder'' who loved his people irrespective of their religion and tribe. He described December 15 as a ``dark Saturday''
"Yakowa was a nationalist. He played his roles very well as a civil servant of the old not as a civil service of today when a director has more houses than Dangote. No ethnic or religious divide in his blood," he said.
The president pledged the continued support of the government to the immediate family of the deceased and also appealed to leaders to guard their utterances in public and in private against those things that could divide and destroy the nation.
He urged the senior citizens to emphasise those things that unite the nation instead of the issues that can divide the country.
"Utterances and words of elders are just like winds and waves that move, gather momentum and cause destructive effects of which the end results of such destruction cannot be predicted.
Responses of our young men and women are reflections of what the elders talk in public and even in private,'' he said.
"All nations have their own history; some time if you read about their history, you can't just believe it. The day I visited the holocaust museum in Israel, I asked, 'did Germans do visit there?', they told me yes that they do go there to visit the holocaust museum. So, people most come together to build Nigeria", he said.
Also speaking at the burial mass, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Mathew Hassan Kuka, who spoke on the history of Kaduna and the future of the Southern Kaduna people, said religion was the cause of backwardness in Kaduna state.
According to Kuka, leaders were selected in the state not on the basis of competence but on the basis of religion. He blamed the military administrations for not appointing a Christian governor in all its administration which turned the mentality of people and always creates religious tension whenever a Christian is to ascend the seat of Sir Kashim House.
He said when Bishop Danlami Bagobiri asked him to say a word there, he look at the atmosphere and realised that it was not a PDP colour.
"So many people will ask; 'where was God when it happened? Why didn't he refuse to go to Bayelsa?' But all that God does is for the good of the people. People must throw off what they think and should remain focused. From the creation of the state, no Christian has ever become governor. Yakowa was the first Christian from Southern Kaduna to become a permanent Secretary and Minister.
Speaking further, Kuka said, "Despite the fact that all states were open to Christian military officers, Kaduna and perhaps Sokoto states were never governed by a non-Muslim. This policy turned Kaduna State into a political Mecca and laid a foundation for the unnecessary and sad religious tensions.
"When Yakowa rose from deputy to governor, it developed so much interest in the country. President Jonathan did to us what the Great President Clerk did to end apartheid in South-Africa. President Mandela built a wider society which Yakowa also did to our society, Yakowa, Nakowa. It was not coined by his kinsmen, but by the Muslims themselves.
Kukah, however, said no one could neither teach God knowledge nor question his decisions; therefore people should not feel despondent over the death of Yakowa.
He said the Yakowa died at his appointed time by God and urged the people to ignore those who are wielding suspicious story about his death. He debunked the purported claim that a section of religious divide in the State was rejoicing over the death of Yakowa.
He said former head of State, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, a devout Muslim, cancelled his 70th birthday in honour of Yakowa.
Kukah called on Yakowa's successor, Governor Ramalan Yero, to ignore the parochial opinion of some people who were still advocating politics of exclusion in the state. "Do not be tempted by what the wicked people claimed: that the Muslims have taken back what belong to them", he said.
For the new governor, Muktar Ramalan Yero, who named the forth Kaduna bridge and road after late Yakowa, said "we are gathered at this solemn occasion to mourn the demise of a great Nigerian".
Yero said Yakowa pursued broad objectives with single minded determination, saying "the fruits of his labour had started manifesting before the cold hands of death took his life, in the most tragic manner, the reality of which I am yet to come to terms with.
Senator David Mark, in his remarks, said he had phone Bishop Kuka that he won't be able to come but Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal went to him and suggested that they should leave the budget passage and be part of Yakowa burial.
"The speaker said to me, you are a Christian and am a Muslim, if we attend the mass, it will send a message that both Christian and Muslim are working together," Mark said.
Niger State governor Babangida Aliyu, who is the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, said Yakowa's death created a vacuum in the north, saying he was with Yakowa when he was appointed permanent secretary. He said that Yakowa, who was a Christian, never segregated. "This was attested during his swearing-in that he was not a Christian governor. He said both Christian and Muslims are equal before Good.
Rotimi Amechi, governor of Rivers State, said there was no difference in Kaduna Christians and Muslims on poverty. He said the only way there will be peace is for everyone to work for it. "Why did Muslims attend Yakowa burial? It shows clearly that religion is being used against the progress of the state", he said.
Also in attendance were deputy governors James Ngilari of Adamawa, Peter Kishira of Kwara, Abubakar Aliyu of Yobe, Umar Mustapha of Borno and Damishi Lucas of Nasarawa.
The National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur, his predecessors, Chief Solomon Lar, Chief Audu Ogbe, Alhaji Amadu Ali as well as Prof Jerry Gana, were also in attendance.
Also in attendance were ministers, the national Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki and some aides of the President.
Born on December 1, 1948, Yakowa was appointed Deputy Governor of Kaduna State in July 2005, and returned as deputy governor in the April 2007 elections.
He was sworn in as Governor on May 20, 2010, replacing former governor Namadi Sambo who had been sworn in as Vice President the day before.
Daily Trust