By Muhammad Sani Abdullahi
If one were to seek a true embodiment of ‘Dan Boko’ (Western-educated intellectual) and ‘Dan Islamiyya’ (Islamic scholar)—a figure who bridges traditions without friction—they would find no better example than the late Alkali Yusuf Zakariyya Nass. A legal luminary, literary giant and revered Ustaz, he stands as a rare unifying force in Hausaland, respected across all cultural spheres of Katsina State for his erudition and integrity. In him, the ink of scholarship and the light of faith flow as one. Not only Funtua community, the Katsina judicial circle would miss his smart verdicts in the courtroom.
It was during my preparations for JAMB, when I was burning with the desire to study Civil Law, that Yusuf—who had just completed his Diploma in Law from HUK Poly Katsina—introduced me to the first written English novel. With a faint smile, I can still vaguely recall, he vividly summarized the plot of Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”. What struck me was not just the book’s remarkable story, but how Yusuf opened my eyes to its suspense: the tale of a lone shipwreck survivor who spent 28 years stranded on an island.
In just a few words, Yusuf masterfully narrated how Robinson became the sole survivor after a violent storm destroyed his ship off the coast of America. His journey, which his parents had strongly opposed, was fraught with tragedy. When the vessel ran aground near a Venezuelan island in 1659, Robinson salvaged tools from the wreckage and built a fortified shelter. With remarkable ingenuity, he crafted more tools from wood, clay, and thatch. Though his hope of rescue faded like dry grass in a wildfire, he sustained himself by hunting, raising livestock, cultivating barley and rice, and drying grapes. Yet, he never fully abandoned hope—constructing two boats, one for exploring the “Island of Despair” and another for a potential escape back to human society.
Pausing, Yusuf highlighted how Robinson, despite his isolation, valued education—even fashioning a reading chair and desk. This detail, Yusuf emphasized, reflected the European reverence for knowledge, a lesson he imparted to encourage me in my own studies.
Yusuf also introduced me to African literature. Before him, I had only a passing familiarity with authors like Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, but he handed me Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s “Weep Not, Child” and Ayi Kwei Armah’s “The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born”. In the local literary circles which I belonged to—Nasiru Mustapha School of letters and that of Lawal Lasa in Funtua, Katsina State—European and American works dominated discussions for mentorship.
Yusuf’s recommendations somehow reshaped my perspective because in a standard literary class, a pass in African prose, Poem and drama are an equal requirement. Even in the university when I was pursing my B.Sc. Mass Communication, this later came to prevail as English was my second main subsiding course. Soyinka’s “Lion and Jewel” was one of our course materials.
Our interests further aligned when I began visiting Barr. Mohammed Sani Mohammed for advice on studying law. Yusuf often joined these sessions, though his focus was on “Ulum al-Fiqh” and “Hadith”. Those casual gatherings under the Durumi tree in front of Barr. Mohammed’s house behind Police Compound felt like a masterclass. Inspired, I grew so passionate about law that I memorized landmark cases like “Abiola v. State (1993)” and “State v Rabiu (1980)”, along with key sections of the Nigerian Constitution—especially Chapter IV.
By the Will of Allah, when the time came for me to register for JAMB—ironically at a café within the premises of Ahmadu Bello University’s Faculty of Law and despite debating it with my law students friends Barr Bello Tama and Barr Kabir Gamda—I chose to apply for Mass Communication at Bayero University, Kano, instead of pursuing Law, the very field that had first drawn me into the world of literature. Yusuf, with unwavering conviction, had always hoped I would one day join the bench, and he nurtured that dream in me with passion. Now, he has departed this world far too soon, at a time when society still yearns for his wisdom and service.
May Al-Jannah al-Firdaus be his eternal resting place. Ameen.
Muhammad Sani Abdullahi wrote from Abuja