By Saliu Woru Mohammed
Tuesday 11 June, 2019 witnessed one of greatest gatherings in Ilorin, Kwara State as sons and daughters of the Emirate and beyond gathered for the Fidau of one of the greatest daughters, wives and mothers of the Ilorin Emirate.
Late Hajia Aishat Sulu Gambari is the daughter of the 8th Emir of Ilorin, Sheu Abdulkadir, she became the Queen of the 9th Emir of Ilorin, Sheu Sulu Gambari and capped the amazing royal history as mother of the 11th Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness, Alhaji (Dr.) Mai Martaba Ibrahim Sulu Gambari (CFR).
All of us that were very close to the late Queen mother affirm to the fact that she was a woman who demonstrated great zeal, care, tutoring and feminism that scented the royal candour, love, unity and bonds among the royalties and the entire sons and daughters of the Ilorin Emirate.
This is not time to mourn the late Princess of the 8th Emir of Ilorin but to rekindle the light she had lighted, to wet the good seeds of love, unity and strength she had sown. We give thanks to the Almighty Allah for the beautiful life spent by the great Ilorin Emirate Matriarch.
Everyone who has come in contact with Hajia Aishat Sulu Gambari would affirm that the Fidau is a celebration of greatness. During Hajia Aishat’s lifetime; 96 years on earth, our mother like no other touched so many lives. She was an incurable philanthropist though unsung. Every Friday, she distributed food stuff and alms to the less privileged, she was many positive things to many people, mother to the orphans, succour to the widows and widowers and ready help to the weak and needy.
I am proud to reveal that I am one of the beneficiaries of the kindness of our late Queen mother.
While her father, Shehu Abdulkadir took me to the present Ansarudeen School, Okekere, Ilorin for my Islamic education, her husband Shehu Sulu Gambari assisted in enlisting me into the Nigeria Police Force while the late Queen’s first son and eleventh Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness, Alhaji (Dr.) Maimartaba Ibrahim Sulu Gambari turbaned me as the eleventh Mogaji Nda of Ilorin, for all this I will continue to be grateful.
In the words of a Philosopher, Dr. George Carey, “like the sun, she bathed us in warm glow”. A very gracious and audacious royalty, she flowed like unhindered seas, spreading goodness, love and joy across board. Our late Queen mother epitomised a perfect royalty, through her candour. She is also noted as a woman of great humour, in the evening time she would feed us with yam-flower and ‘Luru’ soup.
Late Hajia Aishat was exemplary on what greatness must be, simple, detribalised, inclusive, loving, generous, Godly, selfless and highly religious and acculturated.
Until her death, she played her motherly role so effectively and efficiently to prove her philosophy that “parents make the children”.
She also played this role with strength, forbearance, dignity and uncommon zeal and loving patience.
Hajia Aishat Sulu Gambari, the Princess, Queen and King’s mother also committed a great deal of her strength to championing Islamic course. She belonged to many Islamic Organisations, some which she initiated and founded to propagate the cherished religion. She was a friend of the oppressed and the weak.
Our mother therefore has come, lived a worthy life and bequeathed on us indestructible legacies that we will continue to celebrate for a lifetime.
She had left indelible footprints on the sands of time. She lived to the service of humanity and the glory of the Almighty Allah. Hajia Aishat’s death on the Holy month Ramadan, coinciding with the sighting of the moon signifying the end of fast when all the Muslim Ummahs, children and the elderly were gathered in front of the palace, was also divine; everybody was sober in mourning the greatest mother and paying tributes for the late iconic royalty. It is gratifying that our late Queen Mother is survived by great children who are contributing remarkably to the growth and development of our great Emirate and the country as a whole. They include His Royal Highness, Alhaji (Dr) Mai Martaba Ibrahim Sulu Gambari (CFR), a retired Diplomat. Alhaji Ahmed Bolakale Sulu Gambari, s successful retired bureaucrat, Alhaja Salamat Gobir, Alhaja Asmau Funmilayo Buhari, a serving top civil servant, a top civil servant in the Emirate Council, Alhaji Muhammed Sulu Gambari and the late Professor Babakobi Sulu Gambari.
It is our wish and fervent prayer that the Almighty Allah will help guard and sustain the legacies she left behind and shower His mercies on the deceased by granting her Aljanat Fridaus, amen.
*Mohammed is the Magaji Nda of Ilorin
