Basho TY Danjuma's Commendable Philanthropic Gestures in Taraba

By Iliyasu Gadu

A visit to most of our hospitals will reveal to you that one of the areas least attended to by our authorities is the mortuary. You may often see fine administrative and out patients wing. The wards too may also be in relatively good shape.

But a visit to the mortuary will reveal and eyesore. You will see corpses laid out carelessly on the floor. Some corpses in advanced state of decomposition in stomach wrenching state.

I have been to the Federal Medical Centre mortuary in Jalingo to accompany some people to deposit a corpse. And what I saw there was to say the least, nauseatingly ugly. It was not a sight to behold and the least said the better. Sufficed to say that it is what obtains in most public hospitals.

Our venerable Basho TY Danjuma is known for many Philanthropic gestures around the country which will be too long to list here. But of late arguably one of the most important ones he had commissioned is the mortuary at the Federal Medical Centre Jalingo. With pomp and fanfare but with also a solemnness the general recently dedicated an ultra modern mortuary at the FMC which will help the facility provide decent regard to the corpses brought there in preparation for the final journey to our maker.

We often treat Mortuaries with levity. But this where everyone of us will end. This where corpses of the high and mighty as well as the low persons in society end up at the first instance when their souls leave the body. And also this is not limited to their faith. At the mortuary there is no religious faith. There is no wealth or assets. All the gra GRA of our lives end here.There is just your body lying in wait for the final internment. So a mortuary should be a place to be kept in decent and well maintained shape.

I therefore with all sense of respect, honour and gratitude thank Basho TY Danjuma for not only conceiving this project and delivering it to the FMC Jalingo. It is well thought of humanitarian philanthropic gesture which will serve everybody irrespective of faith, denomination and social class. For the general to have thought of this project shows that at the twilight of his years on earth he is preparing himself to meet his maker with good human gestures like this one.

What we need to do is to pray for him to continue in this path and to ask God almighty to bless his ways.

By the same token I also want to congratulate and appreciate the general on similar gestures he had undertaken in Kashimbilla area. It is where my wife comes from and as a proud Chamba man I am mightily gratified that the area is being given a facelift with projects that will help upgrade the livelihood of our kith and kin in the area. And the beneficiaries will be all of us and humanity at large.

Once again I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the general for helping to facilitate the delivery of these projects. By also taking over the management of these projects through concessioning arrangements the general is helping to ensure that they will not go to rot like similar projects around the country.

I have had cause in the past not to agree with the general on certain actions of his, but this does not detract from my reverence and admiration of him as as a person and his sterling achievements as a soldier, statesman and gentleman of the highest esteem. My late dad who was his schoolmate at Middle School Katsina-Ala always spoke highly of him.

And for these recent gestures and other gestures he had done in the past he deserves our accolades. Whatever his failings he is afterall human like all of us. But we must find it in our hearts to appreciate what he had done to ameliorate some of our existential challenges.

I plead with others to join me in doing so.