By Hassan Mijinyawa
Late Alhaji Muhammadu Nuhu, simply known as Maiharka, was an honourable gentleman, a gentleman in the strictest sense of the word. A philanthropist of repute and a pillar of support to multitudes in Jalingo and beyond. He died on Saturday, the 2nd day of August 2025, immediately after performing his Zuhr prayer.
Alhaji Muhammadu Maiharka embodied kindness, humility, and empathy. He sponsored scores of graduates from primary school to university levels, as well as many more who obtained Higher National Diplomas (HND) and National Certificates of Education (NCE). He also never joked with his children’s education. While parents often leave their daughters’ education to their husbands, Alhaji Maiharka shouldered the education of his daughters entirely, up to the doctorate level, without placing extra burdens on their husbands.
Raised in Jalingo, late Alhaji Muhammadu Maiharka started business early in life. From renting bicycles as a young boy to a long-haul transportation under his mentor, Alhaj Dantsoho. He engaged in various kinds of businesses, including building construction, the supply of goods and services, haulage, and petroleum marketing. He carved a niche for himself in the business world and translated many dreams into reality. He built and managed many filling stations across Taraba State. He was a man with a Midas touch.
Alhaji Muhammadu was a great family man who prioritized family unity. He routinely visited individual family homes of both his immediate and extended relations to share love and provide financial assistance. He secured employment for many, using both his wealth and extensive connections.
Late Alhaji Maiharka was renowned for his meaningful approach to marriage ties, often arranging unions among his friends, family members, and associates to strengthen social ties. His first wife is the younger sister of his late bosom friend, Alhaji Aboki Wangara. Another of his notable decisions was marrying off his wife’s younger sister to a close friend, late Alhaji Sabo Labaran from Kano. This marriage not only solidified their relationship but also expanded their web of kinship ties. A daughter from that marriage later married late Alhaji Maiharka’s biological son, cementing the interconnectedness between the families with lively spirited grandchildren.
His well-known closeness to Alhaji Adamu Loddo in Jalingo rendered the marriage between Maiharka’s eldest son and the daughter of Alhaji Loddo, a natural elongation of their longstanding relationship. This alliance also has since been blessed with vibrant grandchildren, cementing the bond between the two families. He had numerous of such marriages to his credit including marrying off his daughter from his third wife to yet another nephew of his.
My first business interaction with Alhaji Muhammadu Maiharka was around 1992, when my late boss, His Excellency, Danbaba Suntai, was the chairman of Bali Local Government. Chairman Suntai gave me an LPO (Local Purchase Order) to supply tractor tyres. The cost was beyond me at that time. As I wondered how to proceed, my friend Galadima Muri, Alhaji Lamido Abba Tukur, who was then the chairman of Taraba State Local Government Staff Pension Board, suggested that he had an option. While we were seated inside Galadima’s office, he sent for Alhaji Maiharka, who promptly joined us. Maiharka was the distributor of Michelin tyres in Jalingo, with his office around the present AA Rano filling station, by the roundabout linking Hammaruwa Way to Donga Road, just beside the Union Bank. To many who did not know, Muhammadu Maiharka was the reason why that area still bears the name “Michelin Roundabout” especially among old residents. Galadima explained my predicament to him. Maiharka, in his kind way, offered to give me the tyres, which I supplied and paid for at a later date.
Although married to my wife’s elder sister, Alhaji Maiharka, extended tremendous respect to me and my family and allowed me to give his daughter’s hand in marriage. He offered me numerous pieces of advice on a wide range of issues and often referred his children to me for counselling.
During the preparations for his funeral prayer, many stories were shared by people who trooped in and waited for the appointed time of 5:00 pm. for the funeral prayer to be performed. They recounted stories of a good man; someone no one could say had ever picked a fight with anyone or harboured malice. He was always calm, ever the listening type, with measured responses in conversation. His circle of friends cut across different political divides, making him at home with almost everyone in society. He was a regular visitor to cemeteries in Jalingo, personally ensuring that items needed at burial grounds to facilitate the operations of the cemetery committees were provided seamlessly from his pocket.
The chief Imam of the Izala central Masjid, Jalingo, Dr. Ibrahim Jalo led the funeral prayer. The funeral procession was so large that many observed that it was unprecedented for a private citizen, considering that his death and burial took place within hours, yet the turnout of sympathizers was overwhelming. The motorcade escorting his remains from his house at Kofan Sarkin Noma area of Jalingo to his final resting place at the Jeka da Fari cemetery behind the T.Y. Danjuma Government House was indeed long. All parking spaces around the cemetery were filled. Before many could find space to park their vehicles and enter the cemetery, Alhaji Muhammadu Nuhu was already lowered into Mother Earth. Preachers took turns to remind people of the virtues of doing good while alive, as exemplified by the late Alhaji Muhammadu Nuhu. He was laid to rest in the same cemetery where he had consistently spent his God-given wealth servicing the operations of the cemetery.
He is survived by 4 wives, 28 children, and 45 grandchildren. His sojourn on this earth was a life well-lived in generosity and humility.
O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, grant him safety, and pardon him.
Mijinyawa is the Chairman of H & Bluebells Ltd, Publishers of Bluebells Magazine.
