Abdulraheem Aodu
31 October 2008
Kaduna — Late Hauwa Esther Dikko, wife of second republic minister for transport, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, was yesterday laid to rest at the Wusasa cemetery in Zaria following a funeral service held in her honour at the Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral Church, Wusasa, Zaria.
Hauwa died last Monday in Kaduna after a protracted illness. She was buried amidst grief, mourning and wailing from family, friends and well wishers who thronged the funeral service in thousands to honour her and commiserate with the family.
She was described by various people, who knew and associated with her when she was alive, as a counselor, an adviser and a good mother to all close to her.
According to former governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, who said he had known and associated with the late Hauwa Dikko since her college days, she was a rare gem, a counselor and a mother.
"I'm very sad. I have known her since our days in college in 1968, over 40 years now and we have been close since then. She was a close associate and confidant of Alhaji Umaru Dikko and she had served as a mother to me.
"At every critical moment in my life she had been there to give me courage and support. Her children have come to see me as a brother and an uncle. The least we can do to honour her is to remember her on a day like this. I will miss her, I will dearly miss her counsel most of all. I'm happy for the kind of life she lived because since her death I have not heard anybody say anything bad about her till date", he said.
Though Alhaji Umaru Dikko declined comment on his wife's death, the late woman's firstborn, Dr Bello Umaru Dikko, said they would miss the presence of their mother most.
"Her death means a loss of the greatest person in my life. There is nothing better than hearing people say good things about somebody who is no more. It gives me solace in her death", he said.
Speaking on her death, a retired colleague nurse and former minority leader of Kwara State House of Assembly, Saka Agboola Raji, said he would miss her counsel and motherly care most. "I was at her wedding because Alhaji Umaru Dikko was our student leader. She was a mother to all, very kind. Her yes is yes and her no is no. She advised me a lot and she has done same to most of us, her nurse colleagues.
"I would surely missed her advice because even at my age I still consulted with her anytime I came here from Offa. I still met and discussed with her, and I always benefited one thing or the other," he said.
Mrs. Hauwa Esther Dikko nee Yusufu was born in 1933 at Funtua, in the old Kaduna State now Katsina State. After her formal education in Zaria, she worked as a nursing officer with Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospitals (ABUTH) in Zaria and Kaduna for several years before retiring in 1988.
She is survived by her husband Alhaji Umaru Dikko, four children, Dr Bello Umaru Dikko, Engineer Abdulazeez Umaru Dikko, Malam Mustapha Umaru Dikko, Amina Umaru Dikko and two grand children.
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