I am short of words to adequately express how deeply grateful I am for the overwhelming show of support I received over the weekend in Gembu, Taraba State, at my turbanning ceremony as Madakin Mambilla. To be so honoured by the Mambilla Emirate Council and His Royal Majesty, Dr. Shehu Audu Baju II, Ta Mboon Mambilla, and President of the Sardauna Traditional Council, is a privilege I will carry with humility for the rest of my life.
This, as I have said elsewhere, is the highest of all the honours I have received, for it places upon me the ambassadorial responsibility of a community I have so passionately championed, respected, and loved.
The turnout of friends, colleagues, and distinguished principals from across the nation, who defied the distance and braved the roads to stand with me, represents a debt I cannot afford to repay, except through this sincere expression of my eternal gratitude for such extraordinary support and solidarity.
That solidarity, in truth, belongs not to me alone, but equally to the Mambilla Emirate, which remains deeply grateful to have received such distinguished guests who came not only to honour me, but also to witness its vast natural wonders, rich heritage, and breathtaking landscapes, comparable to the finest nature-based destinations anywhere in the world.
On behalf of my family and the emirate, let it be known that none of this is taken for granted. We are who we are because of the people around us, those who stand with us in the rain and in the sun. You have done so with confidence and love, and you have left us speechless.
So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
— Abdulrahman Usman Leme
Madakin Mambilla
In Gembu, where the mountains keep watch over the Mambilla Plateau, we gathered today to honour a man who has spent a lifetime lifting others: my brother, @Abdulrahmanleme.
I am overjoyed to see him turbaned as a senior member of the council of the Mambilla Emirate. I can think of no one more deserving of the honour he assumed today as Madakin Mambilla, traditionally regarded as second-in-command in the emirate system and, in its ancestral essence, the equivalent of what modern governance would call the minister of defence.
Beyond the fanfare that graced this beautiful emirate, whose sweeping high-altitude landscape so easily calls to mind a Swiss countryside in spring, the calibre and solidarity of friends who showed up for him speak to his own years of showing up, without hesitation, for everyone who has ever needed him. It is no wonder, then, that we all gladly made the eight-hour road trip from Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, to idyllic Gembu, to honour this incredible man.
I will remain forever grateful for Madaki’s friendship. He is never absent when you need him. It is no surprise that we once lived under the same roofline, or that he stood as the best man at my wedding. When I had my first child, he was the only one among my friends and family who kept vigil with me through the night at the hospital, refusing to leave even when I asked him to go and get some rest. It was something he did not even do when he had his own children. And not once but twice has he rushed me to the hospital himself: first, after I fell down the stairs at night, and again when he carried me to the hospital after a brush with the police at a protest.
Through it all, he has proven himself a friend for all seasons and, above all, a friend to this community, which has now rightly found him worthy of one of its deepest honours. So, I will always be there for you too, dear friend.
I congratulate you, dear brother. Even as I am moved by the man you are becoming, a man of the people in the truest sense, I wish you every blessing that accompanies this noble burden of service. The people of Mambilla have found in you an ambassador like no other, and the crowd that turned out today was proof that they know the treasure they have in you.
@JoelBilli@Pharmacio001@ADCVanguard_ A police officer and former EFCC chairman has no national security experience 🤣, brother nawa for this your bias oo. Try Dey calm down
@VictorManjul You can't just stand the fact that Hausas aren't as bigotted as you would have hoped or wanted, because tell me where you saw hausa people fidgeting 😂, people support the man but that doesn't sit well with you and you want create your own narrative inside your head. 🤣
@fabthaFabulous@MasterMaliq Every religion in God's green earth has extremist and the terrible bunch within it who have committed atrocities. If we start listing we won't finish. It's not basis to judge the rest by.
@fabthaFabulous@MasterMaliq Islam isn't the problem. If it truly teaches us to do things like that don't you think the whole earth would have been blown up by now. Of all the billions of Muslims right now, a minute number do extremist things, you can't generalize it to the religion even logically.
@fabthaFabulous@MasterMaliq The Abdulmutallab guy wanted to blow up a plane, you don't see the remaining millions of us following planes regularly plotting how to kill ourselves or bring down planes 😂, but yet its the flawed guy (extremist) that is the yard stick to judge others by.
@fabthaFabulous@MasterMaliq Because at the end of the day, you personally have come across hundreds or thousands of Muslims during you lifetime at one point or the other. Yet here you are alive. Idealy if 2 billion people were taught to blow themselves up in a a religious book, no one should remain now.