Kano, the economic nerve centre of the Northern part of the country has been thrown into shock following the announcement of deaths of some distinguished personalities after ‘brief illness’ on Saturday.
Among those that passed on in the deluge of deaths in the commercial city, according to PRNigeria include economic icon, Prof. Ibrahim Ayagi; Professor of physiology, Prof. Aliyu Abdullahi Umar Dikko; the Regional Manager of First Bank in Kano, Abdullahi Lawal; erstwhile Managing Director (MD) of the Defunct Continental Merchant Bank; and Mallam Musa Ahmad Tijjani, ex-Editor of Leadership Sunday and Triumph newspapers.
Four other illustrious personalities have died after brief illness in the city. Their demise, PRNigeria said it gathered, occurred within a spate of 24 hours.
There are fears that the deaths of the distinguished personalities and possibly many others unknown people in the city may be due to Covid-19 infections.
But there are no means of allaying such fears as the Covid-19 Testing Centre in Kano have been shut down with no definite date for resumption of the test in the most populous state in Nigeria.
However, critics argue that there is a facility for conducting the test in the nearby Kaduna State which the Kano government has not taken advantage of.
It was gathered that the distinguished personalities all died between Friday, 24 April and Saturday, 25 April, 2020.
Other high-profile personalities who also died within the same time frame include Alh. Adam Iliyasu Dal, a former Chairman of the Kano State Civil Service Commission; Nasiru Maikano Bichi; Dr. Musa Umar Gwarzo; and Ustaz Dahiru Rabiu, who is a former Grand Khadi of Kano State.
The late Prof. Ayagi was a Commissioner for Economic Development in the State from 1975-1978, just as he was also a former Director-General of Kano Foundation from 1987-1990. Ayagi, who is also the proprietor of Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo College in Kano, died on Saturday, after a protracted illness at the age 80.
Prof. Aliyu Umar Dikko was former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) at the Bayero University Kano (BUK). He was involved in the opening of three faculties of Medicine / Basic Medical Sciences in Bayero University, Kaduna State University and Yusuf Maitama Sule University.
A man identified as Lawal, the First Bank Regional Manager in Kano, died from a suspected case of COVID-19. Family sources said immediately the late Banker took ill, he was first put on admission at a private clinic from where he was referred to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.
Sources said the late Lawal, who was in his early 50, was rushed to a private clinic after he suffered high fever, intermittent cough, and respiratory hiccups without getting medical care, before he gave up the ghost.
In an audio recording, the mother-in-law to the banker alleged that the negligence of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Kano, led to the death of her son-in-law, as she cried out that her daughter and grandchildren be taken in for tests to confirm if they have contracted the dreaded COVID-19.
CREDIT: PRNigeria