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By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

GOVERNOR of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-rufai will lead prominent Northern personalities, including the Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli, and a former president of the Federal Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi (Walin Hausa), to the public presentation and launching of a book in honour of renowned Hausa broadcaster and author, Alhaji Mahmoon Baba-Ahmed.

The event will be held at Arewa House, Kaduna, on Thursday, February 9, 2023, which completes five years since the demise of the journalist.

The book, which is Mahmoon’s last literary work, is entitled, ‘Habiba Ta Habibu’, and was only published this year.

A statement by the organisers, Alkalam Writers Association, yesterday, said the Kaduna Zonal Director of the FRCN, Alhaji Buhari Auwalu, is the guest speaker, while a senior lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Adamu Ibrahim Malumfashi, is the book reviewer

The statement signed by the President of the Association, Hajiya Halima Abdullahi K/Mashi, said the proprietor of Liberty Television, Dr. Ahmed Tijjani Ramalan, is the chairman of the occasion.

According to her, the motivation for the event is both to highlight the great patriotic works of Alhaji Mahmoon and emphasise the need to celebrate the contribution of some Nigerians to national development after they are gone.

She said the event is also an opportunity to give posthumous awards to some members of the association who are deceased.

Alhaji Mahmoon, an elder statesman, died in Kaduna on Thursday, February 9, 2018, aged 77.

He first made a name for himself as a correspondent for the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Kaduna, in several states. Subsequently, he served as the General Manager of Radio Kano and later as the Managing Director of Kaduna State Media Corporation (KSMC).

In retirement, Mahmoon devoted his time to writing on contemporary issues, running weekly columns in newspapers including The Triumph, Blueprint and Aminiya, as well as commentaries on the Kaduna-based DITV Television, Liberty Television, Alheri Radio and Liberty Radio.

A literary enthusiast, he authored six books in Hausa that included a poetry collection titled ‘Dan Hausa’, two plays (‘Uwani Reza’ and ”Yar Halas’), and translated three plays of William Shakespeare.

The Shakespearean plays he translated are ‘Macbeth’ as ‘Makau’, ‘Julius Caesar’ as ‘Jarmai Ziza’, and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as ‘Habiba Ta Habibu’.