I drove a taxi in Lagos, ex-Gov Balarabe Musa’s son recounts

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I drove a taxi in Lagos, ex-Gov Balarabe Musa’s son recounts

recalls how he took Fela to Jakande

Dr. Ibrahim Balarabe Musa, the eldest son of the late Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa has disclosed that he was a taxi driver in Lagos State, during his father’s reign as the sitting governor of the state.

Ibrahim said he drove a taxi as part-time work when he went for the mandatory one-year National Youth Service in Ogun State when his father was then governor of the old Kaduna State in early 1981.

The former governor died on November 11, 2020, at his residence in Kaduna, the state capital.

Ibrahim, in an exclusive chat with The PUNCH editors in Kaduna on Friday, recounted that being “independent” was part of the values instilled in him by his late father whom he described as “my good friend”.

According to him, one of the values his late father taught him was for him to be independent at an early age and wherever he finds himself.

The young Balarabe Musa also disclosed that one of his prayers is to reunite with his father again because “I know just the way I am missing him, he too is also missing me there.”

The late governor’s son also opened up on his frequent trips as a regular visitor to the music shrine of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo, in Lagos.

Ibrahim, who was a university lecturer before he joined the civil service where he rose to become the Permanent Secretary in the Kaduna State Civil Service until he was relieved of his job six months ahead of his statutory retirement age by ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai, recalled that in order to truly convince Fela that he (Ibrahim) was Balarabe Musa’s son, he personally took the responsibility of taking Fela to meet the then Lagos State Governor, the late Lateef Jakande.

When he was asked how he felt being the first son to Balarabe Musa, he said, “How do I feel? I feel as when he was even nothing. It is the same thing that I am feeling. It is people who take themselves as ‘son of governor’, ‘son of that’ that will feel otherwise. Even when he was a governor, I was driving a taxi. I was a taxi driver in Lagos.

“When I went for my National Youths Service in Abeokuta, I had a friend. A very good friend from Oyo State. He was in the Customs office then. After his official duties, he would remove his uniform and come over with his taxi (cab) and ask me to escort him.

“From Abeokuta, he would travel to Ota, and we would go to Agege as well as Surulere and come back. I was just observing him. He then convinced me to join him. He asked me to get my own taxi. You know, we were young then – very rascally. So, I didn’t take myself as governor’s son or whatever.

“My father trained me not to look at myself as anything. I was as ordinary as anybody. I go wherever I felt like going

“My father knew I was a taxi driver. He knew everything about me just as I knew everything about him. He was not only my father but a good friend,” Ibrahim reminisced.

Narrating his experience during his visit to Fela’s Shrine in Lagos, he remarked, “When I was in Lagos, I went to Fela’s Shrine. When he heard that Balarabe Musa’s son was around and that he drove down in a taxi, he came to see me. We sat together.

“He (Fela) wanted to confirm if truly I was Balarabe Musa’s son. I told him yes. I told him I would prove to you that I am Balarabe Musa’s son and so promised that I would take him to visit Governor Lateef Jakande. He couldn’t believe it.

“The day I was to take him to Jakande, he dressed well. So, I took him there and I asked him (Fela) if he was convinced. I had access to Jakande. I even told the late Jakande that I brought Fela along so that he could be sure that I was Balarabe Musa’s son. Since then, became very good friends till he died.”

On his last conversation with his late father, Ibrahim recalled that their discussion centred on the “ordinary Nigerians,” noting that until his passing, the elder stateman was very unhappy with the state of the nation and the way things were going.

“Balarabe Musa was very worried that governance was getting poorer and poorer and trust, values are no longer there,” Ibrahim stated.

He added, “We also discussed the troubling insecurity problems across the country and especially in Kaduna State. He told me about the major causes of insecurity and how the government was doing nothing to halt the ugly trend.

“Also of great concern to him was the issue of stealing of public funds. These were some of the major issues he was emphasising on before he died,” he pointed out.