The Learner

The tribute was published a day after the death of my father, Alhaji Ibrahim Lawal, on Facebook. He was 78. The news of the death came to me while I was alone and far away from Nigeria and Germany. I was attending the 4th Symposium on West African Languages – SyWAL2022 – in Naples, Italy. Three weeks ago, against people’s travel advice, I insisted on going to Nigeria, especially for our aged and ailing father. They argued that it was not very safe for me to visit. He was delighted to see me , and that meant everything to me . The day my friends and I met Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu at his Sabon Titi office, they asked to see our father, and we went. As we delivered Prof.’s greetings, he began to shed tears while reminiscing their days of yore together at Bayero University, Kano. We somewhat quickly had to leave him, for only he knew what was going on in his heart. Despite that single moving scene, I had a wonderful, memorable time with him during the trip. It was like I fulfilled his desir