Also on Sunday, the President-General of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, Dr. Ephraim Goje, narrated how Yakowa visited his parents’ grave barely 15 days before he met his death.
Goje said, “One of the last encounters I had with him that I will never forget happened on December 1, 2012 which was his birthday. If you remember, he also conducted the local government elections on that day. At about 1 pm, I called him to congratulate him on his birthday and for successfully conducting the local government elections.
“He said to me, my president, as I speak to you, I am standing by the graveside of my parents. I have not had the opportunity to come here in the past two years and I am using the opportunity of this elections to come to their graveside.
“He said further that he will surprise the people of Kaduna State when he presents his 2013 budget and that through the document, the people of the state will know that he meant business. I told him that wherever his parents were, I am sure that they would be proud to have him as their son, especially rising through the ladder to be the governor of the state. We are also proud of him and his achievements.
“After the election, I went to his village (Kagoma) to see him and discovered that he had left for Kaduna. I never knew that 15 days later, he will be no more. We are really grieving and sad.”
Goje said the death of the governor came to him as a surprise, noting that with the loss of a “great son” like Yakowa, a big vacuum had been created in the state.
“The death of Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa came to me as a surprise and with great shock. I want to say that Kaduna State has lost a great son and a big vacuum has been created. He was a man with a passion to develop Kaduna State. There were no religious or ethnic considerations in his actions and he was dedicated to the development of the state,” he said.
