The actual birth name of Bature Gagare is Ibrahim Lawal. He was born in the Lamama section of the Galadunchi quarters in the centre of Katsina City. He was educated at Gobarau Primary School, Katsina (1966-1972), and Barewa College, Zaria (1973-1977). He was one of the brilliant and sharpest students who passed exams in good colours throughout his studies.
Bature’s father, Alhaji Lawal Gagare, was originally from Malumfashi. He came to Katsina as a result of his work with the Native Authority. He died when Bature was about two years old.
Alhaji Tanimu Gagare Kafinta, the father of Kabir Tanimu Gagare, was the foster father of Bature Gagare until he grew up.
Binta (Atutu) was Bature Gagare’s mother. She hailed from Sabon Garin Eka village in Rimi Local Government Area of Katsina State. Aged about 85, she lives in Kaduna presently.
Bature Gagare’s siblings of the same parents included the late Binta, the late Aminu, and the late Murja who died on Friday, July 26, 2019, two days after I interviewed her together with her relative called Alhaji Umaru, where I obtained information about the late Bature.
Bature Gagare, who was nicknamed BT, did not obtain higher education despite his God-given brilliance and talent. But he had started studying at the Advanced Teachers College, Kafanchan, in Kaduna State, where he was expelled after leading a student demonstration. He returned to Katsina and enrolled in the School of Nursing, but he encountered the type of problem he faced at the ATC Kafanchan, and he had to quit.
Nevertheless, he was liked very much by his teachers in all the schools that he attended, for his brilliance and talent.
BT gained abundant acclaim in the field of creative writing and travel. His novel, ‘Ƙarshen Alewa Kasa’, was very popular, coming third in a national Hausa creative writing competition 1980, according to Dr Garba Ashiwaju in his foreword to the book when he was the Director of the Federal Department of Culture.
Bature authored another novel titled ‘Tsuliyar Kowa Da Kashi‘ (i.e. Everybody is Guilty), but it was not published due to a disagreement between him and the publishers right from the appropriateness of the title (it’s bawdy in its literal form) to the content.
One other thing about Bature Gagare is that he was an accomplished fine artist; it was said that he could draw the image of anything he glanced at without any mistake or waste of time.
He married three wives at various times. They were: Balaraba, Amina and Sa’adatu.
He had six children: Kabir, Asma’u, Amina (Junior), A’isha, Laila and Zainab.
Bature loved cleanliness. And he savoured traditional dishes such as ɗanwake, koko, ƙosai, kwaɗo, alkubus, fura, beans and rice.
Some of the characteristics of BT included the following:
1. Honesty in theory and practice.
2. He was a fearless man.
3. He didn’t attach significance to the material things of this world.
4. He valued kinship visits and loved people.
In addition, he was a very mysterious and awe-inspiring person.
He had traveled extensively in Nigeria and abroad, including in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Dubai and Malaysia.
Bature Gagare died on February 29, 2002 in Lamama, Galadunchi, Katsina City, as a result of pneumonia. He was buried in the old Ɗantakum cemetery.
* Malam Kabir Umar Saulawa (PRO), a state civil servant, lives in Katsina. Phone: 07034610481. The translator, Ibrahim Sheme, works at the National Open University of Nigeria, in Abuja. E-mail: isheme@yahoo.com
