President Muhammadu Buhari has mourned and extolled the virtues of Hajiya Fati Koko, popularly called Maitalla Tara, who has passed away, aged 95.
It will be recalled that Hajiya Koko, had waited nine hours in Kebbi early last year, to donate the sum of N1 million (One million Naira) to President Buhari as the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
President Buhari in a statement by his special adviser media, Femi Adesina described her as “a woman with a good heart, who stood by her convictions, and gave sacrificially.”
Hajiya Koko had offered virtually her life’s savings to candidate Buhari then, saying she admired his honesty, discipline, and stand for truth.
Receiving the news of her passage, President Buhari commended Hajiya Koko’s conviction and sacrificial giving, urging Nigerians to learn vital lessons from her life.
“She gave practically all she had towards our campaign. Though well advanced in age, she still believed a new Nigeria was possible, and followed her conviction with action. What generosity of spirit and what tenacious faith in her motherland. Nigerians, old and young, have a lot to learn from her,” the President said.
President Buhari condoled with the family and relations of the departed, urging them to take solace in the fact that their matriarch lived to a ripe old age, “and she saw the beginning of the change she had long yearned for. The onus is now on all of us to ensure that the change gets entrenched and solidified for even generations yet unborn to benefit from.”
The President also sympathized with the governor and people of Kebbi State, whom he said will all miss the sterling qualities of Hajiya Koko, but added that the life of the departed will serve as a standard to emulate “in the service of God, humanity and country.”
“May Allah grant her soul repose in Al-jannah,” the President prayed.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) earlier narrated the party and the Presidency catered for her while she was alive.
There were reports, especially on social media, that APC had abandoned Mrs. Koko after suffering mild paralysis shortly after returning from Abuja where she attended the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mrs. Koko made news when she donated all her lifesavings totalling N1 million to the campaign office of Mr. Buhari.
But in a statement issued in Lagos last year by Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the wife of the Kebbi State governor, Zainab Bagudu, a medical doctor, had personally taken charge of Mrs. Koko’s welfare.
Mr. Mohammed said all her medical bills were paid by the state governor and his wife, who ensured that her close associate and friend, Zainab Koko, prepared and delivered meals thrice daily to Mrs. Koko.
