By Senator Shehu Sani
We live in a society where men of conscience and honour are better understood and appreciated when they are long gone or lost. Dr Idris Abdul-Aziz Dutsen Tanshi was a restless soul who spoke the inconvenient truth and walked alone in his paths and trenches. He cast the light of knowledge on the grey and dark spaces of our political and spiritual clime.
Dr Idris was a courageous man who lived an accomplished life of service to the human spirit. His voice was discomforting to the powers and the establishment. He audaciously spared no one in his sermons for equity and justice.
He was a one-man battalion and an exceptional commander of the faithful. His words were as sharp as a blade, piercing like a spear. He challenged a society complacent with injustice, keeping the leaders alert and his fellow Imams on their toes.
He was a man whose spirit was strengthened by his incarceration. He remained unbowed in the face of persecution. He could thank those who came to identify with him during his moments of trial, but he warned them against pleading for his freedom. He raised the torch and became the compass for objection and resistance. He was a non-conformist in the pursuit of the truth enshrined in his faith.
He was a dogged and distinguished spiritual combatant who used the powers of religious knowledge to question and challenge authority. He fought chains of battles within and without the realm of his mission and never surrendered. In life,he was largely misunderstood, and in death, he is well appreciated.
Dr Idris bowed out with dignity and grace. The nation has lost an irrepressible soul and indomitable spirit.
May his soul rest in Aljanna Firdausi, amin.