Pantami; Now that you are a Professor! By Haruspice
Isa Ali Pantami is in the eyes of envious minds, he is being dragged for being different. His offence is learning to speak the queen's English so impeccably. He romances the English words so erotically that even the owners of the language fantasize in flirtatious admiration. Pantami is intelligent, he is cerebral and infectiously charismatic. The Americans will describe him as a filbustrous speaker, he sure commands the fluidity that comes with spoken words. His greatest offence against his traducer is his audacity to be overtly rather than conservative - a role reserved for northerners. Of all the northern intellectuals ever, only a few stand in expressive splendour. The rest were and are buried in the toga of conservativism. Only late Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Maitama Sule, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Isah Pantami refused to be suppressed under the conservatism of the north. Isah Pantami combined sheer doggedness to be outstanding in his aspirations; as an Islamic scholar...