An Oak Has Fallen

Roland .I. Alhassan
The array of personalities, who converged on the 37 Military Hospital in Accra and subsequently at the Ghana Air Force Base when word spread about the demise of the first lawyer from the Northern Region, was a profound statement about the stature of the man who had just breathed his last.

He was not a beggar but a Kumbungu royal and a trail blazer who had impacted positively on the lives of many in his part of the country and beyond it in his lifetime.

Comets were definitely seen and the heavens blazed forth his demise: after all, he was a royal who stood tall among his contemporaries by the manner in which he held himself and altered the lot of the oppressed and downtrodden.

For those who visited him in his last moments on this ephemeral earth, they showed the usual surprise about death when it eventually strikes acquaintances with whom they had recently interacted.

From 'we were with him a few days ago' reminisces about him to their disposition to his warm and pleasant exchanges with his guests who saw him when they turned up for the recent NPP Conference in Tamale and took time to call on him; they fondly remembered him without pretences.

R.I. Alhassan is no more. He has gone to where his ancestors are residing – in the bosom of their Maker – a transition which makes good once more the fact of the dictum 'to dust thou shall return'.

The role models who inspired many to rethink their impression about education at a time when it was not a fashionable pastime or occupation of many, especially parents, break hearts when they bow out, as has R.I. Alhassan.

The vacuum created by his demise shall be filled by one of the many who looked up to him for inspiration and the moral discipline necessary for the achievement of the important strides in life. His soul would be delighted that what he sought to achieve in life was accomplished – achievement evidenced by the number of persons who now ply the law profession, following very much in his path.

From his arrival in Ghana a few years after independence as a qualified lawyer from the Grays Inn, London, to his time as legal officer for Agipgas and his days as MP and eventual return to Dagbon, where he continued to inspire the youth to dare the academic heights, he remained the darling of thousands of people outside his ethnic grouping.

His contribution towards the political development of the country is inscribed on marble, inerasable and available for generations yet unborn to come and relish so they too can serve humanity in whatever discipline they can.

R.I. Alhassan continued to serve his political inclination even on his deathbed: in his last moments his thoughts were with the political activity of his beloved NPP taking place at the Tamale Sports Stadium at the weekend.

He would have loved to be there but destiny's course cannot be changed. Man proposes but his Maker disposes. He had served out his time and must return to his Maker, the way of all flesh. R.I. Alhassan, rest in peace!