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BY RICHARD DRAIMAKU
YUMBE: MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2025
The mood at the Boma grounds in Yumbe district was celebratory as the people gathered to pay homage to late Col Nasur Ezaruku and especially remember him for the stellar role he played in bringing peace to the area that had seen many years of anarchy.
He was a former soldier of the Uganda Army who eventually joined President Yoweri Museveni in the rebel ranks as one of the initial 100 fighters with 27 guns who launched the five year guerrilla war that propelled him to power in 1986.
Col Ezaruku eventually returned to spearhead peace negotiations between the government and the Uganda National Rescue Front II under the Aringa Obongi Peace Initiative Committee (AROPIC).
Those efforts culminated into the historic peace agreement between the government and the Uganda National Rescue Front II in 2002.
“We thank the family for organizing the Duwa (memorial prayers) to remember him for his legacy,” Ratib Saban Ondoga, the Mayor of Yumbe Town Council remarked.
Leading Islamic clerics from across Yumbe district, an area with 90% Moslem population) graced the event that attracted a sizable crowd.
Zurah Zulaika Nasur, one of the daughters of the deceased who spearheaded the organization of the memorial service stressed that having made an outstanding contribution to the region, the importance of carrying forward that legacy could not be over emphasized.
Col Ezaruku was born in 1935 in Yoyo parish, Kululu Sub County. In 1951, he moved to Buganda where he engaged in cotton production. He later joined the Uganda army serving under former presidents Dr Apollo Milton Obote and Idi Amin.
Capt Nasur Acikule and his eleder sister Zurah Zulaika during the memorial service at Yumbe Boma Grounds on Sunday, June 1, 2025
When Yoweri Museveni mobilized his former Front for National Salvation Army soldiers to attack Makindye barracks and with it start war with the Uganda government after the 1980 elections, Ezaruku (Resistance Officer RO:0086) was one of the pioneer rebels, albeit carrying without a gun.
Following the capture of state power, Ezaruku embarked on social transformation programs, sponsoring imams for training, paying school fees for children of relatives, friends and other vulnerable people.
Col Ezaruku facilitative travels of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and he himself is said to have gone there for pilgrimage six time, denoting his strong devotion in the Islamic faith. But the peace deal between the UNRFII rebels and the government was the standout contribution of the late colonel.
He died on December 19, 2007, succumbing to diabetes and high blood pressure. However during his burial, Zulaika wrote a letter to President Museveni, asking to construct a technical school to cement Ezaru’s legacy, thus the birth of the Col Nasur Ezaruku Memorial Technical Institute in Yumbe district.
Over time, different memorial events have been organized to celebrate the late military officer. For instance in 2009, a memorial football tournament was organize in Yumbe district which unveiled a hidden talent in a certain Gdaffi Gadino, who went on to become a star of Uganda’s local football.
Back then the still unknown Gadino played for Yumbe Town Council FC that emerged champions in the first ever Col. (late) Nasur Izaruku Amin’s memorial tournament, as they silenced Kuru FC with a 2:0 demolition in front of a mammoth crowd.
Gadino scored both goals for the Town Council in a thrilling encounter which saw the losers picking up two yellow cards against them.
The boy’s speed and deceptiveness was a decisive factor as he frequently tore through the Kuru FC defense lines and kept the goalie bush for most of the match.
