It is hard to read the lips of President Muhammadu Buhari because he is either a man of few words or publicly shy. All the same, well meaning citizens owe the Country the obligation of speaking out to enable Mr. President listen to those who are not obligated to tell him what he likes to hear.
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Barely days to the end of a four-week lockdown declared by President Muhammadu Buhari to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease in Nigeria, I’ve seen a few number of “pots and pan protests” on various social media platforms.
New Year’s Eve party in the leafy suburb of Borehamwood in hidden Hertsmere. I sat lazily on the sofa with a cup of warm bohea. Saheed Osupa, Alariwo of Afrika and Ayinla Omowura, a peerless hero of blessed memory, got me wriggling like a cut snake on the leather sofa. Many of us have driven from our little neck of the wood
As the second segment of the two weeks lockdown of some states and the FCT expires, it is not evident what other measures the Federal Government of Nigeria and some of those states will adopt to control and stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
A good and decent man has gone. My Chief Security Officer, Alhaji Lateef Raheem, has passed and his death cuts severely.
For years as an active Broadcast Journalist, I hardly got time off and was on duty back to back as the news never ends.
He told us he would be back at his desk soon. I believed it. But now, it would never happen. Not tomorrow, not next week, not forever. Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, has gone the way of all flesh.
The Almighty Allah has decreed that “every soul shall taste death.” Indeed that has come to pass for Ya’ Abba and for us his loved ones and admirers world over. This is more pronounced in the encomiums showered on him and eulogies delivered at every opportunity of condolence. Indeed, the demise of Ya’Abba has brought to fore his hidden qualities and attributes hitherto largely unknown, misunderstood and grossly underestimated.
In one of his bestsellers, The Zahir, Paulo Coelho said there are two major problems in life: knowing when to begin and knowing when to stop.
Assessing a government or any official of government in a time like this may really be an herculean task, but at that risk, I hereby offer myself, as a community leader to assess the present administration in the State of Osun, especially at this trying time in the history of the world.
There is a popular proverb in Nigeria: “The bigger the head, the bigger the headache.” A similar idiomatic expression in Nigeria’s unique Pidgin English parlance is: “Big man, big problem.”
Every crisis throws up either a hero or a villain. Most often, the person at the epicentre of the crisis, either as provocateur or solution, does not necessarily have to be the leader, be it of a nation or a group, no matter how that group is defined.
Nigeria is no ordinary country and its citizens are no ordinary people. Hence, its need for extraordinary people in positions of power. People who don’t know Nigeria’s history will never understand the complexity and the nature of this African Giant.
Celebrating Orji Uzor Kalu in this interesting political times and global unrest is inexplicable. Having distinguished himself in business and politics, his name features prominently when an objective compilation of events of political and economic development of Nigeria is made. Where young men of his age surrendered, he conquered. Where other politicians have compromised their principles, he had adhered strictly to it. Kalu has continually aired his views and taken a definite stand on national controversies regardless of whose Ox is gored.
With Abba Kyari’s death, Nigeria has lost a hardworking, dedicated, public-spirited intellectual, a man who wanted the best for his country, a loyalist and a patriot
Insults mean nothing to me. They only fuel my resolve and strengthen my determination. They are like water off a duck’s back and neither can they deter me from speaking my mind on any pressing or burning issue no matter how unpopular my position may be.
As the inks flow in tributes to Abba Kyari by those who loved and despised him, let us not forget that Abba was much misunderstood and often maligned.
Indeed, this COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the lies, incompetence, cruelty and despotism that have been wobbling our democracy in stark ways than we ever could imagined. All the declarative registers and the parade of compassionate voices for Abba Kyari in the public are gross display of nauseating hypocrisy and the original sin of Nigeria’s failure as a great nation
Mallam Abba Kyari died on Friday 17th of April, 2020 at the age of 67 years. The patriot died the way he would have preferred, at the very front line of service, sadly seized by a plague against which he was defending his beloved fatherland, Nigeria.
In the penultimate message I hinted on reincarnation and entreated us to attempt to solve the riddle of Abiku/Ogbanje. We were to individually make recourse to the forebears to shed some light on the issue, if need be. Rather than being part of the inquisition, few response I got was that some scriptures didn’t support the idea, while some would rather I explain the mystery.