QUOTE:
Abba Kyari: How are the mighty fallen!
Friday, 19/4/2020 was a particularly bad day for Nigeria. We had 51 new cases, the highest number of fresh infections since the onset of this COVIDious pestilence, making it a total of 493. Incidentally, we did not (and do not) pay attention to the increasing number of recoveries which at that date stood at 159. And that was the day that COVID claimed its highest political victim in Nigeria, somebody whom many described as the hand (of Essau) behind the voice (of Jacob). I did not know Abba Kyari but I commiserate with his family. I also condole with the nation because, given the alleged concentration of power around and about him, we have to pay some price, especially, during the transition process.
But before Kyari, Coro has proved that it meant serious business by attacking the high and mighty. One of them was the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. When Johnson was afflicted by oga-coro, everything, I mean, everything, was in the “obediential”. The whole world knew when he was knocked down; we knew how he fared daily; we knew when it went from bad to worse and he had to be moved to the dreaded ICU; we knew when he got better and left the ICU. We also knew when he received the much-valued clean bill of health and he publicly applauded the UK health system and staff who saw him through.
In the case of Kyari, (who was not the numero-uno himself but happened to be an overactive gate-keeper), it took long before we knew that he was down and everybody pretended not to know. Indeed, the usually calm Minister of Health lost his cool when an inquisitive journalist asked him about Kyari. Ne body knew when he fell sick and nobody knew where he was because even his stay in Lagos was a rumour, especially as the State Commissioner of health allegedly denied knowledge of his whereabout. (Meanwhile, my heart goes out to the Lagos commissioner of Health. When I compare his chubby and fresh visage last month from what he looked like yesterday (20/4/20) I get worried.
Please those who are close to him should tell him to take it easy as I continue to pray that his efforts will continue to yield bountiful fruits. And then, the man died! How are the mighty fallen? Proclaim it not in the streets of Abuja and Lagos… (I Sam1: 19-20)! Like other cases, we have seen that all is vanity and that our possessions, positions and connections cannot save us from coro or from the ultimate destination of all mortals. But these three factors affected the course of events after his death.
Despite the closure of our airports, he was flown to Abuja. Despite the fact that the corpse was not to be released (Ask Lai), his corpse was released for burial and an unprecedented crowd that had no respect for social or physical distance were at his burial. And then, we learnt that he died in a private hospital, which the government had relentlessly spoken against. Indeed, the day before, the overworked boss of NCDC and Minister of Health stressed themselves to tell us that COVID cases should not be taken to private hospitals. But thereafter, LASG, who told us that 12 out of the 14 fatalities died in private hospitals, informed us that the private hospital in which he died was certified for COVID cases. The government has apologised for violating its standards in the Aba Kyari case. Good. I never knew that this government knew how to apologise. I don’t know where Lai Mohammed, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu were when they rendered that apology. Because they would have blamed everything on frustrated politicians and jobbers or to save time. Call it a combination and fake news and hate speech.
Abba Kyari has gone the way of all mortals. He has proved once more that all is vanity. He was once like us and soon, … we shall be like him
As I said earlier, I didn’t know him apart from what I gleaned from the public square. I knew that all the failings of this government (and they are many), including lopsided security architecture and egwu-eke 1-3 were blamed on him. I learnt that only those who found favour in his eyes could see the baba himself and that he placed himself on the board of NNPC. I am aware that he was fighting dirty with the National Security Adviser and that he had a lot of issues with the woman of the other-room about house-keeping issues. I also learnt that he had his birthday celebrations overseas the other day and that he travelled to Germany over our electricity challenges (as if we do not have a minister and ministry of power.
However, I am taken aback by the kind of first-class testimonies people have been given about him since his death. The best has been from Ministry of Foreign Affairs Onyeama, Adams Oshiomhole, who just survived the battle for his political life, and The South East Governors forum. The Governor of Imo State has declared his intention to rename the Imo State University, which another governor built, after the dead Chief of Staff. So, why did all these people fail say all these good things while he was alive, when everybody was buffeting him from all corners? Surely Onyeama had almost a life-long relationship with him and such a heart-rending tribute should be expected. However, what of Adams and Uzodimma? Is it a genuine testimony or a posthumous reward his role in their various political travails and victories?
Anyway, Abba Kyari has gone the way of all mortals. He has proved once more that all is vanity. He was once like us and soon, (at a date, time circumstances and place who can never know) we shall be like him. Let’s I forget, I also extend my condolences to PMB.
Other Matters: An Easter like no other 2
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (Revelation,6:15-17). Beyond the unusualness of the season (An Easter like no other,16/4/20), there was a gloomy atmosphere everywhere, with many people feeling that the end had come. That foreboding atmosphere affected the mood of the Easter and the messages from all the pulpits across the country. They were messages of hope in a period of COVIDious mess as priests preached the risen Christ in a season of crises
We were reminded that the Church was (is)not a physical building but within us and that we should preach the risen Christ by lives we live and the examples we show. We were told that just as God removed the slab from the tomb, he will remove the scourge, troubles and trials of this time(coro) and that just as the Satan flees when we are in Christ, so should coro flee because Jesus Christ lives in us. Archbishop Adewale Martins who blamed the coro-scourge on ecocide among others, asked us to stay strong, because it would soon be over and that the hand of God would see us through. He likened 2020 Easter like the Passover which the Israelites ate during plagues, uncertainty and deaths in Egypt because we had virus, lockdown, fear uncertainty and death.
Pope Francis told us not to yield to fear, and to be messengers of life in this season of death. We were reminded that the women who went to the tomb early in the morning were filled with fear and confusion as they left the graveside. However, when they met Jesus, he replaced their fear and confusion with joy. In a similar manner, the Lord will remove the coro-induced fear and confusion. We were also reminded that as people are dying, more are being discharged and that we should have faith in God who holds the whole world, including his virus, in his hand!
Emeka Nwosu liked one of the outcomes of the coronised Easter: The return of simplicity in everything, including the way we worship, live and relate. He prayed we would internalize this paradigm going forward. And from the territorial Commander of Salvation Army Nigeria comes this message We have no firm knowledge of what tomorrow will bring; we don’t know how and if our communities will withstand the devastating pandemic and in our plight, our minds cry out: “my God, My God, why hast thou forgotten me” and then he reminded us of the song of Bill Gaither “because he lives, I can face tomorrow” He assured us that we would survive, face tomorrow and tell the coro story in the years to come. Sure, it shall come to pass and we shall tell the tale.
