Kyari; How are the mighty fallen… An Easter like no other 2 - Ik Muo, PhD

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, Mr Johnson. When Johnson was afflicted by oga-coro, everything, I mean, everything, was in the ‘opendential’. 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 just 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. Nobody 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, when this crises started with 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 Kyari’s death.

Despite the  lockdown of Abuja and Lagos and closure of our airports, he was flown to Abuja. Despite the fact that corpse were 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 appoligised for violating its standards  in the Aba Kyari case. Good. I  never knew that this government knew how to appologise. I don’t know were 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. However, it is noteworthy that in Sout Africa, The Minister of Communication was punished, including  being docked, for violating the lockdown directive!

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-x were blamed on him.  I learnt that  only those who found favour in his eyes could see the baba himself and that he appointed 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 ( but refuse to self-isolate when he returned and thus infected the rock!). There are stories about MTN, portfolio auctioning and toll-gate operations for baba’s visitors. But my mouth is so holy, I cant recount them because I am not sure!

 However, I am taken aback by the kind of first-class testimonies people have been given about him since his death. The best have been from Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Onyeama,  Adams Oshiomhole, who just survived  the battle for his political life, and The South East Governors forum and Fani Kayode. 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 ca never know) we shall be like him.    And we should learn to manage power and influence with humility and to work for the general good. It is sad that he had to die in Lagos, after the billions spent on Aso-Rock clinic, under his watch!  Let’s I forget, I also extend my condolences to PMB.

Other Matters: An Easter like no other 2

Pope Francis in prayers

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!

Fr 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. Surely, it shall come to pass and we shall tell the tales.

-Ik Muo, PhD, Department of Business Administration, OOU, Ago-Iwoye