Bola Tinubu
"While I see no point dignifying some of the desperate measures that people sometime take, especially when confronted with serious
challenges, My main concern at that point was how to rationalized the fact that the president, Who told the world he would go on vacation outside Abuja, was now holed up inside the State House. As it happened on the first day of the leave, the Governor of Yobe State, Senator Mamman Alli died in the United States. The president said he would attend the burial as arrangement were made to bring the the remains of the deceased governor back to Nigeria.
The burial took place in Fika on Thursday morning, and we were there, having left the villa for the airport before 6:00 a.m.(This was another curious feature about the president and, looking back, it may have been as a result of his own mortality which, apparently he was more conscious of than most, perhaps because of his health challenges. While he would ordinary not come down early for any events, if it was a funeral, no matter the time it was fixed for, he would be prompt. The moment the news of the death of a close relation or a prominent personality from the north was broken to him,the next thing would be to ask that the arrangement be made for him to attend the burial.)
Attending Mamman Alli burial was particularly instructive. As we drove into the town ,we were confronted by big banners,billboard and poster of the deceased governor all loudly pronouncing him the right choice for the 20011 gubernatorial election! This was January 2009,less than two years into his first term in office. When we got back to the villa, The president asked whether we had noticed the banners,shaking his head before he went into a philosophical exhortation on the vanity of human wishes".
(An excerpt from the book
"Power,Politics and Death writing By Olusegun Adeniyi a one time press secretary to President Umar Musa Yaradua of blessed memory).
challenges, My main concern at that point was how to rationalized the fact that the president, Who told the world he would go on vacation outside Abuja, was now holed up inside the State House. As it happened on the first day of the leave, the Governor of Yobe State, Senator Mamman Alli died in the United States. The president said he would attend the burial as arrangement were made to bring the the remains of the deceased governor back to Nigeria.
The burial took place in Fika on Thursday morning, and we were there, having left the villa for the airport before 6:00 a.m.(This was another curious feature about the president and, looking back, it may have been as a result of his own mortality which, apparently he was more conscious of than most, perhaps because of his health challenges. While he would ordinary not come down early for any events, if it was a funeral, no matter the time it was fixed for, he would be prompt. The moment the news of the death of a close relation or a prominent personality from the north was broken to him,the next thing would be to ask that the arrangement be made for him to attend the burial.)
Attending Mamman Alli burial was particularly instructive. As we drove into the town ,we were confronted by big banners,billboard and poster of the deceased governor all loudly pronouncing him the right choice for the 20011 gubernatorial election! This was January 2009,less than two years into his first term in office. When we got back to the villa, The president asked whether we had noticed the banners,shaking his head before he went into a philosophical exhortation on the vanity of human wishes".
(An excerpt from the book
"Power,Politics and Death writing By Olusegun Adeniyi a one time press secretary to President Umar Musa Yaradua of blessed memory).
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