The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has recalled his last encounter with the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari.
Abba Kyari died of complications from the deadly coronavirus a week ago and was buried in Abuja on Saturday.
Apart from seeing the late Chief of Staff in an usual manner in his dream later on, Adesina recounted moments of their last physical meeting before he (Kyari) was diagnosed with COVID-19.
In an article he made on Friday, exactly a week after Kyari’s passing on, Adesina said, “Our last contact was on Friday, March 20, 2020.
“President Muhammadu Buhari was scheduled to meet with the Chairman of ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, by 3 p.m. Such meetings hold in the diplomatic room of the presidential office complex.
“The protocol is that aides invited to attend any meeting must be seated 15 clear minutes before the President walked in. I was in the diplomatic room at the required time. A seat had been designated for me, next to that of the Chief of Staff.
“Few minutes later, Mallam Abba (as he was often called by us) walked in. I rose to greet him.
“’Femi, how are you? They have said we should not shake hands again,’ he responded. Rather jocularly, he extended his right foot. I touched his foot with my own, and we both laughed. Leg-shake, instead of handshake.
“The ECOWAS Commission boss had come to discuss the ensuing constitutional crisis in Guinea Conakry, which was to hold an election that weekend.
“After 10 years in office, and at 82 years of age, President Alpha Conde, had insisted on running for another term in office, and he tinkered with the country’s Constitution to make himself eligible. The opposition was having none of it, and there was civil disobedience, in which some lives had been lost.
“President Buhari is the immediate past Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, and a highly respected figure in the sub-region. The ECOWAS Commission boss had come to consult him on the way forward for Guinea Conakry.
“The meeting lasted for about 30 minutes, during which the situation in Guinea-Bissau had also come up briefly.
“When we rose, I had my opinion on what to do about the matters discussed. I consulted with Mallam Abba, and he agreed completely with me. I took my leave, headed back to my office.
“Walking right behind me was the Chief of Staff, flanked by Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, and my colleague in the media office, Mallam Garba Shehu. They were chatting.
“After I passed through the security screening point that would see me turn off to my office, I looked back instinctively. Why did I do it? I didn’t know, still don’t know. But it turned out to be my last view of Kyari. He was laughing as he talked with the two people beside him.
“That glance I took turned out to be the very final. About 72 hours later, Mallam Abba was diagnosed with the deadly Coronavirus, which sent him sadly on a journey of no return.
“Catching COVID-19 (as the inelegant virus has been elegantly codenamed by the World Health Organization) is not supposed to be a death sentence. I had no doubt that Mallam Abba would beat the infection, and be back at his desk soon, as he had promised. I prayed for him a number of times in the following three weeks.”
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