Abba Kyari’s death at the hands of Covid-19 is meshed in one-controversy too-much.
The former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria’s list of Controversial issues are:
1: Late Disclosure that he contracted Covid-19 – many believed he had it much earlier than when it was disclosed.
2: He sought spiritual help to no avail – it was theorised that he attempted to deal with the matter spiritually but succumbed to medicine when the spiritual approach was not yielding fruit.
3: His location after disclosure was shrouded in secrecy – his aides never wanted people to know where he was being treated as they might be flouting some of the rules they set regarding treatment of
Covid-19 patients.
4: Despite the fact that there were public facilities for Coronavirus patients in Abuja, he was moved to Lagos.
5: Lagosians became uneasy when he was moved to Lagos though government claimed it was done to ensure he enjoyed the best of healthcare.
6: Why move him to Lagos, almost immediately after he was announced positive for the virus when there were yearly budgetary allocation for health facilities in Abuja including the Aso Rock Clinic?
7: He did not end up in any of the two public facilities where Coronavirus patients were being attended to in Lagos.
8: He was admitted in a private facility and tongues wagged because the Lagos state government had indicated that private hospitals across the state are not yet allowed to treat Covid-19 patients.
9: His location was never disclosed.
10: Lockdown partially broke down for his burial and social distancing was not observed.
11: His death was largely celebrated not mourned by Nigerians.
12: A man had wished strongly for his death in a viral video saying coronavirus had trapped him and many top government officials who love running abroad for medical treatment.
Alhaji Mustapha Predicted His Death: VIDEO
13: He was labelled as one of the people who imported Covid-19 into Nigeria. The news that he had tested positive for COVID-19 first broke on March 24, about 10 days after he returned from a trip to Germany during which he met with officials of Siemens in Munich on Nigeria’s electricity expansion programme.
14: The burial should have been much more private. Like in Italy, funerals have been banned since early March as part of a broader set of restrictions aimed at curbing the Covid-19 outbreak.
In South Africa, according to the updated new regulations governing who may attend a funeral under the Coronavirus-enforced lockdown, only the following people, who live outside a province or metropolitan and district areas, may attend a funeral:
spouse or partner of the deceased; children of the deceased, whether biological, adopted or stepchildren. children-in-law of the deceased; parents of the deceased – whether biological, adopted or stepparents; siblings, whether biological, adopted or stepbrother or sister of the deceased;grandparents of the deceased; and persons closely affiliated to the deceased.
15: It was alleged that he was secretly flown out of the country for treatment after he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
ABBA KYARI GOES 6 FEET DOWN
DEATH AND BURIAL
According to Channels TV report:
“News that Mr Kyari had tested positive for COVID-19 first broke on March 24, about 10 days after he returned from a trip to Germany during which he met with officials of Siemens in Munich on Nigeria’s electricity expansion programme.
He later confirmed the news himself in a statement on March 29, the same day President Buhari made his first nationwide broadcast on the pandemic and announced a two-week lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In his statement, Mr Kyari revealed that he would be transferred to Lagos from the FCT for treatment and expressed the hope that he would recover and return to work soon.
At the time, he said he felt well and did not exhibit any signs of the disease, which has now infected 493 people in the country and claimed 17 lives, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
A Kanuri from Borno, Mr Kyari was one of President’s Buhari’s closest allies.
Appointed Chief of Staff in August 2015, he became considered one of the most influential and powerful members of the Buhari administration.
Prior to his foray into politics, Mr Kyari had a professional career as a lawyer and spent years in the banking industry, rising to become the Chief Executive Officer of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) at some point.”
RIP