Opinion

Prayers for President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari

By Muyiwa Olayinka

It is no longer news that the Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Alhaji Abba Kyari is infected with the deadly incurable Coronavirus, after he came back from Germany on a national duty. He was infected when he led a high powered delegation that included the Minister of Power, Alhaji Sale Mamman among others to meet the German company and conglomerate, Siemens, to fix our intractable Nigerian power situation. Nigeria had approached the giant German conglomerate to help fix her epileptic electricity problems

Unfortunately, in the course of duty, our hard working Chief of Staff unknowingly contracted this disease abroad. We were told t it takes maximum of 14 days for the symptoms to manifest. He came back; not showing any visible symptoms, at the initial stage had many engagements until his last meeting when he started coughing.

He submitted himself for screening and when the test came out, it was positive. As a precautionary and standard procedure, his boss, Mr. President was screened and tested by NCDC, the result showed negative.

As a top government functionary, he must have met and interacted with different people, both home and abroad, probably had handshakes, it is imperative that these people must submit themselves to the appropriate authority to be screened, especially, the Minister of Power Alhaji Sale Mamman that accompanied him.

From the records of the victims that have succumbed to this deadly disease, it shows that it affects the aged and the elderly, or the senior citizens more than the youths.
According to worldometer, published and last updated in February 2020, 14.8% of Coronavirus related deaths are in the age bracket 80 yrs. and above, 8% for ages 70 to 79, 3.5% for ages 60 to 69 while the youths (ages 10 to 50) were 1%
The reason is not too farfetched; it has to do with the weakness of the immune system as one is ageing. I was reliably informed that Abba Kyari is diabetic, this may one way or the other may compromise his immune system to fight effectively this deadly Coronavirus.
The true age of Abba Kyari is sketchy as little is known about the man. A search about this man brought little information. I guess he must be in his late 70s or close to 80, and with this scary death rates, he needs Nigerian fervent prayers. A man of his age could probably have some age related issues that may hamper his resistance to fight this disease.
Mr. Suleiman Achimugu, ex MD of PPMC who became the official victim of Coronavirus died at the age of 67, had medical conditions like diabetes, multiple myeloma. I pray that Kyari will not be the first high ranking government official that will succumb to this deadly disease.
May God heal our dear Chief of staff, as he lays on his sick bed and doctors are doing all they could to sustain him, Amen. 
Postscript

This article was written few weeks ago, unfortunately Abba Kyari didn’t survive it. He died on Friday 17th of April 2017. May his soul rest in perfect peace, Amen

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