Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and prominent Nigerians have been reacting to the death of Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Kyari died Friday night in a Lagos hospital three weeks after he was confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19. His remains were interred at Gudu cemetery today.
In his reaction on twitter, the Vice-President said: “Dolapo and I express our sympathies to the President, Mrs Kulu Kyari, the children, and members of the family on the passing of Mallam Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President. May the Lord comfort and be with you all in Jesus name, amen”.
In her reaction, First Lady Aisha Buhari, consoled Kyari’s widow, prayed for the quick recovery of all Covid-19 patients and for the scourge to end.
She said: “From God Almighty we came and to him we shall return)
“I condole with Mrs. Kulu Abba Kyari and the entire family of Late Malam Abba Kyari over the death of their husband and father.
“I pray that Allah (SWT) will forgive his shortcomings, grant him Al-Jannatul Firdausi and give the family the fortitude and patience to bear the loss, Ameen.
“While wishing all those infected a speedy recovery and I pray for an end to Covid-19 Pandemic.”
Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, at the graveside pointed out to journalists that Kyari’s death should be proof again to Nigerians that COVID-19 is real and a matter of life or death.
“There are very big lessons to learn from the death of Abba Kyari. One of the key lessons for me is that this thing is real and it has come home. How closer can it be to us than this? That is why I keep saying that we should not play with this issue, it is not a joke.
“It has come to ravage our people, ravage our health and ravage our wealth as a nation so we must take it more seriously. The advisory that have gone out about social distancing, washing of hands and staying at home are not punitive, they are meant for our good.
“We have seen it now, that it has come home to us. If we were thinking of people who had passed on as a result of COVID-19 from a distance, it is not far now. It is just like a brother or friend or a relative that has passed on.
“This is a man we worked with on a daily basis, you see him virtually every day so it’s a big lesson that our people should not joke with this, we must wash our hands, stay at home, use sanitizers and follow all the advisories religiously”, he said.
The SGF described the death of Abba Kyari as a personal loss to President Buhari and a great loss to the nation, adding that the late Chief of Staff did a great job for Nigeria.
“It is a personal loss to me, the President and to the nation. I believe Malam Abba will be remembered for so many things. He has done a great job for the nation. Malam Abba was a very good man and very determined, intellectually upright and he had a lot of foresight.
“A lot of people didn’t understand Malam Abba but I worked with him for three years and I can tell you that he is a wonderful person, he is a good man; deep down in his heart, he always meant well and I looked up to him as a senior brother in the course of the work that we did in the last three years.
“He demonstrated a high level of commitment to his job and he had a passion for the legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari and in everything he did, he never cared whose toes he stepped on, provided it was in the attainment of the legacies he believed President Buhari ought to leave.
“He was always very considerate. You might hold different opinions but he would drill the matter until he convinced you or you convinced him,” he added.
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