Abba Kyari was my best man when I wedded in Anglican church - Geoffrey Onyeama
- Geoffrey Onyeama has disclosed that Abba Kyari was his best man when he wedded
- The minister also disclosed that Kyari was also he godfather to his first son during his baptism
- Onyeama also wrote about Kyari's integrity
Minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama has revealed that the late chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, was his ‘best man’ when he wedded.
According to the minister, apart from the fact that the wedding took place in the Anglican church, the late Kyari was also the godfather to his first son during his baptism.
He disclosed this in his tribute to Kyari which published on This Day newspaper on Sunday, April 19.
The minister said he first met the late politician in 1977 in 1977 at Warwick University in England.
He wrote: “When I left Warwick University for Cambridge, Abba came to Cambridge to introduce me to his friends there as he had studied in the city for his Advanced levels.
“After graduating from Warwick University, Abba went up to Cambridge to study law. We kept in touch throughout the last 43 years. We ended up together in Lagos in 1982 to attend Law School for a year.
“When I left Nigeria in 1985 to work in Geneva for 30 years Abba came to Geneva often to stay with me and whenever I was in Nigeria, he made it a point of coming to see me wherever I was.
“When I got married in Owo to my wife from Idoani, Ondo State, Abba was my Best-Man. The officiating Vicar was somewhat perplexed because I was a Roman Catholic Igbo, marrying an Anglican Yoruba in an Anglican church with a Muslim Kanuri/Shuwa Arab Best-Man from Borno state!
“The officiating Catholic priest in Geneva, Switzerland, two years later, during the baptism of our first son, was equally perplexed when a muslim Abba Kyari and a muslim Muni Attah-Sonibare were the Godfather and Godmother respectively!
“Abba was a Pan-Nigerian, global citizen, who recognized no boundaries between peoples, be they racial, ethnic, religious, class or political. He made friends with everyone.”
Going further, Onyeama also wrote about Kyari's integrity.
“I remember after he got married to his wonderful wife, Kulu, he told me how he showed her his first paycheck so she would know that he was not wealthy and would not steal!,” he added.
“It broke my heart to see all the false allegations against him on issues of corruption. He showed me the safe in his office where he put any unsolicited gift .
“I remember asking him about the rumours making the rounds that he was making money from the fine imposed on MTN. He immediately showed me the memorandum setting up the Committee to deal with the issue and he was not even a member.
“He also showed me how he had been able to block attempts by many influential and powerful persons to make a lot of money at the expense of the country.
“He knew that fighting corruption with such single mindedness and fearlessness would see him at the receiving end of the venom of very powerful forces but was undeterred and preferred to ignore all the defamation against him.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Bassey James, president, Southern Youths Development Forum(SYDF) has commiserated with the families of late Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari who passed on after battling with the novel coronavirus.
James, who is an ardent believer in the goodness of the late chief of staff, in a chat with Legit.ng spoke of his pains after news broke that the chief of staff has passed on.
According to him, the late Kyari has done well for Nigeria and he would dearly be missed by those who love him. He said Kyari contracted the coronavirus disease when he went to Germany on behalf of Nigeria.
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"Sir, you have contributed to humanity and to our dear nation Nigeria. You died in active service to your fatherland and you paid a supreme price to ensure that power is available to us.
"When I got the news from Hon Ali Gambo about your illness, we reached out to our religious faithful, Christians and Moslems to fast and pray for you, yes we prayed but God who knows all things decided to give you a peaceful passage to eternity - the journey everyone must go through.
"We were abused, insulted but we were undaunted - today you are no more, even your enemies will not see you tomorrow but along with millions of people, we will miss you."
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Abba Kyari: 6 previously unknown facts about Buhari's late chief of staff | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng