I woke up two days ago with members of my family and childhood friends asking me why I had not posted anything on Facebook that they could comment on. Many of them also asked why I had not done a photo shoot that could make celebrating me on my birthday easier.
Aside from the fact that I had tried very hard to be active on Facebook like many others, if only for the sake of The Point Newspaper, without progress, there were too many things going on at the same time that I almost even forgot that it was my birthday.
First, a close friend lost a daughter, who was my own daughter too, in every sense. It was a shock because the day she was saying farewell to this side was the day her friends (my children) and I, for reasons I can’t still fathom, were enumerating those qualities that stood her out from her peers, including the fact that she had grown “big”. You can imagine, how shocking it was, when on my way to Victoria Island two days later, my otherwise “hard” son broke the very sad news to me, sobbing. “It is on her twin sister’s status,” he stressed, when I shouted at him to stop what I wished would be an expensive joke.
For me, therefore, in spite of the fact that I hardly visit social media platforms unless I am posting cover photos of fresh editions of The Point, it was not really a time to celebrate.
But family and friends would not even wait to be invited. Knowing I was in Lagos, they started moving towards my end in a fashion that made me contemplate absconding. They paid the price though, having to wait patiently to eat at about 7pm, as I did not even have one grain of rice at home when the first visitor called to say he was at the gate with his family. In the end, I was forced to dress up and take family pictures.
In all, I would say I am overwhelmed by this show of love despite my very many shortcomings. Chinyere Fred-Adegbulugbe, my friend from Punch days, who is now in charge of all operations at The Interview, including the Press, told me once that I could be very annoying whenever I was working.
“Are you the only one that knows how to work? Someone will come to your side, talk, talk, talk, you will not hear. What is it gangan? I beg, go jare,” she said on a particular day, when she felt she needed to tell me the truth.
Another reason friends and family should have deserted me long ago, is the fact that I hardly take calls. Agreed, I might be in a place where that would be impossible, but, most times, I will confess here, it is because I try to leave distractions till a safe time, especially while my fingers are on the keyboard.
So many friends, colleagues, family members have celebrated birthdays without me knowing, simply because I don’t get prompts, or perhaps, I don’t pay attention to Facebook reminders. You can imagine how surprised I was that, in spite of my “annoying” behaviour, I opened the Facebook app the next day and found very many beautifully composed birthday messages waiting for me.
It is gratifying to note that you mean different things to different people and that they would always be there to celebrate you even when they have every right to look the other way or you don’t make the first move. I therefore say a very big thank you to all well-wishers, who made Friday, 30th July, 2021 a memorable one for me, even without a prompt.
In all of this, one would agree that this is hardly a time for merry making in Nigeria. So many things are not right – the current black market exchange rate of about N505 to a dollar is so scary that it looks like the common man may not be able to survive for another year. The words, “insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and even secession” now seem to have a permanent place in daily reportage. Suicide means nothing again, so long as it is considered an easy way out of unabating pain, while mentors, who usually gave hope that all would be well, have also drawn a battle line with the current administration in a way that spells “enough is enough”.
Nonetheless, the cloud, I believe, is not totally dark. It would be just fair to acknowledge the distortion in the global economy and some efforts that have made Nigeria exit recession “unexpectedly”, according to international finance organisations.
This analysis of why we are where we are today, and the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to rejig his cabinet and make the best of his remaining years in Aso Villa, at least in the interest of those who believe in him, in spite of the many lows, will be a topic for the next edition. Right now, I want to celebrate my very dear friend, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II.
That the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, mainly known as Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is my good friend is, perhaps, well known. What many may not know is the fact that he celebrates his birthday a day after mine.
I met SLS through a former Managing Director of First Bank, a big brother and mentor, Mr. Moyo Ajekigbe. This was when he (Sanusi) was just appointed the CBN Governor. NEXT Newspaper had advertised that it would publish an exclusive interview with the new CBN Governor on Sunday. It was a Friday. The Chairman of Punch at the time, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, asked if we could also get him for an interview, even before that Sunday. It was going to be a herculean task. I had never even spoken with him, one on one, at the time, as he had barely stayed for five months as the first CEO of First Bank from the North when his appointment as CBN Governor was confirmed by the Senate on June 3, 2009.
But I was determined to get him for the interview.
I called Mr. Ajekigbe, his predecessor at First Bank, and told him I wanted to reach Sanusi for an urgent interview. He spoke with him and sent his number to me. Luckily, when I reached out to him, he said he had also wanted to meet me, having followed my backpage column on Mondays for long. So, the appointment was fixed for that same evening, at 7pm.
“This particular birthday message will not be complete without me pointing out how loyal SLS could be to his friends. He once told me that royalty and humility were poles apart, but I would tell him that he definitely does not know himself because he is humility personified”
Before then, the Editor of Punch at the time, Steve Ayorinde, had complained that I appeared too “close” to Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Sanusi’s predecessor at the CBN, saying he wondered how we would continue to get exclusives with the new CBN Governor. My response was “there is no cause for alarm”. For me, I only ensured I was on ground in the key MDAs under by beat.
Long story cut short, I went for the interview with two senior editors, came back to the office and spent the night transcribing in order to meet up with the deadline. At the end, our own (Punch’s) exclusive interview with the new apex bank boss was even more interesting than the advertised one. The two interviews were published on the same day. That earned me a cash reward from the management of Punch and also marked the beginning of a friendship that I have come to cherish so much.
I intend writing a whole piece about the Sanusi Lamido Sanusi Nigerians may not know at a later date. But this particular birthday message will not be complete without me pointing out how loyal SLS could be to his friends. He once told me that royalty and humility were poles apart, but I would tell him that he definitely does not know himself because he is humility personified.
During the First Anniversary programme of The Point, despite his very tight schedule as a sitting Emir of Kano, and the fact that he had attended the coronation of the Oba of Benin the previous day, he was the first to arrive the Eko Hotel venue of the programme, with his full entourage, even before the organisers. This has certainly taught me to value friendship above power.
On this note, dear SLS, I say a big CONGRATULATIONS to you on your 60th birthday. Please roll out the drums, informed Nigerians are always happy to dance behind you.
