Two of Nigerian religious and traditional rulers viz Cardinal John Onaiyekan and the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa'ad 111

Religious and Traditional Rulers Take Own Share of Insecurity and Death in Nigeria

Posted By: adminon: January 02, 2021In: LifeworldTags: ANA, NIPSSS, Orlu, SOAS, ZazzauNo CommentsViews:

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It has been a week of a heavy share of the gale of insecurity and death sweeping across Nigeria. Not only was the Auxiliary Bishop of Owerri, the Most Reverend Moses Chikwe kidnapped along with his driver on December 27^th, 2020 but happily released on January 1^st, 2021, the Emeritus Bishop of Orlu, Most Rev. Gregory Obinna Ochiagha succumbed to death two days later. The two events were not connected as the Most Rev. Gregory Obinna Ochiagha had been unwell due mainly to old age.

The late Most Rev. Gregory Obinna Ochiagha

The late Iyan Zazzau, Bashir Aminu

His was coming five days after that of his Muslim counterpart and veritable peace maker, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, an alumnus of the School of Oriental and African Studies, (SOAS) of the University of London.

But from the Zaria Emirate came the story of the death of two traditional title holders in one day, January 1^st, 2021. The two are Iyan Zazzau, Alhaji Bashir Aminu and Talban Zazzau, Alhaji AbdulQadir Pate. While Iyan Zazzau died in Lagos, Talban Zazzau died in Zaria

The only good news from this gale is the news of the release of Most Reverend Moses Chikwe and his driver, Ndubuisi Robert by their kidnappers. They were released January 1^st, 2021 and have been visited by high ranking officials of the Catholic Church in the area.

While some of the deaths are attributable to old age and diabetes, most are mainly due to Covid 19 which has taken away many members of the elite in recent weeks, cutting across academia, technocracy, publishing and the armed forces. Specifically, they include Gen. Olubunmi, Irefin, Mr. Nda Isaiah, the publisher of Leadership group of newspapers; Prof Chukwuka Osakwe and Moses Tedheke from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna; Professor Habu Galadima, the Director-General of the Nigeria Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS, Jos); Prof Jerry Agada, a former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA) and Prof Femi Odekunle of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. There might be many more that have not been reported or not recollected immediately.