Not many people know that Dr. Reuben Abati was very close to late Senator Buruji Kashamu in his lifetime. We can tell you authoritatively that they were very close. Recall that both contested for Ogun governorship. Buruji was the Ogun PDP governorship candidate, whilst Dr. Reuben Abati was his running mate as the Deputy Governorship Candidate.
Last
week, City People went after Reuben Abati a few days ago to get him to tell us
about his late boss, Buruji Kashamu.
For
those who don't know much about Dr. Reuben Abati lets tell you a little about
this 1st class brain who is a respected intellectual and media personality.
He
is a scholar, journalist, columnist and literary expert. Dr. Reuben Abati was
born on the 7th of November, 1965 in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. He had both his primary and secondary
education in Abeokuta and graduated from the University of Calabar, Nigeria in 1985, with a First Class
Honours and as Class Valedictorian. He was a recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s
Prize for the Student with the Best Overall Academic Performance in the
Graduating Class. He was also a National Merit Scholar. He later studied at the
University of Ibadan as a University Scholar. He holds a PhD in Theatre Arts,
specializing in Dramatic Literature, Theory and Criticism from the University
of Ibadan (1990), a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Lagos State University, Lagos
(1999), a professional training certificate in journalism from the College of
Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park, United States (1996-97) and a
Certificate in Management and Leadership from the Said Business School,
University of Oxford (2015).
Abati
originally started his career as a university teacher, teaching courses in
Dramaturgy, Theory and Criticism, Special Author Studies, and the Sociology of
Literature at the Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University),
Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, South-West Nigeria, before embarking on other fields of
interest. He is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management, Nigeria
Union of Journalists, and the Nigerian Guild of Editors. He is also a Hubert H.
Humphrey Fellow, a Fellow of the 21st Century Trust, a Fellow of Nigeria
Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He
is an Honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters.
Abati
worked at The Guardian Newspapers, Nigeria for more than 20 years. He was at
various times Member, Editorial Board, Deputy Chairman, Editorial
Board/Editorial Page Editor, and later, Chairman, Editorial Board and Editorial
Page Editor of The Guardian Newspapers, a position he held for more than ten
years. In the course of his journalism career, he has earned a distinction as
one of the most influential columnists and editors in the country. He has been
active in various genres, including print and electronic
journalism
and social media.
He
was a member and co-presenter of the television discussion programme, Patito’s
Gang (2000-2011). He served as a member of the Governing Council of Olabisi
Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State (2003 -2007) and as a member of the
pioneer Board of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (2007-2011).
He
is well-regarded as a leading public affairs commentator, writer and journalist
with a unique multi-disciplinary background in drama, management, journalism
and law, and experience garnered over the past thirty-two years, in both the
private and public sector. Abati has been writing for the Nigerian press since
1985, serving as Contributing Editor, Editor, and Columnist to many
publications, covering both the mainstream media and the softer genre of
romance and lifestyle magazines. He is very well known for his book reviews,
essays and commentaries on national, regional and international affairs. His
writings have also appeared in both local and international periodicals and
academic journals.
He
is a recipient of many prizes for journalistic excellence. These include the
Hadj Alade Odunewu/Diamond Award for Media Excellence Prize for Informed
Commentary (which he has won four times), the Cecil King Memorial Prize for
Print Journalist of the Year (1998), the Fletcher Challenge Commonwealth Prize
for Opinion Writing (2000), the Freedom Peace Prize for Journalism (2010) and
The Red Media Africa Living Legends Industry Award (2015).
He
served as Special Adviser, Media and Publicity/Official Spokesperson to
President Goodluck Jonathan (2011-2015). In this capacity, he was responsible
for managing the President’s media office, media relations and leading the
Presidency’s public communications team. After his stint in government, Abati
returned to journalism, writing his regular two columns in The Guardian (Friday
and Sunday). He subsequently moved to
ThisDay newspaper where he now writes a Tuesday Column titled “TuesdayWithReubenAbati”.
In the last 2 years, he has also been engaged as an Anchor/Correspondent with
Arise News, where he co-presents “The Morning Show,” and anchors “ThisDayLive”
on Sundays. Dr. Abati runs a website: reubenabati.com.ng, and posts regularly
on Instagram and Twitter as@abati1990.
He
sees his selection as the running mate to Senator Buruji Kashamu for the 2019 the gubernatorial election in Ogun State as a great opportunity to serve his
people.
Below
are excerpts of the interview.
How
did you receive the news of the passing of your boss, late Senator Buruji
Kashamu?
I
had known before his departure, that he was indisposed. He travelled to Abuja
and he came back and he took ill. As at March, April, May, June, and July, he
was well. There was nothing wrong with him. But he went to Abuja and he
returned and then he took ill.
And
of course, you know how it is. He was our political leader. Personally, he was
my political mentor and the information went round that he had taken ill and
within our political group the information was let's keep praying for our
leader. And then we followed the trajectory of his indisposition. At some
point, he got well, he could take calls, he could respond to people.
He
could respond to Whatsapp Messages but all of a sudden things took a wrong
course and I guess he had cumovititis, meaning he had an underlining illness. That
further complicated the process. All of a sudden, we heard that he was on
oxygen. Then later he was on a ventilator. And suddenly, news just came that he
has died. So, all of us within his political family, we are bereaved because he
was a very strong leader. He was a man who was very strong on his convictions.
He was a very bold and courageous man, clear-headed, absolutely intelligent
beyond paper qualifications. In my relationship with Senator Buruji Kashamu, I
found a man who was gifted with a lot of wisdom, street-wisdom, a lot of
activity, a lot of gifts. In his own areas of competence, Senator Buruji
Kashamu was an absolute genius. And he took himself seriously. He didn’t joke
with himself. But now that he has died in relation to Covid-19 complications it
is curious because he was a man who took his health seriously.
When
we were campaigning, I recall that he had a standby doctor who was beside him
regularly. After every meal, he will take Vitamins. When he noticed that I was
about the only person around him that was not taking any tablet, he wondered
aloud, you mean you don’t take any tablet?
I
told him No. He said, at your age? You must be looking after your health. Do
you know that there and then he sent for his personal doctor? He said look, I
want you to check this man. Check his BP, take his Sugar test. That was the
first time I will take a Sugar test (diabetes test). The man brought out a
needle, he picked my finger, and he said, check him, check him very well. He
doesn’t use a tablet. For a man like that he was quite knowledgeable. He may not
have had a PhD, but he was enlightened, not just about politics but about
personal well being. Ironically, this same man goes to Abuja and returns with a
Covid-19 infection. If anybody took his health seriously, he did, including
exercises, ergometic exercises. Throughout the campaign we went round, we
worked hard. He will be the first to come back and say call me my doctor. Let
him check my BP.
Let
him check my Sugar Level. And he will do exercises and all of that. What all of
these teaches us is that everything is in the hands of God. I do no like the
fact that some people have been gloating, over his death. We are all in the
hands of God. God determines what happens to every human being. There is no
human being who is completely bad. There is no human being who is completely
good. Even creation itself is not perfect. As human beings, we are all images of
the imperfection of creation. And that is the major we should all learn.
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