The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and former Vice President Namadi Sambo yesterday joined other national and world leaders to mourn the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari.
Kyari passed on on April 17 following complications from COVID-19 infection.
Prince Charles, in his condolence letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, described Kyari’s death as “a desperately sad news,” and sent his “deepest possible sympathy” to Buhari and the government and people of Nigeria.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement, said the crown prince, Kagame and Sambo expressed sadness over the death of the chief of staff.
Prince Charles, in a condolence letter to the president, lamented that the death of Kyari occurred through this “pernicious virus…”
He added: “I can only begin to imagine what an immense gap Mr. Kyari’s untimely death will leave in Your Excellency’s life and my heart goes to you and Mr. Kyari’s family.”
Kagame, in his condolence message through the Embassy of Rwanda in Abuja, said the government and people of Rwanda mourned with Nigeria and its people over Kyari’s death.
He seized the occasion “to express solidarity to the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as we are faced with the COVID-19 global crisis.”
Sambo, in his own message to the president, described the death of Abba Kyari as a “monumental national loss.”
Shehu also said industry leader and businessman, Abdulsamad Rabi’u, sent a condolence letter to the president in which he expressed saddened over what he described as “this colossal loss.”
According to him, Kyari “served the country and your administration with diligence and utmost loyalty. He was deeply committed to the service of Nigeria and his efforts, especially in ensuring the success of Your Excellency’s agriculture industry agenda did not go unnoticed. He was a beacon of loyalty and a patriot.”
The statement added: “Other messages received by President Buhari included those from the Emir of Gazargamu, Ahmad Tijjani Ibn Saleh from Yobe State; the Secretariat of the Developing D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation headquarters in Ankara, Turkey; retired Ambassador Jibrin Chinade; Alhaji (Dr) Adamu Abubakar Maje, the Emir of Hadejia, Jigawa State.
“Former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Emeka Nwogu and a former Managing Director of the Guardian Newspapers, Eluem Emeka Izeze, also sent condolence messages to the president.”
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