The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone D chapter, on Sunday, mourned over the death of late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari.
Mr Kyari died of Coronavirus on Friday and was buried in Abuja on Saturday.
NANS in a statement by its spokesperson, Kazeem Olalekan Isreal, said: “As an association, we commiserate with the Presidency and the family members of Abba Kyari who until his death was the Chief of Staff to the President of the Federation. It cannot be gainsaid that as a domestic staff to the President, he served his principal (the President) diligently which was even attested to by the President himself in a condolence message he personally signed.
“Contrary to speculations by some persons that Abba Kyari died as a result of the ‘evil’ he did while on Earth, we in NANS Zone D believe that death as a natural phenomenon is the inevitable end of men and that, all men shall die which was well-captured in My Experiment with Truth where Mahatma Gandhi states that “when death is imminent, no one can think of the right remedy.”
This rightly capture what was at play with the death of Abba Kyari because, despite the fame and power he wield, he still had to succumb to death.
“We believe that Abba Kyari has gone to an unknown world and that his death has nothing to do with whether he was a good person or not. However, we need to state without mincing words that the burial of the late CoS violates WHO protocol on Covid-19 Infection Prevention and Control and the NCDC guidelines.
“Though, we are very much aware of the fact that there is no regulation that ban the burial of person(s) that die of COVID-19, nonetheless, we believe that in avoiding the spread of the deadly virus which has become a pandemic threatening global existence and respecting the cultural and religious tradition of the dead, the burial activities should have been thoroughly and closely monitored by the Federal Government and that unlike what was witnessed after the burial in a widely circulated video, the personnels including the burial team that interacted with the dead body should have applied standard precaution by wearing appropriate PPE, but, reverse was the case to the extent that a member of the burial team was seen undressing himself of the PPE in a public place immediately after the burial rite without disposing it properly which could constitute serious health risk to some other persons that may have contact with the gown not to even talk of the crowd that witnessed the burial with no precautionary measures put in place.
“As an association, we understand that as a practicing Muslim, the late CoS deserves the necessary religious rites and prayers accorded to Muslim faithful, however, we expect such to have been done in cognizance of the public health challenges and WHO guidelines.”
“It is based on the aforementioned we make bold to demand that;
– everyone that was involved in the burial rite be put on compulsory Self-isolation in order to avoid a tragic turn of event which could make the present figures being battled with sky-rocket.
– a committee be set-up to monitor the disposal of some other persons that have died of COVID-19 while following standard precautionary measures in order to avoid a similar experience.”
