My last moments with General Shagaya
Precisely on August 27, 2017, the late General John Shagaya travelled down to the Lamingo Golf Club in Jos to be part of the closing ceremony of Daily Trust Golf Icons Golf tournament. The General had prepared a speech to be read but he arrived at the tail end of the ceremony.
All the same he handed the speech to me for use in the golf page of the Trust. But when the speech came out in the papers, some parts were missing and this didn’t go down well with a thorough fellow like Shagaya.
He called me and admonished me thoroughly. Excuses that I was still in Jos when the speech was used fell on deaf ears. He simply requested I spend more time proof-reading my works. I thanked him.
A week after, and on one late evening, I got another call from the General. This time, he was brief. He wanted me to call at his Karu home the next morning. I wanted to ask if anything was up but he had already cut the line. At once, my mind darted to so many issues. Prime among them was who among members of the IBB Golf Club could have taken my matter to the Senator. It was the norm then. Anytime I wrote unpalatable stories about members, they would either take their grudges to Shagaya or Sir Lucky Omoluwa. It was always like... Óga, Tony has started again’.
With a numb mind, I arrived the Senator’s sprawling home the next morning. The security men all know me so there was never any protocol in announcing my arrival. Save for the househelps who were going about the chores, the estate was virtually empty. But when I arrived the outer sitting room, I met the General in hearty conversation with a man who must be a priest and a woman. The General signalled me to go wait in the inner sitting room. As I took my seat, I immediately sighted a giant card wishing the Senator happy 76th Birthday. I was in shock. It was like how could his birthday come without me knowing of it.
He soon escorted his visitors to the door and joined me in the inner sitting room. I purposely reached for small talks. The television was showing NTAeducation and I asked the Senator what he would be doing with such programme. Then he chuckled and said one of his grand children must have tuned to the channel. He then called on the Cook to change it to CNN.
I pointed at the giant card and he became emotional. He said that day was his Birthday. He added that the compound was quiet because he was not celebrating. He said his wife just passed away and he decided to honor her by not celebrating his birthday. His voice shook that moment but he would not allow me encroach on his emotions. He quickly said: ‘Tony, don’t worry. I will celebrate it for you. I will want you to buy a good shirt to remember this day’. He then gave me a cheque that could have bought a dozen solid shirts.
The Senator then asked if I wanted to share breakfast with him. I declined saying I was prepared to take my leave. He said okay and that he would be travelling to the United States in two days time. He said he needed to rest and that he would spend some weeks there. There and then he called on his son to make arrangement to pick him at the airport. We said our byes and I left the compound. Little did I know that would be the last time I will set eyes on the great General John Shagaya.
Last Sunday, I was part of the crowd that was waiting to see the enthronement of the winner of the IBB Ladies Open. It was then a call came from the office, precisely from the Special Project Editor, Abdulraman Husseini. When he parted with his information, the urge to urinate immediately gripped my loins. He said in a teary voice that news just reached him that Senator Shagaya had died in a car crash along Mangui. Quickly I accosted Sir Lucky Omoluwa who was getting set to do the presentation of the trophy to the winner and told him the sad news. He moved me away and told me the news just reached him. He was deeply in shock.
Goodnight, the peoples General. Surely God will set you among the Angels.