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VOL. 7, NO. 2347 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012
TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH
N150.00
PATRICK IBRAHIM YAKOWA (1948 - 2012)
•Yakowa’s widow, Amina (second right), with her children, during her husband’s funeral at Fadan Kagoma in Kaduna State…yesterday
Jonathan warns elders at Yakowa’s funeral Wife: I’ve come to terms with his death Kaduna immortalises late governor We lost a son, not our future, says Kukah
and words of elders are just like winds and waves ‘Utterances that move, gather momentum and cause destructive effects, the end results of such destruction cannot be predicted ’ P RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday took exception to what he called the divisive statements of the nation’s leaders, urging them to mind what they say. Speaking at the funeral of former Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa in Fadan Kagoma, the President implored the elders to emphasise those things that unite rather than divide the country. He said: “Utterances and words of elders are just like
From Tony Akowe, Kaduna
winds and waves that move, gather momentum and cause destructive effects which end results cannot be predicted. Responses of our young men and women are reflections of what the elders talk in public and even in private”. It was unclear those the president was referring to since he did not mention names. A few months ago, Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo fired brickbats at each
other. Obasanjo fired the first salvo when he blasted Jonathan for being weak in handling the Boko Haram menace. The president fired back during the last Presidential Media Chat, describing the army’s 1999 invasion of Odi in Bayelsa State on Obasanjo’s order “as a disaster”. “Old men, women and children and not militants were killed in the invasion,” Jonathan said.
Fadan Kagoma, the home town of the late Yakowa, was a beehive yesterday as the president led members of his cabinet, governors and other eminent Nigerians to the funeral. At the funeral service which took place at the St Paul Catholic Church, Fadan Kagoma, Jonathan described Yakowa as a “bridge builder” who loved his people irrespective of their religion and tribe. Yakowa, former National SecuContinued on page 5
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