Ekwueme At 80: You Are Getting Nearer The Departure Lounge – Obasanjo Tells Ekwueme

 

 

The conference on ‘Party Politics in Nigeria and Lobbying, the Lobbyist and the Legislature,‘ organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies, was supposed to be a gathering for brainstorming on politics but it turned into a mixture of politics and jokes with former president Olusegun Obasanjo the lead character.

Senate President, David Mark; his Deputy Ike Ekweremadu, and the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, had used the occassion to congratulate former vice president, Alex Ekwueme on attaining the age of 80-years.
Obasanjo, who shared one of the sessions of the conference, later told Ekwueme that attaining 80 was a sign that he (Ekwueme) was moving to the departure lounge.
Obasanjo said, “The only octogenarian on the high table, and I don’t think there is even another person on the other side of the table, even in the hall (that is up to 80 years).
“My brother and friend, and I think the Senate President regards you as a true democrat; I will join the others in congratulating you on your recent crossing of the bar.
“But let me just warn you that crossing the bar or becoming 80 something, you are getting nearer the departure lounge.
“I will get into the car park with you, but I won’t go into the departure lounge with you.”
The comments elicited hearty bouts of laughter from the audience, including Ekwueme, who in a hushed tone, spoke with Obasanjo.
No one, however, could tell what Ekwueme told the former president who again replied in pidgin, “As we come, na so we go go,” which literally translates that those who came into the world first would be the first to depart from it.