By Emmanuel Bello
On this birthday of my boss and benefactor, I chose not to write as an aide but a friend to a man I have had the privilege of knowing for decades now. It's a privilege to be friends with someone who symbolizes accomplishments, legendary feats, and a history of movie-like episodes. I'm now feeling the way Father Abraham in the Bible must have felt when the Almighty, the elShaddai, the Ancient of Days called him, a mere mortal whose breath was in His hands, a friend.
In this latest version of that biblical epic, ours was a bond that started in Wukari in the early days. You probably don't understand the excitement it brings when your hero and paymaster actually introduces as a friend and not just an aide - something the performing Governor of Taraba State, the indefatigable Dr Agbu Kefas does all the time with me in private engagements.
But back in Wukari in the 1980s, no one knew all these would be happening today. We were just a motley crew of young people, children actually, whose world view was greatly shaped by the books we read, the teachers around us, and of course the churches we went to. Barrister Yusuf Adda, Hon. Jethro, Zasty, Hon. Josiah Kente, Hon. Ahidjo Musa, and Alhaji Baba BKT can all relate. And it's in church I first saw a kid who stood on the pulpit to give a riveting testimony. It was one of those testimonies days in church. Back in the days, everything was a testimony. Someone once gave a testimony how he got a pressing stone to iron his clothes. A lady would give a testimony of how her cats successfully gave birth to kittens. Another would testify on how God gave him dinner. We were a happy bunch of testifiers who saw the hand of God in virtually everything. The Deeper Life Bible Church had just come into Wukari and we were its most ardent devotees. And we were all in JSS classes.
So, on this particular day, the young Kefas took to the pulpit that was, needless to say, bigger than him to testify. He said he had always prayed that someone would call him a good boy. I mean that was his prayer! The prayer was answered and it started the revolution of answered prayers in his life. He said one day he was on a bike and soldiers asked him to come down and walk through the blockade they mounted. It was the troubling 80s in Southern Taraba and there were military checkpoints everywhere. The soldiers oftentimes clashed with heady boys who won't dismount from their bikes. But not Kefas. He promptly obeyed the soldiers to their amazement. So one of them went to him and said, "you are a good boy"! Answered prayers!
I was transfixed on my seat and loved the story. But I was also curious about the boy. After service, I went over and introduced myself because it was my first time there.
Fast forward to today. Dr Agbu Kefas has an uncanny ability to keep decades old friendships. Virtually everyone he has known from childhood is still his pal today. He remembers all his secondary school classmates by name. His coursemates at the Nigerian Defence Academy, who are now Generals in their rights, still honour him. He takes care of the widows of his deceased pals. Just the other day, we were in Bayelsa and he pointed to a young lady and asked me if I knew her. I said no. He said she is the daughter of our pastor back in the 80s. Dr. Agbu Kefas, unknown to all of us, had actually taken over the training of that pastor's children and trained them all the way to universities.
They are just the tip of the iceberg. The entire world is replete with people who would be praying for Kefas today: men and women he's assisted over the years, irrespective of their backgrounds. The universe is filled with people who have felt his compassion and love for mankind. Taraba can best understand the governor they have through the prism of the man's childhood. And this is just a sneak peek.
Happy birthday, sir!
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