Mamman Daura, the nephew of the
President, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.) said on Saturday that the death
of the late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and that of late Ismaila Isa Funtua, was
so disturbing to him.
Kyari, died on April 17 of
complications arising from the COVID-19 while Funtua died of cardiac arrest on
July 20.
The President’s nephew, along
with Kyari and Funtua; were described as powerful members of the ‘kitchen
cabinet’ of the retired general.
Speaking in an interview on the
Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation monitored in
Kaduna on Saturday, Daura described the two men as “close associates” of over
40 years.
He said Kyari and Funtua’s
services to the administration of President Buhari in the first and second
tenures, were “immeasurable”.
The President’s nephew said he
worked with Kyari when he was Editor and Managing Director of the New Nigerian
Newspaper, Kaduna, adding that he and together with Funtua, they established
the Funtua Textile Mills.
He said, “Truly, it (death of
Kyari and Funtua) was very disturbing. These two great personalities, aside
from being my friends were my close associates.
“What they did for the government
since they came in; Malam Ismailia Isa by the side while Abba Kyari in the
centre, how they worked for this government was beyond our thought. May
Almighty Allah have mercy on them.
“They were close associates, not
blood relations. Close associates due to long term relationship.”
On the late Ismaila Isa Funtua,
the President’s nephew said together they established the Funtua Textile Mill
which has outlived other textile industries across the length and breadth of
the country.
“After leaving New Nigerian, and
retired as a Managing Director, I became the Director of United Nigeria Textile
Limited, UNTL
” He was the Personnel Manager
there. That was when we became worked together and became intimate.
“Together, we established Funtua
Textiles, close to Mairua Dam. All textile mills that were established at that
time have all closed down. The ones in Lagos. Kaduna and Kano, at one point or the
other, have stopped production but Funtua Textiles has been in operations in
the last 40 years,” he said.
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