My Obadiah mailafia
OUR paths never crossed on this earth, but we had a lot in common. We shared a similar worldview and intellectual culture as columnists and public intellectuals. He was an Okun Yoruba from Kabba, which made him my fellow Middle Belt compatriot. Like him, I also studied French language and civilisation, although mine was preparatory for post-graduate work in Economics, Public Administration and Law. We both had the privilege of moving freely from French Cartesian philosophical thinking to Anglo-Saxon philosophical empiricism – the best preparation, in my view, for any public intellectual worthy of the name.
I had just arrived Casablanca, Morocco, for an international conference when news came that an Ethiopian Airlines plane had crashed less than 10 minutes after take-off on Sunday, March 10, killing all 157 passengers and crew. Two Nigerians also perished in that awful tragedy – Ambassador Abiodun Bashua, a top UN official and Canada-based literary…
