My prayer for my mentor, leader and friend is that the God whom he has served so faithfully will grant him many more years in good health and strength; that the wisdom accumulated over seven decades will continue to benefit our country and coming generations; and that the seeds he has planted — in public institutions, in the Church, in education and in people — will continue to bear fruit long after the stories of our present politics have faded.
It was already past 11 o’clock that night when I finally got home.
We had spent much of the day poring over data on the performance of ministers, interrogating numbers, testing conclusions and considering what they meant for the work of government. It had been a long day, even by the standards of an office where long days were quite normal. I took my bath and was preparing to retire for the night when my telephone rang.
It was Boss Mustapha.
There was something important that needed to be resolved. A decision had to be reached, and the resulting document needed to get to President Muhammadu Buhari the following morning. He apologised for calling so late and asked if I could return to the office.
