Banji Ojewale
An old star departs, leaves us here on the
Shore, Gazing heavenward for a new star
Approaching. The new star appears, foreshadows
Its going, Before a going and coming that goes
On forever …
–
Christopher Okigbo, in Path of Thunder.
*President Jonathan (right) and General Buhari
Okigbo had a keen mind that correctly interpreted
these rocking crises as the shadows of some bigger, more devastating whirlwind
into which we were being drawn. As
he studied the events of his time, he decoded an abiku-like character in them.
The details and nuances which chroniclers ignored or gave little
attention to, he noted and scrutinized to find out why they exerted such
powerful but hardly visible influence.
