I was also re-appointed by President Obasanjo into the PresidentвЂ™s Secretariat, to my old schedule, the Special Duties brief. Onukaba returned to The Presidency June 2003, following his appointment by Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as Senior Special Assistant on Media, subsequent upon the inauguration of the Obasanjo-Atiku ticket for a second term. It was a quiet ceremony, since Onukaba was just emerging from a not too successful union, consummated in 1999. October 19, 2002, Onukaba invited me to Benin City, amongst select friends, to take Rachael Akiomuado Ogirri, for a wife. We met in December 1998 on the Publicity Team of the Obasanjo Campaign Organisation, immediately he returned from his decade-long stint in the United States and the United Nations system.В We hit it off since that first meeting and we remained what soccer aficionados will refer to as вЂњfive and sixвЂќ, in reference to the on-field inseparability of the central defence pair of a football squad.Дespite the occupationally-inspired geographical separation, we remained best of friends. He then narrated the tragic incident in a five-minute conversation which seemed like eternity. He was a familiar person, a kinsman of Onukaba. I introduced myself and wanted to know who was at the other end. I remained unyielding and called again at 9:33 am, virtually barging through, this time around. I called OnukabaвЂ™s line, for some reason at 9:32 am that Monday, and somebody took the call. Much as one call after another, in the early hours of Monday, March 6, repeatedly called my attention to facebook posts, tweets and headlines scrolling on the newsbar of several television stations, I could not bring myself to piece together the confounding puzzle. I excused it all to the perennially erratic telecommunications network which has come to be a part of our daily living. I called his wife, MemunatвЂ™s line as well. I was keen to know how his trip went, so I called his two lines repeatedly between 7:37 pm and 7:40 pm. We hadnвЂ™t spoken in nearly two days which was most unusual. Thoughts of him kept tugging at my mind in the evening of Sunday, March 5. By his itinerary which we discussed the Thursday before, he was to attend a meeting in Lokoja, Saturday, Madisengage therefrom, begin his road trip to Abeokuta, and pass the night on the way, so as to be in Abeokuta early enough on Sunday, March 5.

Newsbar taking way too much energy