Late Yima Sen
This evening, I got a call from Prof Terhemba Shija, who broke the news of the passage of Prof Yima Sen.
I am in shock because the last time I met with Prof Yima was last quarter of 2019. I went over to his house in Wuye from where we drove back to mine in Life Camp. We discussed at length and as always, he dwarfed me with his gargantuan intellect and incisive knowledge on topical global issues.
I knew Prof Yima Sen when I was a kid in secondary school. I was awed by his debonair looks, well cut suits when he worked with the Father of modern Benue State, Governor Aper Aku (of blessed memory).
Well, they say the young shall grow, which explains how I grew up to interact with this great man who was my idol. We were in Lagos in my days as a young foreign service officer and I learnt a lot under his feet through interaction and discussions.
He veered into academia and I made it a point to always tap from his vast experience and knowledge by regular visits and engagement on topical issues. I have benefited richly from the relationship.
Fast forward, I dropped him at home that day, which was the last time I saw him because we only communicated via phone and I have spent the whole of 2020 which has two months to elapse in Lagos. I didn’t know he was ill. I got back to Abuja this month and was going to see him, which explains why his passage is like a bombshell to me.
Prof Yima was a man who had a big heart, a humanist, a helper, but above all, a man who was consistent with issues that affected the poor in society. A Marxist he was not because he was too real to believe in the unattainable utopia of Marxism. He was a scholar and a communications strategist par excellence cast in the same hue with Otto Von Clausewitz.
An ivy graduate of UCLA who graduated with distinction, Yima Sen worked with Second Republic President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari under the late Chuba Okadigbo and proved his mettle. He also worked with the United Nations in various positions and in different countries.
The curtains have fallen and I weep bitterly over the demise of an idol who became a brother, a mentor and one of the greatest teachers I would ever have.
Rest in peace Sir.
..George Barclay Nguher (Gyuve i Kyado), sent this tribute from Abuja.