Joy and relief, puzzles and subsisting fear were the emotions with which we began the past week following the Dapchi girls’ return. That event and others gave us the top ten quotes from the week:

Nata Sharibu

104 of the kidnapped girls from Dapchi were returned. Five died and one, Leah Sharibu, was retained by the abductors for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. Listen to her still traumatized but proud Father:

“All of them were released. They said some were dead there and my daughter is alive but they cannot release her because she is a Christian. They gave her the option of converting in order to be released but she said she will never become a Muslim… I am very sad but I am also jubilating too because my daughter did not denounce Christ.”

Muhammadu Buhari

The President met with the 104 returned Dapchi girls at the Aso Villa, using the opportunity to pledge his commitment to grant same joy to Chibok parents whose daughters are yet to return. There will be no joy, however, for some people, the president warned:

“Government would not tolerate any attempt by any person or group to trivialize or politicize security issues for politically motivated ends. Accordingly, security agencies would not hesitate to decisively deal with such unscrupulous characters.”

 Lai Mohammed

At what cost were the girls released? The Minister of Information and Culture gave an answer that has far from satisfied the curiosity of most observers:

“No ransom was paid to them to effect this release. The only condition they gave us is not to release (the girls) to the military but release them in the town of Dapchi without the military presence.”

Pius Adesanmi

Minister Mohammed’s assertion was questionable, but more puzzling was his association of Boko Haram with morality. Pius Adesanmi couldn’t hold it:

“Sometimes we criticize our govt officials too much without checking on their condition. I am thinking of Lai Mohammend again. If he is now seeing the human and moral side of Boko Haram, has anybody asked him: Uncle Lai, are u ok? Has anybody said to him: I am worried about you…”

Bill Gates

The world’s second richest man was in Nigeria in the week and was the guest to meet at the wedding of Aliko Dangote’s daughter. Before that, he met with President Muhammadu Buhari and wasn’t sparing in his evaluation of the president’s policies:

“The Nigerian government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan identifies investing in our people as one of three strategic executives, but the execution priorities don’t fully reflect people’s needs – prioritising physical capital over human capital. Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian is able to thrive, If you invest in their health, education and opportunities, the human capital that we are talking about today, then that will lay the foundation for sustained prosperity.”

 

Paul Kagame

Forty-four African countries converged in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital to sign a historic free trade agreement. Nigeria backed out at the last minute and the Rwandan president did not veil his dig at his Nigerian compatriot:

“Some horses decided to drink the water. Others have excuses and they end up dying of thirst.”

Olusegun Obasanjo

And how did Nigeria’s former president react to Buhari’s abstention?

“It is criminal for any African leader to talk of not understanding what we are going to sign (Free Trade Agreement in Africa) and afford not to be here. I am surprised that any African leader at this point in time will be talking about either not understanding the Continental free trade area or not to support what we’re going to sign. I see that as criminal.”

Victor Oluwadamilare

Not many persons would have heard of him before his letter-bomb outing his former boss, Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu. Mr Oluwadamilare detailed Mr Shittu’s apparent neglect of the welfare concerns of his staff while living in “indescribable opulence”:

“In a space of 29 months in office and from ground zero in 2015, you now have no fewer than 12 luxury houses in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan and a few months ago, you bought a brand new N93 million Printing Press.  You have bought over 25 luxury vehicles for yourself, family members, concubines and cronies, outside the eight official vehicles attached to your office.”

Adebayo Shittu

Oluwadamilare’s missive elicited a no-holds-barred response from the Minister’s media team:

“It suffices to state that Mr. Oluwadamilare made some allegations that are characteristic of a sinking man. He said that the minister, within his two years in the office has procured twelve houses, a printing press, and twenty-five cars among others. These allegations would definitely fly as a phantasmagoria or an over-bloated comedy.”

Flavour

Nobody switches between praising ukwu sarambara and ‘praise and worship’ like Flavour. On the latter, his collaboration with the visually impaired Semah G. Weifur was well received mid last year. He defends this because music for him has no physical boundaries:

“When it comes to music, impairments do not exist, as for me, music is spiritual. Therefore, there are no limitations as to whom I choose to work with. Cobhams Asuquo is another extraordinarily talented producer and composer that I worked with on “Virtuous Woman” as part of my fifth studio album ‘Ijele – The Traveller.’ There are no bounds to creativity.”