Rueben is Dead-A Poem

I hope he reads all of these unlike his boss and boss master. who can know the heart of man says the holy book, friend to the masses at daytime, friend of looters at nighttime! the latest news in town is....BH will go away come june and MEND will follow suite by december whereas enviromental degradation, alimajri, powerless phcn, unemployment, PDP sellection etc remains forever.

why bemourn that reuben ???

Mrs. Kuti would have had a song for him

just like would have had her son fela:

the man knows no shame,

after having served the fish-mongers.

and BASTA!

Prof Penkelemess

PS:

look at 'im pikshurs:

a fat conceited fellow

Comrade Reuben, good nite. Sleep in your loots till you meet the devil in hell. May your road be rough. May you walk and always stumble.

YOU SAID IT ALL

'Refuseniks' are most times made offers they cannot refuse. This could be the case with Reuben. To soften the ground you are first made to share some of the good life and when hooked the offers is made. A friend once said that in order to be lured to a job he once had, he was asked to name his price. His zeal died when he heard that his employers in their private conversation said in a chukle that he could always be sacked when they were done with his services. This could be the case with Reuben, but then his reputation has gone. Those who went before him in this journalistic gamble are confortable but never again credible.

You never get that feeling of appreciation for the people you are standing for. When you stand for the truth, you do not see anyone there for you on the day of attack. Rather, they will all be jostling for political appointments and avoid you like plague. How many people wanted to be associated with Fela Ransome-Kuti? At whatever level you find yourself fighting for Nigerians, you end up feeling so empty because they are never there to join you to fight the fight. So why not Reuben? I am sure years of emptiness finally took their toll on the poor man. It takes courage to fight for Nigerians. You either decide to go about it expecting no appreciation except the presence of students at your burial. OR you decide to go on fighting in loneliness, emptiness and expect beautiful words you will not see at your grave or give up and do Reuben style. Why not, if not?

What do you expect? Gani Fawehinmi fought, cried, organised rallies? How many did you guys go? What support did you give? All that have at one point or the other fought for the causes of average Nigerians will tell you the same thing. Same feelings of emptiness. When you go out brazenly to stand up for the citizenry, what do you get in return? Scorn, loneliness, emptiness etc. When you are attacked by the powers that be, who will be there for you? No one. When your life is made difficult by these people who have made lives of average Nigerians hell, who do you see? No one. When you face arrests, beatings etc, who do you see? No one. For days, months, years and decades, you keep on, fighting for all but what do you see? You see them lining up in front of these corrupt politicians to say 'ranka dede sir' and struggle for crumbs. They even call you fool. Call you a troublesome person.

Corruption,Corruption, Corruption everywhere in Nigeria. Without money you are not giving any appointment. Money for hand, back for ground. Chief Oboro should simply return home to face Ibrahim Lamorde and Olaolu Adegbite. EFCC over to you.

"Let Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few." Deuteronomy 33:6

Yes, they - the looters got him. They got him real bad. He could not refuse the bait. I wish Ruben could take a minute and go into his washroom, face the mirror and talk to himself candidly and ask questions as regards his appointment into the circle of those he has spent his life criticizing. He should have looked at his writing table, where he has worked all his life conjuring words in defense of the masses and the defenseless and the oppressed. I can imagine Reben ending in the same path like Ibori as he has predicted in some of his writings.

the slogan that comes to my mind is 'if u can't beat them,u join them'...easy way out for Abati-not an hero's way

I have stop reading guardian because of abati role in the last subsidy issue in nigeria.His reputation,charismatic,and deep understanding of issues has gone forever he mistakenly soil his reputation built over decades. four years is nothing compare to years you have use to build this reputation.Very painful indeed jonathan.

RIP rueben, you re also gone just like the others

Reuben is dead, he williningly chose his death and time.
Reuben was the custodian / minder of the garden of Naija,
The garden where happenings, events and plights are reaped in the form of news (as fruits).
News to captivate the mind of the people of God, the Naijans.
The Naijans being proud people put their confidence and trust of taking care of the fruits in charge of few people like Reuben.
People like Reuben to collate, process and interprete such events to them with truth, honest and integrity.
Oh, Reuben, what have you done?
Is it for 30 Shekels of Gold or 30 million of Naira have you sold youe soul and the garden of news which you mind on behalf of the people?
Why did you sell of so cheap to King GEJ at a cost or any cost at all?
Now all trust are loss in you and remedy be no more!
RIP Reuben,
You will be higlhy missed,
Never replaced,
Never forgotten,
Never forgiven by the Naijans.
ADEIU!!!!!!!!!

I am sad that most people castigating people in power if given one tenth of the opportunity they will do worst. Everybody at the other side of power always claimed to be the masses, this was demonstrated during the fuel crises, those that were out of jobs joined the masses to fight subsidy e.g F F. Kayode, El-Rufai etc but we all know these people antecedents and the corruption cases on their neck. Save me the sermon/poem, go get a job.

The Rueben of Rutam House commited suicide. This is what he wanted,we lost a hero in him. He lived and wrote in deceit that he was on our side,alas he joined them to loot. He deceived us. Be Mindful that we have a lot of Rueben in the media

What a solemn pity, that a well known writer in a city, who was seen as a writing diety, is now viewed with a disdainful enmity through his position in the mations polity. sobs, life is an enigma full of mystery. an erroneous nature of humanity.

Beautiful piece of literature. Thumbs up!!

I recall the first time I played football in a full stadium.
I underrated it probably because I'd never experienced the power of a huge crowd. To make matters worse,this match was at night..in a floodlit stadium and I was somewhat oblivious..until a through pass came to me on a goal run and I tried to take a straight shot at goal and missed!
The deafening boo from the crowd surprised me in such a way that I urgently needed to wee. It suddenly occured to me that I was being watched. I looked up at the giant screen and saw my bewildered face as all the cameras in Liberation Stadium Port Harcourt zoomed in on me. It was a defining moment as I realised that this game was not about me...it was all about the crowd.
It is either that Dr Abati forgot that millions of people take him seriously...or that he underrates his constituency as a respected journalist...or that his prize was right.
Whatever it is, the crowd is booing loudly.
I hope he is bewildered...

It is most curious and unfortunate that the Nigeria people would only prefer their best at the never see or do anything good table and never do the good themselves. What was wrong in a good head like Reuben offering to contribute to the building of his nation. THINK TWICE, THINK WELL AND THINK STRAIGHT NIGERIA BELONGS TO US ALL. AND YOU MUST CONTRIBUTE AND CONSTRUCT.

Reuben is Dead
Oh our Reuben is Dead
Weep not for Reuben
Tell it not in Yenagoa,
Publish it not in the streets of Kano;
Lest the sons of Abacha rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the looters triumph.

Reuben Abatai that I knew some year back died last year. Pls don't mourn him because his destination does not warrant us to emback on any form of mourning because his death could be termed "self suicide". He chose cleverly the kind of death he wanted and he has got it. R.I.P, Reuben Abati. The reuben we see today is clearly not the one we used to know. He is a different personality; shame!!!!!

What a pity. Had my doubts about his person. I am always wary of such writers and public commentators who are always so skating and critical of government policies. It seems it is the only way to draw relevance to themselves and validate their persons. He has gone the way of the likes of Onagoruwa, Ebenezer Babatope and all other such turn coats. I know the next step for him now will be to be a card carrying member of PDP and be vying for elective positions into the national assembly from his home state. He fooled a lot of people, but he certainly did not fool me. I hope the money he has been paid for the sale of his urgly soul is sufficient and indemnifies him for the damage to his name and reputation.