The death on Friday of President Buahri’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, expectedly drew mixed reactions from Nigeria’s political observers. Many hailed him as a stabilising force in the chaotic Buhari administration while others blamed him for virtually everything that has gone wrong with the current regime. Friends from way back like Geoffrey Onyeama, the foreign affairs minister and Femi Fani-Kayode, former aviation minister and a prominent critic of the APC government eulogised the late Kyari as a good man. Other high ranking officials praised the Borno born politician for his loyalty and support to his boss. President Muhammadu Buhari whom he served as chief of staff for the last five years of his life described him as a friend and admitted that he would be missed.
At any point, it must be pointed out that not everyone had words of praise for the departed chief of staff who became the first high-profile casualty of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Several commentators on social media remembered Abba Kyari’s alleged role in the shameful and odious recall to civil service of Abdulrasheed Maina who was fingered in the disappearance of a whooping N195 billion pensions fund. Others dug up media reports linking the late Kyari with a bribery scandal involving the South African telecom giant MTN to the tune of N500 million. The late chief of staff on his part was believed to have influenced the reduction a hefty fine slammed on the company for multiple infringements by industry regulators.
There also were mentions of how Abba Kyari deployed the full weight of his office and friendship with the president to mastermind the misfortune that befell two high ranking senior government officials from southern Nigeria, Winifred Oyo-Ita and Walter Onnoghen, former head of civil service of the federation and chief justice of Nigeria respectively. Abba Kyari, it was alleged, stripped the ministry health of its procurement powers and directed that every procurement request from the ministry be routed through the federal ministry of agriculture. There also were those who narrated how he used his powers to influence senior appointments into the NNPC to favour the north. His influences were also felt, according to those social media revelations, in agencies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, key parastatals of the NNPC, FIRS, the Ports Authority and several other strategic public establishments.
How can we ever forget a recent letter addressed to the president by the national security advisor protesting the usurpation of his duties by the now late chief of staff. Babagana Monguno had advised the president to call Abba Kyari to order as his interference in security protocols was becoming a hindrance in the war against Boko Haram terrorists in several parts of the country. Yesterday, as Nigerians discussed the life and times of Kyari, mentions were inevitably made of Monguno’s letter which at the time exposed the deep divisions in the presidency and official frustrations with Kyari’s domineering presence in the administration. There were those who alleged that Kyari was deliberately frustrating the war on terror as it had become a veritable channel for siphoning public funds without accountability.
How about Kyari’s endless battles with President Buhari’s wife, Aisha Buhari? It was believed by most commentators that the first lady was frustrated to the point of helplessness by Kyari that she had to open up to the media. Aisha had fingered Kyari, along with the president’s relative Mahmman Daura as members of a faceless cabal ruling Nigeria even when they are unknown to the Nigerian electorates. Aso Rock insiders opined that the president’s wife and his chief of staff never saw eye to eye. This reality may have fuelled media speculations late yesterday that Aisha is insisting on having a say in who her husband appoints as Kyari’s replacement.
Kyari’s controversies were not just limited to the time he was actively involved with the government before contracting the novel coronavirus in March after visiting Egypt and Germany, undertaking assignments many observers believed were better handled by ministers. Kyari’s last trip abroad was controversial. “How can he be negotiating power and energy supplies with German firms in the absence of the minister?” Many asked. The next controversy was Abba Kyari’s refusal to self-isolate after returning to the country. If he had done the wise thing by keeping himself away from the public, perhaps he would have spared several staff, colleagues and associates, many of who had allegedly tested positive to the virus.
The chief of staff’s refusal to isolate cannot be blamed on ignorance or illiteracy. Kyari was educated in the UK and had extensive experience in the corporate sector. He was exposed and cannot be accused of not knowing what the world was going through. How about his treatment? Was he flown on the presidential jet to a London hospital? Was he turned back? Was he taken to Cuba but denied entry? Was he ever in Gwagwalada? There are so much questions many would have wished Kyari was here to answer himself.
Recall that when it was reported that he was taken to Lagos, officials in Lagos denied knowing where he was. Why did Kyari go to a private medical facility that had very limited capacity to manage the infection? Did he consider the Infectious Diseases Control Centre in Yaba too low for a man of his class? This is where many compared the mindset of Nigeria’s public officials with their UK counterparts.
Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, submitted himself for treatment in a public hospital in London. He could have gone to any of the best medical facilities in the city but he feared backlash from the public. He advised himself accordingly and today he is out of the intensive care unit and would be returning to his duty post before long.
Kyari was Buhari’s most influential aide. He was in an excellent position to have influenced great transformation in the health sector. He could have admonished his boss to fix the health sector and offer himself for treatment to our local doctors as a way of boosting confidence in the sector. Kyari never did that. Like Buhari, he continued flying abroad any time he fell sick. What, for example, was the rationale behind Kyari’s alleged directive to the health ministry to route its purchases through the ministry of agriculture? Does it make any sense? It was alleged that Kyari had a running battle with the former health minister- Isaac Adewole but hurting the sector was not the smartest thing the chief of staff could have done. Kyari could have done a whole lot differently.
Even at the point of being committed to mother earth, controversies continued to trail the late chief of staff. All measures designed by local public health authorities as ways of curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus were thrown to the dogs as several people converged to pay him last respects at the Gudu cemetery in Abuja. Many, wanting to get a glimpse or good angles for the cameras almost jumped into Kyari’s grave. An official was seen tossing aside his personal protective equipment carelessly in a way that poses great danger to public safety.
Assurances from public health officials did nothing to douse the anger of many who contended that the large crowd at the burial was in violation of the lockdown protocol currently operational in Abuja. Former presidential aspirant Adamu Garba added a funny twist to the conversation when he berated those condemning the large crowd at Kyari’s burial. According to Garba, it was a “capitalist” burial. He lambasted those suggesting that a whole chief of staff should be given a “communist burial.” Well, that’s the beauty of social media engagement, everyone is allowed to have a say on issues, however absurd those views are.
Anyway, Kyari is gone and won’t be involved in government going forward. Buhari would need to find a new chief of staff. Will the new man be as influential and powerful as Kyari? Only time will tell.
What must however, be made clear is that millions of Nigerians are totally disgusted with the way the country has run over the past five years when Kyari exercised tremendous powers in the presidency. For one, we now know that it takes more than loyalty to cement a legacy of greatness in leadership.
May Kyari find mercy before His Maker.
