What Buhari Said About Late Chief Of Staff

It is no doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari has lost in late Abba Kyari a great confidant, a close friend, and a brilliant high-intelligent adviser who solidly constituted the framework of his presidency. Kyari, considered the most powerful chief of staff in the history of Nigeria, died on Friday, April 17 at the First Consultants Hospital in Ikoyi Lagos after weeks of a battled with complications from Covid-19 infection. The Borno-born lawyer turned politician was buried on Saturday, April 18, according to Islamic rites. He was interred at exactly 11.20am at the military cemetery in Abuja’s Gudu neighbourhood amidst tears from family members and supporters.

Without any iota of doubt, Kyari’s sudden demise will not only leave a huge vacuum in the hearts of friends and family members but also in the Buhari-led administration which he co-defined with his piercing influence as the chief of staff.

His significance to Buhari government was captured when the president, in his glowing tribute to Kyari, described him as a someone whose “true focus was always the development of infrastructure and the assurance of security for the people of this nation he served so faithfully.”

1. My loyal friend and compatriot for the last 42 years There is no doubt that the bond between the president and his late chief of staff was beyond being politicians. It was a bond of friendship built on the foundation of trust and loyalty. And no wonder, Kyari commanded so much influence that he has tagged the real president of the country. 2. A diligent student. . . would bring his first-rate skills and newly acquired world-class knowledge back to Nigeria

Kyari’s CV is so loaded that for him, he was an accomplished man with enviable background. He graduated from the University of Warwick where he studied Sociology.

He then went to study law at the University of Cambridge. He later attended the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland and participated in the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, in 1992 and 1994, respectively. He was indeed a brilliant student who was “blessed with the opportunity to study abroad.” 3. Abba’s true focus was always the development of infrastructure and the assurance of security of people Kyari was said to have travelled to Germany with the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, where he contracted Coronavirus. He died serving the people of Nigeria.

1. He was not power-drunk, a complete incorruptible man In Buhari’s voice: “In political life, Abba never sought elective office for himself. Rather, he set himself against the view and conduct of two generations of Nigeria’s political establishment – who saw corruption as an entitlement and its practice a byproduct of possessing political office.”
2. A secretive man that did not have a high public profile. In his tribute, President Buhari also noted: “Abba was the opposite: he simply had no need, nor did he seek, the cheap gratification of the crowd; for him, there was nothing to be found in popular adulation.”
3. He acted forcefully as a crucial gatekeeper to the presidency. Kyari was so powerful that Buhari made him the only door to him. “He acted forcefully as a crucial gatekeeper to the presidency ensuring no one – whether minister or governor had access beyond another – and that all those representing and serving our country were treated equally.” 7. He was a nationalist. “He made clear in his person and his practice, always, that every Nigerian – regardless of faith, family, fortune or frailty – was heard and treated respectfully and the same,” President Muhammadu Buhari had noted.