Abba Kyari: Top Christian Leaders, Politicians, Traditional Rulers Greet Buhari
Top Christian leaders, prominent politicians and traditional rulers have condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari on the death of his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.Top Christian leaders, prominent politicians and traditional rulers have condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari on the death of his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.Crash Of US Oil Price, A Blow To President Donald Trump – Experts
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has made it clear that there is no approved vaccine for coronavirus yet.Abuja Prosecutes 156 Lockdown Violators
No fewer than 156 residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have been prosecuted by the mobile courts, for violating the federal government lockdown policy to control the spread of coronavirus.
The Director of the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services(DRTS), Wadata Aliyu Bodinga, who gave an update on the enforcement of the lockdown law, said that the mobile courts started sitting on Thursday 16th April in three different locations across the city. The locations include AYA, Dantata and Mpape.
He said that a total of 50 cases were prosecuted on the fist day out which 40 were convicted while 10 were discharged.
On the second and third days, Friday 17th and Sunday 19th, 40 were prosecuted with 29 convicted and eleven discharged; 66 were prosecuted with 48 convicted and 18 discharged respectively.
Wadata said that the trial involves pedestrians, motorists and motorcyclists caught violating the order.
He said that some of the convicts were fined various sums while others had their vehicles impounded and sentenced to community service.
The Director said that the objective of setting up the courts has been largely achieved as fewer people are now seen on the streets.
He noted that the idea of prosecuting violators was not aimed at punishing anyone but to discourage people from leaving their homes against medical advice to curtail the spread of COVID 19.
He appealed to residents to comply with the lock down order to avoid arrest and prosecution.
Abba Kyari: Silence In Storms, By Yusuf Ozi Usman
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X, an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement and best known for his staunch and controversial black racial advocacy once said: “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent and that’s power, because they control the minds of the people.”
The death of Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday night, April 17, has thrown up some kind of controversies around his personality.
While a few vocal ones, using social media, are passing uncomplimentary remarks on him even in death, majority of others are either expressing the conventional sympathy or speaking out about the good and wonderful things he did for the country and the people who hired him.
Of course, it is not practicable to have everyone talking good about him, as in human nature, but the worrying thing is the fact that majority of those speaking Ill of him either had never met him in life or never knew his line of duty around the presidency.
The truth of the matter is that Chief of Staff in a civilized country like Nigeria, is a gatekeeper for the President or governor. He regulates the president’s daily routines, including the guests or visitors that want to visit him.
Of course, in the process of carrying out the primary assignment, including the ones the President may add for the Chief of Staff, when necessary, he is most likely step on toes of powerful people, offend many and, indeed, take responsibility for the presidential mistakes and miscalculations.
Such tasking assignments that attract misunderstanding and therefore bad comments of people require some form of public relations machinery, as self-defense mechanism.
But late Abba Kyari seemed to have downplayed this vital aspect of public office, especially his own that attracted a lot of envy and therefore, bad mouthed political gladiators.
As a matter of fact, most Nigerians are only being told after his death about all his goodness, his kindness, his humility, his honesty and loyalty to his friend, President Buhari.
While some of the comments about the better part of him by those who were close to him are appropriate in the context they are being expressed, others have exposed the hypocritical nature of some Nigerian leaders.
For one, about the controversy that surrounded the MTN bribe saga which sought to spoil the personal integrity of the late Chief of Staff, it is just now after his death that Nigerians are being told the truth: that late Abba Kyari was neither a member of the committee that sat on the matter nor even knew where the issue was discussed. And when the controversy raged, there was not as much as whimpers from his side. It was like; let them make the noise. It would soon fizzle out.
The danger therefore, in a public officer allowing rumour to thrive around him without constantly explaining the true position of things from his side is that such rumour would develop into reality and take a different shape beyond the imagination of the subject. For, as philosopher would say, a lie told severally without counter attack has a way of taking the shape of truth, though, technically, one cannot take the place of the other.
When I hear people speak ill of Abba Kyari, I feel uncomfortable for the reason that a lot of lies have been built around him and he, along with those who are now trying to clean him up, did not respond with facts at appropriate time.
When his haters went around floating lie that he was the de-facto President: that he was actually the one performing the presidential duties while Buhari looked on helplessly, I was piqued.
When they branded lies that all appointments and sackings were his handiwork: that he used to collect huge sums of money from prominent personalities before he allowed them to see the President and that he used to collect millions of dollars from big organizations before contracts were awarded to them, I felt sad.
They, the liars spinned lies that he was usurping the functions and duties of other high appointees of President Buhari and his government. Petition was even written to the President on this recently.
All these lies were spanned to bury the reality that Abba Kyari never did any single act without an order or directive from the President. That he never did anything without the approval of the President and that he never had any kind of negotiation with any contractor, either directly or indirectly and above all, that he took serious exception to all forms of bribery.
With passing times, all such lies, unchallenged, undenied, as were peddled and sold to millions of ignorant and idle haters of anything Buhari and his government, took different negative shapes.
Indeed, if I had not personally encountered him, I may have been misled by the few vocal people in the social media especially, to believe that he was a snub, an arrogant and a corrupt person, etc.
Before I encountered him in October 2019, I had developed this kind of fear that he was going to shout me down and ordered me out of his sight, based on the picture some people have painted of him. But surprisingly, he received me in his conference hall, listened to me with a lot of respect, offered me pieces of advice on the subject I took to him and promised to be there for me in pursuit of it. I actually came out of that meeting with far different opinion of him, and up to his death and after, I became his unappointed spokesman.
The point here is that some of our good public officers believe in this adage that silence is golden, but in the Nigerian context, silence means acceptance of the lies which the vocal few that are desperate to spoil you spin about you. Such silence coming as it were, from a highly revered personality and officer of the government inner caucus as Abba Kyari, a thoroughly trained journalist and therefore public relations guru was disturbing, especially realizing the fact that he should know and understand the power of words and of the social media and mainstream media, as defined by Malcolm X.
Is it for nothing that late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello said that one should stand up to blow his trumpet for whatever achievement one makes for the society, as there is no one that anyone will blow it for one, because everyone is busy blowing his own.
Public officers in our clime who ignore hateful comments, controversies and bad mouthed people with the posture that such controversies don’t matter, are simply giving the spoilers opportunities to re-design public perception of their personalities and official functions.
I can testify, at personal level, having encountered late Abba Kyari at close range, that he was a good man, even before he died. He was only silent when the storms gathered around him.
Nevertheless, you can’t take it from him: he was good.
FCT Minister Sympathises With Buhari On Abba Kyari’s Death
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has sent a sympathy message to President Muhammadu Buhari and the entire Abba Kyari family on the passing of Malam Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President.
The Minister, in a statement today, April 19, described the late Chief of Staff as a quintessential administrator whose great wealth of experience spanning both the public and private sectors was positively brought to bear in the management of the affairs of the country including the FCT.
He prayed that Almighty Allah grants him eternal rest in Jannatul Firdaus and give his family the strength to bear the loss.
Now That Abba Kyari Is Dead, By Simon Kolawole
On January 18, 2020, when I first read of the new coronavirus on the BBC website, my heart missed a beat because of what China means to the world. The headline was: “New virus in China ‘will have infected hundreds’.” And these were the opening paragraphs: “The number of people already infected by the mystery virus emerging in China is far greater than official figures suggest, scientists have told the BBC. There have been more than 60 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but UK experts estimate a figure nearer 1,700. Two people are known to have died from the respiratory illness, which appeared in Wuhan city in December.” I feared for Nigeria in particular.
After reading the story, I immediately sent a link to Mallam Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, with the note: “Good afternoon Mallam. We need to watch it.” How on earth would I have known that exactly three months later, Kyari would be gone, consumed by the same virus? At the time, as the BBC reported, there were only two deaths from the coronavirus disease in the world — and both were in Wuhan. It had not been declared a pandemic by WHO. No other country had recorded any case. It looked so distant that I was even asking myself: “What do you want the chief of staff to do about it?” The whole experience now looks surreal to me.
We regularly exchanged chats and compared notes as the virus began to cause more concern across the world. Shortly after Nigeria recorded its index case — an Italian — on February 27, he finally began to express his worries to me. Let me reproduce his chat in whole: “How many intensive care units do we have ready to admit acute cases? How quickly can we increase the numbers if the virus spreads? How many nurses do we have to deploy immediately and how quickly can we increase the numbers? How many ventilators do we have and how many should we ideally have and how quickly can we increase the numbers?” He said these were his own concerns.
Along the line, Buhari directed Kyari to lead a government delegation to Germany to discuss with Siemens about power infrastructure in Nigeria. The discussions were on how to improve the national grid, which is one of the biggest problems of the power sector. They also discussed building additional plants to improve generation. After the discussions in Germany, he travelled back to Nigeria via the UK. On the weekend of March 21, he was involved in a series of meetings on measures to manage the COVID-19 outbreak.
He was said to have coughed frequently, leading to suggestions that he should run a test since he just returned from Europe.
For the record, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had not officially classified Germany and UK as red zones requiring self-isolation as at the time he returned to the country. He was in Germany and the UK from March 8 to 12, and arrived Abuja on March 13. NCDC designated Germany as “high risk” on March 16 and added the UK to the list on March 17. When the result of his test came out on Monday, March 23, he sent me a message that he had tested positive and was going on self-isolation immediately. I was shattered, shattered because I knew he had an underlying medical condition, but hopeful because his symptoms looked mild: just the cough.
While he was on self-isolation, we had regular phone calls. I normally would call him on WhatsApp voice but he would switch to video and I knew why: he wanted to prove to me that his life was not in danger. He knew I was really worried for him. Rumour was all over the internet that he was on a ventilator, that he was at Gwagwalada Hospital, that he had been flown to the UK or Cuba. Ironically, he was not bothered about the rumours. He did not sound bitter. He was even forwarding them to me and we would share a laugh. He said he was more interested in the goodwill messages he was getting. We still don’t know if he caught the virus in Germany, UK, on a flight or in Nigeria.
On March 29, something happened that got me worried again: he was not picking his calls. I later understood that the cough had worsened and he could not use the regular syrups because they contain sugar. That made his treatment more complicated. He later sent me a message that he was coming to Lagos for further checks and observation, and that the cough was not getting better. That was the last time we exchanged messages or made contact. As soon as he got to Lagos, all messages to his phone went unread. I had to rely on family members and friends to get updates and the impression I got was that he was getting better but the recovery was slow.
In the meantime, he was getting bashed all over the internet. His “death” or “removal” was regularly announced on Twitter or Instagram. But I was assured that, indeed, he was getting better with “encouraging signs”. As of 5pm on Friday, the message I got was that he was “much better” but the doctors were being “cautious”. A few hours later, Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, tweeted that Kyari had passed away. It was most devastating. What began with mild to moderate symptoms had gone out of hand. I understand that COVID-19 kills many patients that way: when you think it is all over, like it’s one step away from the worst, there comes a sudden lethal blow.
Some people have been rejoicing since Kyari tested positive for the virus. The gloating has been massive. Some are not even satisfied that he is dead. They wish they could kill the dead body as well and desecrate his grave. They are all over the social media denigrating the dead. They have their reasons, I believe. I know for sure that the mortal hatred for Buhari was extended to him, so even in death they can’t leave him alone. They said he was Nigeria’s biggest problem. He was to blame for everything that was not going well in the country. Now that Kyari is dead, I am anxiously waiting for all Nigeria’s problems to be solved finally. It would be a thing of joy.
Some said they hated Kyari because he was the one responsible for the relegation of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in the power structure. Now that Kyari is dead, let us see what happens next. Some people told me Kyari is a “usurper” — that nobody voted for him yet he was the one “running” Nigeria. Maj Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), the national security adviser, wrote a stinging memo last year accusing Kyari of overriding presidential powers and preventing him from buying arms and ammunition for the military. Now that Kyari is dead, let us see what happens next. My understanding of power is that you can only be as powerful as the president wants you to be.
My biggest disappointment with Kyari is that he refused to tell his story. When he was accused of taking a bribe from MTN, he explained to me how he opposed the reduction of the $5.2 billion fine, how he was excluded from the resolution committee because of his stand, and how some people met in Dubai and drafted a position paper that formed 80 percent of the final settlement agreement. He said he didn’t know if anybody took bribe, but he was not part of it and his conscience was clear to God. So why not grant an interview to clear your name? His reply: “My boss knows I will never betray his trust. I don’t need to defend myself.” And there is no counter narrative till today.
Anytime a serious allegation, especially of corruption, was levelled against him, I would put him on the spot. He would explain every detail and tell me who was behind the allegation and why they were after him. I would say: “Okay, Mallam, can we publish?” In the most frustrating manner, he would reply: “No. I’m only explaining this for you to know the correct facts. I’m not asking you to defend me. But even if you want to defend me during arguments or discussions, I want you to do it on the basis of facts, not emotions.” I once told him in despair: “It is not about you alone, Mallam! I worry about the stigma your children will carry for life.” He could not be bothered.
Clearly, there was a well-oiled campaign against him basically because of the allegation that he “usurped” power. On his own, at times, he would forward links to the damaging stories to me. “Simon,” he would say, “don’t forget that I was once an editor. There is a difference between investigative journalism and planted stories. These are planted stories.” The narration of everything that went wrong in Buhari’s government was constructed to put the blame at Kyari’s doorstep. He was definitely not a saint but I know that when one person is being blamed for every wrong, there is certainly an orchestrated agenda at play. I have been a journalist for 27 years of my life.
I knew Kyari closely for 10 years. He was a simple man, deeply intellectual and not one to run away from enforcing the rules. We argued frequently, particularly on economic policy which was his major area of interest. He regularly bought me books on economics and sociology. He often invited me for lunch or dinner anytime he was in London and all we discussed was Nigeria and the development challenge. He was very passionate about infrastructure and industrialisation. But he always kept quiet on damaging media reports against him. Maybe that is what chiefs of staff do: take the bullets for their bosses and go to their graves with all the secrets. Adieu, Mallam.
Culled from THISDAY.
For Abba Kyari And For Us, By Tony Momoh
Oh yes, that is life! We lost Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, April 17, 2020. That he did not seem to have recovered from Covid 19 which he tested positive to should be proof that we are dealing with the greatest danger that has threatened the safety and security of man on Earth in living memory.
And to us in Nigeria its biggest catch is Mallam Abba Kyari who will go down in our history as on of the most dedicated men who have occupied that office of Chief of Staff.
The President will miss him. But we must too, even if he refused to be part of our gossip about how he was the Lord of the Aso Manor. He was close to the President because his position demanded it. We have no proof that he abused that trust. But anyone who occupied the post or any other position for that matter must know that there is a waiting day to account for your deeds. You must give an account to the Creator of the Universe of what you did with the opportunity(ies) you had to serve. Every service is a sowing which must bear fruit for you to reap here or the hereafter. It is a personal burden you bear if you do not know that you must account for everything you did while here.
A friend wrote a condolence piece to me on Abba Kyari whom I have known and related to since he worked in the Democrat, a Newspaper established by Ismaila Isa Funtua. What I said is true of everyone who comes here to the Earth.
This is the text — We are here as travellers in Creation. This Earth is one of the Bus Stations. We stop over briefly, from the time we are born until we move on through death. The destination is Paradise which we came from and must work hard and hope to return to.
Those who rest in peace will miss the boat!
We wish Abba Kyari journey mercies home. Amen
Tony Momoh is former Nigeria’s minister
Aisha Buhari To Abba Kyari’s Wife: Please, Take Heart
Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has sent a consolation words to Hajiya Kulu, over the death of her husband, Abba Kyari, who was Chief of Staff to the President.
In a message she personally sent today, April 18, Mrs. Buhari reminded Hajiya Kulu that “we all come from God Almighty and to Him we shall return.
“I condole with Mrs. Kulu Abba Kyari and the entire family of Late Malam Abba Kyari over the death of their husband and father.
“I pray that Allah (SWT) will forgive his shortcomings, grant him Al-Jannatul Firdausi and give the family the fortitude and patience to bear the loss, Ameen.
“While wishing all those infected a speedy recovery and I pray for an end to Covid-19 Pandemic.”
Also Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife, Mrs. Dolapo expressed their sympathies to President Buhari, Mrs. Kulu Kyari, the children, and members of the family of laye Abba Kyari.
“May the Lord comfort and be with you all in Jesus name, amen.”
Abba Kyari: The Best Man Many Misunderstood, By Geoffrey Onyeama