Millions of Nigerians are celebrating the death of Abba Kyari, in a most dramatic and downright startling manner. I have thought about Kyari as a person and how power can shape people, and this is what I believe: Perhaps, any one of us could become tomorrow’s Kyari, who was lured, exalted, and killed twice, by power.
That is, any of these Nigerians jubilating over the death of Kyari could become the very person that every other person would hate and wish death and that people will celebrate when they die. In retrospect, it may be better we exercise restraint and circumspection, look deep so that we may learn from what has happened to others, for that is the hallmark wisdom.
Kyari, a very educated and fortunate man, had a rare privilege in Aso Rock after the election of President Buhari in 2015.
At his appointment as Chief of Staff to the President, not many Buhari’s supporters justified his selection. Many opposed it, saying he didn’t work for it. But President Buhari needed a man in the mold of Abba Kyari, well educated, experienced and exposed, for the office. It is unfortunate that many Nigerians only get to know how trained and experienced Abba Kyari was, upon his death. Of course, anybody in power is careful to select his principal officers or risk his office and possibly his life. Therefore, anybody very firmly attached and relevant to any seat of political power is intelligent in excess, smart, and brave. For indeed, it takes more than education, experience, or mere exposure; to manage men and power, you must also add, imbibe, or learn power craft.
He deftly asserted himself and got the government to revolve around him. He did all these quietly as a master power strategist.
Mr. Kyari, already exposed to the vagaries of corporate politics, very well understood how to assert himself, having gained the total confidence of his Mr. President. He deftly asserted himself and got the government to revolve around him. He did all these quietly as a master power strategist. Still, the more he acted on behalf of the President, the more word got out that he is the one in charge, and people gravitated toward him as the fulcrum of power in the administration.
Two things; Abba did not make any effort or seemed worried about public perception or opinion. Most key players are like that. They are not ostentatious –preferring to act quietly in the background. You just keep seeing their results. But that was a significant mistake. Secondly, Abba Kyari assumed too much power, and that was a fatal error. Although a man may want to have more and more, there are consequences. Naturally, with the total confidence of one’s principal, he may assume as much power as he likes, especially where there is a vacuum, such as in President Buhari’s government, principally due to the health of the President.
As a consequence, Kyari became dreaded, more feared than the President, but also hated. He arrogated to himself the “Almighty Presidency” that can do or undo anything.
Therefore, Kyari assumed so much power that he attracted enemies. Interestingly, some of these “enemies” might equally be those of the President as well. In the cause of doing his job, he must have incurred more enemies, and with the power he exercised, the more enemy he attracted. As a consequence, Kyari became dreaded, more feared than the President, but also hated. He arrogated to himself the “Almighty Presidency” that can do or undo anything. With that comes the sad reality that he takes responsibility for his failures, the President’s shortcomings, including those of the government.
And because he is powerful, consumed by the euphoria of power and so has no need to talk to anybody, or defend himself whatsoever. He believed things said of him are inconsequential in the scheme of things. Indeed, they are because criticisms of him had no single impact on his place in the power equation of Nigeria. Therefore he was tempted to live like it does not matter, and he truly lived as if what people think or say of him does not matter. Here, Abba failed to give himself fair hearing in the public court. He was just too confident in the power that he exercised and didn’t care much about anything else.
Many Nigerians got to know more about Kyari from the reported relationship between Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Abba Kyari upon Kyari’s death! Onyema and Kyari had been friends for 43 long years. Make of it what you wish, but Onyeama’s position must have been possible as a result of their close relationship. More so, it is discernible that Onyeama is a critical member of the Aso villa cabal.
I cannot say if it was a conscious decision Onyeama made, but he stayed away from Kyari’s controversies. So he neither inherited Kyari’s enemies nor takes any blame for President Buhari’s failures. It doesn’t mean that he is a saint, but he has been able to manage power relations well.
Now, I cannot say if it was a conscious decision Onyeama made, but he stayed away from Kyari’s controversies. So he neither inherited Kyari’s enemies nor takes any blame for President Buhari’s failures. It doesn’t mean that he is a saint, but he has been able to manage power relations well.
The outpour of venom expressed by many Nigerians against Kyari, is a result of his failure to manage the power play effectively. He went all out to inherit President Buhari’s perceived incompetence. It is instructive that those occupying critical positions in government must be careful and never subordinate their identities to their jobs. Kyari failed to distinguish himself from Buhari and the APC.
Worst still, he also was unable to use the goodwill that he would have so quickly amassed, to change public perception. Perhaps, he felt it didn’t matter; after all, he was in charge. Maybe if he didn’t die, somehow, posterity may be kind or at least fair to him, just like they were to Jim Nwobodo, the former governor of old Anambra state.
But now, he is dead, and he’s receiving all manner of judgment, right or wrong. In the final analysis, Abba Kyari was a victim of power.
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