April 17, 2020, will go down in the annals of the history of the Buhari’s administration as the day Nigeria lost its surrogate president.
What will make the event even more memorable is the controversy and contradictions generated by the demise of the ‘almighty’ Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari .
His death no doubt generated a potpourri of feelings and reactions among the ruling class and the led.
While some rejoiced at the death of a ‘bad guy’ akin to the revealment that greeted the news of the death of Nigeria’s foremost kleptocrat and megalomaniac, Sanni Abacha, some others rebuked those happy with the news of his death.
Another category of individuals came up with personal stories of Kyari’s altruism and philanthropic endeavours, in an obvious stark and comic contradiction to what his official persona portrays.
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Since I agree that one should not speak ill of the dead, I am equally of the opinion that people reserve the right to examine in retrospect, the life of the deceased.
There is however something fundamentally wrong with those coming up with the narrative of their personal experiences with the deceased to rebut the widespread official impression of Kyari.
This is because Abba Kyari died as Nigeria’s chief of staff to the president (COS), a position he held for five years.
As a result, those examining him through the lens of his activities in government are well within their rights, and those coming up with their personal experiences of him as a counter-narrative are engaging in a perfunctory venture.
I do not intend to belabour the reader of this piece with a chronicle of events revolving around Kyari in the Buhari regime, as that is in the public domain, but to rivet on a feature that characterized the late COS both in life and in death.
Abba Kyari had a persona of lawlessness, one that characterized events culminating in his death and burial. Embarking on a trip that should have rather involved the minister for power, usurping the powers of the National Security Adviser, flagrant disregard for the rule to self-isolate, and disobedience to the quarantine and COVID-19 regulations that forbid treatment in a private hospital, are all indices to a man who bends the law according to his whim.
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Even in death, his burial defied the lockdown in place, and the requirements of private burial and social distancing.
The events preceding Kyari’s death and the unfortunate events that characterized his burial should evoke some salient questions on what law ought to be, and what it is, in our present reality. Laws are offshoots of moral philosophy.
As a result, a law should conform to morality. Laws conform to morality if they are in accord with reason, and not subject to the caprice of an individual.
This distinguishes just laws from unjust laws. Even a just law can become unjust, if it selectively applies to only some members of society, as was observed in the case of Kyari, in life and death.
The events leading to his death is a metaphor for the lawlessness and disregard for just laws that pervade the polity.
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In life and death, Abba Kyari’s persona exuded lawlessness.
Officially, Kyari was Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of staff, but in reality, he was Nigeria’s de facto ruler, who not only ruled on behalf of Buhari but tactically dispossessed the country’s de jure vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, of his functions.
It didn’t come as a surprise that Buhari directed all files for his attention to passing through his COS.
Before this directive, Buhari’s cognitive facility had been an issue of public scrutiny and concern. Mr President’s proclamation only lent credence to public speculation that he had abdicated his responsibilities and ceded the functions of his office to his “omnipotent” COS. It is merely stating the obvious that Buhari will greatly feel the loss of his foremost loyalist in power, and this will make the replacement for Kyari a herculean task.
It won’t be easy to get his replacement because the president, going by his favourable disposition to sectarianism and cronyism, “trusts” very limited people. Also, considering the roles played by Kyari in the Buhari regime, there is no gainsaying that the search for Kyari’s successor is the search for another de facto president for the country.
Whoever fills that position must be able to replicate Kyari’s unalloyed loyalty to the president, and must possess the necessary skills of astuteness, wittiness and stratagem to deal with perceived opponents of the president, as the byzantine plot in the race to 2023 thickens.
However, it is in the interest of the country at large that the de jure vice-president is allowed to freely exercise the functions of his office, and assist the president in his seemingly incapacitated state. Kyari’s unexpected and shocking demise should serve as a lesson to political office holders that death demystifies the toga of invincibility that power – despite its ephemeral and transient attributes – confers on those who wield it.
Franklyn Ofoegbu holds a Master of Science degree in Cell Biology and Genetics from the University of Ibadan. He teaches Chemistry to advanced level students and is a public affairs commentator.
