Compassion, not Abba Kyari, presidential chief of staff, died on April 17 — and it is distressing how children of hate, offspring of spite with unfazed bile, are celebrating its demise.
Hardly had Mallam Kyari’s passage hit the waves than a Facebook friend blitzed with a post: “I am not mourning,” he crowed, “I will not pretend to mourn. I will not mourn [a] man who held my country hostage till his death.”
“Unfazed heart of darkness!” Ripples riposted, the first to do so, but only to earn a gruff counter: “Pretence is worse evil,” to which Ripples returned, much more alarmed: “Evil presumptiveness is even more damning. Not every heart is dark!”
Along these exchanges, another friend chipped in, with what appears gentle reason.
“You don’t have to mourn,” he cautioned. “[But] don’t gloat and talk about it,” to which our friend roared, perhaps nervously defensive: “Don’t tell me what to talk about!”
Of course, it was early days! Soon, our friend got bolstered by fellow offspring of hate, even as many alarmed others queried his humanity. The post grossed three shares and 48 non-verbal reactions.
ur friend won’t be denied his democratic right to rabid hate on Facebook, even as he, in holy anger, dubbed those who disagreed “hypocrites”, for rejoicing at Sani Abacha’s death in 1998 but demurred to roll out the drums at Abba Kyari’s in 2020! Some morbid unreason, driven by even more reckless presumption!
Another — not a friend but whose post was splashed on another FB friend’s wall — even composed a full-length article, bearing his full name and “copyright”.
He took licence for bucking the traditional injunction of not “speaking evil of the dead”, and thoroughly ridiculed the late Kyari — don’t the dead stay dumb? — and triumphantly dismissed the Buhari Presidency as a band of criminals!
And what did this immaculate crusader, burning with holy ire, offer as irrefutable proof? Stock anti-Kyari conspiracy theories; and an MTN bribery allegation, on which he offered no further proof, than the media romours already in the public space.
That anyone, not to talk of a sophisticated adult (rippling with “copyright”!), would affix his name to that crap beggars belief. But then it was FB, with its limitless and gullible rumour-crunching millions!
Still, first thing first: beyond basic fairness and humanity, Ripples has no dog in the Abba Kyari fight. So, the idea is to rigorously interrogate the issues, for or against.
First, the emotive Abba-Abacha comparison, with which these bristling blokes try to draw — and snare — the naive.
Fact: Abacha’s was a killer regime. Fact: Abacha was a thief, whose humongous sleaze led to the indirect death of many (no thanks to poor physical and social infrastructure), or consigned them to avoidable poverty, which remains a plague till this day.
Fact: Abacha not only sustained the “killing” of the popular will, as borne out of the June 12, 1993 presidential election annulment crisis; he clamped the winner, Basorun MKO Abiola in gaol, where he spent his entire “presidential term”, and thereafter died in suspicious circumstances, a month after Abacha himself had passed on.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2018, tried to put a closure to that tragedy by rehabilitating MKO and naming, effective 2019, June 12 as the yearly National Democracy Day, as against the Olusegun Obasanjo-era May 29.
Now, what are the allegations against Mallam Abba? That Kyari was a consummate power player who allegedly hijacked the presidency and made himself the ruthless locus of power.
On that, he appears fairly charged. Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, had cause to rail against him for alleged over-bearing influence on hubby, as part of an alleged cabal.
Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, not one to take prisoners, also nailed him for allegedly shutting out ruling party apparatchiks, who though spilled blood during electioneering, were allegedly blocked from the pork of victory.
Sympathizers to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also alleged the late chief of staff had elbowed the No. 2 from the vortex of power and influence.
Besides, there was this spat, over an alleged power grab, in which National Security Adviser (NSA) Babagana Monguno alleged the late Kyari was dealing directly with the Defence top brass, sans the NSA interface.
Abba Kyari, to all of these allegations, kept mum. From the taciturn president too was deafening silence. So, as the allegations went undefended, it’s perhaps safe to assume, other things being equal, there was no smoke without fire.
Already partly mentioned: Kyari was linked to the alleged N500 million bribe, to ensure MTN got a lower fine, from US$ 5 billion imposed on the telco, for SIM registration irregularities that bordered on dire national security. But beyond media rumours, no concrete proof got proffered.
Incidentally, it’s rather interesting how these dire third-party allegations, measure against glowing tributes, by those Kyari directly worked with.
“My loyal friend and compatriot for the last 42 years — and latterly my chief-of-staff -” the president enthused, “never wavered in his commitment to the betterment of everyone of us.” His tribute was titled: “He was the very best of us.”
In friendship and loyalty, Abba Kyari epitomized the Buhari strength and weakness. Buhari nicked presidential glory because he kept himself from the elite decadence, nay debauchery, of his contemporaries. So, at a paralyzing national juncture, his integrity shone through and earned him the top job.
But that same self-restraint limited his network: in his native North and Nigeria-wide. Thus, sundry adversaries and media confederates have framed him as a narrow northern irredentist — especially those wide-and-merry hustlers and ethnic supremacists, who can’t cudgel his integrity.
It’s doubtful, therefore, if a Buhari straight-and-narrow, could cohabit with a Kyari wide-and-merry, for nearly five years (not mentioning a 45-year friendship) — except, of course, all through, Kyari had hoodwinked the president!
But even if you pour cold water on this presidential serenade, Femi Fani-Kayode, arch-enemy of PMB and his alleged Fulani “cabal”, is singing a surprise tune on this one.
Then, Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama. He spoke of a loyal friend of 43 years; a Kanuri Muslim as Best-Man to an Igbo Catholic, wedding a Yoruba Anglican, at Ido-Ani, Ondo State; a fellow scholar at both Warwick and Cambridge universities in the UK; and a quiet but conscientious fellow, nonplussed by allegations of sleaze. “Abba” Onyeama wrote, “was a man of unimpeachable integrity. Absolutely incorruptible!” That “incorruptibility” seems to explain the Buhari bond.
An over-generous tribute to a fallen friend? Maybe. Still, Onyeama’s tribute bucked Kyari’s media “cabal” portraiture, as some operator in the darkest pit of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave; a sorry northern irredentist that hated every soul outside his dark and ultra-narrow power cabal!
Besides, his Warwick, Cambridge and Harvard resume busted another southern stereotype: the northern “Aboki” as slothful, uneducated, and uncompetitive. Brainless bigotry we impose on ourselves!
Still, do all these clear Kyari of all the allegations? No. But they teach us not to bow to utter demonization from third parties, who have mutual axes to grind; and not to fall for media stereotypes, particularly ones driven by ethnic bigotry.
That would appear the lot of Abba Kyari. May Allah forgive his sins and comfort the family he left behind.
