Yemi Adebowale’s piece with the title, ‘The Frightening Influence of Abba Kyari in Aso Rock’ in ThisDay newspaper on August 13 was as interesting as it was a food for thought on the intrigues that shape the happenings in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of power.
Though the piece show-cased the dangerous trends unfolding in Aso Rock where it is increasingly becoming clear that President Muhammadu Buhari may have become captive of a cabal whose interests, rather than those of the president or the nation is the driving force behind appointments or decision by the Presidency, the piece raises fundamental questions about the objectivity and transparency in the management of the nation’s seat of power under Mallam Abba Kyari as Chief of Staff.
May I concede, at this stage, that it is not exactly my business as to who is appointed or not appointed into various positions of authority by the powers that be in Aso Rock.
Suffice it is, however, to state that the alleged nepotism in appointments by Kyari may be attributed to the influence he has over President Buhari, courtesy of his links to Mallam Mamman Daura, the president’s nephew.
What is, however, of much interest to me and other Nigerians is where decisions by the Presidency have the potential of negatively impacting on the fulfilment of the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians who endured all manner of hardships to ensure the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) in general and Buhari in particular, in the 2015 elections.
A case in point, which featured in Adebowale’s piece, is the alleged nepotism and unilateral decisions by Kyari, the Aso Rock Chief of Staff in the formulation and implementation of presidential decisions which if true, portends grave dangers to Nigeria’s nascent democracy.
For instance, it is indeed scandalous that the Chief of Staff overruled the National Assembly leadership’s legislative nominees who were to accompany President Buhari on his trip to Chad for the inauguration of Idris Deby’s new term of office as President and replaced them with his (Kyari’s) choices.
On the surface, it could appear as if there is nothing wrong with Kyari’s unilateral decision to drop Senator Baba Kaka Garbai and Hon. Mohammed Tahir Monguno both of which represent Borno State in the National Assembly on the President’s Chadian trip.
The reality, however, is that the decision negates protocol and established conventions on such trips. For one, the Chief of Staff has no right whatsoever to determine who represents the National Assembly on presidential trips.
It is, for all intents and purposes, a gross breach of protocol and a negation of the letter and spirit of the theory of separation of powers for Kyari to interfere with decisions by the NASS leadership. With these kinds of decisions by the Chief of Staff, it becomes clearer why there has been no love between the NASS leadership and the Presidency.
Beyond this breach of protocol is the display of gross ignorance of established procedures on issues related to presidential trips to neighbouring countries.
The tradition is that whenever Mr. President visits countries that share common borders with Nigeria, he is accompanied by governors and legislators representing the state or states that are on these borders.
This tradition is in place not for the fun of it but predicated on the belief that the president stands to be better informed in the course of his bilateral discussions or agreements with his hosts.
The imperative of this tradition is even more so in the case of Nigeria– Chadian relations. The Aso Rock Chief of Staff cannot claim ignorance of the fact that for decades, Nigeria’s relationship with Chad has been characterized by events that have significant bearings on developments in both countries.
For instance, Nigeria has been home to thousands of Chadians who were camped in Borno State as refugees fleeing from the civil wars that ravaged Chad in the late 70s and 80s when ex-Presidents Goukuni Wadeyye and Hissein Habre battled each other for control of their war-torn country.
And in recent times, from 2009 to date, Chad and its leaders have been central in Nigeria’s internal affairs since the outbreak of the Boko Haram insurgency and the subsequent military operations to end it.
The Chief Staff cannot also feign ignorance of the fact that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of indigenes of Borno State are languishing in camps in Chad as refugees due to the Boko Haram insurgency.
That apart, Nigeria, and its neighbours have set up a Multinational Task Force to fight Boko Haram with its headquarters in Chad. In this context, the Chadian Armed Forces have played a significant role in liberating many towns and villages in Borno State.
All these facts make it imperative for the governor and legislators representing Borno in the National Assembly to accompany Buhari on his trip to Chad given that any discussion on the Boko Haram insurgency will require inputs from the Borno State Government and the state’s federal legislators.
It is against this background that the unilateral decision by Kyari, Aso Rock Chief of Staff to drop Senator Garbai and Hon. Monguno from the President’s Chadian trip should be seen not only as reckless but unpardonable breach of protocol for which he must be held responsible.
Indeed, one wonders why Buhari decided to appoint Kyari who has been a banker all his life as Chief of Staff given his lack of any experience in handling issues of state or international relations.
Beyond issues of protocol, Kyari’s appointment as Chief of Staff raises further questions about his relevance to the political process that brought Buhari and the APC to power.
“Politics”, according to Tim O’neil, the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives “is Local”. In practical terms, O’neil is saying that politicians cannot afford to ignore or toy with the interests of their primary constituencies.
This objective reality it seems, mean nothing to Kyari. Or else, how does one rationalises the Chief of Staff ’s alienation to Borno State, his primary constituency. It may interest all that care to know that since his appointment as Chief of Staff, Kyari has never visited Borno State despite all the tragedies that have befallen the state in recent times.
In the last one or two years, Borno State has lost many of its prominent sons and thousands of ordinary people who lost their lives as a consequence of the Boko Haram terrorism.
It is, however, curious that Kyari has never considered it necessary to visit and condole with the people of the state over the loss of these citizens. No politician worth his salt can afford to toy with the interest of his primary constituency as Kyari is doing.
Could this behaviour by the Chief of Staff be because of his belief that with Mamman Daura, the president’s nephew behind him, nobody, including the people of Borno State could determine his political future? Your guess is as good as mine.
What is all the more painful is Kyari’s attitude to the plight of the common man in Borno, millions of who have been reduced to refugees and Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Recently, the Doctors Without Borders including the United Nations drew attention to the hunger and death facing millions of people in the areas ravaged by Boko Haram.
The Presidency in its response dispatched a paltry number of 113 trucks (each carrying 600 sacks) of assorted food items to feed nearly four million people facing hunger.
One expects that with one of its sons occupying the position of Chief of Staff in the Presidency, Borno State will receive much more than 113 trucks the Presidency sent to the state which translates into a mere 2,511 sacks of food items to each of the 27 local government areas of the state.
With their sons occupying strategic positions in the Presidency, the people of Borno expect the likes of Kyari to do more than paying lip service towards addressing their plight.
There is no doubt that the people of Borno and the North- East in general, have incurred human and material losses since the Boko Haram insurgency broke out.
Many communities have been targets of Boko Haram attacks culminating in the death, kidnap and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The people of the North-Eastern geo-political zone are mainly farmers and petty traders.
In the last half a decade or so, farmers have abandoned their farms while traders have lost billions of naira worth of their wares. The region is facing all manner of humanitarian crisis.
The least one expects from the likes of Kyari is the demonstration of genuine concern and provision of meaningful assistance to the people. The Chief of Staff, however, seems not prepared to face these challenges.
This, however, is not surprising given the Chief of Staff ’s political antecedents. Kyari is not a grassroots politician and has never participated in political activities or the electioneering that brought Buhari to power at least as far as Borno State is concerned.
One therefore wonders how such a character can help the political fortunes of his principal, i.e. President Buhari given his lack of links with the grassroots. Indeed, Kyari is proving to be more of a political liability than asset to Buhari
•Maina, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja
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