Following the burial ceremony of Late Abba Kyari, which broke the internet and unfortunately, the rules of social distancing, the former Chief of staff to the President who died from Coronavirus complications has again been remembered by Nigerians as a result of Mamman Daura’s tribute to him.

“Few people knew that over 10 years ago, he turned his house in Maiduguri (since he no longer resided there) into accommodation for IDPs. At some stage there were 75 people whom Abba was feeding, clothing and looking after; in addition to their children’s education”- Mamman Daura

— RIPAbbaKyari (@iameneji) April 24, 2020

In a tribute, Daura, nephew to President Muhammadu Buhari titled, “Abba Kyari: A great public servant”, he shared some exceptional traits of the Late Abba Kyari, his friend of over 4 decades and revealed the fact that Chief Kyari was to become the Vice President during Obasanjo’s regime. According to him, Obasanjo was lobbied to pick Abba Kyari as Vice President, but he decided to go with Atiku.

He also said, “In the 2003 elections, Malam Abba was in opposite camps with President Obasanjo. General Muhammadu Buhari had declared his intention the previous year to contest the presidency and Malam Abba joined his team and worked wholeheartedly in all the campaigns through the drudgery and injustices of the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections without losing hope or sight of the ultimate goal.

A lot of the information on the tribute spoke to the unusual intellectual prowess and excellence of the former chief of staff and Daura went further to say that “future Chief of staffs will be judged by the benchmark of Kyari.”

As always twitter users had various opinions and concerns about the tribute. While some expressed their grief over the loss of a good man, others reacted negatively to it, expressing their disapproval for the need to “brainwash” citizens to believe Late Kyari as the best thing that could ever happen to Nigerians.

I don’t understand FG trying to force feed and brainwash us into thinking Abba Kyari is the best thing to happen to Nigeria since sliced bread, Mamman Daura said “I firmly believe that all future Chiefs of Staff would be judged by the benchmark of Kyari”. benchmark of failure??

— ℙ?ℙ? ( at ?) (@mrrebelxo) April 24, 2020

There is no doubt that this is an emotional period for Nigerians, however many wonder who will be the next chief of staff of Nigeria.

Mojisola Ogunlola