The former Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari was a lot of things to a lot of people during the period he served in public office.
Born into a Kanuri family from Borno, the young Kyari had a quiet upbringing as not much is known about his early life. In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Warwick, and also received a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge.
In 1983, he was called to the Nigerian Bar after attending the Nigerian Law School.
The thirst for more education drove him to University of Cambridge where he obtained a master’s degree in law in 1984.
He later attended the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland and participated in the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, in 1992 and 1994, respectively.
Upon his return to Nigeria, Kyari worked for the law firm Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo for some time.
He will later become the Editor with the New Africa Holdings Limited Kaduna between 1988 and 1990.
In 1990, he served as a Commissioner for Forestry and Animal Resources in Borno State.
Kyari was also the secretary to the board of African International Bank Limited, a subsidiary of Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
Kyari was an executive director in charge of management services at the United Bank for Africa, and was later appointed the chief executive officer.
In 2002, he was appointed a board director of Unilever Nigeria, and later served on the board of Exxon Mobil Nigeria.
The office that will bring him to public limelight was his appointment as Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2015.
Undoubtedly, Kyari was an influential figure within the Buhari presidency as was responsible for implementing the President’s agenda during the first term of President Buhari, operating mainly behind the scene.
With Buhari’s re-election for a second term in 2019, the President instructed his cabinet to channel all requests through Kyari’s office, further enhancing his influence within government circles.
In 2017, following a leaked memo, Kyari became enmeshed in a public argument with the then Head of Civil Service, Mrs Oyo-Ita who was later removed from office.
Another leaked memo in 2020, will place the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno and Kyari at loggerheads as accusation of meddling in matters of national security dominated public discourse.
On March 24, 2020, it was made public that Kyari tested positive for COVID-19 on March 23, following an official trip to Germany nine days earlier. It was also reported that Kyari had underlying medical conditions and was secretly flown out of the country. Claims that were vacated when it became official and public that he was moved from Abuja to Lagos due to medical conditions.
He died in a Lagos hospital on 17 April 2020, after testing positive for COVID-19.
Mallam Abba Kyari was married to the sister-in-law of Ibrahim Tahir and the union was blessed with four children.
