Why Mr. Abba Kyari Must Go

President Mohammadu Buhari is the democratically elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Mr. Abba Kyari is not. Even though he has emerged unmistakably as the most powerful individual in Nigeria of today, and in fact, more powerful than the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he remains an appointee of the President and a servant of the people. He is neither a King nor an Emperor. Nigeria did not elect Mr. Abba Kyari to any elective post. The demand for his ouster or resignation, therefore, is in the best interest of the country

He represents the worst in us as a nation-state. He is everything that the IPOB resent in the Nigerian leadership. He is everything that makes the separatist agitators crusaders of conscience. Above all, he has succeeded in making, the Fulani tribe, the most reviled, hated and abused tribe in Nigeria in the history of our independence.  

He is a usurper personified. He took over the Ministry of Defense and made the Service Chief members mere spectators in their own game – defending the men and women of this country. And for the first time in our political history, the First Family had to contend for space with his intrusion and those of his immediate family at the Presidential Villa. He battled the Security Adviser to the President to a standstill; consequently, making the war against the Bandits and Boko Haram sect a farcical display.

He wasn’t there when the foundation of APC was under design. Yet, he is the one who pushed Asiwaju Tinubu under the bus when victory came. He is the one who supplanted the Progressive mandate and elevated feudalism to a new level. He popularized nepotism, making it a new normal.

The President, on his own, cannot rule or govern his country without the inputs and counsels of his Ministers, Advisers, and subordinates. The President needs the advice of his subordinates, consistent with the fundamental values of the party. Today, no one can articulate what APC stands for or represent. The Five Thousand Naira stipends that APC promised unemployed Nigerian youth in 2015 remains a campaign jingle.

As I stated a few days ago, the President is an alien in his own country. He doesn't feel our pains and he has no understanding of who we are. That disconnect is explained by the strength of the relationship between him and his cabinet members. I will explain. The disconnect between President Buhari and us (the people) is a measure of the relationship between the President and his Ministers and Advisers. And that's what you get when only one man has access to the President. 
When the President’s wife, the First Lady of this great country, tells you that her husband doesn’t know 45 out of 50 of the people he appointed, then you can reasonably appreciate the extent of the derailment of the Progressive mandate that all of us fought for in 2015. And that is today the major dilemma of the All Progressive Congress. It has become a one-man show – Mr. Abba Kyari Show. 

2023 is a long way to go, and we cannot afford a continuation of the status quo. Mr. Abba Kyari and the interest he represents are pushing Nigeria towards extinction. It is a democracy, after all. Not an Oligarchy. 
If he knows what he is doing; if he is doing the right thing; and if Nigerians are happier now than they were in April 2015 on the strength of what he is doing, I wouldn’t be writing this piece. Boko Haram sect wouldn't be competing for relevance with Bandits and Cattle Herders in the act of bloodshed, savagery, and fiefdom pursuit.  And there would not have been an Amotekun and its affiliates mushrooming all over the country.
I have nothing personal against him. I understand he is a fine and well-educated gentleman. But what he is offering us since 2015 is a regurgitation of the political divides that are strengthening the demands for True Federalism and Restructuring.

President Buhari is not perfect. His bigotry credentials and ethnic chauvinism are well documented. Nevertheless, surrounded by a detribalized and an egalitarian-minded individual as his Chief of Staff, and a mix of wazobia and quota-defined progressive-leaning intellectuals as his kitchen cabinet, this country would be a more secure and happier a place to live in. Now is the time to balance the best interest of the people, irrespective of religion and tribes, with the financial strength of the country. From all indications, Mr. Abba Kyari is hostile to that interest and the balancing theory. He symbolizes everything that is tearing us apart as a nation-state. Therefore, he must go. To be continued.