Abba Kyari buried in Abuja

By Victor Akuma

The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam Abba Kyari, has been laid to rest at the Gudu Cemetery in Abuja on Saturday.

The Chief of Staff was on Friday confirmed dead by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, after suffering complications from the coronavirus pandemic.

Abba Kyari had earlier paid a visit to Germany where it was speculated that he contracted the virus. He was diagnosed of the disease on March 24, in Nigeria after he complained of not feeling too well.

Kyari was born in 1932 and had his first degree in the 80s from the department of Sociology, University of Warwick.

He later proceeded to Cambridge University where he studied law in 1983 and was consequently called to the Nigerian Bar after graduating from the Nigerian Law School.

In 1984, he obtained a master’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge. 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.

Kyari worked for the law firm Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo for some time after his return to Nigeria.

From 1988 to 1990, he was Editor with the New Africa Holdings Limited Kaduna. In 1990, he served as a Commissioner for Forestry and Animal Resources in Borno State.

From 1990 to 1995, Kyari was 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.

He was later appointed by Buhari as the Presidential Chief of Staff.

Kyari was married to the sister-in-law of Ibrahim Tahir and had four children and was an OON (Officer of the Order of the Niger), a national honour in Nigeria, until his death.