By Olukayode Idowu, Maiduguri
Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum has described the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Abba Kyari as a humble and highly disciplined public officer whose dedication to work was uncommon.
The governor who led a team of top government officials to the residence of family of the deceased in Maiduguri on Sunday, said: “I have had six official appointments with him within the last ten months and in all the six appointments, he scheduled to see me 8am in his office at the Villa and surprisingly, all the times, I was there before the time and there was never a time I met his absence.
“He was always in office ahead of our 8am appointments. I never had to wait for him. He did not disappoint me for once.”
The younger brother to the deceased, Baba-Shehu Zannah Arjinoma, who is the district head of Banki town, received Governor Zulum in company of Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Secretary to Borno government and few officials, at his residence in Maiduguri on behalf of the Kyari family.
Late Kyari hailed from a royal family in Bama local government area in which Banki, a commercial border town, is located.
At the residence of the Kyaris, the Governor’s special adviser on religious affairs, Sheikh Modu Mustapha, a prominent Islamic cleric moderated prayers offered by the Governor’s delegation, seeking Allah’s forgiveness and mercy for the late Chief of Staff, in line with Islamic tradition.
The governor who later spoke to journalists after the condolence, described late Abba Kyari as a humble and highly disciplined public officer whose dedication to work was uncommon.
The Governor, said that for him, efficient time management and keeping to promises were among major yardsticks of assessing someone holding public office like that of a Chief of Staff to the President.
Zulum noted that the late Kyari was also a man of integrity, who served the President with the highest commitment, loyalty and sincerity.
He said late Abba Kyari had played silent, but crucial role in Borno’s fight against Boko Haram, mitigation of humanitarian crisis, rehabilitation and resettlement of victims through his legitimate influences.
The Governor prayed that “Allah forgives the shortcomings of the late Chief of Staff, admit him into paradise and graciously look after his bereaved family.”