HOW KYARI WAS INSPIRED TO TAKE UP HIS ROLE AS CoS - ADEJUMOKE ANDEM - OSU (A MUST READ)

My latest read : "The Gatekeepers": How the White House Chiefs of Staff define every Presidency. It’s written by Chris Whipple.

“Understanding how Government really works is more important now than ever before. This is an enlightening work of history with lessons for our immediate future “ - (James Fallows, Former White House Speechwriter).

With the lockdown, in the middle of my life routines and work, I did a lot of Netflix binging and reading. My friends would always ask me what next to watch on Netflix. One of them was quite surprised I had not seen SCANDAL starring Kerry Washington (Olivia Pope) The story is about the US Presidency. I quickly fell in love with this series of about 7 seasons. I had also just watched Madam Secretary. 

Anyway, in the course of watching Scandal the former Chief of Staff to President Buhari passed on. I read loads and loads of tributes on him, the good, the bad and the ugly. What piqued my interest was that he was a voracious reader (my husband often told me so, and I did find out it was true), I am a “ book dragon” my self (not a bookworm Lol). I told my husband that while watching SCANDAL the Chief of Staff to the President in the series, Cyrus Beene appeared to be the one in charge. 

In subsequent episodes my favourite character in the series also became the Chief of Staff and was extremely powerful and "controlled” the White House, she often referred to it as “her White House” 

Someone asked her how it feels to be the most powerful person in the world. The US President is usually referred to as the most powerful person in the world so we really know who the powerful person is. 

I told my husband that knowing now that Abba Kyari was a voracious reader, I would not be surprised if he has read a few books on the lives and styles of Chiefs of Staff all over the World especially the United States where we got the idea of the Chief of Staff to the President. 

A few weeks after his death , I read Abba Kyari’s daughter’s tribute to her father. She also described her Dad as a voracious reader and said she found this book on his bookshelf after his death. She confirmed exactly what I told my husband about where the Late Chief of Staff got his style. 

I quickly ordered the book and my perspective has changed a lot on the role of the Chief of Staff. 

The Chief of Staff must be smarter than the President, must be one who can look him straight in the eye and tell him when he’s going off-course. He is most times his closest friend, so it is most times not a "master - servant" relationship even though he serves at the pleasure of the President. 

In one of the episodes in SCANDAL I realized the Chief of Staff is the engine room of any Government.

When the President in the series won the election the Chief of Staff and the President alone had a session with a white board full of names to fill the cabinet. The Chief  of Staff was at the white board , the President sat like the student listening as she juggled names around who should be for Defense, State, who should be health? Why someone cannot be what etc 

So knowing all these now, I think Abba Kyari played his role well to the letter. How well or how bad he did that is now a different topic that’s clearly not within the purview of this write-up. 

Congratulations to the new Chief of Staff..( when we eventually get one ) please play your role with the same candour and forthrightness, do not leave a lot to our imagination, do what is just, do what is right, Nigeria needs to be right, please do not leave us guessing.

ADEJUMOKE ANDEM - OSU

MAY 12 2020