Time For Kyari To Be More Caring

By Bala Ibrahim

I met him only once and that was long ago. It dates back to my days in the BBC and he was then with the UBA. The meeting was fruitful, as he acted on the matter in a beautiful and dutiful manner. Since then, I had cause to see him as a good man, because he gave me a good impression the first time.

Many have been disagreeing with me on that testimonial about Mallam Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. And I leave them to their beliefs.

Yesterday Friday, before the close of business, the President, through his spokesman Mallam Garba Shehu, announced the reappointments of the said Mallam Abba Kyari and Mr. Boss Mustapha, as Chief of staff to the President and Secretary to the Government of the Federation respectively. The two appointments were effective from May 29th, when the President took his second oath of office.

By his reappointment, PMB has sent a strong message to those that have been protesting against his retention. Mallam Abba Kyari is widely accused of being the master puppeteer in the villa, while PMB is alleged to be playing the role of the puppet.

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari was the first to make the allegation, but the President has repeatedly denied it. I don’t know how the President is able to strike a balance, between the two powerful forces around him, because certainly there is a discord between his wife and the Kyari camp, whom she described as the Cabal, responsible for the sluggish performance of the government.

Towards the end of last month, there was a protest in Abuja, in which the President was asked to dismiss Mallam Abba Kyari from office, because according to the protesters, he is one of the stumbling blocks in the smooth running of the Buhari administration.

However, rather than dismiss Kyari, the Presidency quickly dismissed the protest as a sponsored shenanigan. There could be many reasons for reappointing a person to an office, two of which could be, A, exceptional performance or B, the chance to perform better, haven done below expectations in the first term.

Either way, the principal must have trust in the person in question. Whatever informed PMB’s belief in the reliability and ability of Mallam Abba to continue as his chief of staff, the president is the one in the know, and that may be an information he may be not be willing to share with the public.

The only thing Mallam Abba can do to help himself before the public, is to work towards changing that poor public perception. As a journalist and a lawyer, Kyari knows that public perception is the gap between the absolute truth based on facts and the near truth shaped by popular public opinion, media coverage and/or one’s reputation.

It is therefore the duty of one to avoid, if he can, whatever it is that can make that public perception generally negative. Although difficult in politics, because many a-times, the negative projections from the public are for selfish reasons, but then one has a duty to himself, by avoiding that which can give room to mischief.

Since the president has shown confidence in his competence, it is now left for Kyari to convince the public to change the negative perception about him. He must first understand what people think about him, and by extension about the presidency, by showing more care to public care.

He may have other means of getting feedback, but through the media, which he knows very well, he has ample opportunity of listening to the people. Through the media, he would gather the information for a better understanding and the general assessment of the public about him.

Destructive criticisms mostly come as a result of the refusal to listen to constructive criticisms. And I believe with just a little or additional care to the yearnings of the public, that perception about the Kyari, and even the cabal can be corrected.