The Pan Yoruba Socio-Political group, Afenifere, on Saturday commiserated with the Presidency over the death of the Chief of Staff to President, Abba Kyari.
Speaking on behalf of Afenifere, the Secretary-General of the group, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, described the late Kyari as a great man and shining star, who wielded so much power in the present administration in the country.
Arogbofa said: “Abba Kyari either we like it or not, was a great man. To some a hero, to some a villian. Holding such a post made him a great man in this country and wielding such power also made him a great man. We are sad that he died the way he die, we would have love to see him die not now but to settle some scores in that office
“A lot of things happened during his time to some Nigerians negatively, and some of the things now that he has died, we expect some positive things to happen.
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“If such a man wielding so much power die through COVID-19 because of one reason, that he couldn’t get out of the country, he was locked in like his other big people, I think our people in power should start thinking how best to handle the welfare of people under them.”
He called on Nigeria’s political elite to learn lessons from the death of the late Chief of Staff to the President by giving priority to the welfare of the people.
He maintained that if the political leaders had the welfare of the people at heart, the condition of the masses would improve, noting that the masses of the nation had suffered so much in the hands of their leaders.
He said: “The common man does not have the money to go outside the country if they are sick or even in search of education, but the politicians have. Now, one of the big men had been caught up in such a dangerous situation. It behoves on people in power to know that they should make life better for the common man in the country.”
Arogbofa however, advised the next occupant of the seat to correct the errors committed by the late Kyari.
He said: “Abba Kyari is dead but his office is not dead, somebody else will come in. All has not been well for some time now in the country. Abba Kyari has been behaving like the defacto President of this country, like a Prime Minister.
“If we look back it was like a replica of what happened during the time of General Buhari and General Tunde Idiagbon, where Idiagbon was the right man to Buhari and the impression given then was that it was Idiagbon acting.
“Again, one will not be wrong to come to conclusion in the relationship between Buhari and his late Chief of Staff. We would like anyone who is going to take over from him to make sure that Nigeria is seen as one in treatments and appointments.
“The fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely has to be redefined. A situation for instance where the President allowed his late Chief of Staff to handle the issues of the ministers, this gave Abba Kyari too much power and that is why sometimes it is not easy to blame Abba Kyari, but we still saw him as great man in his own respect.
“He used the power available to him but we would not have love to see him to die by now, we would have loved to see him to have some of these mistakes corrected during his lifetime
“The National Security Adviser, General Mangunu fell out with him, that was signal that you can’t arrogate this power to yourself. Another highly placed Nigerian, General Useni, also came out to condemn his action for going beyond his powers. He might not have known all these things but gradually these people are teaching him the lessons.
“So we would have love a situation where he would have been thoroughly educated and perhaps all those would have made him a better Nigerian at the end of the day but maybe that was how God loved it. We are sad about his death, as Christians, we would not like him to die the way he died.”
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