A book titled Abba Kyari: Portrait of a Loyalist – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Sides of Public Service in Nigeria has just been released from the stable of Inspire Media Services Limited – an image and crisis management agency.
A statement by the coordinator of the book project, Tervel Kejih said, published less than one month after the passage of the former Chief of Staff (CoS) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyari due to complications from COVID-19 pandemic, it is mainly a compilation of tributes by friends and families of the late CoS after his death and caustic comments by his antagonists.
“It also features a profile essay written by the author about the emergence of Abba Kyari as a political power broker and a deeply revealing article about deaths in Aso Rock Villa by the celebrated columnist, Dr Reuben Abati as well as a critical look at Nigeria‘s security architecture in the light of the battle of supremacy between security agencies in the presidency which spilled into the public arena,” said the statement.
According to the author, Mr Magnus Onyibe, a development strategist, public policy analyst and entrepreneur, the book, which is based on the late CoS‘s experience as the “gatekeeper” in Aso Rock Villa is expected to be a sort of public administration manual that would guide public and civil servants in the discharge of their duties to their principal, nation and God.
The book, which is a compendium has helped to put all the comments about late Abba Kyari in different news media spaces into a single volume for easy reference for both social scientists and Nigerians in general.
The Afterword which is an essay titled “A Case for a Chief of Staff, CoS”, written by Dan Ciampa which was first published in Harvard Business Review, HBR throws light on the role and usefulness of a Chief of Staff in the private sector with brief reference to the usefulness of a CoS in the public sector too.
The book is available in leading bookshops in Nigeria and online on Amazon/kindle.
