“The Chief of Staff, is only the ‘numero uno’, amongst the presidency staff but certainly not an Alpha and Omega“
A LOT has happened since the unfortunate passing of the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari. May the Almighty God grant him eternal rest.
Nor would the North have maintained a literal stranglehold over the rest of the country, as we have seen in the past 4 years plus , if there was fairness.
Unlike former President Olusegun Obasanjo who told Nigerians that his advisers would be no better than artefacts , President Buhari is not yet on record as saying that he would not listen to his advisers. Therefore, responsibilty for the President’s much criticised appointments, like his ability, for so long, to gloss over the murderous activities of the Fulani herdsmen, must be put squarely at the feet of the late Kyari, a man Mallam Mamman Daura described, not only as the intellectual lodestar of the entire Buhari administration, but as the best of all. It is understandable if Geoffrey Onyeama, who nobody expected to return, was no less effusive in his panygyrics to his friend.
As jockeying must have now commenced for the appointment of his successor, the President, I would like to suggest, must have to bear a few things in mind.
Nigeria’s extant constitution expressly permits the President to appoint his personal staff but in the Order of Precedence of National Officers, none of his personal staff is superior to a minister of cabinet rank. Their head , the Chief of Staff, is only the ‘numero uno’, amongst the presidency staff but certainly not an Alpha and Omega, as we recently experienced.
I do not know how to describe what he did, putting a minister of cabinet rank smack between Dr Muazu Abdulkadir, the Permanenent Secretary, ministry of Agriculture, and Mamman Ahmadu, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, both of who the minister then had to propitiate, to be able buy even stationery, other than call it virulent ethnicity on display. It was to tell Professor Adewole who exactly owns the land. Kyari was apparently determined to deal with the ‘insolent’ Yoruba man, who had the effrontery to suspend a blue eyed, Fulani Professor. lt is beyond puke inducing. But what nauseates the most, really, was Professor Adewole, a former Vice- Chancellor, and an otherwise proud Yoruba, not to have immediately resigned, rather than suck in that inanity which is a shame, not only to him, but to the Yoruba nation, and the academia. Now that the full details are out, not a few Yoruba feel thoroughly diminished that Adewole didnt resign. Or for how long shall we let this feeling persist that we are, by any means, inferior to Northerners? Aren’t hundreds of their Almajiris, currently being mutually expelled by their governors, already running Southwards, loaded amidst cows and all sorts?
For how long shall we accept to be treated like second class citizens in a country President Buhari once said we should salvage together because it is the only country we can all call our own? How far would these shenanigans go before the President moves to protect us as joint owners, and equal stakeholders, in the Nigerian project? If the President loses confidence in any of his appointees, he has all the power in the world to determine such an appointment but it is not the business of any busybody to take that up on his behalf.
I do not mind how this article is interpreted, because the truth is that no single Nigerian is greater than the other. We all deserve to be treated with respect, first as human beings, and secondly, as Nigerians with equal stake. It is this same misbegotten belief that emboldens Fulani herdsmen when they go on their killing rampages , cocksure not even the police would dare arrest them.
Given all we saw under Kyari – the crass nepotism, for instance, the incoming Chief of Staff should be told, from the outset, that his primary functions are: to organise the office of the President, arrange his schedules, advise him when the need arises, help him with policy formulation, and do those other things he may expressly direct him to do, but certainly without him becoming a Coordinating – General of the entire government, lest he becomes a Frankenstein monster.
Appointees of government, ministers and heads of agencies inclusive , must have a free, and unfettered chance, of performing the functions allotted to them by the constitution, and as the President may, from time to time direct , as long as such directives are not illegal like late General Abacha ordering the then CBN governor to release huge funds, under all manner of guises, only for the funds to end up being laundered for him.
No matter how close he may be to the President, and regardless of how long they have come together, the next Chief of Staff must realise that institutions must be properly run and not on the basis of sentiment, or affinity. After all, these are no family preferments.
It is important that he is made clearly aware of his limitations so he does not unnecessarily create problems for the President.The office should not permit of any unelected, aspiring potentate, once the President is firmly in charge of affairs. He should be precluded from acting unilaterally only to drop the name of the President when the chips are down. Happily , the President is now fully recovered from an alleged poison – related illness, so there should be no gaps , any more, for any so -called mafia to exploit to our detriment.
Nobody can question the President’s right to appoint whoever he wants as his Chief of Staff , someone he can trust completely, and feel very free to discuss intimate matters with. After all, Obasanjo had his Andy Uba just as Jonathan his Owei Dudafa, even though both were, deployed to domestic affairs.
There is an urgent need for a re – organisation of the Presidency in such a way that, yes, the Chief of Staff would be the numero uno, but certainly not an Alpha and Omega, as mentioned earlier.
In the United States of America from where we copied this system, the functions of the Chief of Staff are clearly stated as follows: “ The Office of the Chief of Staff is responsible for directing, managing and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, and staff activities for the President. This office coordinates and communicates with all departments and agencies of the Administration. The staff of the office assists that effort by organizing the affairs of the Chief and Deputy Chiefs of Staff. The staff also assists the Chiefs of Staff in their duties as advisors to the President”.
Nowhere in the foregoing are we told that the Chief of Staff runs other departments of state, not to talk of making one an appendage of another. All he does is as stated above. When the American President wants to discuss foreign affairs, he calls his Secretary of State, not Chief of Staff, ditto Education or any other department, when he calls in the relevant Secretary. The Chief of Staff can only be in attendance at such meetings. Although, for scheduling purposes, a Secretary may call the Chief of Staff to book an appointment to see the President, it will be anomalous for Secretaries (ministers) to be asked to report to the President through the Chief of Staff. Of course, that won’t ever happen in the U. S as it has the possibility of making such a Chief Of Staff swollen- headed.
It will be nice if government will interrogate these views critically for the sake of good governance, rather than peremptorily throw them away. (The Nation)
