Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo has condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari over the death of his chief of staff Abba Kyari.
Kyari died on Friday after battling coronavirus infection.
“I received the news of the demise of Alhaji Abba Kyari, your Chief of Staff, over Friday night with great sadness, as he lost the battle against the dreadful disease, COVID-19,” Obasanjo wrote in a letter he addressed to Buhari.
“Abba Kyari’s death must be painful to you and to his family and friends, but you can all take solace in the fact that he died in harness, in the service of his country.”
Obasanjo said Kyari’s death should serve as a reminder that to be able to fight the coronavirus and return Nigeria’s economy back to a sound footing.
Kyari tested positive to the coronavirus in March and was reported to have travelled to Lagos for treatment.
Not much was heard about him thereafter, until the Presidency, in a statement issued by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity announced his passage.
Kyari graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Warwick, in 1980 and also received a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1983.
A year later, he obtained a master’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge and later attended the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He participated in the Programme for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, in 1992 and 1994, respectively, and practised law while working at Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo for some time after his return to Nigeria.
From 1988 to 1990, he was Editor with the New Africa Holdings Limited Kaduna and had a stint as commissioner in his native Borno State in 1990.
For the next five years, he was the secretary to the board of African International Bank Limited, a subsidiary of Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
He also held positions as an Executive Director at the United Bank for Africa, and later the Chief Executive Officer.
In 2002, he was appointed a board director of Unilever Nigeria and later served on the board of Exxon Mobil Nigeria.
Left behind to mourn the rather quiet officer are his wife and four children, numerous relatives, and a Nigerian nation many agree he served diligently.
