Tito Okoye explains that Abba Kyari has committed not less than seven fatal mistakes that are creating PR and credibility nightmares for him.
Hushpuppi and Abba Kyari
There is no doubt at all that the most topical issue in the country today is the bombshell Hushpuppi-related US court order that agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have come to Nigeria to execute against Abba Kyari. He is Nigeria’s most decorated super cop, Deputy Commissioner of Police, and until recently commander of the elite Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Force.
Saying that a man like Abba Kyari, with his stellar achievements and rapid promotions, must have stepped on the toes of many of his colleagues and superior officers and has aroused envy and wrath in the process, is to make an understatement. But the aura and mystique of invincibility and impregnable network of influencers and operators of power he masterfully cobbled together kept potential predators at bay. That was until the FBI agents showed up at our doorsteps for him. Truth is that Abba Kyari has committed not less than seven fatal mistakes that are creating PR and credibility nightmares for him, the Police High Command, and the Presidency.
Mistake No. 1
Abba Kyari lived a very lavish lifestyle that was totally out of sync with his position and legitimate means. Worse still, he didn’t care who knew it, hence he kept uploading photos of trappings of his wealth on his Instagram and Twitter walls. The populace of any country in the world abhor seeing – or even hearing stories of – their cops imitating the lifestyles of fraudulent and ostentatious politicians and criminals.
Mistake No. 2
Abba Kyari not only mindlessly flaunted his wealth in the public square, but also allowed – if not encouraged – his younger brother to follow suit.
Mistake No. 3
When the story first broke, Kyari tried to pooh-pooh it by mocking and taunting the FBI and the Police High Command: “Hahahaha,” he tweeted, “indicted where, How? On social media, abi…good luck to dem bad belle people waiting to see us arrested.” Although the tweets were eventually deleted, they had incensed the FBI agents and fanned growing anger and consternation among the top echelons of the NPF.
Mistake No. 4
Even as he was talking too much too soon, much of what Kyari was averring in his defence was unconvincing and ludicrous. For example, he was quick to counter that the only connection between him and Hushpuppi was a request by the latter asking him to make copies of his (Kyari’s) fashionable wears, and that the relationship ended when he paid the designer the sum of N300,000 Hushpuppi had provided as payment for the finished products. Wondered Kyari: “Many people who admire our clothes are connected to the designer, so that is an offence now?”
Mistake No. 5
Indiscretion as well as lamentable lack of perspicacity evidenced in attending the burial ceremony of Obi Cubana’s mother and having photos of his active involvement going viral on social media platforms.
Mistake No. 6
Allegedly threatening to bring others down with him if approval is given for him to be extradited to the USA, including retired and serving senior police officers and prominent members of the public. Some names have already gone viral on social media platforms.
Mistake No. 7
Capitalising on long-existing fault lines to goad the Police Service Commission and the PHC into another do-or-die battle for supremacy on policy matters. The PSC has since disclosed that it would conduct its own “separate and independent” investigation after receiving the IGP’s investigative report. Isn’t this simply a ruse to buy time for whatever reasons?
Epilogue:
Having seemingly covered all loose ends in Nigeria, Kyari understandably crowed about his invincibility. But the highly intelligent celebrity crime-buster failed to take the foibles of Hushpuppi into account. The global Internet fraudster had apparently chosen to keep details of their business transactions apparently as a trophy with the likely intention of bragging to friends about how successful he has been in his line of work.
When silence mattered most, Kyari kept making unforced errors by opening his mouth widely. “Blessed be the man,” chimed George Elliot (pen name of female English novelist Marian Evans), “who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving in words evidence of the fact.”
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