BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Even though he is yet to be announced officially as the new Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, the former Nigeria’s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, has arrived the Aso Villa in Abuja.
With his resumption of office as a replacement for the Late Abba Kyari, the President is expected to announce his appointment any time from now.
However, President Buhari, who presided over a vitual Federal Executive Council meeting today, unveiled Prof. Gambari as his new Chief of Staff.
Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, was born on November 24, 1944, in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. He is a Nigerian scholar and diplomat and was Minister of External Affairs between 1984 and 1985 when General Muhammadu Buhari was Head of State.
Gambari was appointed by the Secretary General of United Nations, Ban Ki-moon and the chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur effective on January 1, 2010 to 2011 and before his current appointment as Chief of Staff to the President, was the Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Before then, Professor Gambari served as the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (USG) for the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and was appointed on June 10, 2005, and assumed the post on July 1 of that year.
On March 4, 2013, Ibrahim Gambari was named by the Kwara State Governor, AbdulFatah Ahmad, as the pioneer chancellor of the Kwara State University, making him the ceremonial head of the university, who presides over convocations to award degrees and diplomas and also supports the vision and mission of the university in all respects, including fundraising, social, economic and academic goals.
Gambari attended King’s College, Lagos and the London School of Economics where he obtained his B. Sc. (Economics) degree in 1968 with specialisation in International Relations. He later obtained his M.A. in 1970 and Ph.D in 1974 from Columbia University, New York, USA in Political Science /International Relations.
Gambari began his teaching career in 1969 at City University of New York before working at University of Albany. Later, he taught at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State. From 1986 to 1989, he was Visiting Professor at three universities in Washington, D.C.: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University and Howard University. He was also a research fellow at the Brookings Institution also in Washington D.C. and a Resident Scholar at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center, the Rockefeller Foundation-run center in Italy.
Gambari was accorded Honoris causa, the title of Doctor of Humane Letters (D.Hum.Litt.) by the University of Bridgeport and he is a member of the Johns Hopkins University’s Society of Scholars.
Professor Gambari was decorated with the title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) by the Government of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Emir of Ilorin, Mai-Martaba, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, on Tuesday thanked Buhari for the appointment of Prof. Gambari.
Sulu-Gambari, who is the Chairman, Kwara State Council of Chiefs, expressed gratitude in a statement by his spokesman, Abdulazeez Arowona.
He described Gambari’s emergence as a great honour to the entire people of Ilorin Emirate and Kwarans, adding that the choice of Prof Gambari is a good one for the nation particularly the administration.
Sulu-Gambari said; “Prof Gambari will surely bring to the fore his wealth of experience as an academician, former Minister, former Diplomat, former University Chancellor, Prince of the renown Alimi dynasty, family man and community leader of high repute,” it read.
