Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled’ Prof. Ibrahim Gambari as his new Chief of Staff at the maiden virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The report by the Nigerian Television Authority on Wednesday said that the virtual meeting, which is the first of its kind in the history of the Federal Executive Council, involved the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Secretary to the Government of the Fedreal, Mr. Boss Mustapha and some of the cabinet ministers participating in the virtual meeting.
It added that the meeting was conducted in line with the basic COVID-19 protocol of social distancing and that a minute silence was observed in honour of late Malam Abba Kyari and some former members of the cabinet before the commencement of the retary meeting, while Alhaji Ibrahim Gambari was announced as the new Chief of Staff to the President.
Prof. Gambari, a scholar-diplomat, is the Founder/Chairman of the Board of Directors of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, a non-governmental think-tank on research, policy studies, advocacy and training on the nexus between conflict prevention and resolution, democratisation and development in Africa.
Gambari has had an illustrious career, spanning academia, government and international diplomacy, culminating with his appointment as the first United Nations Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa (1999-2005). He was the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid (1990-1994) and on Peace-Keeping Operations (1990—1999). He was Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (2005-2007) and also operated as UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar and Special Representative in Angola.
Earlier, he was Minister of External Affairs (1984-1985) and subsequently Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (1990-1999). Professor Gambari also served as Joint AU/UN Special Representative in Darfur and Head of UNAMID (2010-2012). He is currently a Chairperson of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Professor Gambari attended the Provincial (now Government) Secondary School, Ilorin before proceeding to the Floreat Collegium Kings College, Lagos. He received his BSc (Econs) degree from the London School of Economics (1968) and his MA and PhD in Political Science/International Relations (1970, 1974) from Columbia University, USA. He has taught at universities in the Unites States, Nigeria and Singapore and has to his credit the authorship of a number of books.
He has received several academic and national honours, including the “Commander of Federal Republic of Nigeria” (CFR), and the “Order of the Champion of the Oliver R. Tambo” (OCORT) of South Africa. He is the Pioneer Chancellor of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Ilorin, Nigeria, as well as the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Bayero University, Kano.
GIK/APA