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Lagos, May 13, 2020 (NAN) Dr Kayode Ajulo, former National Secretary of the Labour Party, says Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the new Chief of Staff (CoS) to President Muhammadu Buhari will bring his experiences to bear in the affairs of the nation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on Wednesday formally presented former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, to members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as the new Chief of Staff to the President.
The appointment of Gambari as the new CoS to the President was unofficially announced by some traditional and social media outfits on Tuesday, some quoting the Emir of Ilorin as their source.
However, the SGF shortly before the commencement of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) confirmed that President Buhari approved the appointment of Gambari as his new Chief of Staff.
Ajulo in a statement issued to NAN in Lagos,
said that with his appointment, President Buhari has introduced the UN standard into his administration which was highly commendable.
“We expect nothing else than those lofty ideas on good governance as being promoted by the UN and Prof. Gambari’s Albright-Gambari Commission,” he said.
Ajjulo, a constitutional Lawyer, described the new CoS as a typical diplomat, who pushed a progressive foreign policy that made Nigeria to send peacekeeping force to Sierra Leone to restore democratic rule and also worked to stop the Rwandan genocide
‘Professor Gambari, Is a core technocrat with wealth of experience.
“I pray his appointment comes with the much needed additional expertise and sanity in the country’s seat of power,” he said.
Prof. Gambari, CFR, OCORT, 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.
He 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 (BUK). He is a married with children and grandchildren.
