President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a new Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari. In this post, we’ll talk about his biography along with several other facts.
Former Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, died on the 17th of April. Therefore, it became imperative to fill the void he left in Buhari’s administration.
Gambari is from the lineage of Ilorin Emirate of the Fulani ruling class family. His nephew, Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, is the Emir of Illorin.
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Biography
He was born on November 24, 1944, and is therefore currently 75 years old as at when we drafted this report.
Gambari is a scholar-diplomat and is the Founder of the Board of Directors of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development.
Prior to becoming Chief Of Staff, he had an illustrious career as an academician, government and international diplomat.
During Buhari’s Military regime, Gambari served as Minister of External affairs between 1984 and 1989.
He holds the record of being the longest-serving Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations, having served from 1990 to 1999.
He served as Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid (1990-1994) and on Peace-Keeping Operations (1990—1999).
He then served as Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (2005-2007).
Alma Mater
Professor Gambari attended the Provincial (now Government) Secondary School, located in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara state.
He then proceeded 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 is highly learned
He has taught at several Universities in the United States, Nigeria and Singapore. He started his lecturing career at the Queen’s College, City University of New York (1969-1974). He went on to become an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York (1974-1977).
Upon returning to Nigeria, he was appointed Senior Lecturer at ABU Zaria (1977-1980).
He also served at John Hopkins University, Georgetown University, University of Howard. and has authored a number of books.
He has received several academic and national honours, including the “Commander of the 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).