Meet Prof. Gambari, Buhari’s new Chief of Staff

Newly appointed Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Professor Agboola Ibrahim Gambari, is a man who needs little or no introduction in the Nigerian political landscape.

Gambari, an Ilorin Prince and one of Nigeria’s best brains in diplomacy and international relations was appointed to replace the former CoS to the President, Abba Kyari who died after a protracted battle with coronavirus.

Born on November 24, 1944, in Ilorin, Kwara State, he is a respected scholar and diplomat. Gambari was Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985 and was later appointed by the former secretary-general of United Nations, Ban Ki-moon and the then chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur effective from 1 January 2010.

Prof. Gambari was the Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he served as the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (USG) for the Department of Political Affairs (DPA). He was appointed on June 10, 2005, and assumed the post on July 1 of that year.

He was Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations from 1990 to 1999; President of UNICEF in 1999; Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Adviser on Africa from 1999 to 2005; Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2007

A product of Kings College, Lagos, Gambari subsequently attended the London School of Economics where he obtained his B. Sc. (Economics) degree (1968) with specialisation in International Relations. He later obtained his M.A. (1970) and Ph. D. (1974) degrees from Columbia University, New York, USA in Political Science /International Relations. On March 4, 2013, Ibrahim Gambari was named by the then Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmad, as the pioneer Chancellor of the Kwara State University, Ilorin. He co-chairs the Albright-Gambari Commission.

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