In the early hours of Tuesday, May 12, the Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has announced the former Minister of External Affairs, Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, as his Chief of Staff.
The new Chief of Staff was born on November 24, 1944 in Ilorin, Kwara State and served as Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985.
He holds the record of being the longest serving Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (January 1990 to October 1999), and altogether served under five Heads of State and President.
He was subsequently appointed by the former 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 in January 2010.
Gambari was once rejected by people of the Niger Delta due to his role when he served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the UN.
He was alleged to have supported the execution of popular environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the annulment of June 12, 1993 election.
On March 4, 2013, he was named by the Kwara State governor, AbdulFatah Ahmad, as the pioneer Chancellor of the Kwara State University.
Gambari attended King’s College, Lagos. He subsequently attended the London School of Economics where he obtained his B.Sc. (Economics) degree (1968) with specialisation in International Relations.
