Things you should know about Buhari’s new Chief of Staff, Gambari

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Ibrahim Agboola Gambari as his new Chief of Staff.

The Chief of Staff’s position has been vacant since the demise of Abba Kyari, who lost his battle with the novel coronavirus in April, 2020.

Gambari’s appointment was announced by the Presidency on Wednesday.

Only few Nigerians know about Gambari as he was not among the candidates being tipped to take over the late Kyari’s position.

• Race for Abba Kyari’s successor begins

Hence, we have highlighted few things you should know about the New Chief of Staff to Buhari below:

• Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR (born November 24, 1944, in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian scholar and diplomat.
• 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.
• He later obtained his M.A. (1970) and Ph. D. (1974) degrees from Columbia University, New York, USA in Political Science /International Relations.
• He was Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985.
• Gambari began his teaching career in 1969 at City University of New York before working at University of Albany.
• Later, he taught at Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Kaduna State, the second largest university in Africa.
• From 1986 to 1989, he was Visiting Professor at three universities in Washington, D.C.: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University and Howard University.
• He has also been a research fellow at the Brookings Institution also in Washington D.C. and a Resident Scholar at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center, the Rockefeller Foundation-run center in Italy.
• He was accorded, honoris causa, the title of Doctor of Humane Letters (D.Hum.Litt.) from the University of Bridgeport.
• He is a member of the Johns Hopkins University’s Society of Scholars.
• Gambari was appointed by the 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 effective from 1 January 2010.
• He is currently 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.
• On 4 March 2013, Ibrahim Gambari was named by the Kwara State Governor, AbdulFatah Ahmad, as the pioneer chancellor of the Kwara State University, making him the ceremonial head of the university.
• Gambari is also co-chair of the Albright-Gambari Commission.
• He was decorated with the title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) by the Government of Nigeria.
• On the 12th of May, 2020, Gambari was appointed the Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari.