The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, has said that his boss is the biggest asset Nigeria has today, especially that the president is a man of his word.
Gambari, a former minister of external affairs and longest serving Nigerian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), said this yesterday in Abuja at the public launch of a book titled, “With Heart and Might: 33 Years in the Nigerian Diplomatic Service.”
The 473-page book written by retired Ambassador Mohammed Kawu Ibrahim is a memoir of his life as a Foreign Service officer. It highlights some of the challenges in the foreign service, Nigeria’s foreign affairs policies and recommendations for improvements.
Gambari said, “The biggest asset we have as a country today is the credit and credibility that President Muhammadu Buhari enjoys in our sub-region in Africa, the Middle East and the world at large. So, how do we take advantage and try to institutionalise that credit and credibility he has brought to our country even beyond his tenure?
“Because he has warned that come 2023 after May, he is going to lead by example. So, when he frowns at the extension of term limits and amendments of the constitution to suit particular persons in office, he is leading by example,” Gambari said.
He said Nigeria must promote its national interest positively to be accepted globally.
The author said the book sought to spur young Foreign Service officers to use their positions to take Nigeria back to its place of prestige in the sub-region, continental and global pedestal.
Also speaking, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, said the author, being a son of Kano, had notably raised the stakes for anyone having the ambition to write a similar book, particularly from the Foreign Service family.
He urged Foreign Service officers to emulate Ibrahim by documenting their experiences garnered from different countries.
On his part, the Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, said that all great nations had clearly defined foreign policies to defend of their territorial integrity.
Zulum, represented by his chief of staff, Professor Isa Marte, said Nigeria must define her foreign policies for the protection of the interest of her citizens, both within and outside the country.
