Opinion | Gambari and Goldfish Syndrome

The appointment of an Ilorin Prince, who is also a professor of Political Science and International Relations, Ibrahim Agboola Gambari as Chief of Staff to Muhammadu Buhari, African most powerful president shows that Buhari has made the right choice for himself and the country at large.

Although the office of the Chief of Staff to the President in Nigeria was not created by the constitution only the office is one of the most envied in the land. President Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States created the position of the Chief of Staff in 1946. This was to coordinate the actions and activities of the White House employees at that period. Since then, every successive US president had, in one way or the other, appointed Chief of Staff for themselves. Among other functions of the Chief of Staff in the US is to manage the president’s schedule, and decides who is allowed to meet with the president. The Americans labelled the office as “Gatekeeper” because of the duties and the way successive occupiers of the office have handled them. Over time, the practice caught on elsewhere with the Germans and England creating the position both in 1946 and 1997 respectively. In Nigeria, it was former President Olusegun Obasanjo who created the office of the Chief of Staff in 1999 to follow the American pattern. Successive Nigerian Presidents have since then, appointed several Chiefs of Staff to help coordinate the activities of the government.

The functions of the Chief of Staff, in Nigeria, varies from administration to administration; and depends, not only on the qualities of the person appointed to the position but also on the style and management philosophy of the incumbent President. Responsibilities of the Chief of Staff include, but are not limited to; selecting key presidential staff and supervising them, structuring the staff system, controlling the flow of people to Presidential Villa, managing the flow of information, protecting the interests of the president, negotiating with the National Assembly and other branches of government to implement the president’s agenda; and advising the president on various issues, including telling the president what they do not want to hear. Since 1999, Nigeria has had five Chiefs of Staff to the President namely, Maj-Gen Abdullahi Mohammed (rtd.), Chief Gbolade Osinowo, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, Brig-Gen Jones Arogbofa (rtd.), and Mallam Abba Kyari.

The unfortunate death of Abba Kyari paved way for President Muhammadu Buhari to source for a new Chief of Staff. Subsequently, he found in Agboola Gambari, a distinguished diplomat who has represented Nigeria in several international interfaces, the excellent qualities he needed. From his official biography, before his appointment, Prof Gambari was a minister of foreign affairs between 1984 and 1985 when the then General Muhammadu Buhari was the Military Head of State. He was also the chairman of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid between 1990 and 1994. In January 2012, Gambari was appointed by the Secretary-General of United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon, as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur. He was the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid between 1990 and 1994. He was also on Peace-Keeping Operations between 1990 and 1999. He has once served as head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs between 2005 and 2007 and also operated as UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar and Special Representative in Angola. He Founded Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, a non-governmental think-tank on research, policy studies, advocacy and training on the nexus between conflict prevention and resolution, democratization and development in Africa. Until recently when he resigned his appointment, Prof Gambari is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center. He also chaired the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

Gambari attended the Provincial (now Government) Secondary School, Ilorin for his secondary school education before he moved to King’s College, Lagos for his A-Level certificate. He subsequently joined the London School of Economics for his Bachelor’s degree in Economics with specialization in International Relations. He later obtained his Masters’ degree (M.A.) in 1970 and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) degree in Political Science and International Relations in 1974 from Columbia University, New York, United States (US). Gambari began his teaching career in 1969 at City University of New York before working at University of Albany. He also taught at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria and Singapore. He has to his credit the authorship of several academic journal and books. He was formerly a visiting professor at three universities in Washington, D.C: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University and Howard University. He was also a research fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. and a resident scholar at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center, the Rockefeller Foundation-run centre in Italy.

Born in Ilorin, Kwara State on November 24, 1944. Prof Agboola Gambari is blue blood of Ilorin Emirate of the Fulani family ruling class. He is one of the sons of Mohammed ‘Laofe popularly known as Aremo Bawa. Prof. Gambari’s uncle, Emir Abdulkadir, was the 8th Emir of Ilorin who reign between February 1920 and June 1959 on the throne. Emir Zulkarnayni Gambari who succeed Emir Abdulkadir in 1959 as 9th Emir of Ilorin was the first son of Mohammed Laofe, Prof Agboola Gambari’s father. Hence, both Emir Zulkarnayni Gambari and Prof Gambari are brothers from the same father. The current Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Zulu Gambari who is, also, one of the sons of Emir Zulkarnayni Gambari, is a nephew to Prof Gambari. Despite being a Fulani and like every Ilorin, Emir Zulkarnayni Gambari has a Yoruba name, Aiyelabowo and Agboola – literary means ‘circle of wealth.’ Perhaps this identity has confused many who never thought an Agboola will become a Chief of Staff. They could not figure out how a Yoruba man from Ilorin could become a Chief of Staff under a Fulani President. What they fail to realize is that President Buhari is known for, most of the time, his penchant and prowess at picking men for duties – a square peg in square holes. Having handled similar post-conflict situations for the world at large, Prof Gambari is in a better position to make a difference at his new responsibilities. Over the year, he has tried to keep himself a low profile, despite his highbrow profile but, like a proverbial golden fish that has no hidden place, he will always get selected to perform one task or the other.

There is no doubt that Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari sterling leadership qualities and experiences account for what gives him out for his appointment as the Chief of Staff to the president. His appointment will bring to the Buhari Presidency, an impressive triple heritage of scholarship, statesmanship/diplomacy and civil society/private experiences spanning decades. As the head of the Presidential aides and principal coordinator of the policy vision of the president, Prof Gambari has the required experience. However, his integrity and loyalty to his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari is essentially inconsequential to the duty at hand. Trust, he is bet to do his best.

God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria!

*Abdulfatai Tomori is a freelance researcher, writer and editor. He writes from Ilorin and can be reached on obiograph@gmail.com or/and @AbdulfataiTomori on Twitter.

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