Can Gambari become as powerful as Abba Kyari was in Nigeria’s power villa?

Can Gambari become as powerful as Abba Kyari was in Nigeria’s power villa?

Can Gambari become as powerful as Kyari was in Nigeria’s power villa?

Nigeria’s government has announced Prof. Ibrahim Gambari as replacement of the late powerful organizer at the Aso Rock, Mallam Abba Kyari. Kyari died a couple of weeks ago following complications from COVID-19.

Kyari held Nigerians spell-bound on the amount of powers he wielded just as a Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. At death, the mystery of his powers were discovered to be his strong relationship with Buhari which had lasted for over 42 years. Another powerful element in the country’s equation of power, Adams Oshiomole hinted that Kyari was the person that ‘sold Buhari to him Oshiomole’ before Buhari was fielded as the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

ALSO READ: Tribute to Kyari: If you love Buhari, your sins are forgive, says Adesina

The position of a Chief of Staff was just to head the President’s appointees at the villa. His powers are not even enshrined in the constitution of the country. Buhari literarily left the power machinery of the country for his Chief of Staff to manage, a circumstance that Buhari’s wife, Aisha saw as usurpation of presidential powers.  

Kyari contracted COVID-19 during an official trip to Germany where he went to negotiate energy contract, an assignment that Nigeria’s Minister of Power and the President himself were supposed to undertake. Unfortunately, Kyari did not survive the sickness.

Buhari described Kyari as the very best of “all of us” in a soulful tribute to Late Kayri.

The Coming of Gambari

Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, has been described as experienced and insightful diplomat who has held numerous prestigious positions in Nigeria and around the world.

In January 2017, President Buhari appointed Gambari a member and is currently Deputy Chairperson of the Panel of Eminent Persons of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a Specialized Agency of the African Union for the promotion of good governance at the political, economic and corporate levels.

However, Gambari’s presence at the power circles has outlived numerous administrations in Nigeria. He was Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985.

Prof Ibrahim Gambari: 5th HOD ABU, Dept of Pols Sc & Int’l Studies (1982-1984)

He scholar-diplomat is the Founder/Chairman of the Board of Directors of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, a non-governmental think-tank on research and policy studies on conflict prevention and resolution as well as democratization and development in Africa.

SCDDD seeks to promote the evolution of Africa into a prosperous, politically stable and globally respected continent which is motivated by the culture of good governance. 

Prof Ibrahim Gambari has had an illustrious career, spanning academia, government and international diplomacy, culminating with his appointment as the first United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa (1999-2005).

In that capacity, he worked closely with heads of government, key policymakers as well as institutions in the continent to develop the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

During this period, he was concurrently the Resident Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission to Angola (2002-2003). He has been a delegate to the Assembly of the OAU/African Union as a national delegate (1984-1985) and as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s delegation (2000-2012).

Prof Ibrahim Gambari was the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid (1990-1994) during which he worked closely with African governments to coordinate UN policy to eradicate apartheid, thereby building trust and confidence with governments and policymakers in member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Ambassador Gambari was Under-Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (2005-2007). In that period, he also operated as UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar.

On 22 May 2007, the Secretary-General entrusted Prof Ibrahim Gambari with the Good Offices Mandate on Myanmar. He was also appointed in 2007 by the Secretary-General as Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Iraq Compact and Other Issues, positions he held until 2009.

He served his country, Nigeria, as Director-General at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs; Minister of External Affairs (1984-1985) and subsequently Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (1990-1999).

He also served as a delegate at the 2014 National Conference on the restructuring and promotion of national unity in Nigeria. At international level, Prof Ibrahim Gambari held numerous United Nations positions, including Chairman of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and the UNSG’s Special Adviser on Africa.

Professor Gambari also served as Joint AU/UN Special Representative in Darfur and Head of UNAMID, which was then the largest international peacekeeping operation in the world and the first hybrid Mission. He had in different capacities, worked with four successive United Nations Secretary-General (Perez de Cuella, Boutros-Ghali, Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon).

He currently co-chairs the Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance at the Hague Institute for Global Justice and the Stimson Centre at Washington D.C.

In January, 2017, he was appointed a member and is currently Deputy Chairperson of the Panel of Eminent Persons of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a Specialized Agency of the African Union for the promotion of good governance at the political, economic and corporate levels.

In the same vein, Prof Ibrahim Gambari was appointed in 2016 by Patricia Scotland, QC, and the Commonwealth Secretary-General as the Special Envoy to Zambia on Elections and reappointed in 2017 as the Special Envoy for Democratic Stability and Elections 2020.

In addition, he is a member of the Senior Working Group (SWG) of the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). Also in May 2017, he was honoured with the Global Leadership Award by the University of South Florida, USA.  

His Education

Prof Ibrahim Gambari was born November November 24, 1944, in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. He attended Provincial (now Government Secondary School), Ilorin before proceeding to the Floreat Collegium Kings College, Lagos.

He subsequently attended the London School of Economics where he obtained his B. Sc. (Economics) degree (1968) with a specialization in International Relations. He later obtained his M.A. (1970) and PhD (1974) degrees from Columbia University, New York, the USA in Political Science /International Relations.

Prof Ibrahim Gambari’s Academic career

Professor Gambari began his teaching career in 1969 at City University of New York before working at the University of Albany. Later, he taught at Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Kaduna State, the second-largest university in Africa serving as the 5th Hod of the department of political science and International Studies from 1982 to 1984.

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 centre in Italy.

He has received several academic and national honours, He was decorated with the title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) by the Government of Nigeria., and the “Order of the Companion of the Oliver R. Tambo” (OCORT) of South Africa.

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.

On March 4, 2013, Ibrahim Gambari was appointed by the Kwara State Governor, Abdul Fatah Ahmad, as the pioneer Chancellor of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Ilorin, Nigeria. He was also appointed and as the Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Governing Council of Bayero University, Kano (BUK). He is married with children and grandchildren.

Buhari’s unequal love for Kyari

Writing on Kyari, Buhari said: “Kyari was a diligent student, soon after he was blessed with the opportunity to study abroad – first at Warwick and then law at the University of Cambridge. But there was never any question Abba would bring his first-rate skills and newly acquired world-class knowledge back to Nigeria – which he did – immediately upon graduation.

Whilst possessing the sharpest legal and organisational mind, Abba’s true focus was always the development of infrastructure and the assurance of security for the people of this nation he served so faithfully. For he knew that without both in tandem there can never be the development of the respectful society and vibrant economy that all Nigerian citizens deserve.

In political life, Abba never sought elective office for himself. Rather, he set himself against the view and conduct of two generations of Nigeria’s political establishment – who saw corruption as an entitlement and its practice a byproduct of possessing political office.

Becoming my Chief of Staff in 2015, he strove quietly and without any interest in publicity or personal gain to implement my agenda.

There are those who said of him that he must be secretive – because he did not have a high public profile. But Abba was the opposite: he simply had no need, nor did he seek, the cheap gratification of the crowd; for him, there was nothing to be found in popular adulation. He secured instead satisfaction and his reward solely and only from the improvement of the governance of this great country.

Working, without fail, seven days each and every week, he acted forcefully as a crucial gatekeeper to the presidency, ensuring no one – whether minister or governor had access beyond another – and that all those representing and serving our country were treated equally.

He made clear in his person and his practice, always, that every Nigerian – regardless of faith, family, fortune or frailty – was heard and treated respectfully and the same.

Mallam Abba Kyari was the very best of us. He was made of the stuff that makes Nigeria great. Rest In Peace, my dearest friend.

To his loving wife and doting family who survive him, I extend my heartfelt sorrow at your loss”, he noted.

Can Gambari fit into Kyari’s shoes?

It is uncertain how Prof. Gambri from Kwara State, North-Central Nigeria is going to fit into the status of late Kyari. First and foremost, Gambari is already a second choice for action. Buhari may not give to Gambari the latitude he gave to Kyari. Second, villa may have smarted out from the regrets of the tremendous powers which Kyari wielded and may not go that path the second time. However, what Gambari will transmute into while discharging his powers of Buhari’s Chief of Staff is an interesting phenomenon that will evolve with time.