Fola Ojo(willieojo@yahoo.com)
His arsenal of prettily-padded credentials is snazzy and intentionally intimidating. He is a stellar graduate of the prestigious London School of Economics. Master’s and doctorate degrees in Political Science and International Relations from Columbia University in New York are also in his bag of academic accomplishments. Once a Professor at City University New York; visiting Professor at Howard University and Georgetown in Washington D.C; Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; and one of the finest and best lecturers at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria.
Under military goons, Prof Ibrahim Agboola Gambari was the face of the nation as Minister for External Affairs; and the longest serving Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations. Whether you are his beloved tub-thumper or a despiteful adversary, spin it in whatever direction that suits your fancy, Gambari is not just a cerebral ripsnorter, he is also a jim-dandy in international diplomacy. I heard he was not in the mix of candidates slated for consideration to be President Muhammadu Buhari’s go-through man. But suddenly in the 48 hours preceding the grand announcement by the presidency, Gambari became the replacement for former holder of the position, Abba Kyari, who died from the ravaging disease COVID-19 on April 17.
Thus, for the rest of the tenure of the present regime which ends in 2023, the 75-year-old diplomat will serve as Chief of Staff to the President. Now, this is the question: Is Gambari’s addition to the Buhari team a precious gold or a grievous gamble?
Gambari’s got to possess some alluring endowments and gifting. In the last 40 years or so, he has been so beloved and endearing to certain powerful elements of Nigeria’s command-and-control center of power that his full body has been immersed in working for the government with differing roles and assignments. It’s unnecessary to wonder why Buhari picked him among Nigeria’s hordes of talents. Gambari once served under him as external affairs minister in the 80s. Buhari knows him, and he knows the President. And from all corners, we have read knock-downs from a coterie of critics since Gambari was announced Chief of Staff. I read one this morning. They call him ‘sleek’; and some brand him ‘dangerous’ in personal attributes. A few portray him a religious bigot and a cut-throat personality that may turn your day to dark and dingy night in a heartbeat. What else should Buhari’s disciples who are excited about the pick expect? Those who have their minds made up that anything or anyone this President touches must be deemed a pandemic that requires spatial distancing aren’t few.
But Gambari also has earned accolades as a shrewd and accomplished diplomat from many all around the world. This is what Kayode Fayemi (now Ekiti State governor) once wrote in his tome; “Out of the Shadows: Exile and the Struggle for Freedom & Democracy in Nigeria”: “Prof. Gambari is a renowned diplomat, statesman and scholar who has served this nation in many important positions. His intellect, broad experience and skills in administration and diplomacy have adequately prepared and equipped him for the important job he now has”. Gambari must be a precious gold, not a grievous gamble. His forays as a resident scholar with the Rockefeller Foundation Centre in Italy are worth mentioning. He was also a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, a shining exemplary career in the academy where he led others in international relations for decades. To President Buhari and Nigeria, Gambari must be gold; not a grievous gamble. His erudition comes as a perfect balance for Mr. President who is not widely perceived a comparable player in that league.
Gambari hails from Kwara State and in line to becoming the Emir of Ilorin someday. He is of the Fulani stock. That Fulani tinge in his blood has given some people mowing ammunition to rip apart Mr. President as a Fulani apologist. Acerbic swipes have been taken at the pick and at Buhari because Gambari is from where he is from; and worships the God he has chosen to serve. I refuse to join the bandwagon. By now, Nigerians know the man Buhari. He is an introvert who has operated socially within a certain circle of people all of his life; and many of his cronies are from the North. He is an anchorite, not an open-field convivialist. His gregarious nature (if any) is in the closet, kept away from the prying eyes of the public. It is true that some of Buhari’s appointments have raised ethnic eyebrows. But until presidential appointments are hedged by written laws and not just discretions, every President will always exercise the power of prerogative when it comes to picking who works where. Similar bleats of ethnic imbalance in appointments we heard when Goodluck Jonathan had presidential power. A perusal of the list of those who worked with the former President in various juicy and caviar capacities also paint an interesting picture. But at the end of it all, it was Jonathan’s prerogative. Must man fault man for exercising his prerogative? Prerogative is a free gift to man from He who made man after his image and likeness.
After the US election of 1960, President John Kennedy appointed his brother, Robert, as the US Attorney General. It didn’t mean that JFK despised others; he just trusted those he knew the longest. When Barack Obama became President in 2008, a big draw of his inner-circle men and women who did not have to go through the partisan headache of a Senate confirmation process were drawn from his Chicago home-town. His successor, Donald J. Trump, picked his own people including his daughter and son-in-law to hold top and juicy positions where you need trusted hands. Every president exercises the power of prerogative. You befriend who you choose to befriend; you do business with anyone your guts embrace; and if you are a president, you appoint who you feel comfortable working with especially for a powerful position such as the Chief of Staff.
Regarding Gambari, which president or leader of a global organisation will hesitate to tap from his depository of acumen? Who will not explore Gambari’s cognisance and advertency in international affairs? Who will not want to drink from the fountain of Gambari’s vast and strong global galere? I have no doubt that Gambari will do well by Nigeria. I heard all he thinks is Nigeria first. I hope he uses the office to build bridges and not erect barriers. Of the truth, and for Nigeria, Gambari is not a grievous gamble; he is precious gold.
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