Who’s Afraid of Gambari?

Ololade Adeyanju

Some have argued that the position of Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President does not carry as much power as people ascribe to it, especially because it is not explicitly stated in the constitution. The truth, however, is that the office actually derives its nearly unrestrained power and influence from the fact that it is a creation of privilege and not of law. Therefore, the incumbent is never encumbered by the bottlenecks which readily entangle other top functionaries.

It is in this regard that the choice of Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari as President Muhammadu Buhari’s CoS to succeed the late Abba Kyari is without an iota of blemish, despite the argument in some quarters that the position is beneath him given his intimidating profile as a scholar, diplomat and administrator. It is only those who have chosen to focus on the politics of the appointment at the expense of its merits that are swayed by such parochial arguments. Indeed, the fact that the occupier of the office is answerable only to the President and not to the constitution makes it more suited to a technocrat rather than a politician with his accompanying political baggage.

But trust politicians. They would, predictably, have preferred one of their own to sit atop such a privileged seat in order to preserve their access to power and our commonwealth. The fear of being continually deprived of that access, as the case was under Gambari’s predecessor, is fueling their opposition to his appointment and their desperate bid to discredit him.

Don’t be deceived by the cacophony of voices chanting the anti-Gambari mantra. No matter what they say he had done in the past, the fact remains that he is not beholden to any politician.

Many of those who are faulting Gambari’s appointment are not exactly worried by the choice Buhari has made; rather, by the fact that the President, against their worst expectation, made a right choice. They claim that the President has difficulty forming deep informal interpersonal relationships with people who don’t speak Hausa. Yet, he chose as his right hand man a Gambari, who has publicly admitted to his lack of proficiency in Hausa language. Indeed, Gambari is culturally, genetically and, if I may say, phonetically Yoruba. They also accuse Buhari of harbouring legendary disdain for the rigours of intellectualism; again, he trumped his critics by appointing a world class intellectual to the most important post in his government.

I will therefore, at this juncture, focus attention on some of the merits of Gambari’s appointment to show that he is not only qualified for the job, he is also well acquainted with the responsibilities attached to it.

As we might well know, Gambari has over the years demonstrated a vivid understanding of the political and socio-economic challenges of the country and how they can be best resolved in the interest of the ordinary common people. He is a man of considerable courage and conviction, who has never shied away from speaking his mind on any issue. For instance, while speaking during the 10th Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series in Lagos in 2018, he unapologetically described the nation’s ruling class as “audacious hypocrites,” who only mouth the values of truth, accountability, transparency and anti-corruption but do not practice them.

Ten years earlier, at the First Anniversary Lecture of the Mustapha Akanbi Foundation, where he delivered a paper titled: ‘The Challenges of Nation Building: The Case of Nigeria,’ he also expertly highlighted the fundamental challenges of development in Nigeria and the important roles quality leadership and strong institutions have to play in overcoming them.

Gambari had noted in that paper as follows: “The real question is why has the task of nation-building been so difficult in Nigeria, and the fruits so patchy, despite our enormous human and natural resources?  I suggest that we should look for the answer in three critical areas: (1) threats and challenges posed by the environment for nation-building; (2) the quality of leadership that has confronted these challenges; and (3) the fragility of political and development institutions.

“We need to understand the environment for nation-building in Nigeria, so we can clearly identify our strengths, weaknesses, and core challenges. We also need to evolve a system of leadership selection and accountability which produces the sort of leaders that will confront the challenges of the environment in a way that is beneficial for nation-building.  As I have argued at the beginning, nations are a product of the human will and imagination and the institutions that sustain their collective efforts.  Therefore, we must find these resources in ourselves if we are to succeed in building our nation; otherwise, to paraphrase Shakespeare, ‘default would be not in our styles but in ourselves’.

“I would like to end my presentation by reiterating that nations are built by men and women who have the will and vision to accomplish greatness, not for themselves, their immediate families and friends, but for their country. I believe that if we can find the will to offer such a leadership, and support it by strong and dependable political and economic institutions, we will find a way to our national greatness.”

That was 12 years ago. Not much has changed in Nigeria till date. There is therefore no gainsaying the fact that President Buhari has found the right man for the urgent task at hand.

Finally, let us take a look at what some have described as the “intimidating profile” of Prof. Gambari to better understand why so many career politicians and political jobbers have become rightly intimidated by the appointment of this brilliant, globally connected scholar and administrator, who will certainly not be easily manipulated.

Prof. Gambari attended the Provincial (now Government) Secondary School, Ilorin before proceeding to Kings College, Lagos. He received his BSc (Econs) degree from the London School of Economics in 1968 and his MA and PhD in Political Science/International Relations in 1970 and 1974 respectively from Columbia University, USA.

He has an illustrious career, spanning academia, government and international diplomacy, culminating in his appointment as the first United Nations Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa (1999-2005). He was the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid (1990-1994) and on Peace-Keeping Operations (1990—1999). He was also Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (2005-2007) and also operated as UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar and Special Representative in Angola.

He was Minister of External Affairs (1984-1985) and subsequently Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (1990-1999). He served as Joint AU/UN Special Representative in Darfur and Head of UNAMID (2010-2012). He is currently a Chairperson of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

He has taught at universities in the Unites States, Nigeria and Singapore and has to his credit the authorship of a number of books. He is the Pioneer Chancellor of the Kwara State University, Ilorin, as well as the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Bayero University, Kano.

He is the Founder/Chairman of the Board of Directors of 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, democratisation and development in Africa.

He has received several academic and national honours, including the ‘Commander of Federal Republic of Nigeria’ (CFR), and the ‘Order of the Champion of the Oliver R. Tambo’ (OCORT) of South Africa.

No doubt, Gambari remains the most globally-acclaimed appointment by the Buhari administration so far. I have no doubt that he would bring his considerable experience to help the government regain some lost time and credibility.

*Adeyanju is a journalist based in Lagos.

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