President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, led cabinet members to eulogize Ibrahim Gambari, his chief of staff, on his 77th birthday.
At a short but impressive ceremony before the meeting of the Federal Executive Council began, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha had announced to the cabinet that today (Wednesday) is the Chief of Staff, Gambari’s birthday.
Cabinet meetings are avenue for both policy formulation and implementation, providing guidelines and directions for those operating the machinery of government.
Ahead of 2022 that is expected to be a very busy year for politics, the government is putting in place, policies and programs that will round up the eight years of President Buhari’s administration.
Businessday gathered that review of roads and rail projects are topping the agenda as the 2021 fiscal year runs to an end in December.
President Buhari congratulated the Chief of Statff on the attainment of age 77, and jocularly injected that “you are still going strong, congratulations!”
This was followed by a chorused birthday wishes to the Chief of Staff by all the Ministers present.
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Recalled Gambari had joined the government as Chief of Staff twenty months ago following the demise of the former holder of the office, Abba Kyari.
Before this time, Gambari had served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the Military Government led by the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari in the 1980s and went on to serve as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
He thereafter joined the United Nations system, rising to the position of Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser on Africa, serving as the joint African Union and UN Special Representative in some of the world’s troubled countries including Angola, Darfur, Iraq and Myanmar.
Described as an accomplished academic, Gambari taught at the City University of New York, the State University of New York at Albany and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as well as served as a Visiting Professor at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Baltimore, Maryland.
He is widely published in Nigerian and international scholarly journals and has written several books on Nigerian foreign policy.
Gambari is also the founder of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, a non-governmental “think-tank” established in Abuja.
