# Ibrahim Gambari

Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR ((Listen); born November 24, 1944), is a Nigerian academic and diplomat who served as Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria from 2020 to 2023.
He previously served as permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations from 1990 to 1999, and minister of external affairs from 1984 to 1985.

## Early life and education

Ibrahim Agboola Gambari was born on 24 November 1944 in Ilorin, Kwara State to a Fulani ruling class family. His nephew Ibrahim Sulu Gambari is the Emir of Ilorin.
Gambari attended King's College, Lagos. He subsequently attended the London School of Economics where he obtained his B. Sc. (Economics) degree (1968) with specialisation in International Relations. He later obtained his M.A. (1970) and Ph. D. (1974) degrees from Columbia University, New York, United States in Political Science /International Relations.

## Academic career

Gambari began his teaching career in 1969 at City University of New York before working at University of Albany. Later, he taught at Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Kaduna State. 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 center in Italy. He has written so many books and published in reputable journals in foreign policy and international relations, such as 'Theory and Reality in Foreign Policy: Nigeria after second Republic'.

## Foreign policy
### Nigeria

Gambari served as the Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985 under General Muhammadu Buhari's military regime, after he was the director general of The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA). From 1990 to 1999, he holds the record of being the longest serving Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations, serving under five Heads of State and Presidents.

### United Nations

Gambari has held several positions in the United Nations. In 1999, he was the President of UNICEF and later became UN Under Secretary-General and the first Special Adviser on Africa to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from 1999 to 2005. He was the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2007 under Secretary-General's Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon. His last appointment in the UN was from January 2010 to July 2012, when he was appointed by Ban Ki-moon and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission as the Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur.

## Honours and memberships

* Founder and Chairman of the Savannah Centre
* Gambari is the co-chair of the Albright-Gambari Commission
* He is a member of the Johns Hopkins University's Society of Scholars
* He was decorated with the title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) by the Government of Nigeria
* He was accorded, honoris causa, the title of Doctor of Humane Letters (D.Hum.Litt.) from the University of Bridgeport
* On 4 March 2013, Gambari was named by the Governor of Kwara Abdulfatah Ahmad, as the Chancellor of the Kwara State University