A former Education Minister, Prof. Tunde Adeniran has described the appointment of Prof. Ibrahim Gambari as the Chief of Staff to the President as a fitting appointment.
The Chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP) said that President Muhammadu Buhari could not have got a better candidate than the 75-year-old former External Affairs Minister for the office.
Adeniran explained that Gambari’s fitness for the job is shown in his intellectual capacity, deep knowledge of internal government processes, and international exposure.
“I personally want to congratulate the President for making that type of choice. And looking around, I have the feeling that he could not have made a better choice in terms of what I know about Prof. Gambari, because he had a very rich background in terms of intellectual preparation; in terms of knowledge of internal workings of governance, in terms of experience in governmental processes and more importantly the type of network required to make a success of that office.
“You need someone who is not only firmly rooted in the knowledge of the political processes in the country, you also need someone with some degree of exposure. But in his own case, he has an expansive exposure, he has worldwide connections within the Nigerian nation itself; within the West African sub-region, within African region and worldwide.
“When you talk about those who will be relating with that office from outside the country, international organisations, diplomats, you can’t at this time get a better person for that office. He is a fantastic choice and I expect him to perform well, particularly in the area of human relations and he is also passionate about issues affecting this country,” Adeniran told Sunday Telegraph.
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On the impact Gambari could have on his principal’s administration, Adeniran said the Ilorin prince’s international exposure should come to bear on the nation’s foreign policy decisions.
“You know that foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy, hence I expect him to give proper advice in the areas that things are not right domestically, that correction should be made in areas that have led to “disenchantment” among Nigerians in relation to governance and the way things are going and correct the past. And when it gets to international level, he has been very conversant with that terrain because before his current appointment, he was very involved with African Pear Review Mechanism, and with that relationship he can locate Nigeria’s place in the and correctly advise the President.
“Internationally, the UN has been his abode for many decades, either when he was representing Nigeria or when he was there as Under-Secretary General. At the international level, no living Nigeria had had a broader knowledge, experience and exposure at that level than Prof. Gambari,” he stated.
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